By Ireland Tawney, Sierra Bickford, Hannah Bassett, Lily Scammon

COAL

AGE-(Price)

• Age:

• Devonian Period (400 mya)

• Two major coal forming periods

• Pennsylvanian

• Paleocene

• Price:

• Depends on the mine or location where coal comes from

• January 4, 2013 (per short ton)

• Central Appalachian- $68.05

• Powder River Basin - $10.45

• Illinois Basin - $47.90

LOCATION

• many coastal mines

• not all coastal

• scattered around the world

INFO

• Fossil Fuel• Most formed 400 million years

ago, Devonian Period•  Plants die  sink to bottom of

swamp  creates peat buried by erosion sedimentary rocks form pressure, heat, and time forces out water and oxygen coal is formed.

•  Newest coal formed 1 million years ago, oldest 400 million years ago

• 40-90% of weight is carbon•  Estimate 3-7 feet of compact

plant matter= 1 foot of bituminous coal 

HOW COAL IS FORMED

• A combustible rock consisting mainly of carbonized plant matter

• Five types of coal

• Peat

• Lignite

• Subbituminous coal

• Bituminous coal

• Anthracite coal

• Described by rank and grade

• Coal is worth more the less ash left in it (most commercial is 3-9% ash)

• Some trace elements are sodium, sulfur, phosphorus, chlorides, nitrates, and sulfates, and arsenic

WHAT IS IT?

• Gets energy from the sunlight absorbed by the plant through photosynthesis

• Energy already exists in coal

• Needs heat for an activation energy

• Heat breaks chemical bonds created during fossilization- released heat

Coal to Electricity

• Energy released in heat causes water to boil boiling water creates steam steam creates pressure pressure spins generator turbine spinning motion turns electrical generator= electricity

HOW IT WORKS

COAL MINING PROCESS•Types of mining- Surface mining Underground mining Longwall mining Conventional mining•Underground Drift Slope Shaft

• Coal is put in burner to produce heat

The Thermodynamic Process

• Heat boils water in the boiler to produce steam

• The steam is then piped to a turbine

• The turbine rotates

• Produce electricity

• Repeat the cycle

COAL POWER PLANT

• Coal is a chemically complex fuel

• Mining coal releases dust/gas into the air

• Particles of ash called “fly ash” released

• Sulfur combines with oxygen

• Forms sulfur dioxide

• Major air pollution if emitted in large quantities

• Surface of land is disrupted when mined

• Contributes to acid rain

• Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels

• outflow of acidic water from coal mines or metal mines (acid mine drainage)

• air pollution from coal-fired plants

• air pollution from coal mines

• climate impact of coal mines/coal plants

• coal fires (3% of worlds annual carbon dioxide emission)

• combustion waste (worlds second largest waste stream)

• coal sludge (liquid coal waste from washing coal containing toxins)

EFFECTS ON ENVIRONMENT

CITATIONS• http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=coal+mines&FORM=HDRSC2#view=detail&id=857C766A7EA2226C5F848BDA8DD0788118D414B0&selectedIndex=4

• http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=coal+mines&FORM=HDRSC2#view=detail&id=FC35E794F4722DB383FE346F590D2815CF9EEB79&selectedIndex=5

• http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=south+korean+capital+pollution&FORM=HDRSC2#view=detail&id=54DCDC0B8E7387F6C9BED47408A2B0524BB1DCA3&selectedIndex=0

• http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=earth+map+of+coal+mine&qs=n&form=QBIR&pq=earth+map+of+coal+mine&sc=0-0&sp=-1&sk=#view=detail&id=B9E73522EAFC19028C1AB856CBFCDCCEA1CCBDE8&selectedIndex=5

• http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=how+coal+is+made&FORM=HDRSC2#view=detail&id=E4FF4401F47A139C06B672450C3BF5ADBA8A7168&selectedIndex=1

• http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=coal&FORM=HDRSC2#view=detail&id=8BA9EBBC75BB8E208EDC81ABCC81C5CDD420265A&selectedIndex=1

• http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=+coal+plant&qs=n&form=QBIR&pq=coal+plant&sc=8-10&sp=-1&sk=#view=detail&id=C07F2E6B8214C0C3B731A812045E0882E9AAC05F&selectedIndex=2

• http://www.worldcoal.org/coal/coal-mining/

• http://www.ildceo.net/NR/rdonlyres/D54DB23B-BFCC-49D7-9D73-89448384DD94/0/Howiscoalmined2.pdf

• http://www.google.com/imgres?q=coal+power+plant&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&tbo=d&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS375US379&biw=1600&bih=756&tbm=isch&tbnid=R0YxBpgLJUfKDM:&imgrefurl=http://forums.appleinsider.com/t/151243/greenpeace-says-apples-clean-energy-policies-are-significantly-improved/40&docid=Gx9uDybQPfJvMM&imgurl=http://forums-cdn.appleinsider.com/c/cf/cffb4dfa_coal-fired-power-plant_media.jpeg&w=2000&h=1232&ei=JyHzUOe-Cabm0gGGr4CICw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=758&vpy=325&dur=399&hovh=158&hovw=264&tx=216&ty=120&sig=112856266099185639852&page=1&tbnh=135&tbnw=236&start=0&ndsp=29&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:0,i:180

• http://www.duke-energy.com/about-energy/generating-electricity/coal-fired-how.asp

• http://www.wsgs.uwyo.edu/coalweb/library/coaltime/intro.aspx

• http://www.eia.gov/coal/news_markets/index.cfm

• http://www.wsgs.uwyo.edu/coalweb/library/science/what.aspx

• http://www.wsgs.uwyo.edu/coalweb/library/science/quality.aspx

• http://www.google.com/imgres?q=what+is+coal&um=1&hl=en&tbo=d&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS375US379&biw=1600&bih=756&tbm=isch&tbnid=XuPRUvc63YekDM:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal&docid=TuJGeyI_gp2pOM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/Coal_anthracite.jpg/220px-Coal_anthracite.jpg&w=220&h=206&ei=0D3zUN-NJMWo0AHnyYHwBg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=403&vpy=145&dur=268&hovh=164&hovw=176&tx=114&ty=58&sig=112856266099185639852&page=1&tbnh=146&tbnw=164&start=0&ndsp=29&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0,i:87

• http://www.coaleducation.org/lessons/twe/envi.htm

• http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Environmental_impacts_of_coal

• http://www.worldcoal.org/coal/coal-mining/