Egyptian Journal of Petroleum xxx (2017) xxx–xxx

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Egyptian Journal of Petroleum

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Fuel analyses and rank determination of the Egyptian Maghara main coal
seam, north central Sinai, Egypt
N.A.A. Edress a,⇑, A.R. Abdel-Fatah b
a
Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Helwan, Cairo, Egypt
b
El-Nasr-Co for Coke and Chemicals Industry, Helwan, Cairo, Egypt

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Three geologic sections along the main coal seam (MCS) of the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) Safa
Received 22 May 2017 Formation of Maghara mine are examined. Samples collected have been studied. The fuel analyses of coal
Revised 11 July 2017 samples were conducted to determine their Rank characteristic. Fuel analysis classified the studied
Accepted 30 July 2017
Maghara MCS as high grade coal, medium rank (D) of para-bituminous class based on its average values
Available online xxxx
of ash content 7.1% (dry-base; d.b), gross calorific value (29 Mj/kg; moist ash free) and random vitrinite
reflectance 0.43%. Synonym nomenclature of the studied Maghara coal based to ASTM classification is
Keywords:
high volatile (C) class of bituminous group with agglomerating character attributed to their values of
Coal
Maghara coal
gross calorific value 30 Mj/kg-(moist-mineral-matter-free; mmmf), fixed carbon 45% (dry-mineral-
Sinai matter-free; dmmf) and volatile matter 54.8% dmmf. Elemental ratio of H/C versus O/C indicate that
Egypt majority of the studied Maghara coal samples occupy the area of vitrinite genesis pathway on Van-
Fuel analyses Krevelen diagram, and within the area of per-hydrous in Seyler chart of dominated anoxic condition.
Rank determination Studied coal seam is a type III kerogen corresponding to humic characteristic, within the immature
and mature zones of coalification.
Ó 2017 Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open
access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction
Coal has been the world’s fastest growing energy source in
recent years, faster than gas, oil, nuclear, hydro and renewable.
Coal is one of the world’s most important sources of energy, fuel-
ling almost 40% of electricity worldwide.
The Jurassic coal in Sinai Peninsula represents the only out-
cropped coal seam of an economic value. It exposed and extended
underground at the Maghara mine of north central Sinai of esti-
mated total reserves of 22 million tons of which proved recover-
able reserves is 16 million ton [1–3].
Coal has been produced from workings at El Maghara of 0.03
million ton/year at the end of the year 2005. For further develop-
ment and determine the optimal uses of coal seam of Maghara,
rank and fuel analyses must be well determined.
The concentration of natural radioactivity in El-Maghara coal
mine was studied by Seddeek et al. [4] and they found that low
level of theses radioisotopes below quoted values and estimated
to be within safe limits. Recently, nano-activated carbon success-
Peer review under responsibility of Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute.
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: nedress@outlook.com (N.A.A. Edress).
fully synthesis by El Kady et al. [5] from carbon waste of Maghara
coal by using modified chemical and thermal process for wastew-
ater purifies utilization.
Varieties of the essential components of coal including carbon,
hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur, and other substance play an important
role for combustion behavior of coal which extremely has no fixed
chemical formula [6]. It is formed from the compression and alter-
ation of partly decomposed peat. The transformation of vegetable
material into peat and coal is commonly regarded as proceeding
in two steps, called the biochemical and physicochemical stage of
coalification, respectively.
Coalification is always preceded by peatification and may be
followed by graphitization [7,8]. Such conditions exist in environ-
ments for peat accumulation in which transformed plants material
to coal are called mires [9].
The geochemical stage begins with the termination of microbial
degradation after covering of peat. The principal agents of the geo-
chemical phase are temperature, pressure, volume and time. The
temperature is assigned as a crucial factor in coalificanion of coal
seams. The rise of temperature accelerates chemical reactions dur-
ing coalification [8,10,11].
The degree of coalification that has taken place determines the
rank of the coal. As the processes of coalification continue, there is

