What is coal and what they are?

The article tells about what coal, what is fossil coal, how it is formed and in what areas is used in our time.

Definition

All at least once, but heard a word such as coal or coal. So what is it? If the answer to this question is to use the explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov, then the following definitions can be found there: coal is a fossil solid combustible substance that was formed from ancient plants. Coals are also called, for example, the remains of burned wood - coals fire, fire, stoves and so on. By the way, to the coal after its burned out, this use is not correct, in this case, its remains are called slag.

Also, answering the question: "What is coals?", It is worth mentioning woody - they have the property of hot smoldering even after a long heat treatment. In ancient times this is their useful property used in the manufacture of iron from ore, as well as smiths to maintain high temperatures in the bugles. And charcoal was used before as one of the constituent elements of black gunpowder. But later, from the classical scheme "saltpeter, sulfur, charcoal" was abandoned in favor of a new smokeless powder. So we figured out what coal is, and we'll look in more detail at the coal mine - a mineral, which in its time helped people make an industrial revolution.

Education

It is worth mentioning the fact that coal was the first mineral that people learned to extract and use.

The formation of its main deposits began, according to scientists, about 400 million years ago. Then, most of the Earth was covered by swamps and tropical forests. Gradually, plant matter accumulated on their bottom, and in future places where water was standing and poor in oxygen, future fossil coals were gradually formed. The first stage was peat, and gradually, under pressure, it was pressed and hardened.

A little later, the widespread formation of this type of fuel ceased. It is believed that the fault is the usual fungi, or rather, mold, which they caused. It was she who splitted the substances that helped the formation of coal. Due to the constant movement of the earth's crust and changes in the continents, some deep seams of coal gradually came out, and people learned to use the mineral - coal.

Industrial Revolution

In the Russian Empire, hard coal was used little, and its main production began in the first half of the XIX century, after the discovery of rich deposits. However, the perspective of this type of fuel was understood by Peter the Great himself.

So, when he was in the Azov campaign, he was shown a black mineral that burned well. Later, beginning in 1722, the tsar's decree organized expeditions to explore its deposits.

What is fossil coal? It is a black, dense but fragile mineral, with a high combustion temperature. It is divided into three types.

The first one is anthracite. The carbon content in it is 95%. The most expensive and high-energy type of this fuel. It is used mainly for industrial needs.

The second one is coal. It was formed from sedimentary rocks, the percentage of carbon in it is 75-95. Also contains a large amount of moisture, because of what ignites and burns not as well as anthracite.

The third and last is brown coal. It is the youngest, formed from peat residues, contains from 65 to 75% of carbon.

In the first half of the XIX century in Russia began extensive extraction and use of this fossil. However, as in the whole world. A new type of fuel made it possible to develop substantially the industry, for example the same smelting of pig iron, which before could not be produced on a large scale.

Extraction and application

It is obtained by two methods: underground and external. The most common is the first, as its outer outcrops on the surface of the earth are quite rare and are rapidly depleted. When underground it is necessary to build mines, where in the depths of the earth coal seams are crushed in various ways, and then they rise outside, where sorting and loading takes place.

This process is associated with a different kind of danger - debris, flooding, methane explosions. In addition, coal dust often contains carcinogenic substances, and miners have to wear respirators that make breathing difficult and, as a consequence, gas exchange in the blood.

Coal is used in a number of industries, beginning with power plants, ending with the usual heating of village houses.

Danger

Despite the low production and high combustion temperature, burning of coal causes significant damage to the environment. This is due to the fact that in the process of combustion, it releases a large amount of carbon dioxide, which exacerbates the greenhouse effect.

So we have figured out what coal is, what they are, what are extracted and what are the spheres of their application. And to this day, this fuel does not go out of use, but its reserves are depleted, which makes one think about looking for alternative sources of energy.