Description

Coal – Is a type of nonrenewable energy source because it will take millions of

years to form. According to [ CITATION Eia20 \l 1033 ] “Coals are layers of dirt and rock that
covered the plants over millions of years. The resulting pressure and heat turned the
plants into the substance we call coal.” There are four types of coal and it can be
classified based on its carbon content if it contains about 86% to 97% the coal is
Anthracite,

Anthracite has the highest heating value among the four. According to [ CITATION
Ott98 \l 1033 ] anthracites usually occur in geologically deformed areas, such as in the
intensely folded sedimentary rocks of the anthracite region of Pennsylvania, their origin
is due to higher than normal heating caused by the presence of nearby igneous
intrusions or high geothermal gradients. It is mainly used in metallurgical industries. The
next one is called

Bituminous, it contains about 45% to 86% of carbon this type of coal is used to
generate electricity and is the most abundant of them all. In the study of [ CITATION
Mor12 \l 1033 ] Bituminous coals are divided into three major types base on its usage
Smithing coal are used for forging because it has low ash content, Cannel coal which is
a great source coal oil in the 19th century this type of oil is used as a fuel for streetlights
and other illumination back then, and lastly the cooking coal this coal is used in
industrial processes. In addition to that bituminous coal accounts for almost half of all
the coal that is used for energy in the United States. It is mainly mined in Kentucky,
Pennsylvania, and West Virginia and in outside the U.S., nations such as Russia and
Colombia.

Subbituminous has about 35% to 45% of carbon content and also [ CITATION
Mor12 \l 1033 ] states that “In many parts of the world, sub-bituminous coal is considered
brown coal, along with lignite.” Because like lignite, sub-bituminous coal is mainly used
as fuel for generating electricity.

Lignite contains 25%–35% carbon and has the lowest energy content of all coal
ranks. According to [ CITATION Eia20 \l 1033 ] there are about 51% mined in North Dakota
and about 41% was mined in Texas. The other 9% was produced in Louisiana,
Mississippi, and Montana and a facility in Dakota is converting lignite into synthetic
natural gas for eastern United States to consume.

Below is a graphical representation on how long it will take to produce coals.

Figure 1.1

(Source: Britannica)

Fuel harvesting

Harvesting coals would be tricky because even though almost every continent
can harvest coal there are limited mining corporations that would like to risk it all in
mining it is because it is not guaranteed that the spot they would choose could harvest
tons of coals and would not just destroy the ecosystem of that location. According to
[ CITATION Mor12 \l 1033 ] Coal exists in underground formations called “coal seams” or
“coal beds.” A coal seam can be as thick as 30 meters (90 feet) and stretch 1,500
kilometers (920 miles) and there are two types of coal extraction these are Surface
mining and underground mining. In surface mining, the ground covering the coal seam
would be removed so that the coal seam would be exposed and be ready for extraction.
These operation follows this steps first is topsoil removal second step is drilling and
blasting the strata that is covering the coal seam then after removing the spoils drilling
and blasting the coal seam itself would be the next step after harvesting the coal seam
the next step is returning or backfilling the spoil then the topsoil after those steps the
firm is required to establish vegetation and ensuring control of soil erosion and to
monitor the water quality of the area.

Figure 1.2

Figure 1.2 shows how they remove the topsoil and spoils to uncover the
coal seam.

(Source: Kentucky coal Education)

Figure 1.3

Figure 1.3 shows how the extraction of coal is done by using the process of
surface mining.
 (Source: Pinterest)

Figure 1.4

Schematic depiction of the unit operations in the surface coal mine.

(Source: Royal Utilities)

While in underground mining is usually by the room and pillar mining.

According to [ CITATION Inc07 \l 1033 ] “the coal seam is accessed by both a slope
and a shaft, shown on the right. The ventilation fan arrangement is shown
adjacent to the surface opening of the shaft. The shaft has an elevator for
lowering and raising miners and materials. Coal gathered from the workings by
various conveyors is transported to the surface by the slope conveyor. The
surface features shown are the raw coal storage silo fed by the slope conveyor,
the coal preparation plant (the building on the left), the clean coal storage silos in
the front, and the train load out. A longwall section and a room-and-pillar
continuous miner section are shown. The room-and-pillar section is a five-entry
development with rows of four pillars. The longwall face is between two three
entry developments.”
 Figure 1.5

(Source: Coal Research and Development)

Firgure 1.5 is the schematic representation of an underground mine workings.

Fuel processing

Coal processing, raw coals is cleared using different physical processes using
with or without chemical reagents coals can be a product which is sold in the market for
numerous purposes such as power generation, forging metals, and so on. The freshly
mined coals goes to preparation plant where it is washed and cleaned in order to
remove contaminants this process will also remove the ashes, rocks, sulfur, and other
impurities. Some coals undergo crushing, it is a required process in order to break
lumps and then be mixed in water to be transported through pipelines where sizes are
limited then later undergoes screening and beneficiation. The screening process will
separate the coarse and fine coals in this step the two type of coals will undergo
different processes because specific markets and industry usage will require a unique
process for example screened coal is ideal for burning in horizontal kilns while coarser
coals is required by customers who burn coal in grate-fired applications. During
beneficiation coals are tend to be processed in a way that impurities, ashes, and sulfur
are being reduced. This process improves the market value of the coals. Simply the
major steps in processing coals are Crushing, Screening into different size factions,
Physical, chemical or mechanical processes to remove undesired impurities,
Dewatering, Thermal drying, Blending, Agglomeration.
 End Users

According to [ CITATION The19 \l 1033 ]

Registered end-users:

For construction and metallurgical purposes these are some international companies
that are members of CoalTrans Conferences

 CIMSA Cimento Sanayi ve Ticaret

 CMC - Commercial Metals Company
 Tata Steel
 Titan Cement Group
 Tizir Titanium & Iron AS
 Skonto Metals
 Re Alloys sp. z o.o.
 EMDAD for Industrial Supplies and Services

While these companies’ uses coals for electricity purposes

 Energie Steiermark Business GmbH

 HEP Proizvodnja
 International Energy Agency
 LafargeHolcim Group
 Office National de l' Electricite et de L'Eau Potable (ONEE)
 Power Plant Plomin
References
Eia Independent Statistics and Analysis. (2020, October 8). Retrieved from U.S Energy
Information Administration:
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/coal/#:~:text=Coal%20takes%20millions
%20of%20years%20to%20form&text=Coal%20contains%20the%20energy
%20stored,the%20substance%20we%20call%20coal.

Inc., CONSOL Energy. (2007). Coal Research and Development to Support National
Energy Policy . Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Kopp, O. C. (1998, july 20). Britannica. Retrieved from

https://www.britannica.com/science/anthracite

Mores, C., & Turgeon , A. (2012, December 22). National Geographic . Retrieved from
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/coal/#:~:text=Bituminous
%20coal%20accounts%20for%20almost,for%20energy%20and%20industrial
%20fuel.&text=Anthracite%20is%20the%20highest%20rank%20of%20coal.

RPM Solutions. (2021). RPM Solutions. Retrieved from http://www.rpmsolve.com/:

https://www.rpmsolve.com/coal-processing

The World Coal Leaders Network. (2019, October 22). CoalTrans Conferences .
Retrieved from https://www.coaltrans.com/events/the-world-coal-leaders-
network-2019/end-users