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpe.2017.07.012
1110-0621/Ó 2017 Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Please cite this article in press as: N.A.A. Edress, A.R. Abdel-Fatah, Fuel analyses and rank determination of the Egyptian Maghara main coal seam, north
central Sinai, Egypt, Egypt. J. Petrol. (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpe.2017.07.012
2 N.A.A. Edress, A.R. Abdel-Fatah / Egyptian Journal of Petroleum xxx (2017) xxx–xxx

a progressive transformation of the deposit, the proportion of car-
bon relative to oxygen rises and volatile substances and water are
driven out. Continued compaction by overburden then converts
lignite into bituminous (or soft) coal and finally into anthracite
(or hard) coal [12].
1.1. Geological setting
Maghara region is located in the middle of Sinai Peninsula
desert about 250 km northeast of Cairo and 50 km south of Sinai
Mediterranean coast as shown in Fig. 1. It is located between lon-
0 0 0
gitude 33° 100 and 33° 40 East and latitude 30° 35 and 30o 50
North. Maghara region is considered a rectangular massive sedi-
mentary basin of about 54 km long and 30 km wide covering an
area of about 1300 km2 with longer axis trending NE-SW direction
[15].

1.2. Stratigraphy

Gebel Maghara coal bearing strata express at Mashaba and

Shusha formations of Lower Jurassic Age, Safa Formation of Middle
Jurassic and Masajid Formation of Upper Jurassic Age [16]. Only
five coal seams were recorded by the Sinai Coal Company in
1994 at Safa Formation, these five seams differ in thickness and
recognized as shown in Fig. 2. The lower part of Safa Formation
includes the economic coal seams of Gebel Maghara, the main
5th coal seams (MCS) of maximum thickness of 135 cm. The MCS
of Safa Formation underlies and overlies by thin black shale beds
ranging in thickness from 10 to 50 cm containing plant remains
in some parts.

1.3. Structure

The middle part of Maghara area is an asymmetric east-

Fig. 1. Location map of Maghara area [13,14].
northeast oriented doubly plunging anticline. The direction of anti-
cline is concordant with the Syrian arc structure trend through
NASinai, and its core is dome-like. The NW flank dips about 25°
while SE flank is very steep vertical where it is bounded by a major
reverse- thrust fault of Jurassic [14].

Fig. 2. A stratigraphic column of formations exposed at Gebel Maghara [17–19].

Please cite this article in press as: N.A.A. Edress, A.R. Abdel-Fatah, Fuel analyses and rank determination of the Egyptian Maghara main coal seam, north
central Sinai, Egypt, Egypt. J. Petrol. (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpe.2017.07.012
 N.A.A. Edress, A.R. Abdel-Fatah / Egyptian Journal of Petroleum xxx (2017) xxx–xxx 3

2. Material and methods 3. Results and discussion

2.1. Sampling 3.1. Proximate analysis

Three geologic sections (M1, M2, and M3) were determined
Where M1 Section located at the deepest part of the main shaft
of the mine with sedimentary cover reaching about 20 m whereas
the M2 and M3 sections are buried by 10 and 5 meters cover,
respectively in Fig. 3. The average thickness of the coal seam is
1.35 m. Coal samples examined in theses sections were collected
as channel sample from base to top.
2.2. Analytical methods
All the coal samples were subjected to a complex of progressive
analytical methods. Proximate, ultimate and calorific values analy-
ses were performed only on selected samples. These were further
pulverized to 250 mm (100 mesh) where determine according to
ASTM [20] and ISO standards [21–27].
Random vitrinite reflectance was measured on collotelinite of
vitrinite maceral in each sample using a constant of 200 counted
points under incident monochromatic light, oil immersion objec-
tive and calibration standards [25].
Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulfur contents of separated
maceral were determined using Vario Elementar Automatic Ana-
lyzer in Micro Analytical Center (MAC) at Cairo University.
The proximate analysis of coal was developed as a convenient
and effective means for determining the distribution of products
obtained by heating coal under a set of standard conditions to
determine the amount of moisture, volatile matter yield, ash yield,
and fixed carbon from the coal sample. The variables are measured
in weight percent (wt.%) and are calculated in several different
bases as shown in Tables 1 and 2.
The total moisture ranged between 0.41 and 4.41% with average
content (as-received; a.r)1.97% average 1.97%, If the moisture con-
tent in coal beds decreases with the depth of their burial [28]; then
this means(apart from other parameters and also accepting the
validity of Hilt’s Law) that the depletion in moisture must simulta-
neously indicate an increasing degree of coalification of the organic
matter. Average moisture of the three studied coal sections con-
firms the Hilts law with slightly decrease with depth from 2.4 at
section M3 to 1.5 at section M2. The amount of volatile matter
(dmmf) of studied coal indicate a broad range from 43.2 to 62%
with average of 54.8% of medium rank coal, The measured coal
samples show an ash yield (d.b) between 2.09% and 37.8% with
average value of 7.1% which are typically of Mesotrophic mire sys-
tems mainly planar shape and The average mineral matter content
(Parr - formula) of 9.74%.

