All of us want an affordable and reliable energy source which we can only get by using coal energy. Although using coal energy is very significant for us and living without it would become impossible, we should always open our minds to the damage the continuous use of coal energy will eventually bring to us and to our environment.
2. Presentation layout
Introduction History Coal Formation Classification
Working Advantages Potential issues
Laws &
Legislations
Cleaner
production
Techniques
Conclusion
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3. Introduction
Coal is a brown or black, carbon-rich material that most
often occurs in stratified sedimentary deposits. It is one
of the most important of the primary fossil fuels
There are over 861 billion tons of proven coal reserves
worldwide.
This much coal will last us around 112 years at current
rates of production.
In contrast, proven oil and gas reserves are equivalent
to around 46 and 54 years at current production levels.
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5. Cont…
• North America and Asia possess over 25% and
Europe about 30% of the world's coal reserves.
• North American reserves are about half
bituminous coal and half sub-
bituminous/lignite.
• Asia has a significantly higher proportion of
bituminous coal and sub-bituminous/lignite
coals are more prevalent in European reserves,
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7. Pakistan Coal Reserves
Sindh 186.560 billion tons
Thar 175 billion tons
Balochistan 217 million tons
KPK 90 million tons
Azad Kashmir 9 million tons
Punjab 235 million tons
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8. History
Coal is the fuel of industrial revolution.
Coal has a long history of use as an energy source.
It still is an important fuel for electrical generation.
Historically, the Greeks, Romans and Chinese were
early users of coal.
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9. Timeline
2000BC
• Chinese first to use coal as an energy source
1600s
• Development of coal coke in England aids iron production and helps to
pave the way for the industrial revolution
1700s
• Coal begins to displace use of other energies
1748
• First commercial coal production in US begins in Richmond, Virginia
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10. Cont…
1830
• Coal Becomes Primary Locomotive (Train) Fuel in US, Displacing
Wood
1830s
• First Coal Powered Iron Forges Are Developed in New England
2007
• Plans Announced to Build FutureGen, the Worlds First Zero Emissions
Coal Power Plant
2014
• Rockefellers and over 800 Global Investors Announce Fossil Fuel
Divestment
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11. Coal Formation
Coal is formed when peat is altered physically and chemically.
This process is called coalification
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12. Cont…
Peat undergoes several changes as a
result of bacterial decay,
compaction, heat, and time.
Peat consist of
pristine plant parts to decayed
plants
Decay products
Charcoal
Peat deposits typically form in a
waterlogged environment where
plant debris accumulated; peat bogs
and peat swamps are examples.
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13. Cont…
The stages proceed through plant debris to peat, lignite, sub-bituminous coal, bituminous coal,
anthracite coal, to graphite (a pure carbon mineral).
The gaseous products expelled from the deposit, and the deposit becomes more and more
carbon-rich.
Continued burial and the addition of heat and time cause the complex hydrocarbon compounds
in the peat to break down and alter in a variety of ways.
Peat is buried by sediment. Burial compacts the peat and, consequently water is squeezed out.
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14. Optimum Conditions
The bacterial decay rate is limited by oxygen in
organic-rich water is completely used up by the
decaying process.
It is estimated that it took 10 vertical feet of original
peat material to produce 1 vertical foot of bituminous
coal.
The peat to coal ratio is variable and dependent on the
Original type of peat
Rank of the coal
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16. Cont…
Type Carbon (%)
Volatile matter
(%)
Use
Anthracite 86 to 98 8 to 3 To heat homes
Bituminous 70 to 86 46 to 31
To make coke, used
in metallurgy
Sub-bituminous 70 to 76 53 to 42 In industrial boilers
Lignite 65 to 70 63 to 53
In industrial boilers
Peat less than 60 ---- For heating
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17. Working Principle
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A coal power station turns the chemical energy
in coal into electrical energy that can be used
in homes and businesses.
20. Advantages
Coal as an energy source
Chemical feedstock of various synthetic
compounds
Coke production
Major source of energy in electricity
production
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21. Potential issues
Coal mining hazards
Each year hundreds of coal miners lose their lives due
to roof falls, rock bursts, fires and explosions.
Environmental damage
Exposed areas during mining weathered rapidly
Acid mine drainage caused marked reductions in the
numbers of plants and animals living in the vicinity
Release significant amount of green house gases
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22. Cont…
Health damage
Repeated inhalation of coal dust over extended
periods of time can result in serious health problems
e.g. black lung
Economical damage
The establishment of coal mines seriously upsets a
region's the groundwater regime.
This can then hamper with a region's future
agricultural production.
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23. Reputed incidents
US Worst Coal Ash Spill Dec. 22, 2008
1.3 million cubic meters (1.7 million cubic yards) of fly ash
released
The spill buried some 120 hectares (300 acres) in sludge, and
even knocked a nearby home completely off its foundation.
Estimates of the time required to clean up the spill ranged from
weeks to years.
London's historic "Black Fog’’ Dec. 5-9 ,1952
4,000 London citizens died from inhaling sulfur dioxide gas.
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24. Laws & Legislations
1985
Clean coal technology program to decrease the effect of acid rain by
Canada and America
Mar. 27, 2012
Us EPA First Clean Air Act for newer power plants
June 2, 2014
EPA Proposes First Ever Rules to Reduce Carbon Emissions from Existing
Power Plants
Since the 1970s, stricter laws have significantly reduced the environmental
damage caused by coal mining in developed countries, though more-severe
damage continues to occur in many developing countries.
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26. Need to clean??
Coal is not a perfect fuel.
There are traces of impurities like sulfur and nitrogen.
When coal burns impurities are released and cause
"acid rain."
There are also tiny specks of minerals e.g. common
dirt mixed in coal. These tiny particles don't burn and
make up the ash left behind in a coal combustor.
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27. Coal Cleaner Technology
Fluidized Bed Boiler
In a fluidized bed boiler, crushed coal particles
float inside the boiler, suspended on upward-
blowing jets of air. The red-hot mass of floating
coal called the "bed" would bubble and tumble
around like boiling lava inside a volcano.
The tumbling action allows limestone to be
mixed in with the coal. Limestone is a sulfur
sponge & captures the sulfur.
1400 degrees isn't hot enough, so very little NOx
forms in a fluidized bed boiler.
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28. Cont…
Crushing and washing coal
The Cleanest Coal Technology - a Real Gas
The breaking down of coal and conversions of its
component into gas
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One of the most advanced - and cleanest -
coal power plants in the world is Tampa
Electric's Polk Power Station in Florida.
Rather than burning coal, it turns coal into a
gas that can be cleaned of almost all
pollutants.
29. Conclusion
All of us want an affordable and reliable energy
source which we can only get by using coal energy.
Although using coal energy is very significant for us
and living without it would become impossible, we
should always open our minds to the damage the
continuous use of coal energy will eventually bring to
us and to our environment.
29
