NATURE & OCCURRENCE OF COAL SEAM

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NATURE & OCCURRENCE OF COAL SEAM

NATURE & OCCURRENCE

OF COAL SEAM
By

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NATURE & OCCURRENCE OF COAL SEAM

Introduction

coal, fuel substance of plant origin, largely or almost entirely composed of carbon with varying amounts
of mineral matter

Types

There is a complete series of carbonaceous fuels, which differ from each other in the relative amounts of
moisture, volatile matter, and fixed carbon they contain. Of the carbonaceous fuels, those containing the
largest amounts of fixed carbon and the smallest amounts of moisture and volatile matter are the most
useful to humans. The lowest in carbon content, peat, is followed in ascending order by lignite and the
various forms of coal—subbituminous coal or black lignite (a slightly higher grade than lignite), bituminous
coal, semibituminous (a high-grade bituminous coal), semianthracite (a low-grade anthracite), and
anthracite.

Lignite and subbituminous coal, because of the high percentage of moisture they contain, tend to crumble
on exposure to the air. Bituminous coal, being more consolidated, does not crumble easily; it is a deep
black in color, burns readily, and is used extensively as fuel in industries and on railroads and in
making coke. Anthracite, which is nearly pure carbon, is very hard, black, and lustrous and is extensively
used as a domestic fuel. Cannel coal, a dull, homogeneous variety of bituminous coal, is composed of
pollen grains, spores, and other particles of plant origin. It ignites and burns easily, with a candlelike flame,
but its fuel value is low

Rank of Coal

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As geological processes apply pressure to dead biotic material over time, under suitable conditions,
its metamorphic grade increases successively into:

Peat, considered to be a precursor of coal, has industrial importance as a fuel in some regions, for
example, Ireland and Finland. In its dehydrated form, peat is a highly effective absorbent for fuel and oil
spills on land and water. It is also used as a conditioner for soil to make it more able to retain and slowly
release water.

Lignite, or brown coal, is the lowest rank of coal and used almost exclusively as fuel for electric power
generation. Jet, a compact form of lignite, is sometimes polished and has been used as an ornamental
stone since the Upper Palaeolithic.

Sub-bituminous coal, whose properties range from those of lignite to those of bituminous coal, is used
primarily as fuel for steam-electric power generation and is an important source of light aromatic
hydrocarbons for the chemical synthesis industry.

Bituminous coal is a dense sedimentary rock, usually black, but sometimes dark brown, often with well-
defined bands of bright and dull material; it is used primarily as fuel in steam-electric power generation,
with substantial quantities used for heat and power applications in manufacturing and to make coke.

"Steam coal" is a grade between bituminous coal and anthracite, once widely used as a fuel for steam
locomotives. In this specialized use, it is sometimes known as "sea-coal" in the US.[19] Small steam coal
(dry small steam nuts or DSSN) was used as a fuel for domestic water heating.

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Anthracite, the highest rank of coal, is a harder, glossy black coal used primarily for residential and
commercial space heating. It may be divided further into metamorphically altered bituminous coal and
"petrified oil", as from the deposits in Pennsylvania.

Graphite is one of the more difficult coals to ignite and is not commonly used as fuel — it is mostly used
in pencils, and when powdered, as a lubricant.

Formation

The vegetable origin of coal is supported by the presence in coal of carbonized fibers, stems, leaves, and
seeds of plants, which can be detected with the naked eye in the softer varieties and with the microscope
in harder coal. Sometimes carbonized tree stumps have been found standing in layers of coal. The general
interpretation of these facts is that coal originated in swamps similar to present-day peat bogs and in
lagoons, probably partly from plants growing in the area and partly from plant material carried in by water
and wind. From the thickness of coal seams, it is assumed that the coal swamps were located near sea
level and were subject to repeated submergence, so that a great quantity of vegetable matter
accumulated over a long period of time.

The initial processes of disintegration and decomposition of the organic matter were brought about by
the action of bacteria and other microorganisms. Peat, the first product formed, is altered to form lignite
and coal through metamorphism. The pressure of the accumulated layers of overlying sediments and rock
upon the submerged plant matter forced out much of the water and caused some of the volatile
substances to escape and the nonvolatile carbon material to form a more compact mass. The greater the
stress exerted in the process of metamorphism, the higher was the grade of coal produced. Cannel coal
was probably formed in ponds, rather than in lagoons or swamps, as it occurs in lenticular masses and is
frequently found to contain fossil fish. Coal was formed chiefly in the Carboniferous period of geologic
time, but valuable deposits date also from the Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary
periods.

Natural Occurrence of Coal

Coal is found in beds or seams interstratified with shales, clays, sandstones, or (rarely) limestones. It is
usually underlaid by an underclay (a layer of clay containing roots of plants). The coal is removed by strip
(surface) mining or underground mining methods.

The chief coal fields of the United States are the Appalachian (from N Pennsylvania into Alabama), the
Eastern Interior (Illinois, Kentucky, and Indiana), the Northern Interior (Michigan), the Western Interior
(Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas), the Rocky Mountain (Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New
Mexico, Montana, and North Dakota), the Pacific (Washington), and the Gulf Coast (Texas, Arkansas, and
Louisiana). In Europe the chief coal-producing countries are Germany, Russia, Ukraine, and Poland. There
are valuable coal fields in China, India, Indonesia, Australia, South Africa, and Korea but only a few in South
America, mainly in Colombia.

Production Trends of Coal

In 2006, China was the top producer of coal with 38% share followed by the United States and India,
according to the British Geological Survey. As of 2012 coal production in the United States was falling at

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NATURE & OCCURRENCE OF COAL SEAM

the rate of 7% annually with many power plants using coal shut down or converted to natural gas;
however, some of the reduced domestic demand was taken up by increased exports with five coal export
terminals being proposed in the Pacific Northwest to export coal from the Powder River Basin to China
and other Asian markets; however, as of 2013, environmental opposition was increasing. High-sulfur coal
mined in Illinois which was unsaleable in the United States found a ready market in Asia as exports reached
13 million tons in 2012.

World coal reserves

The 948 billion short tons of recoverable coal reserves estimated by the Energy Information
Administration are equal to about 4,196 BBOE (billion barrels of oil equivalent). The amount of coal
burned during 2007 was estimated at 7.075 billion short tons, or 133.179 quadrillion BTU's. This is an
average of 18.8 million BTU per short ton. In terms of heat content, this is about 57,000,000 barrels
(9,100,000 m3) of oil equivalent per day. By comparison in 2007, natural gas provided 51,000,000 barrels
(8,100,000 m3) of oil equivalent per day, while oil provided 85,800,000 barrels (13,640,000 m3) per day.

British Petroleum, in its 2007 report, estimated at 2006 end that there were 147 years reserves-to-
production ratio based on proven coal reserves worldwide. This figure only includes reserves classified as
"proven"; exploration drilling programs by mining companies, particularly in under-explored areas, are
continually providing new reserves. In many cases, companies are aware of coal deposits that have not
been sufficiently drilled to qualify as "proven". However, some nations haven't updated their information
and assume reserves remain at the same levels even with withdrawals.

Of the three fossil fuels, coal has the most widely distributed reserves; coal is mined in over 100 countries,
and on all continents exceptAntarctica. The largest reserves are found in the United
States, Russia, China, Australia and India.

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