Fig. 3. Geologic map of the Maghara study area after [19].

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central Sinai, Egypt, Egypt. J. Petrol. (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpe.2017.07.012
4 N.A.A. Edress, A.R. Abdel-Fatah / Egyptian Journal of Petroleum xxx (2017) xxx–xxx

Table 1
The results of the proximate and ultimate analysis of samples of Maghara coal seams (As recived; a. r. and Dry base; d.b.).

section Sample No. As-received basis(a.r),% Dry basis (d.b),%

M Ash V.M F. C Ash V.M F.C C% H% N% Sulfur
Total pyritic Sulfate organic
M1 10 2.03 13.8 49.83 34.38 14.05 50.86 35.1 73.28 5.51 1.21 7.43 3.81 0.89 2.73
9 0.41 2.59 55.73 41.27 2.60 55.96 41.4 73.49 5.67 1.53 4.4 0.41 0.59 3.4
8 0.55 9.63 55.41 34.41 9.68 55.72 34.6 72.71 4.61 1.76 3.84 0.46 1.46 1.92
7 0.6 2.59 55.48 41.33 2.61 55.81 41.6 72.63 4.69 0.44 2.58 1.41 0.35 0.82
6 0.9 3.15 54.33 41.62 3.18 54.82 42.0 73.38 5.79 1.32 3.95 1.94 0.9 1.11
5 2.64 7.72 50.61 39.03 7.93 51.98 40.1 73.59 5.52 1.22 3.6 2.17 0.41 1.02
4 2.48 6.5 48.75 42.27 6.67 49.99 43.3 71.6 5.07 1.01 2.63 0.62 0.78 1.23
3 2.63 5.65 51.38 40.34 5.80 52.77 41.4 71.61 5.15 1.24 3.28 1.4 0.54 1.34
2 2.78 5.4 49.95 41.87 5.55 51.38 43.1 69.79 5.36 0.98 2.44 1.58 0.17 0.69
1 4.41 36.1 39.81 19.65 37.8 41.65 20.6 43.03 5.41 0.85 4.36 2.01 0.72 1.63
M2 8 1.61 7.77 52.68 37.94 7.90 53.54 38.6 70.36 6.36 0.94 6.55 3.36 0.78 2.41
7 2.15 6.65 49.99 41.21 6.80 51.09 42.1 70.21 6.14 1.26 3.93 0.37 0.53 3.03
6 1.24 2.46 54.16 42.14 2.49 54.84 42.7 73.34 6.22 1.12 3.47 0.41 1.32 1.74
5 1.43 2.99 53.03 42.55 3.03 53.8 43.2 68.1 5.74 1.18 3.1 1.69 0.43 0.98
4 2.06 4.48 53.56 39.9 4.57 54.69 40.7 67.31 5.85 0.97 3.62 1.78 0.82 1.02
3 0.92 2.07 51.76 45.25 2.09 52.24 45.7 67.72 5.89 1.04 3.3 1.99 0.38 0.93
2 1.19 6.42 52.26 40.13 6.50 52.89 40.6 67.73 6.06 0.98 2.78 0.66 0.82 1.3
1 1.23 7.29 53.83 37.65 7.38 54.50 38.1 40.11 4.87 1.0 3.72 1.59 0.61 1.52
M3 10 2.29 22 44.6 31.15 22.47 45.65 31.9 57.98 5.44 1.17 5.68 2.91 0.68 2.09
9 2.64 7.32 50.51 39.53 7.52 51.88 40.6 56.98 5.44 0.76 4.1 0.38 0.55 3.17
8 3.09 6.4 52.01 38.5 6.60 53.67 39.7 70.09 6.59 1.11 3.66 0.44 1.39 1.83
7 2.8 2.77 49.47 44.96 2.85 50.90 46.3 70.19 6.71 1.05 2.84 1.55 0.39 0.9
6 2.61 3.46 52.59 41.34 3.55 54.00 42.4 76.14 5.52 1.1 3.3 1.62 0.75 0.93
5 2.34 2.71 52.88 42.07 2.78 54.15 43.1 76.32 5.49 1.0 3.5 2.11 0.4 0.99
4 1.08 2.31 52.58 44.03 2.34 53.15 44.5 69.91 5.52 1.0 3.3 0.78 0.98 1.54
3 2.57 3.96 52.22 41.25 4.06 53.60 42.3 69.83 5.62 1.06 3.0 1.28 0.49 1.23
2 2.58 5.13 52.56 39.73 5.27 53.95 40.8 42.74 4.89 1.24 2.9 1.88 0.20 0.82
1 2.03 5.77 41.93 50.27 5.89 42.80 51.3 41.35 4.17 1.03 4.3 1.98 0.71 1.6
Average 1.97 6.97 51.21 39.85 7.14 52.22 40.6 66.13 5.55 1.09 3.77 1.55 0.67 1.55

