Coal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by underground mining or open-pit mining (strip mining). It is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock. It is composed primarily of carbon along with assorted other elements, including sulfur. Often associated with the Industrial Revolution, coal remains an enormously important fuel and is the largest single source of electricity world-wide. In the United States, for example, the burning of coal generates 50% of the electricity consumed. Coal - Etymol ...

Including:

• Coal - Etymology and folklore
• Coal - Composition
• Coal - Creation
• Coal - Types of coal
• Coal - Uses
• Coal - Coal as fuel
• Coal - Coking and use of coke
• Coal - Harmful effects of coal burning
• Coal - Coal fires
• Coal - World coal reserves

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Clean coal is coal chemically washed of minerals and impurities, sometimes gasified, burned and the resulting flue gases treated with steam and reburned so as to make the carbon dioxide in the flue gas economically recoverable. The carbon dioxide will then be sequestered by some means (several are being explored - see Carbon dioxide sink). The primary example of clean coal is the proposed US FutureGen ...

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A power station or power plant is a facility for the generation of electric power. 'Power plant' is also used to refer to the engine in ships, aircraft and other large vehicles. Some prefer to use the term "energy center" because it more accurately describes what the plants do, which is the conversion of other forms of energy, like chemical energy, into electrical energy. However, "power plant" remains the most commonly used term in American English, while "power stati ...

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Coal - Coal as fuel. See also Clean coal Coal is primarily used as a solid fuel to produce heat through combustion. World coal consumption is about 5,800 million short tons (5.3 petagrams) annually, of which about 75% is used for electricity production. The region including China and India uses about 1,700 million short tons (1.5 Pg) annually, forecast to exceed 3,000 million short tons (2.7 Pg) in 2025. ^{See also:}

Coal, Coal - Etymology and folklore, Coal - Composition, Coal - Creation, Coal - Types of coal, Coal - Uses, Coal - Coal as fuel, Coal - Coking and use of coke, Coal - Harmful effects of coal burning, Coal - Coal fires, Coal - World coal reserves

Read more here: » Coal: Encyclopedia II - Coal - Uses

Four types of gasifier are currently available for commercial use: counter-current fixed bed, co-current fixed bed, fluid bed and entrained flow. The counter-current fixed bed ("up draft") gasifier consists of a fixed bed of carbonaceous fuel (e.g. coal or biomass) through which the "gasification agent" (steam, oxygen and/or air) flows in counter-current configuration. The ash is either removed dry or as a slag. The slagging gasifiers require a higher ratio of steam and oxygen to carbon in order to reach temperatures higher tha ...

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Gasification, Gasification - Gasification processes

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The word "coal" came from Anglo-Saxon col, which meant charcoal. Coal was not mined in Britain before late Middle Ages; i.e. after ca. 1000 AD. Mineral coal was referred to as sea-coal, either because it was found on beaches occasionally having fallen from the exposed coal seams above or washed out of underwater coal seam outcrops, or because it was easier to transport by sea rather than on the very poor road system; in London, England there is still a Seacoal Lane (off the north side of Ludgate Hill) whe ...

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Coal, Coal - Etymology and folklore, Coal - Composition, Coal - Creation, Coal - Types of coal, Coal - Uses, Coal - Coal as fuel, Coal - Coking and use of coke, Coal - Harmful effects of coal burning, Coal - Coal fires, Coal - World coal reserves

Read more here: » Coal: Encyclopedia II - Coal - Etymology and folklore

Carbon forms more than 50 percent by weight and more than 70 percent by volume of coal (this includes inherent moisture). This is dependent on coal rank, with higher rank coals containing less hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, until 95% purity of carbon is achieved at Anthracite rank and above. Graphite formed from coal is the end-product of the thermal and diagenetic conversion of plant matter (50% b ...

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Coal, Coal - Etymology and folklore, Coal - Composition, Coal - Creation, Coal - Types of coal, Coal - Uses, Coal - Coal as fuel, Coal - Coking and use of coke, Coal - Harmful effects of coal burning, Coal - Coal fires, Coal - World coal reserves

Read more here: » Coal: Encyclopedia II - Coal - Composition

It has been estimated that, as of 1996, there is around one exagram (1 × 1015 kg) of total coal reserves accessible using current mining technology, approximately half of it being hard coal. The energy value of all the world's coal is well over 100,000 quadrillion Btu (100 zettajoules). There probably is enough coal to last for 300 years. However, this estimate assumes no rise in population, and no increased use of coal to attempt to compensate for the depletion of natural gas and petroleum. A recent (2003) study by scientist Gre ...

