Coal play an important role in the production and life, and the return on investment is very high of coal mining project, so the coal has been known as black gold.
Coal is a non-renewable energy source formed by dead plants that have been compressed and heated and it is a solid but brittle, carbonaceous black sedimentary rock that burns. It is made up of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and lesser amounts of sulfur and other trace elements. Coal has lots of energy in it. When it is burned, it makes heat and ligh enargy.
Coal is used primarily as an energy source, either for heat or electricity. It was once heavily used to heat homes and power locomotives and factories. Bituminous coal is also used to produce coke for making steel and other industrial process heating. Coal gasification and coal liquefaction are also possible uses of coal for producing synthetic fuel. Approximately 4% of the coal mined in the United States is exported, and most of the exported coal is used for making steel.
Coal Application
Coal is used in a number of different ways: it may generate electricity, be used in industrial products, be part of the making of steel, or be exported. To generate electric power, coal is burned to create steam. This steam can be used to move turbines and make energy. Using coal for industry can include burning it for the heat or using its by-products. For example, methanol and ethylene, which are ingredients in coal, can be used in plastics, fertilizers, medicines and other products. Concrete and paper factories also burn coal for their production. When coal is baked, it is used to smelt iron ore to eventually make steel for cars and buildings.
Coal Reserve
At the end of 2006 the recoverable coal reserves amounted to around 800 or 900 gigatons. Of the three fossil fuels, coal has the most widely distributed reserves; coal is mined in over 100 countries, and on all continents except Antarctica. The largest reserves are found in the USA, Russia, Australia, China, India and South Africa.
One quarter of the world's coal reserves are found within the United States, and the energy content of the nation's coal resources exceeds that of all the world's known recoverable oil. Coal is also the workhorse of the nation's electric power industry, supplying more than half the electricity consumed by Americans. Russia share 17%, while China 12%. Of course other countries alos have large coal reserves, such as Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Poland, Brazil, Germany, Colombia, Canada, Czech, Republic, Indonesia, Turkey, Greece, Hungary, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Serbia, Thailand, Mexico, North Korea, New Zealand, Spai,n Zimbabwe, Romania, Venezuela.
Methods of extraction, Coal Mining
The most economical method of coal extraction from coal seams depends on the depth and quality of the seams, and the geology and environmental factors. Coal mining processes are differentiated by whether they operate on the surface or underground. Many coals extracted from both surface and underground mines require washing in a coal preparation plant. Technical and economic feasibility are evaluated based on: regional geologic conditions; overburden characteristics; coal seam continuity, thickness, structure, quality, and depth; strength of materials above and below the seam for roof and floor conditions; topography; climate; land ownership as it affects the availability of land for mining and access; surface drainage patterns; ground water conditions; availability of labor and materials; coal purchaser requirements in terms of tonnage, quality, and destination; and capital investment requirements.
Surface mining and deep underground mining are the two basic methods of mining. The choice of mining method depends primarily on depth of burial, density of the overburden and thickness of the coal seam. Seams relatively close to the surface, at depths less than approximately 180 ft (50 m), are usually surface mined.
Coal mining machine
There are many kinds of machines used in coal mining, such as excavators, draglines, drills, roof bolters, continuous miners, longwall miners, rock dusters, shuttle cars and scoops.
Excavators for coal mining
Miners traditionally used shovels and steam shovels to break and remove earth, but today's miners rely on excavators. An excavator is a mobile vehicle that moves on tracks or with standard wheels. It features a rotating platform, off of which comes a hinged arm with a bucket or scoop attached to its end for digging.
Draglines for coal mining
Draglines are enormous earth moving machines that miners use to drag away dirt and expose underlying coal or mineral deposits. Draglines are some of the largest machines on the planet, and can remove several hundred tons of material in a single pass, according to Kentucky Coal Education.
Drills for coal mining
Miners who extract natural gas and oil commonly rely on drills to reach underground deposits before piping the resources to the surface. Coal and mineral miners also use drills to create extensive series of holes, which they then fill with explosive charges to blast away chunks of earth.
Roof Bolters for coal mining
Roof bolters are large, hydraulically-powered machines used to force bolts into roofs. Miners use roof bolters to support tunnel roofs and prevent underground collapses.
Continuous Miners for coal mining
Continuous miners are machines with massive, rotating arrays of teeth, often made from tungsten carbide. Subterranean coal miners use the machines to scrape coal from coal beds. In particularly dangerous situations, workers control robotic continuous miners remotely.
Longwall Miners for coal mining
In contrast to continuous miners, longwall miners remove large, rectangular sections of coal instead of scraping coal from a bed bit-by-bit. According to Kentucky Coal Education, continuous miners consist of a series of large cutting shearers and a self-raising hydraulic system that supports the mineshaft ceiling as sections of coal are removed.
Rock Duster for coal mining
Rock dusters are pressurized pieces of equipment that coal miners use to spray inert mineral dust over highly flammable coal dust. The inert dust helps prevent accidental fires and explosions.
Shuttle Cars and Scoops for coal mining
Coalminers use electric-powered shuttle cars to transport coal from the coal bed to safer points in the mine. From there, miners can use standard scoops, or haulage vehicles, to drive their loads completely out of the mine. Miners of all types use haulage vehicles for various tasks.
Coal Crusher, Coal crushing plant
Coal crushing plant consist of many types of crushers and mills. These coal crushing machine is not used lonely, they compose a complete crushing plant with belt conveyor and vibrating screen. In Electric Power palnt, coal gasification and clean coal process, crushing process is the first step and essential step. Natural coal is feeded evenly into jaw crusher through belt conveyor, after crushed, it enter into impact crusher or cone crusher for fine crushing. Final it is screened out by screening machine.
In order to use coal more rationally, efficiently and effectively, the coal need to be processed and crushed into different sizes, 0 ~ 25 mm particle size for coal gas stove, 25 ~ 8 mm for steam locomotive, 25 ~ 6 mm for the industrial furnace, and coal power plant requires grain coal of 0 ~ 25mm. So coal processing in coal preparation plant includes coal crushing and coal milling. Coal crushing plant consist of many types of crushers and grinding mills. Coal crushers including jaw crusher, impact crusher, cone crusher etc. Coal mill include ball mill, vertical mill, raymond mill etc.
Coal Grinder, Coal milling plant for coal mining
Usually we grind coal into powder to improve the using efficiency. This way is common in Electric Power Plant. In this milling process, coal mill plays an important role. Coal mills have many kinds, such as ball mill, raymond mill, vertical mill, ultrafine mill etc.
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