Table 2
The results of the proximate and ultimate analysis of samples of Maghara coal seams (dry-ash-free; daf and dry-mineral-matter-free; dmmf basis; moist-mineral-matter-free;
mmmf basis).

Section Sample No. Dry ash free(daf),% Dry mineral matter free (dmmf),% GCV (mmmf)
C% H% N% S (org)% O2 % MM(ParrFormula) C% H% Atomic Ratio F.C% V.M%
H/C O/C C/N
M1 10 85.3 6.41 1.41 3.18 3.75 19.26 90.8 6.82 0.90 0.04 70.5 43.2 56.8 28.46
9 75.5 5.82 1.57 3.49 13.7 5.23 77.5 5.98 0.93 0.13 56.1 43.2 56.8 29.72
8 80.5 5.1 1.95 2.13 10.3 12.57 83.2 5.27 0.76 0.10 48.2 39.2 60.8 31.85
7 74.6 4.82 0.48 0.84 19.3 4.23 75.8 4.90 0.78 0.19 181 43.3 56.7 31.11
6 75.8 5.98 1.36 1.15 15.7 5.61 77.7 6.13 0.95 0.15 65 44.3 55.7 32.16
5 79.9 6.0 1.33 1.11 11.6 10.54 82.3 6.17 0.90 0.11 70.1 45.6 54.4 31.83
4 76.7 5.43 1.08 1.32 15.5 8.65 78.4 5.55 0.85 0.15 82.9 48.3 51.7 30.05
3 76 5.47 1.32 1.42 15.8 8.07 77.9 5.60 0.86 0.16 67.2 45.8 54.2 29.61
2 73.9 5.67 1.04 0.73 18.7 6.00 74.2 5.70 0.92 0.12 82.9 46.8 53.2 30.64
1 69.2 8.7 1.37 2.6 18.2 43.25 75.8 9.53 1.51 0.32 58.9 38.0 62.0 28.46
M2 8 76.3 6.9 1.02 2.61 13.8 12.13 80.1 7.24 1.09 0.14 87.3 43.6 56.4 26.53
7 75.2 6.58 1.35 3.25 13.6 9.5 77.6 6.78 1.05 0.14 65.0 47.0 53.0 30.75
6 75.2 6.38 1.15 1.78 15.5 4.6 76.9 6.52 1.02 0.15 76.3 44.8 55.2 31.34
5 70.2 5.92 1.22 1.01 21.7 4.99 71.7 6.04 1.01 0.23 67.1 45.6 54.4 30.61
4 70.5 6.12 1.02 1.07 21.3 6.93 72.3 6.29 1.04 0.23 80.6 44.2 55.8 31.45
3 69.2 6.01 1.06 0.95 22.8 4.08 70.6 6.14 1.04 0.24 76.1 47.6 52.4 30.98
2 72.4 6.48 1.05 1.39 18.7 8.55 74.1 6.63 1.07 0.19 80.4 44.5 55.5 28.9
1 43.3 5.25 1.08 1.46 48.8 10.02 44.6 5.41 1.46 0.91 46.7 42.3 57.7 30.76
M3 10 74.8 7.02 1.51 2.7 14.0 27.4 79.9 7.49 1.13 0.17 57.8 44.1 55.9 24.7
9 61.6 5.88 0.82 3.43 28.3 10.37 63.6 6.07 1.15 0.35 87.7 46.0 54.0 24.7
8 75.0 7.06 1.19 1.96 14.8 9.15 77.1 7.25 1.13 0.15 73.6 44.6 55.4 29.6
7 72.3 6.91 1.08 0.92 18.8 4.64 73.6 7.04 1.15 0.19 78.0 49.5 50.5 29.0
6 78.9 5.72 1.14 0.96 13.2 5.65 80.7 5.85 0.87 0.13 80.8 45.7 54.3 30.94
5 78.5 5.65 1.03 1.02 13.8 4.92 80.3 5.77 0.86 0.13 88.9 45.9 54.1 32.3
4 71.6 5.65 1.02 1.58 20.2 4.34 73.1 5.77 0.95 0.21 81.9 46.5 53.5 32.1
3 72.8 5.86 1.1 1.28 19.0 6.04 74.3 5.98 0.97 0.19 77.2 45.8 54.2 32.04
2 45.1 5.16 1.31 0.86 47.6 7.28 46.1 5.27 1.37 0.79 40.2 44.8 55.2 29.92
1 43.9 4.43 1.09 1.7 48.8 8.73 45.3 4.57 1.21 0.89 47.0 56.8 43.2 30.67
Average 71.2 6.00 1.18 1.71 19.9 9.74 73.4 6.21 1.033 0.25 74.13 45.2 54.8 30.04

