SUEK updates coal-chemical laboratory equipment

Laboratory fume hoods and a muffle furnace used to study the emissions of volatile organic compounds – one of the indicators of coal quality – were installed at the Borodinsky laboratory.  Manufactured according to international standards by the British firm Carbolite, the equipment has been used in SUEK Kemerovo operations for over a year, and has proved itself to be very reliable.

"One of the main advantages of the new equipment is its safety record” explains Natalia Feskova, head of the industrial laboratory.  “Furthermore, the furnace is very environmentally friendly, because of the exhaust pipe fixed to its surface. Combustion products pass straight into the fume hood without escaping into the room.

"Also ready for installation are two new modern fume hoods manufactured by LOIP St. Petersburg. The fume hoods form a built up structure with a protective fire-resistant shield.

An AC-500 calorimeter made by LECO was installed at the Nazarovsky open pit to measure the heat of combustion.  It is the heat of combustion value that determines the price paid by consumers. The heat capacity of the new calorimeter is much higher, which reduces the measurement time by half. The device synchronises automatically with a computer so that the advanced measurement processing software eliminates human error at this stage of analysis.