Coal | Define Coal at Dictionary.com coal noun 1. a piece of glowing, charred, or burned wood or other combustible substance. 3. to burn to coal or charcoal . 5. to take in coal for fuel. Idioms 7. heap coals of fire on someone's head, to repay evil with good in order to make one's enemy repent. 8. rake / haul / drag / call / take over the coals, to reprimand; scold: They were raked over the coals for turning out slipshod work. Origin of coal 900 before 900; Middle English cole, Old English col; cognate with Dutch kool, German Kohle, Old Norse kol Related forms Examples from the Web for coal Expand Contemporary Examples After the blasting has been done the 'fillers' can tumble the coal out, break it up and shovel it on to the conveyor belt. How Miners Talk About Death Jeanne Marie Laskas April 8, 2010 “I will fight President Obama and anyone else who tries to undermine our coal jobs,” she said. The Land of Tomorrow William B Stephenson, Jr.

Did you ever wonder how beds of coal happened to be in the earth? British Dictionary definitions for coal Expand noun 1. a combustible compact black or dark-brown carbonaceous rock formed from compaction of layers of partially decomposed vegetation: a fuel and a source of coke, coal gas, and coal tar See also anthracite , bituminous coal , lignite , peat 1 (as modifier): coal cellar, coal merchant, coal mine, coal dust 2. one or more lumps of coal 3. coals to Newcastle, something supplied where it is already plentiful 5. haul someone over the coals, to reprimand someone verb to take in, provide with, or turn into coal Derived Forms Old English col; related to Old Norse kol, Old High German kolo, Old Irish gūal Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd.

1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Word Origin and History for coal Expand n. Old English col "charcoal, live coal," from Proto-Germanic *kula(n) (cf. Old Frisian kole, Middle Dutch cole, Dutch kool, Old High German chol, German Kohle, Old Norse kol), from PIE root *g(e)u-lo- "live coal" (cf. Irish gual "coal"). Meaning "mineral consisting of fossilized carbon" is from mid-13c. First mentioned (370 B.C.E.) by Theophrastus in his treatise "On Stones" under the name lithos anthrakos (see anthrax ). Traditionally good luck, coal was given as a New Year's gift in England, said to guarantee a warm hearth for the coming year.

The phrase drag (or rake) over the coals was a reference to the treatment meted out to heretics by Christians. To carry coals "do dirty work," also "submit to insult" is from 1520s. To carry coals to Newcastle (c.1600) Anglicizes Greek glauk eis Athenas "owls to Athens." Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper coal (kōl) A dark-brown to black solid substance formed from the compaction and hardening of fossilized plant parts in the presence of water and in the absence of air. Carbonaceous material accounts for more than 50 percent of coal's weight and more than 70 percent of its volume. Coal is widely used as a fuel, and its combustion products are used as raw material for a variety of products including cement, asphalt, wallboard and plastics. See more at anthracite , bituminous coal, lignite. The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.

Slang definitions & phrases for coal Expand The Dictionary of American Slang, Fourth Edition by Barbara Ann Kipfer, PhD. and Robert L. Chapman, Ph.D. Copyright (C) 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers. coal in the Bible Expand It is by no means certain that the Hebrews were acquainted with mineral coal, although it is found in Syria. Their common fuel was dried dung of animals and wood charcoal. Two different words are found in Hebrew to denote coal, both occurring in Prov. 26:21, "As coal [Heb. peham; i.e., "black coal"] is to burning coal [Heb. gehalim]." The latter of these words is used in Job 41:21; Prov. 6:28; Isa. 44:19. The words "live coal" in Isa. 6:6 are more correctly "glowing stone." In Lam. 4:8 the expression "blacker than a coal" is literally rendered in the margin of the Revised Version "darker than blackness." "Coals of fire" (2 Sam. 22:9, 13; Ps.

18:8, 12, 13, etc.) is an expression used metaphorically for lightnings proceeding from God. A false tongue is compared to "coals of juniper" (Ps. 120:4; James 3:6). "Heaping coals of fire on the head" symbolizes overcoming evil with good. The words of Paul (Rom. 12:20) are equivalent to saying, "By charity and kindness thou shalt soften down his enmity as surely as heaping coals on the fire fuses the metal in the crucible." Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary Idioms and Phrases with coal Expand Coal Resources - Geoscience Australia Coal Resources Energy Projects Coal Resources Coal is a fossil fuel of sedimentary origin that has formed by coalification of vegetation over millions of years. Black coal consists of the higher rank anthracite, bituminous and sub-bituminous coals. The lower rank brown coal is sometimes known as lignite. In Australia coal deposits occur in all States and the Northern Territory and range from 15 million to 225 million years old.

