Types Of Coal

Perhaps, you know that there are various types of coal in existence. The reason which determines the variety of coal is their age. You probably understand that some kinds of coal were formed sooner than others. The age itself determines other factors such as the content of carbon, hydrogen and other elements.

What you probably would like to learn is what the types of coal are, right? And you certainly would find it useful to learn some basic information about each of the types. Well, that is a pretty easy task and that is what you can learn by reading the article to the end.

Let’s start with the first, and most used, kind of coal- anthracite. That sort of coal contains around 97-99% of carbon which makes it the coal with higher carbon content than any other sort. Anthracite is also considered to be the best kind of coal as it releases most energy when burning. Unfortunately, there is not a large storage of the coal (mainly in the United States, 11 counties in Pennsylvania).

Another sort of coal is called bituminous. It has around 70% of carbon (on average) which makes it good for generating electricity, producing iron, coke and steel. It could be claimed that this kind of coal is the one having more appliances than any other. By the way, bituminous is also perfect for heating and it is a great luck that our planet is abundant with it.

Having mentioned the bituminous implies another quite popular sort of coal- sub-bituminous. Basically, it’s got pretty much the same characteristics like its older ‘cousin’, excluding the carbon content (around 35%) and the lower heat value. The sub-bituminous is mainly used for producing electricity and is preferred because fewest polluting gases are emitted when burning.

And the last kind of coal which is worth mentioning is called lignite. In fact, there is probably no person who has not heard of it. Lignite were formed latest (compared to the types of coal mentioned above) which makes it unsurprising that they have the least carbon content (below 35%). The heat value is insignificant which is why the coal has almost no appliances.

That was pretty much everything which you could learn about the different types of coal. As you can see, there is a huge difference from one sort to another and knowing just a little bit about each one could turn out to be very useful and helpful.

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