Facts about Coal
The term "pine cone" was first recorded in 1695 to replace the original meaning of "pineapple."
Coke is a solid, carbonaceous residue derived from low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal.
Another explanation is that it was occasionally found on beaches, having fallen from exposed coal seams above or washed out of underwater coal seam outcrops.
Coal-fired power plants represent the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions, which is thought to be a major cause of global warming.
Coal has also been called pitcoal, indicating that it came from pits, that is, mines.
Longwall systems can have a 60–80 percent coal recovery rate, when the surrounding geology permits their use.
The most economical of methods of coal extraction from coal seams depends on the depth and quality of the seams, and also the geology and environmental conditions of the area being mined.
Coal can also be converted into liquid fuels like gasoline or diesel by several different processes.
Evidence of the types of plants that contributed to carbonaceous deposits can occasionally be found in the shale and sandstone sediments that overlie coal deposits and in the coal.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, coal mining is not even among the top 10 most dangerous occupations in America per capita.
Byproducts of this conversion of coal to coke include coal-tar, ammonia, light oils, and "coal-gas."
Coke from coal is gray, hard, and porous and has a heating value of 24.8 million Btu/ton (29.6 MJ/kg).
Continuous mining accounts for about 45 percent of underground coal production.
Gasification is also a possibility for future energy use, as it generally burns hotter and cleaner than conventional coal and can drive a more efficient gas turbine rather than a steam turbine.
Coal is coked at temperatures between 450 and 700 °C, compared to 800 to 1000 °C for metallurgical coke.
Fossil evidence is best preserved in lignites and sub-bituminous coals, though fossils in anthracite are not too rare.
An alternative view is that Eurasia is a single continent, one of six continents in total.
A dream of burning coals has been thought to symbolize disappointment, trouble, affliction, and loss, but a dream showing brightly burning coals was taken to indicate the promise of upliftment and advancement.
Historically, coal mining has been a dangerous activity, leading to many deaths.
Wild coal fires in the area were reported by the Lewis and Clark expedition as well as explorers and settlers in the area.
The annual consumption of coal worldwide is about 5,800 million short tons (5.3 petagrams (Pg)), of which about 75 percent is used to produce electricity.
A coal mine and its accompanying structures are collectively known as a colliery.
High prices of oil and natural gas are leading to increased interest in technologies such as coal gasification and liquefacation.
Coal mining processes are generally differentiated by whether they operate on the surface or underground.
Pilots, truck and taxi drivers, loggers, fishermen, roofers, and workers in other occupations face greater on-the-job risks than coal miners.
The combustion of coal produces carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), with varying amounts of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and other pollutants, depending on where it was mined.
When the coal has significant sulfur content, the coal heaps generate highly acidic, metal-rich drainage when exposed to normal rainfall.
Methane in coal is dangerous, as it can cause coal seams to explode, especially in underground mines, and may cause the coal to burn spontaneously.
Coal also contains low levels of radium, uranium, thorium, and other naturally occurring radioactive isotopes.
Most coal seams are too deep underground for open-cast mining and thus this type of mining is therefore called underground mining.
Shortwall mining: Accounting for less than 1 percent of deep coal production, shortwall mining involves the use of a continuous mining machine with moveable roof supports, similar to longwall.
Coal liquefaction is one of the "backstop technologies" that could potentially limit the escalation of oil prices and mitigate the effects of transportation energy shortages.
Coal fires in China burn 120 million tons of coal a year, emitting 360 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.
The waste products of burning coal include fly ash, bottom ash, and boiler slag.
According to his model, which remains a minority viewpoint, black coal is continually created by bacteria living on upwelling methane and other hydrocarbons under the Earth's crust.
Coal is a black or brownish-black sedimentary rock composed primarily of carbon, along with other assorted substances, including sulfur.
Children are sometimes led to believe that if they are naughty, Santa Claus would leave a lump of coal instead of gifts in their Christmas stockings.
Gasification breaks down coal into its components, usually by subjecting it to high temperature and pressure, using steam and measured amounts of oxygen.
The disappearance of coal is expected to occur much later, around the year 2267, assuming other factors do not change.
Coal is the fastest growing energy source in the world (BP Statistical Energy Review, June 2005).
Lignite and other low-ranking coals contain a considerable amount of water and other components known as "macerals."
Gasification produces a much higher concentration of carbon dioxide than direct combustion of coal in air (which is mostly nitrogen).
To mitigate these problems in developed countries, the quality of water is continuously monitored at coal mines.
When used to generate electricity, coal is usually pulverized and burned in a furnace connected to a water boiler.
The energy value of all the world's coal is well over 100,000 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) (or 100 zettajoules).
To prevent spontaneous combustion, coal is usually mined wet and may be stored wet.
Chemical and physical processes convert lignite successively into sub-bituminous coal, bituminous coal, anthracite, and graphite.
The United States consumes about 1,100 million short tons (1.0 Pg) of coal each year, using 90 percent of it for generation of electricity.