Coal is primarily used as a fuel to generate electricity and in Australia is used to produce about 80% of the nation's electricity requirements. A special type of coal used to produce coke for the steel making process and by-products of coke-making include coal tar, ammonia, lights oils and coal gas. Coal is used in cement manufacturing, food processing, paper manufacturing and alumina refineries. Black coal was first discovered in Newcastle 1791 and coal mining and exports commenced soon after in 1799. These early coal mining activities made a significant contribution to the progress of European settlement in Australia. With the progressive spread of settlement to other locations in Australia lead to further discoveries and mining of black coal including the discovery of coal near Ipswich in 1825, at Cape Paterson in Victoria in 1826 and Irwin River in Western Australia in 1846. Knowledge of the existence of brown coal in Victoria dates back to 1857. The Yallourn North open-cut began production in 1889.

Over two hundred years later about 9,100 million tonnes of black coal and about 2,300 million tonnes of brown coal have been mined and the Australian coal industry provides significant employment, capital investment and domestic and export income to the national economy. Each year Geoscience Australia estimates the coal resources in Australia including the Economic Demonstrated Resources (EDR), Sub-Economics Resources and Inferred Resources. This estimate is published each year in Australia's Identified Mineral Resources (AIMR) . Australia has 6 per cent of the world's black coal EDR and ranks sixth behind USA (31 per cent), Russia (21 per cent), China (13 per cent), India (8 per cent) and South Africa (7 per cent). Australia has about 25 per cent of world recoverable brown coal EDR and is ranked first. Australia is a major producer and exporter of coal and in 2008 accounted for about 6% of the world's black coal production and ranked fourth largest producer after China (45 per cent), USA (18 per cent) and India (8 per cent).

Australia accounted for about 8 per cent of the world's brown coal production and ranked fifth largest producer after Germany (20 per cent), China (11 per cent), USA (9 per cent), Russia (9 per cent) and Greece (8 per cent). Related Information Coal - definition of coal by The Free Dictionary Coal - definition of coal by The Free Dictionary Related to coal: charcoal , petroleum coal n. 1. a. A natural dark brown to black graphitelike material used as a fuel, formed from fossilized plants and consisting of amorphous carbon with various organic and some inorganic compounds. b. A piece of this substance. 2. A glowing or charred piece of solid fuel. 3. Charcoal. v. coaled, coal·ing, coals v.tr. 1. To burn (a combustible solid) to a charcoal residue. 2. To provide with coal. v.intr. [Middle English col, from Old English.] coal n 1. (Minerals) a. a combustible compact black or dark-brown carbonaceous rock formed from compaction of layers of partially decomposed vegetation: a fuel and a source of coke, coal gas, and coal tar.

See also anthracite , bituminous coal , lignite , peat 1 b. (as modifier): coal cellar; coal merchant; coal mine; coal dust. 2. one or more lumps of coal 3. (Art Terms) short for charcoal 4. coals to Newcastle something supplied where it is already plentiful 5. haul someone over the coals to reprimand someone vb to take in, provide with, or turn into coal [Old English col; related to Old Norse kol, Old High German kolo, Old Irish gūal] ˈcoaly adj (koʊl) n. 1. a black or dark brown mineral substance consisting of carbonized vegetable matter, used as a fuel. 2. a piece of glowing, charred, or burned wood or other combustible substance. 4. to burn to coal or charcoal. 5. to provide with coal. v.i. 6. to take in coal for fuel. Idioms: rake or haul over the coals, to reprimand severely. [before 900; Middle English cole, Old English col, c.

Old Frisian, Middle Low German kole, Old High German kol(o), Old Norse kol] coal (kōl) A dark-brown to black, natural solid substance formed from fossilized plants under conditions of great pressure, high humidity, and lack of air. Coal consists mainly of carbon and is widely used as a fuel and raw material. See more at anthracite , bituminous coal , lignite . coal I will have been coaling you will have been coaling he/she/it will have been coaling we will have been coaling you will have been coaling they will have been coaling Past Perfect Continuous they would have coaled coal A rock that is mostly carbon and readily burns. It consists of layered plant remains compacted by pressure over millions of years. ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend: 1.

coal - fossil fuel consisting of carbonized vegetable matter deposited in the Carboniferous period atomic number 6 , carbon , C - an abundant nonmetallic tetravalent element occurring in three allotropic forms: amorphous carbon and graphite and diamond; occurs in all organic compounds fossil fuel - fuel consisting of the remains of organisms preserved in rocks in the earth's crust with high carbon and hydrogen content anthracite , anthracite coal , hard coal - a hard natural coal that burns slowly and gives intense heat bituminous coal , soft coal - rich in tarry hydrocarbons; burns readily with a smoky yellow flame brown coal , lignite , wood coal - intermediate between peat and bituminous coal steam coal - coal suitable for use under steam boilers vegetable matter - matter produced by plants or growing in the manner of a plant 2. coal - a hot fragment of wood or coal that is left from a fire and is glowing or smoldering fragment - a piece broken off or cut off of something else; "a fragment of rock" Verb combust , burn - cause to burn or combust; "The sun burned off the fog"; "We combust coal and other fossil fuels" 2.