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Coal, Coal - Etymology and folklore, Coal - Composition, Coal - Creation, Coal - Types of coal, Coal - Uses, Coal - Coal as fuel, Coal - Coking and use of coke, Coal - Harmful effects of coal burning, Coal - Coal fires, Coal - World coal reserves

Read more here: » Coal: Encyclopedia II - Coal - World coal reserves

The word "coal" came from Anglo-Saxon col, which meant charcoal. Coal was not mined in Britain before the late Middle Ages; i.e. after ca. 1000 AD. Mineral coal was referred to as sea-coal, either because it was found on beaches occasionally having fallen from the exposed coal seams above or washed out of underwater coal seam outcrops, or because it was easier to transport by sea rather than on the very poor road system; in London, England there is still a Seacoal Lane (off the north side of Ludgate Hill) wh ...

See also:

Coal, Coal - Etymology and folklore, Coal - Composition, Coal - Creation, Coal - Types of coal, Coal - Uses, Coal - Coal as fuel, Coal - Coking and use of coke, Coal - Harmful effects of coal burning, Coal - Coal fires, Coal - World coal reserves

Read more here: » Coal: Encyclopedia II - Coal - Etymology and folklore

It has been estimated that, as of 1996, there is around one exagram (1 × 1015 kg) of total coal reserves economically accessible using current mining technology, approximately half of it being hard coal. The energy value of all the world's coal is well over 100,000 quadrillion Btu (100 zettajoules). There probably is enough coal to last for 300 years. However, this estimate assumes no rise in population, and no increased use of coal to attempt to compensate for the depletion of natural gas and petroleum. A recent (2003) study by ...

See also:

Coal, Coal - Etymology and folklore, Coal - Composition, Coal - Creation, Coal - Types of coal, Coal - Uses, Coal - Coal as fuel, Coal - Coking and use of coke, Coal - Harmful effects of coal burning, Coal - Coal fires, Coal - World coal reserves

Read more here: » Coal: Encyclopedia II - Coal - World coal reserves

Carbon forms more than 50 percent by weight and more than 70 percent by volume of coal (this includes inherent moisture). This is dependant on coal rank, with higher rank coals containing less hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, until 95% purity of carbon is achieved at Anthracite rank and above. Graphite formed from coal is the end-product of the thermal and diagenetic conversion of plant matter (50% b ...

See also:

Coal, Coal - Etymology and folklore, Coal - Composition, Coal - Creation, Coal - Types of coal, Coal - Uses, Coal - Coal as fuel, Coal - Coking and use of coke, Coal - Harmful effects of coal burning, Coal - Coal fires, Coal - World coal reserves

Read more here: » Coal: Encyclopedia II - Coal - Composition

There are hundreds of coal fires burning around the world.[8] Those burning underground can be difficult to locate and many can not be extinguished. Fires can cause the ground above to subside, combustion gases are dangerous to life, and breaking out to the surface can initiate surface wildfires. Coal seams can be set on fire by spontaneous combustion or contact with a mine fire or surface fire. A grass fire in a coal area can ...

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Coal, Coal - Etymology and folklore, Coal - Composition, Coal - Creation, Coal - Types of coal, Coal - Uses, Coal - Coal as fuel, Coal - Coking and use of coke, Coal - Harmful effects of coal burning, Coal - Coal fires, Coal - World coal reserves

Read more here: » Coal: Encyclopedia II - Coal - Coal fires

Coal is formed from plant remains that have been compacted, hardened, chemically altered, and metamorphosed by heat and pressure over geologic time. Coal was formed in swamp ecosystems which persisted in lowland sedimentary basins similar to the peat swamps of Borneo and Kalimantan today. These swamp environments were formed during slow subsidence of passive continental margins, and most seem to have formed adjacent to estuarine and marine sediments suggesting that they may have ...

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Coal, Coal - Etymology and folklore, Coal - Composition, Coal - Creation, Coal - Types of coal, Coal - Uses, Coal - Coal as fuel, Coal - Coking and use of coke, Coal - Harmful effects of coal burning, Coal - Coal fires, Coal - World coal reserves

Read more here: » Coal: Encyclopedia II - Coal - Creation