Thermal study of sandstones from different Czech localities

Abstract

Thermal analysis is a useful tool for determination of the rock‘s thermal behavior. The thermal behavior of the rock is affected by both its composition and structure. This study presents the application of thermogravimetric, differential thermal, and thermomechanical analyses for the characterization of the selected Czech sandstone samples. The detailed study of mineralogical composition was carried out by FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and optical microscopy. Thermal expansion during heating up to 1,000 °C, together with the coefficient of thermal expansion showed almost the same values for all the studied sandstone samples. Nevertheless, the residual thermal expansion varied depending mainly on the composition. In the case of higher content of quartz, the thermal expansion showed higher values. With increase of carbonate, glauconite, or clay mineral volume, the residual thermal expansion decreased. Factors such as grain size or shape of particles did not significantly influence the observed thermal expansion values.