Identification of origin of coal from the Ostrava-Karvina Mining District by infrared spectroscopy and discriminant analysis

Infrared (IR) spectra of coal from five mines of the Ostrava-Karvina Mining District were collected using diffuse reflectance techniques. The spectral data were classified by the application of discriminant analysis. The aim of this paper is to test out identification of coal origin by IR spectroscopy and discriminant analysis. The results of this study confirm that infrared spectroscopy together with multivariate statistical methods could provide a powerful discriminating tool for the identification of origin of the most of coal from the Ostrava-Karvina Mining District.