coal - supply with coal furnish , provide , supply , render - give something useful or necessary to; "We provided the room with an electrical heater" 3. gather in , take in - fold up; "take in the sails" Translations akmens anglių baseinasakmens anglysanglių kasykladuoti pylos akmeņogles to carry coals to Newcastle → llevar leña al monte or agua al mar to haul sb over the coals → echarle una bronca a algn to heap coals of fire on sb's head → avergonzar a algn devolviéndole bien por mal B. VI (Naut) → tomar carbón C.

CPD coal bunker N → carbonera f coal cellar N → carbonera f coal dust N → polvillo m de carbón , carbonilla f coal fire N → chimenea f de carbón coal gas N → gas m de hulla coal hod N → cubo m de carbón coal industry N → industria f del carbón coal measures NPL → depósitos mpl de carbón coal merchant N → carbonero m coal mine N → mina f de carbón coal miner N → minero/a m/f del carbón coal mining N → minería f del carbón coal oil N (US) → parafina f coal pit N → mina f de carbón , pozo m de carbón coal scuttle N → cubo m para carbón coal shed N → carbonera f coal strike N → huelga f de mineros coal tar N → alquitrán m mineral coal tit N → carbonero m garrapinos coal yard N → patio m del carbón coal [ˈkəʊl] n → charbon m to drag sb over the coals, to haul sb over the coals (= reprimand) → passer un savon à qn to take coals to Newcastle

 → porter de l'eau à la rivière coal-burning [ˈkəʊlbɜːnɪŋ] adj coal-burning power stations → centrales fpl au charbon coal n → Kohle f; we still burn coal → wir heizen noch mit Kohle ; as black as coal → kohlrabenschwarz ; to carry or take coals to Newcastle (Brit Prov) → Eulen nach Athen tragen (Prov); to haul (Brit) or drag somebody over the coals → jdm eine Standpauke halten , jdm die Leviten lesen ; to heap coals of fire on somebody’s head → feurige Kohlen auf jds Haupt (dat) → sammeln coal n → Kohlenstaub m, → (Kohlen) grus m coal : coalface n (Brit) → Streb m; men who work at the coal → Männer , die im Streb or vor Ort arbeiten ; workers at the coal (fig) → diejenigen, die die Arbeit machen coalfield n → Kamin m; a coal heats better → ein Kohlenfeuer wärmt besser coal-fired adj → Kohle (n)-; coal power station → Kohlekraftwerk nt

 coal hod n → Grube f, → Zeche f, → Kohlenbergwerk nt coal miner n → Bergmann m, → Kumpel m (inf) coal-mining n → Kohle (n) bergbau m; the coal industry → der Kohle (n) bergbau ; coal area → Kohlenrevier nt coal pit n → Kohleneimer m, → Kohlenkasten m coal seam to carry coals to Newcastle (fig) → portare acqua al mare 2.

adj (fire) → di carbone ; (industry) → del carbone ; (stove) → a carbone coal (kəul) noun a black mineral burned for fuel, heat etc. steenkool فَحْم въглен carvão uhlí die Kohle kul κάρβουνο carbón kivisüsi زغال سنگ hiili charbon פחם कोयला ugljen szén batu bara kol carbone 石炭 석탄 akmens anglys akmeņogles batu arang steenkool kull węgiel د دبړو سکاره carvão cărbune уголь uhlie premog ugalj kol, stenkol ถ่านหิน kömür , maden/taş kömürü 煤 кам'яне вугілля کوئلہ than đá 煤 ˈcoalfield noun an area where there is coal to be mined.

steenkoolveld مِنْطَقَة مُسَْوْدَعات فَحْم حَجَري въглещни залежи mina de carvão uhelná pánev das Kohlenrevier kulfelt; kuldistrikt ανθρακοφόρα περιοχή yacimiento de carbón kivisöemaardla ناحیۀ مستعد برای استخراج زغال سنگ hiilikenttä bassin houiller שְׂדֶה פֶּחָם कोयला क्षेत्र ugljenokop szénmedence ladang batu bara kolanámusvæði bacino carbonifero 炭田 탄전 akmens anglių baseinas akmeņogļu baseins medan batu arang kolengebied kullfelt zagłębie węglowe jazida de carvão bazin carbonifer месторождение угля uhoľná panva nahajališče premoga ugljeni rev

ir kolfält เหมืองถ่านหิน kömür havzası 煤田 кам'яновугільний басейн کوئلوں کی کان کا علاقہ vùng than 煤田 ˈcoalmine noun a mine from which coal is dug.

