compression of coal
Arthur V. Chadwick (chadwicka@swac.edu)
Tue, 21 Jan 1997 11:51:48 -0800There has been a lot of controversy about the compressibility of wood. A
minimum value can easily be obtained by using the range of specific
gravities of modern woods (>10% moisture content)which vary from about .2
for Balsa to over 1.0 (ironwood, for example) with an average of about .6.
Given that carbohydrate is about 50% oxygen, and that coal has a specific
gravity of 1.3 or so, the maximum compressibility of wood would be a factor
of (1.3/.6*.5), or about 4. I don't know where the figures greater than
this come from, unless one assumes the plant tissue from which coal is made
is watermelon (in which case the factor would be about 20 or so).
Art
http://chadwicka.swau.edu