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The Use of American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) Standards
Short Course

By James H. Addington1 and Curtis A. Palmer2

1Quality Associates International, 13401 Moffet Rd., Sparta IL 62286, (618) 443-1900, qai@egyptian.net
2U. S. Geological Survey, 956 National Center, Reston VA. 20192, (703) 648-6185, cpalmer@usgs.gov

The American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) develops standards used by industry and commerce. New standards are developed in response to needs in both the coal industry and research. Standards for coal and coke testing developed by ASTM are some of the most widely used standards in the world and are constantly reviewed and revised. ASTM coal and coke standards are under the jurisdiction of the ASTM Committee D05 on Coal and Coke which has been in operation since 1904. These standards require the consensus of coal producers, coal consumers and coal scientists.

A PowerPoint presentation has been designed to familiarize the reader with ASTM coal standards, including new standards currently being developed. It covers the significance and use of ASTM standards and how ASTM standards are developed. The course notes discuss various empirical and stoichiometric ASTM standards, modification of ASTM standards in industry for rapid data acquisition, and the potential effects of those modifications. Establishing repeatability and reproducibility statements using interlaboratory studies and the interpretation of data to best approximate true values are also discussed.

These PowerPoint slides are not meant to be comprehensive. Instead, they are designed to give an overview of the various ASTM standards. The full text of the standards are available from ASTM (ASTM, 2001). Below is an outline of the course with approximate times devoted to each topic.

Introduction and housekeeping (Addington) 10 minutes
Key Industry Issues (Addington) 15 minutes
ASTM - testing, review and balloting (Palmer) 15 minutes
ASTM - new and recently revised standards (Addington) 15 minutes
Specific Techniques --
Moisture (Palmer) 10 minutes
Calorific Value and Forms of Sulfur (Addington) 10 minutes
Break   15 minutes
Ultimate and Proximate analysis (Addington) 20 minutes
Common Modifications: Effects and pitfalls (Addington) 15 minutes
Minor and Trace element analysis (Palmer) 10 minutes
Physical Characteristics: (Hardgrove Grindability, Fusibility, Free swelling Index) (Addington) 20 minutes
Data interpretation (Addington/Palmer) 15 minutes
ASTM/ISO (Addington) 10 minutes

REFERENCE

ASTM, 2001, 2001 Annual Book of ASTM Standards, v. 05.06; Gaseous fuels coal and coke: West Conshohocken, Pa., American Society for Testing Materials, 628 p.
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