Coal dust: Encyclopedia - Coal dust

Coal dust

Coal dust is a fine powder form of coal. Because of the brittle nature of coal, coal dust may occur during mining or transportation, or whenever coal is handled mechanically.

Coal dust - Risks

• Coal dust suspended in air is explosive. Coal dust has far more surface area per unit weight than chunks of coal, and is more susceptible to spontaneous combustion. Note this may mean that a nearly empty coal store is a greater explosion risk than a full one.
• Coal workers' Pneumoconiosis, or black lung disease, is caused by inhaling coal dust, typically dust produced in coal mining.

Coal dust - Coal dust in energy generation

For use in thermal power plants, coal is ground into dust which is then put into the boiler and burned for thermal energy. Water in tubes around the boiler is heated, producing steam. Steam under high pressure is directed towards turbine blades producing rotation. Mechanical energy from the turbine turns the generator which produces electric energy.

Category: Coal

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Coal dust", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki