Got Coal? :: Research Essays

Got scorch? In this essay, I hope to inform the reader about the variations in atomic number 91s sears, explain the differing methods of coal mining, and provide insights into the habit of coal. Although Pennsylvanias coal reserves have dwindled, coal is still unmatchable of the major energy forms used for electric power generation. Widespread use of alternative energy forms have not yet taken place, although this is an field of operation that needs to develop further, if we dont want to exhaust our stream reserves of fossil fuels. Currently, Pennsylvania is the fourth largest coal producer in the United States. More than 69.5 million tons of coal were mine in the state in 1995. Anthracite and bituminous coal are the dickens types of coal that are mined in Pennsylvania, and they are classified as hard coals. (Coal). Anthracite is the hardest coal type and contains close to 90% carbon, more than any other coal type. When burned, anthracite em its only a very small amount of smoke. It is used in domestic and industrial applications. Bituminous coal is the about widely used coal in the United States. The uses for this coal type are generating electricity, making coke, and space heating. It is mined mostly in the Appalachian Mountains (Clean). The heating value and the circumstantial gravity (the weight of a particular volume of coal) vary with coal rank. Low-volatile bituminous coal has the highest heating value. The heating value of anthracite is somewhat lower. In the same manner, specific gravity increases with increasing rank (Edmunds 15). Underground, open-pit, and wimble mining are the three ways of extracting coal from the ground. Until recently, the room-and-pillar method was the most widely used. In this method, large rooms of coal were excavated and pillars were left in place to hold up the roof. This method is not very efficient, as only 50-60% of the coal can be recovered, th e rest is left in the pillars and is effectively lost (Edmunds 16). The longwall method has been increasingly used by bigger companies.