The continuous miner shears coal panels 150–200 feet wide and more than a half-mile long, depending on geological conditions.
Continuous mining: It utilizes a machine with a large rotating steel drum equipped with tungsten carbide teeth that scrape coal from the seam.
To eliminate CO2 emissions from coal plants, carbon capture and storage has been proposed but has yet to be commercially used.
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) was formed in 1911 to provide a location for the federal capital of Canberra (Melbourne was the capital from 1901 to 1927).
The plural "coals" is conventionally used for types of coal, or for pieces of burning coal, charcoal, or wood.
All forms of mining are likely to generate areas where coal is stacked.
The longwall shearer, with a face of 1,000 feet or more, is a sophisticated machine with a rotating drum that moves mechanically back-and-forth across a wide coal seam.
Estimates of the cost of producing liquid fuels from coal suggest that domestic U.S. production of fuel from coal becomes cost-competitive with oil priced at around 35 USD per barrel, (break-even cost).
To date, only three fossils have been found in graphite seams created from coal.
The most economical of methods of coal extraction from coal seams depends on the depth and quality of the seams, and also the geology and environmental conditions of the area being mined.
During World War I and World War II, Germany used the Bergius process for the direct liquefaction of coal by a reaction called hydrogenation.
The greatest coal-forming period in geologic history was the Carboniferous era (280 to 345 million years ago).
Carbon constitutes more than 50 percent by weight and more than 70% by volume of coal (which includes inherent moisture).
Other constituents of coals include mineral matter, usually silicate minerals—such as clays, illite, and kaolinite—as well as carbonate minerals like siderite, calcite, and aragonite.
China, which leads the world in the production and consumption of coal, has the highest number of deaths related to coal mining worldwide, with official estimates of around 6,000 fatalities in 2004.
According to the generally accepted model, coal originated from plant remains that were compacted, hardened, and transformed by heat, pressure, and chemical reactions over geologic time.
The volatile constituents of this coal are driven off by baking in an oven without oxygen at temperatures as high as 1,000 °C, so that the fixed carbon and residual ash are fused together.
Coal was gasified to make syngas (a balanced mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas), and the syngas was condensed using catalysts to make light hydrocarbons that were further processed into gasoline and diesel.
Coal mining and abandoned mines also emit methane, another gas associated with global warming.
The loosened coal falls onto a pan line that takes the coal to the conveyor belt for removal from the work area.
Coal seams can be set on fire by spontaneous combustion or contact with a mine fire or surface fire.
Much of the moisture is incidental and is trapped between the coal particles.
South Africa still uses gasification of coal for much of its petrochemical needs.
Sensors detect how much coal remains in the seam, while robotic controls enhance efficiency.
The energy in coal comes from energy that was stored in giant plants that lived hundreds of millions of years ago in swamp forests, even before the dinosaurs! When these giant plants and ferns died, they formed layers at the bottom of the swamps. Water and dirt began to pile up on top of the dead plant remains.
Heat and pressure produced chemical and physical changes in the plant layers which forced out oxygen and left rich carbon deposits. In time, material that had been plants became coal. Coals are classified into three main ranks, or types: lignite, bituminous coal, and anthracite.
Anthracite differs from ordinary bituminous coal by its greater hardness (2.75–3 on the Mohs scale), its higher relative density of 1.3–1.4, and luster, which is often semi-metallic with a mildly brown reflection. It contains a high percentage of fixed carbon and a low percentage of volatile matter.
Coal is used primarily as an energy source, either for heat or electricity. It was once heavily used to heat homes and power locomotives and factories. Bituminous coal is also used to produce coke for making steel and other industrial process heating.
The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure. Coal is composed primarily of carbon, along with variable quantities of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Uses of coal. Coal has many important uses worldwide. The most significant uses of coal are in electricity generation, steel production, cement manufacturing and as a liquid fuel. Steam coal - also known as thermal coal - is mainly used in power generation.
Among the fossil fuels, coal is the most widely used fuel in power plants. Coal fired power plants boiler use different kinds of machinery that convert heat energy produced from combustion into mechanical energy. Coal, gas, and oil are the fossil fuels responsible for most of the world's electricity and energy demands.Aug 5, 2015
Coal contains the most CO2 per BTU, the largest contributor to global warming. Severe environmental, social and health and safety impacts of coal mining. High cost of transporting coal to centralized power plants. Coal ash is a hazard and a disposal problem.Apr 9, 2012
There are many advantages and disadvantages of using coal energy to produce electricity. Its advantages and disadvantages are the following: Advantages of using coal to produce electricity: Coal energy is an affordable energy source because of the coal's stable price compared to other fuel sources. Coal is easy to burn.Feb 1, 2011
Cheapest source of energy. It is by far cheaper than nuclear, natural gas, oil. ... Unlike other forms of energy (nuclear, natural gas, oil, hydroelectric), coal provides many jobs in removing coal from the earth, transporting it to the utility, burning it, and properly disposing of coal ash. Coal is American made.