Man has been using coal fuel since ancient times. Coal is actively used in modern times, in the fuel and energy complex it is in the first three raw materials along with oil and gas.
How did coal deposits form?
Coal deposits were formed in places of huge green areas. This is an ancient organics that remained after the death of tree plantings. In order for dead plants to become coal, certain conditions are necessary: woody residues should not decay under the influence of bacteria. This is possible only if they get under swamp water, and then under the ground, where oxygen does not enter. Coal is considered a natural resource mined from rock formations occurring at various depths.
How are coal deposits found and developed?
Places where there is coal on the planet have long been explored. Its reserves in different countries are huge, they will be enough for the needs of heating and industry for almost three centuries. But according to geologists, there may be more, since not all parts of the world carried out deep geological exploration for the presence of coal fuel. The development of coal deposits is relevant and brings tangible income to the states that are engaged in the extraction of this solid black gold. The process of developing deposits is carried out depending on the terrain and the depth of the coal seams.
Coal mining methods
Open way
The open method is coal mines which, as a rule, have huge sizes and impressive depth. The process is an autopsy of the upper layers of the earth's crust, under which there is a coal deposit. The roof is removed using draglines - excavators of high power. At the open section, rotary excavators begin to work, which extract minerals using buckets. Then comes the loading into wagons or trucks.
Underground mining
Underground mining is the construction of mines leading to huge coal basins. They have many branches, are multi-tiered. The efficiency of such workings is much higher than in opencast mines; coal is mined better, because it has fewer impurities. But this method is dangerous, since gas escapes, flooding, collapses are possible.
Hydraulic coal mining
The hydraulic method of developing coal deposits is considered the most modern. It began to be used relatively recently in the 30s of the last century. But it optimally replaces the dangerous work of miners, since coal is fed upstream from the face using a pressurized water stream. For this, special equipment is used - hydraulic monitors and pumps. A jet of water both breaks off the coal and transports it through a system of pipes or gutters in drifts. At the same time, groundwater is used, which saves money spent on the extraction process.
The most economical way is considered to be open mining, the mining method is the most expensive one, experts call the hydraulic technology a medium-cost development and promising for the future.
Varieties of coal
The conversion of wood deposits into coal goes through two stages.First peat is formed, and coal is formed from it. Coalification is the hardening of peat at the bottom of swamps under the influence of high pressure temperatures and a long time period. Becoming a mineral, coal rocks absorb gases, moisture, and carbon. Depending on the age (degree of coalification) and the contained components, coal can be of different types.
Lignite (brown coal)
Lignite (brown coal) - the first degree of coalification - from brown to black, fibrous, burns well in industrial furnaces, but is unsuitable for heating homes; fossil fuels (sub-bituminous and bituminous) with a low-fiber structure, highly heat-resistant, are used in energy and in housing and communal services.
Anthracite and graphite
Anthracite - has a black resinous color, the highest carbon content and high calorific value, is the best raw material for heating; Graphite is a porous charcoal.
Coal reserves in Russia
Russia owns 5.5% of global coal reserves. On our territory there are all its varieties, the most promising coal basins are Kuzbass, Kansk-Achinsky, Pechorsky, Donetsk (Rostov Oblast), Irkutsk-Cheremkhovsky, Yuzhno-Yakutsky. Coal deposits of Primorye, Transbaikalia and the Novosibirsk Region are beginning to be actively developed.
Modern