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 N.A.A. Edress, A.R. Abdel-Fatah / Egyptian Journal of Petroleum xxx (2017) xxx–xxx 5

Fixed carbon values estimated on (dmmf) range between 38%
and 56.8% with average value of 45% and fuel ratio with average
of 0.7 which rank the study coal within the range of the bituminous
coal.
3.2. Ultimate analysis
to be favorable to allow high extraction yield of hydrocarbon dur-
ing liquefaction process [30].
In this work the measured nitrogen content of studied coal sam-
ples ranged between 0.48 and 1.95%, daf with average of 1.18%. in
the oxygen content (daf) of the studied samples with average of
19.9%. These moderate values indicate that the studied coal is in
the range of primary stage of maturity.

Carbon and hydrogen occurs in combined form in the complex

3.3. Gross calorific value
organic compounds that make up coal. The measured carbon con-
tent of studied coal samples (dry-ash-free; daf) ranges from 43.3 to
Gross calorific value of the Maghara coal under investigation
85.3%, with average of 71.2%, while hydrogen content (daf) lies
ranges between 24.7 and 32.3 MJ/kg (10617.8–13884.9 Btu/lb)
between 4.43 and 8.7% with average of 6%. The average total sulfur
with average of 30 MJ/kg (12900.5 Btu/lb) on (moist-mineral-
(dry-base; d.b.) of the studied coal is 3.77 wt% with ranging from
matter-free; mmmf) basis considered for rank determination.
2.44 to 7.43 wt%. It is relatively high in comparison to fresh water
peat swamps.
Chou [29] suggested that the sulfur in low-sulfur coals (<1 wt,% 3.4. Rank
S) is mainly of organic origin being derived from the parent plant
debris. However, in medium (1–3 wt% S) and high sulfur coals Rank refers to the degree of coalification (low-grade metamor-
(>3 wt% S). In general, the low sulfur content of the Maghara coal phism) endured by the organic matter. It can be estimated by mea-
(3.77; Table 1) and presence of pyrite (average; 1.55) is believed suring parameters which vary with changes in coal rank such as

Fig. 4. Rank of the Maghara coal seams on the basis of the different rank parameters according to international classification of in-seam coals [32] (right side) and standard
classification of coal by rank [20] on the left side.

