🔥 Volatile matter in hard coal and coke — gravimetric method, heating without access of air at 900 °C for 7 min; ISO 562:2024 (Polish PN-ISO 562:2000 withdrawn on 14-12-2010)

Petrochemistry ISO 562

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. Scope of ISO 562:2024 according to the evs.ee catalogue (read on 08.10.2026), in full: "This document specifies a method of determining the volatile matter of hard coal and of coke. It is not applicable to brown coals and lignites." We did not have the text of the 2024 edition. We read the content of the method in the sample extract of the previous edition, ISO 562:2010, from the cover to clause 5.5 and Figure 1 (furnace), with the table of contents; we do not have clauses 6–10 (preparation of the test sample, procedure, calculation, precision, test report). The scope of ISO 562:2010 reads the same as the scope of the 2024 edition (it differs only in the words "International Standard" instead of "document").

ACCORDING TO THE TEXT OF ISO 562:2010 (foreword, introduction, clauses 1–5). The standard was prepared by ISO/TC 27 "Solid mineral fuels", subcommittee SC 5 "Methods of analysis"; the 2010 edition replaced ISO 562:1998 and was a minor revision of it. Introduction: volatile matter is the loss in mass, less the loss due to moisture, when coal or coke is heated without access of air under standardized conditions; the test is empirical — for reproducibility the rate of heating, the final temperature and the duration must be strictly observed; air must be excluded to prevent oxidation, which is why the fit of the crucible lid is critical; the moisture of the sample is determined at the same time so that a correction can be applied; the mineral matter of the sample may also lose mass. Principle (3): the test portion is heated without access of air at 900 °C for 7 min, and the percentage by mass of volatile matter is calculated from the loss in mass after deducting the loss due to moisture. References (2): ISO 687 (moisture in the analysis sample of coke) and ISO 11722 (moisture in the analysis sample of hard coal, drying in nitrogen). Reagent (4.1): cyclohexane, analytical grade — its role is not described in the extract read. Apparatus (5): an electric furnace with a zone of constant temperature of 900 °C ± 5 °C, which recovers 900 °C within 4 min after a cold stand with crucibles is inserted; the zone at least 160 mm × 100 mm for multiple crucibles or 40 mm in diameter for a single one; an unsheathed thermocouple of wire not thicker than 1 mm, with the junction halfway between the bottom of the crucible and the floor of the furnace; a cylindrical crucible with a lid made of fused silica, together 10–14 g, horizontal clearance between the crucible and the lid not more than 0.5 mm (the pair ground to fit and marked with a common mark); for strongly caking coals the crucibles may be up to 45 mm high; a stand of heat-resistant wire with ceramic discs; a balance reading to 0.1 mg.

STATUS (as of 08.10.2026). The PKN card of PN-ISO 562:2000 (Polish version) has the label "Withdrawn" without a "Replaced by" field: title "Hard coal and coke -- Determination of volatile matter content" (our translation), publication 24-02-2000, withdrawal 14-12-2010, 12 pages, price group F, Mining Sector, KT 220 Natural Solid Fuels, "Introduces: ISO 562:1998 [IDT]", ICS 73.040 and 75.160.10. Scope from the card, in full (our translation): "A method for the determination of volatile matter in hard coals and coke is described. The principle of the method, the reagents, the apparatus, the preparation of the test sample, the procedure and the expression of results, the accuracy of the method and the preparation of the test report are given" (no full stop on the card). PKN search, term "ISO 562" (08.10.2026): 29 items, only this one with the number 562. evs.ee catalogue: ISO 562:2024 has been in force since 26.08.2024 and replaced ISO 562:2010 (in force since 04.06.2010). The PKN catalogue has no Polish edition of ISO 562:2010 or of ISO 562:2024; alongside this standard laboratories use the national PN-G-04516:1998, described in a separate entry of this database.

HOW MANY LABORATORIES AND IN WHAT FORM (copy of the accreditation scope database and current PCA documents, read on 08.10.2026). Number ISO 562 appears in 20 records at 13 laboratories (apart from them, in the database copy the number 562 is borne only by other standards: ASTM E562-19E01 — delta ferrite content in welded joints, AB 1700, and ASTM D 562 — viscosity of horizontal road marking materials, AB 424); in the current PCA documents (issues from 09.04.2024 to 22.09.2026) — in 20 rows at the same laboratories; none of these entries is suspended (no bold italics). Notations: "ISO 562:2024" — AB 300 (4 rows), AB 313 (3, in two of them alongside PN-G-04516:1998 and ASTM D 3175-18) and AB 1913 (2); "ISO 562:2024-08" — AB 079 as well as AB 081 and AB 103, at the last two in one cell with PN-G-04516:1998; "ISO 562:2024-02" — AB 949, in one cell with PN-G-04516:1998; "ISO 562:2010" — AB 550, AB 860, AB 898 (alongside PN-G-04516:1998) and AB 914 (2 rows); "PN-ISO 562:2000" — AB 005 and AB 054, i.e. the edition withdrawn since 2010. The "Laboratories" tab searches for records beginning with the term entered: "ISO 562" shows 9 laboratories; AB 081 and AB 103 become visible only under the term "PN-G-04516", and the term "PN-ISO 562" shows AB 005 and AB 054 together with three laboratories that have a standard with a different number in their scope (PN-ISO 5628:1995).

