Science of Generating

Electricity from Coal

Kavya Dayananth, Mayah Nicholson,
Emilie Blumenfeld, and Bella Zham
The Process

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_CcrgKLyzc

https://youtu.be/j6zBun7zZs0

● Steam coal→ thermal coal→ electricity

● Combustion chamber → boiler
● Pulverized Coal Technology
○ The coal is ground into a fine powder
○ Creates thermal energy
The Process (Cont.)

● Gases + energy convert water to steam

● Steam→ turbine with blades → propelling
● Condenses→ Boiler
● Repeat
 The Different Types of Coal
There are 4 main types of coal, they are categorized by the amount of carbon it has and how much heat it produces
● Anthracite
○ Has 86%-97% carbon
○ Generally can produce the most amount of heat energy
○ Only mined in northeastern Pennsylvania only accounts for about 1% of coal mined
○ Used mostly in the metals industry
● Bituminous
○ Most abundant type of coal in America
○ Used to generate electricity
● Subbituminous
● Lignite
○ Youngest type of coal
○ Makes of 10% of coal mined in the US
○ Mostly used for the generation of electricity
Benefits

● Their is an abundance of coal that we are able to use continuously (for now)
● This process is relatively inexpensive
● Can be burned clean by being changed into a liquid or gas
● Low in cost
○ The facilities to burn coal are low in cost as well as the process to burn coal

● The Steam engine has been around since the industrial times so the
technologies are well developed
Disadvantages
Coal fueled power plants lead to horrible environmental pollutants

● Coal releases byproducts like nitrogen oxide when burned

○ Pollutants like this are what make smog, acid rain, and ultimately lead to global warming
● Millions of tons of unusable waste comes out of coal burning power plants
○ They also contain pollutants
● Coal ash
○ 100 million tons of ash from coal power plants is made each year
○ Contaminates water supplies and hurts native species
Works Cited
Coal & Electricity. (2013). Retrieved September 19, 2018, from World Coal Association website:

https://www.worldcoal.org/coal/uses-coal/coal-electricity

Coal Processing Plant - 3D Visualization. (2011, May 25). Retrieved September 20, 2018, from Youtube website:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsmigELzKiQ

Energy Explained. (2018, August 8). Retrieved September 19, 2018, from U.S Energy Information Administration website:

https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.php?page=coal_home

How Coal Works. (2017, December 18). Retrieved September 20, 2018, from Union of Concerned Scientists website:

https://www.ucsusa.org/clean-energy/all-about-coal/how-coal-works#.W6O5M5NKiu4
Works Cited Continued
How do you generate electricity using coal - animated video. (2008, November 22). Retrieved September 20, 2018, from Youtube

website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_CcrgKLyzc

The Power Behind the Industrial Revolution. (2000, June 22). Retrieved September 19, 2018, from The Telegraph website:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/4750891/The-power-behind-the-Industrial-Revolution.html

Using Coal to Generate Electricity. (2014, July 9). Retrieved September 20, 2018, from Youtube website:

https://youtu.be/j6zBun7zZs0