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6 N.A.A. Edress, A.R. Abdel-Fatah / Egyptian Journal of Petroleum xxx (2017) xxx–xxx

moisture content, specific energy, vitrinite reflectance, or volatile
matter [8,31]. Vitrinite reflectance, gross calorific value, moisture,
volatile matter and fixed carbon are used to determination of the
studied coal rank, obtained values of these parameters are assigned
within international classification of in-seam coals [32] and stan-
dard classification of coals by rank [20] where the higher rank coals
are classified according to fixed carbon on a dry basis, while the
lower rank coals are classified according to calorific value on moist
basis and the agglomerating character is used to differentiate
between certain adjacent [33].
Consequently, studied Maghara coal correspond to high grade
coal according to ash content (dry-base; d.b.), and medium rank
coals (D) of para-bituminous class based on gross calorific value
(moist-ash-free; maf) and average of vitrinit reflectance
Ro = 0.43% as shown in Fig. 4.
The same equivalent rank nomenclature according to gross
calorific value (moist-mineral-matter-free; mmmf), fixed carbon
and volatile matter (dry-mineral-matter-free; dmmf) of ASTM
standard show a bituminous rank group of high volatile bitumi-
nous (c) class and commonly agglomerating coal. The carbon

Fig. 5. Position of the studied 5th Maghara coal seam samples on the Van-Krevelen Diagram using H/C vs. O/C atomic ratios.

Fig. 6. Position of the studied 5th Maghara coal seam samples on the Kerogen types Diagram of Durand & Monin using H/C vs. O/C atomic ratios.

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Fig. 7. The studied Maghara coal samples locations on Seyler’s chart.
increases, hydrogen decreases with increasing rank, but not lin-
early. The main physical changes are those of porosity, density
and hardness [8].
3.5. Elemental ratios
3.5.1. H/C and O/C atomic ratio
Based on dmmf basis of the derived atomic ratios of H/C versus
O/C, two essential diagrams are used to determine genesis and
degree maturation and coalification of the studied coal seams.
Van Krevelen diagram [31], focused on the genetic pathway and
precursor development of coal components in Fig. 5. H/C atomic
ratio of studied Maghara coal samples with average of 1.03
whereas the O/C atomic ratio 0.25. Plotting the obtained results
show that the majority of the studied coal samples occupy the area
of vitrinite genesis pathway with some tendency to exinite genesis
pathway.
Kerogen-type diagram established by Durand and Monin [34]
concentrates on the degree of maturation of kerogen as a precursor
of petroleum and gas in Fig. 6. Coal samples of Maghara mine lie
within the type III kerogen (low H/C ratio < 1.0, high O/C ratio;
0.2 or 0.3) corresponding to humic characteristic, this kerogen is
immature to marginally mature. Half of coal samples are localized
within the immature zone of diagensis stage of maturation and on
the transitional area to catagensis zone of maturation. The other
fifty percentage of coal samples present in the mature zone of cata-
genesis, which it lays between temperatures between 50 and
115 °C [8,35,36].
3.5.2. C/N atomic ratio
This ratio is commonly used to detect of the origin of organic
carbon-rich deposits whether it is of algal or land plants origin.
Algal type has atomic C/N ratio lies between 4 and 10 whereas, vas-
cular land plants has C/N ratio bigger than 20 and up to 160
[37,38].
In the present study the atomic ratio C/N of studied coal sam-
ples ranges between 40 and 181 with average of 75 which clearly
corresponds with assumed origin of coal from vascular plants.
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7
3.6. Redox potential
A position in the perhydrous field above the bright coal band
indicates a higher than average H/C ratio, whereas a plot in the
subhydrous area below the bright coal band relates to a lower than
average H/C ratio [39]. Plotting the percentages of hydrogen
against carbon (dry-mineral-matter-free; dmmf) shows that 70%
of the studied coal samples lies within the area of per-hydrous
where these coals containing more hydrogen than the normal per-
centage of intense anoxic condition. 20% only of samples are situ-
ated within the Seyler coal band and the rest of subhydrous type
coal as shown in Fig. 7.
4. Conclusion
The Sinai coal of El Maghara is highly volatile bituminous (C)
rank by A.S.T.M. classification which synonym of high grade coal
of medium rank (D) para-bituminous having agglomerating char-
acter. It is show waxy and resinous micro constituents of relatively
considerable amounts of hydrogen. The precursor plant materials
forming the studied coal are mainly of vascular plant based on C/
N ratio. These plants preserved under prehydrous zone of intense
reducing condition. The coalification pathway of these plants takes
a vitrinite genesis mainly within immature and mature zones
within diagenisis and catagensis stages of maturation.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish a sincere appreciation to Prof. Dr Khaled
Ahmed Khaled, Geology Department, Faculty of Sciences, Helwan
University for providing all facilities to achieve this study.
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