WHAT THE LABORATORIES TEST (PCA documents). Quantity: volatile matter content, gravimetric method — all of them. Subject: hard coal and coke; AB 313 also petroleum coke; AB 550 applies ISO 562:2010 only to coke ("Volatile matter content in coke", 0.1–10.0 %), and to the other fuels — PN-G-04516:1998 (2.50–65.00 %). Ranges in %: 0.1–10.0 (AB 550), 0.1–40.0 (AB 103), 0.10–50.00 (AB 081), 0.40–48.90 (AB 005), 10.0–45.0 (AB 898), 20.00–50.00 (AB 949, brown coal), at AB 313 three ranges: 1.00–43.0 (hard coal), 0.10–5.20 (coke) and 0.3–22.5 (petroleum coke); the other laboratories do not give a range.

WHERE A SEEMINGLY CORRECT RESULT IS EASY TO GET. First — brown coal: the standard explicitly excludes it, and at four laboratories the entry with this standard covers brown coal — at AB 005 (PN-ISO 562:2000, subject "hard coal, brown coal, coke from hard coal") and at AB 081 and AB 103, where ISO 562 stands in one cell with PN-G-04516:1998 and the document does not show which standard applies to which fuel; most sharply at AB 949 — the subject of this entry is brown coal alone, so ISO 562, standing in the cell next to PN-G-04516:1998, can only apply there to brown coal; a result for brown coal according to ISO 562 is outside the scope of this standard. Second — two standards in one cell: PN-G-04516:1998 and ISO 562 are different documents, so the report should state according to which of them the volatile matter was determined. Third — the edition: "PN-ISO 562:2000" is the withdrawn Polish edition of ISO 562:1998; the notations "ISO 562:2024-08" and "ISO 562:2024-02" refer to the same 2024 edition (we have not confirmed the ISO publication month given in these notations). Fourth — tightness of the crucible: according to the introduction to the standard the fit of the lid is critical, because admitting air oxidizes the sample and changes the loss in mass. Fifth — moisture: volatile matter is the loss in mass LESS the moisture determined according to ISO 687 (coke) or ISO 11722 (hard coal); omitting this correction overstates the result.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not have the text of ISO 562:2024 and do not know what changed compared with the 2010 edition. We do not have clauses 6–10 of the 2010 edition — we do not give the mass of the test portion, the preparation of the sample, the course of the determination, the role of cyclohexane, the formula, the precision or the content of the report.

Method principle

A test portion of the analysis sample of hard coal or coke is heated in a closed silica crucible without access of air in a furnace at 900 °C for 7 min; volatile matter is the percentage loss in mass less the moisture determined in parallel according to ISO 687 (coke) or ISO 11722 (hard coal) (ISO 562:2010, clause 3). The test is empirical — the result depends on the rate of heating, the final temperature, the time and the tightness of the crucible. The standard does not cover brown coals and lignites.

Applications

• Hard coal — volatile matter content, gravimetric method; in the current accreditation scopes of 13 laboratories
• Coke from hard coal (at AB 313 also petroleum coke) — volatile matter, at AB 550 only for coke (0.1–10.0 %)
• Test accompanying the determination of moisture in the analysis sample (ISO 687 for coke, ISO 11722 for hard coal)

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

ISO 562:2024

Title (PL)

Węgiel kamienny i koks — Oznaczanie zawartości części lotnych (tytuł polskiego wydania PN-ISO 562:2000)

Title (EN)

Hard coal and coke — Determination of volatile matter

Step-by-step procedure

1. Moisture

   Determine the moisture in the analysis sample at the same time as the volatile matter: ISO 687 for coke, ISO 11722 for hard coal (references of the standard).

2. Preparing the furnace

   Establish the position of the stand in the zone of 900 °C ± 5 °C and check the temperature with the unsheathed thermocouple (5.1, 5.2).

3. Heating

   Heat the test portion in a crucible with a fitted lid without access of air at 900 °C for 7 min (clause 3); WE DO NOT GIVE the mass of the test portion or the course of the test (clause 7).

4. Result

   Volatile matter = loss in mass in percent less moisture; WE DO NOT GIVE the formula (clause 8).

Required equipment and apparatus

Reagents, media and consumables

Health and safety (OHS)

• Work at a furnace at 900 °C — gloves and crucible tongs, face shield
• TECHNICAL NOTE: the standard does not cover brown coal and lignite; the Polish edition PN-ISO 562:2000 has been withdrawn since 14-12-2010 — the current edition is ISO 562:2024, with no Polish edition

Frequently asked questions