Table of Contents

Part I. Coal Typology. 1. Coal as an economic good. 2. Coal as a fuel and raw material. 3. Coal as an organic sediment. 4. Coal as a rock. 5. Coal as a biological debris. 6. Coal as an evolving organic chemical complex. 7. Coal as a solid colloid. 8. Coal as an enigma in solid state physics. 9. Coal as an object of classical chemical analysis. 10. Coal as an object of physical analysis. Part I in retrospect. Part II. Coal Physics. 11. Physical properties and the additivity concept. 12. Volumetric properties. 13. Optical properties. 14. Electrical properties. 15. Magnetic properties. 16. Mechanical properties. 17. Cohesive and interfacial energy properties. 18. Thermal properties. Part II in retrospect. Part III. Coal Chemistry. 19. The action of solvents on coal. 20. The action of oxidising agents on coal. 21. Action of air and molecular oxygen on coal. 22. The action of hydrogen on coal. 23. The action of heat on coals. 24. The grand processes of coal utilisation. Part III in retrospect. Part IV. Coal Constitution. 25. The chemical and physical nature of coals. 26. Coal analogues. 27. Coalification revisited. 28. Coal research. Part IV in retrospect. Part V. Compendium. Index of names. Subject index.

Reviews

"...writing as a bibliophile with a far-too-large personal library - if I were to be restricted to owing a single book on coal, the choice would be a very simple one: 'van Krevelen'. Certainly this is a book that belongs in the library of every institution or organization conducting research on coal, and should be in the personal collections of individual researchers." --Fuel Processing Technology

"...the substantial scope of the changes incorporated into this third edition thoroughly justifies the acquisition of this fine book. Coal will continue to be a crucial reference in coal science literature and should be required reading for anyone seeking to understand this complex carbonaceous material." --Energy and Fuels

"If a library had to own only one book on coal, this should be it." --Organic Geochemistry