Got Coal? :: Research Essays

Got Coal? In this essay, I hope to maintain the reader about the variations in Pennsylvanias burns, explain the differing modes of scorch mining, and provide insights into the use of sear. Although Pennsylvanias coal reserves thrust dwindled, coal is still one of the major energy forms employ for voltaic power generation. Widespread use of alternative energy forms have not yet taken place, although this is an bea that needs to develop further, if we dont want to exhaust our current reserves of fossil fuels. Currently, Pennsylvania is the ordinal largest coal producer in the United States. More than 69.5 million slews of coal were mined in the state in 1995. Anthracite and bituminous coal are the two 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 emits only a very small amount of smoke. It is used in domestic and industrial applications. Bituminous coal is the most widely used coal in the United States. The uses for this coal type are generating electricity, making coke, and space estrus. It is mined mostly in the Appalachian Mountains ( middling). The heating value and the specific solemnity (the weight of a position 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 auger 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 cortege 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, the rest is left in the p illars and is effectively lost (Edmunds 16). The longwall method has been progressively used by larger companies.