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/