Patent ID: 7708213

Claim:
A method of providing a controlled batch of micrometer-sized or nanometer-sized coal material, comprising: (a) specifying at least one desired physical and/or chemical parameter of the controlled batch of coal material; (b) specifying the desired range of the physical and/or chemical parameter in the controlled batch of coal material; (c) obtaining a feedstock batch of coal material; and (d) processing a feedstock batch of coal material to obtain the controlled batch of coal material having the at least one specified physical and/or chemical parameter in the specified range thereof by: introducing the feedstock batch of coal material to a beneficiation step to eliminate specified unwanted materials, thereby creating beneficiated coal material; introducing the beneficiated coal material to a classification step to concentrate particles of the beneficiated coal material at a targeted mean size, thereby creating classified coal material; deliberately producing at least one particle size distribution from the classified coal material with defined top size and bottom size, thereby creating a distributed coal material; and transferring the distributed coal material to a characterization step to determine physical and/or chemical parameters of the distributed coal material, thereby providing the controlled batch of coal material.