Difference Between Charcoal and Coal

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Dunee

Charcoal vs Coal
Charcoal consists of the element carbon. Carbonic compounds are abundant in
plants, animals and other living organisms. Therefore, as they die, these carbonic
compounds are ultimately converted to other carbonic compounds. Charcoal and
coal are two such products.

Charcoal
When water and other volatile substances are removed from the carbonic
compounds, the resulting product is charcoal. Charcoal is in the solid form, and it
has a dark grey color. It contains ash; therefore, charcoal doesn’t have carbon in
its pure form. Charcoal is mainly produced by pyrolysis. This is a method, where
organic materials are decomposed at high temperatures in the absence of oxygen.
Therefore, the chemical compositions and the physical phase of the matter will
change very fast. For example, by heating wood we can obtain charcoal. There are
few types of charcoal. They are as follows.

• Lump charcoal
• Extruded charcoal
• Japanese charcoal
• Briquettes

There are many usages to charcoal. It has a long history; from very old time
charcoal has been used as a fuel. Today also it is used as an important fuel in
homes and industries. Charcoal can produce high heat energy since charcoal
burns at high temperatures. Charcoal is also added to soil to improve the soil
quality. In medicine, charcoal is used to treat gastric problems. Though there are
many usages, charcoal production has negative impacts on the environment. This
is a threat to the forests as the rate of deforestation is becoming higher in areas
where charcoal is produced.

Coal
Coal is a fossil fuel similar to natural gas and oil, which is in a solid rock form. Coal
is formed by collecting plant debris in swamps. The process takes thousands of
years. When plant materials are collected on swamps, they are degraded very
slowly. Normally swamp water doesn’t have a higher oxygen concentration;
therefore, micro organism density is low there, resulting in minimum degradation by
micro organisms. Slow decaying of plant debris allows them to accumulate more in
the swamps. When these are buried under sand or mud, the pressure and inside
temperature convert the plant debris to coal slowly. To accumulate a large number
of plant debris and for the decaying process, it takes a long time. Further, there
should be suitable water levels and conditions to make this favorable. Thus, coal is
considered as a non renewable natural resource, because, when coal is mined out
and used, they cannot be regenerated again easily.
There are different types of coal. They are ranked based on their properties and
composition. Such coal types are peat, lignite, sub bituminous, bituminous and
anthracite. Peat is the lowest type of coal in the ranking list. It is formed from
recently accumulated plant debris, and with further time, can be converted to coal.

Main economic usage of coal is to produce electricity. By burning coal, heat is

obtained and then this heat energy is used to produce steam. Finally, electricity is
produced by running a steam generator. Other than generating electricity, coal is
used for generating power in many other occasions. From very earlier times, coal
was used in factories, to run trains, as a household energy source, etc. Moreover,
coal is used to produce coke, synthetic rubber, insecticides, paint products,
solvents, medicine, etc.

What is the difference between Charcoal and Coal?

• Coal is a naturally resulting fossil fuel, whereas charcoal is produced by slow

burning of carbon woods.

• Coal is a mineral, and charcoal is not.

• It takes over millions of years to produce coal, whereas charcoal can be produced

easily.

• Charcoal produces more heat, and it is cleaner than coal.