08:00 Time
8+ hours
Calorimetry 10 min · sulfur 8 min · ash 60 min · volatile 15 min — serialised lab steps stretch half a day, easily a full day.
Fused NIRS-XRF Spectroscopy · AI Deep Learning
2 Minutes. Every Truck, Every Ton.
End-to-end unmanned coal assay — from sampling to report. Collapse the 8-hour lab cycle into 2 minutes, and give your supply chain the transparent, real-time infrastructure it has been waiting for.
- Full-Spec Report
- 2 min
- Core Quality Metrics
- 6
- Consumable-Free
- 0 reagents
- Continuous Online
- 24/7
Why Now
Three frictions that traditional coal testing can no longer afford
National-standard lab protocols burn hours and headcount — while the market demands pay-per-quality settlements in real time.
9 × 3 Labour
9-person shift
Manual sampling, preparation, and hand-off to the lab span at least 3 roles and 9 people per shift — error-prone and tampering-prone.
1 / N Decision
One grab sample
A single grab per truck is statistically weak. Delayed labs mean premium cargo missed, or low-grade coal reaching the furnace.
FAITH Rapid Assay eliminates all three.
Technology
NIRS × XRF fusion, wrapped in AI
Molecular-absorption NIR meets atomic-emission XRF. Organic groups and inorganic elements are modelled jointly — industrial repeatability within national-standard tolerances.
Fusing · AI deep learning
900 – 2500 nm
NIRS (Near-Infrared)
Organic groups · rapid qualitative
C-H N-H C=O
1 – 60 keV
XRF (X-ray Fluorescence)
Inorganic elements · stable quantitative
Si Al Ca Fe
Per-coal-type training
Fusion AI Model
Multi-modal feature fusion
Ash CV Volatile Elements
Microwave Gravimetric Moisture Measurement
Microwave drying with embedded weighing and mass-loss rate calibration, with IR-imaging chamber-temperature feedback and variable-power control — fast drying and accurate moisture, in one chamber.
2025 Group Standard: Rapid Coal Quality Analysis — Fused XRF & NIRS Method
Product
Intelligent Coal Gate Rapid Assay System
Integrated sampling, preparation, and assay — replacing the traditional sample → prep → deliver → lab chain end to end.
Robotic sampler
Bridge-type, robotic-arm, or conveyor sampling — for road and rail coal
Sample transport
Fully enclosed transport line, no human contact, no contamination
Assay lab pod
NIRS + XRF + microwave moisture, temperature and humidity controlled
6 core metrics — all within national-standard tolerance
| Metric | Symbol | Method |
|---|---|---|
| Ash | Aad | XRF |
| Total Sulfur | St,ad | XRF |
| Calorific Value | Qnet,ar | NIRS+XRF Fusion |
| Total Moisture | Mt | Microwave Gravimetric |
| Carbon | Cad | NIRS |
| Hydrogen | Had | NIRS |
Speed leap
8 hours → 2 minutes — faster flow, less dwell
Statistical rigor
Orders of magnitude more samples — representative of the whole cargo
Open integration
APIs for smart-park, washing-plant, coking-plant systems
Lower TCO
Zero reagents, zero manual ops — drastic cost reduction
Use Cases
One system, four ends of the chain
Across coal, power, chemical, and logistics — shorter settlement cycles, sharper blending, flexible furnace-feed control.
Coal Mines
Real-time measurement across mining, washing, and sales — adjust extraction strategy as quality drifts, eliminate disputes.
Responsive mining strategy
Coking & Chemicals
Instant quality read at delivery — match precise feed specs for each process, raise conversion, cut off-spec output.
Pay-per-quality / precise blending
Power Plants
Measure at gate, decide accept/store/return in minutes. Feed real-time data into combustion control — cut coal burn per kWh.
Lower specific fuel consumption
Ports & Rail Hubs
Assay finishes during unloading — quick accept/reject decisions, shorter dwell, faster logistics turnover.
Shorter dwell / fair trading
Timeline
From wet-chemistry standards to fused spectroscopy — 62 years of craft
-
1963
National wet-chemistry method
Four manual lab steps — calorimetry, sulfur, ash, volatile
-
1980
Semi-automated with microcomputers
Data capture automated — sampling still manual
-
1990
γ-ray / neutron activation
Radioactive instruments enter coal assay
-
2005
Single-modality spectroscopy
Early NIRS / LIBS exploration
-
2010
Industrial spectroscopy trials
First production attempts — accuracy and stability still limited
-
2022
First fused-spectroscopy pilot
ILS Shanxi University delivers the first fused-spectroscopy industrial pilot
-
2025
Group standard published
'Rapid Coal Analysis — Fused XRF & NIRS Method' officially released
Research & Credentials
Standing on 60 years of ILS spectroscopy
Core technology from the Institute of Laser Spectroscopy (ILS), Shanxi University — under the State Key Laboratory of Quantum Optics and Quantum Devices, led by Prof. Zhang Lei.
- 0 +
- National Projects
- 973 / 863 / Key R&D / 2030 Megaprojects
- 0 +
- Provincial Projects
- Shanxi / MoST / MoE
- 0 +
- Industry Collaborations
- Energy, environment, equipment
- 0 +
- Academic Papers
- Mostly SCI / EI
- 0 +
- Patents Granted
- Primarily invention patents
Affiliated Laboratory
State Key Laboratory of Quantum Optics · Shanxi University
Principal Investigator
Prof. Zhang Lei · Director of ILS
Policy & Industry
Five national policies — all pointing to rapid assay
Since 2024, China's NEA and NDRC have issued back-to-back directives mandating rapid, transparent, non-destructive coal assay across the supply chain.
-
No.01 Policy
NEA-Coal [2024] No.38
Circular on Strengthening Coal Metrology & Quality Oversight
-
No.02 Policy
NEA-Coal [2025] No.120
Pilot Programme for Rapid Coal Gate Inspection
-
No.03 Policy
NDRC-Ops [2024] No.1345
Regulating the Performance of Long-Term Coal Contracts
-
No.04 Policy
NDRC-Energy [2025] No.363
Guidance on Pay-per-Quality for Power-Station Coal
-
No.05 Policy
NDRC-Env [2024] No.1046
Clean Coal Utilisation & Key Emissions-Reduction Plan
News & Resources
First-hand research, coverage, and whitepapers
Contact & Partnership
Book a demo — or a technical conversation
Based in Taiyuan, serving nationwide. Whether you run a mine, a power plant, a port, or a coking plant — we tailor a solution to your site.