steenkoolmyn مَنْجَم فَحْم حَجَري мина mina de carvão uhelný důl das Kohlebergwerk kulmine ανθρακωρυχείο mina de carbón kivisöekaevandus معدن زغال سنگ hiilikaivos mine de charbon מִכרֶה פֶּחָם कोयले की खान rudnik szénbánya tambang batubara kolanáma miniera di carbone 炭鉱 탄광 anglių kasykla ogļraktuves lombong batu arang kolenmijn kullgruve kopalnia węgla mina de carvão mină de cărbune угольная шахта uhoľná baňa premogovnik rudnik uglja kolgruva เหมือง kömür madeni, kömur ocağı 煤礦場 вугільна шахта کوئلے کی کان mỏ than 煤矿 haul (

someone) over the coals to scold.

iemand berispe; iemand laat verbykom يُؤَنِّبُ شَخْصا على أخطائِه сгълчвам ralhar (ostře) pokárat, hubovat jemanden fertigmachen give en opsang; give en overhaling επιπλήττω , κατσαδιάζω echar una bronca a (kellelegi) peapesu tegema شدیداً مواخذه کردن torua passer un savon à לִנזוֹף डांटना grditi jól lehord vkit memarahi (háð)skamma; ásaka criticare aspramente 叱りつける (남을) 몹시 꾸중하다 duoti pylos sadot kādam brāzienu; saukt pie kārtības memarahi iemand duchtig de les lezen gi (noen) en overhaling zmieszać (kogoś) z błotem ښكنځل، زياړى كول، زور

لې كول، پوچ ويل dar uma ensaboadela a tra­ge (cuiva) o săpuneală дать нагоняй zavolať (si koho) na koberec grajati grditi ge ngn en överhalning ตำหนิ azarlamak 責備 дати прочуханки, чуба нам'яти جھاڑ جھپاڑ کرنا mắng nhiếc thậm tệ 责备 coal Coal - Mineral Fact Sheets - Australian Mines Atlas Suggestions for Further Reading Introduction Coal is a combustible rock of organic origin composed mainly of carbon (50-98 per cent), hydrogen (3-13 per cent) and oxygen, with lesser amounts of nitrogen, sulphur and other elements.

Some water is always present, as are grains of inorganic matter that form an incombustible residue known as ash. Coal is classified by rank, which is a measure of the amount of alteration it has undergone during formation. Consecutive stages in evolution of rank, from an initial peat stage, are brown coal (or lignite), sub-bituminous coal, bituminous coal, and anthracite. Increase in rank is due to a gradual increase in temperature and pressure that results in a decrease in water content and therefore an increase in carbon content. A continuous gradation occurs between these ranks. Sub-bituminous coal, bituminous coal and anthracite are together known as black coal. The Industrial Revolution that began in Britain in the early 19th century was fuelled by coal. Then, in the 1950s and 1960s, it was eclipsed by petroleum as the world's most used fuel, but the oil shocks of the 1970s resulted in a worldwide resurgence of interest in coal as an energy source because of its relative abundance. Occurrence Coal is formed from accumulated vegetable matter that has been altered by decay and by various amounts of heat and pressure over millions of years.

The progressive transformation of coal is referred to as coalification. Interlayered with other sedimentary rocks, it forms beds ranging from less than a millimetre to many metres thick. Such a bed, or several beds separated by thin layers of shale, siltstone or sandstone (dirt bands or partings), constitute a coal seam. Major coal deposits have been formed in nearly every geological age since the Carboniferous (350-250 million years ago). The considerable diversity of coal type (organic composition), grade (mineral matter content) and rank (degree of coalification) depends on the differences in the mode of formation. Coal is widely distributed in the world being located on every continent and in over 70 countries. In Australia coal occurs in all States and the Northern Territory. Black Coal Black coal is so called because of its black colour. It varies from having a bright, shiny lustre to being very dull and from being relatively hard to soft. It has higher energy and lower moisture content than brown coal. Most are of Permian age (about 250 million years old), but lower-rank, younger deposits of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous ages are also important.

Permian black coal from New South Wales and Queensland is exported in large quantities to Japan, Europe, South-East Asia, and the Americas. Resources and Deposits In New South Wales black coal is mined near the eastern and western edges of the Sydney-Gunnedah Basin, where the seams are relatively close to the surface. Mining centred along the western edge, where most of the production is from underground mines, is in the Wollongong-Appin-Bulli area and in the Lithgow-Mudgee area. Mines near the eastern edge of the basin are spread along the Hunter Valley from Newcastle in the south to Muswellbrook in the north; many of these mines are open-cut. Further north mining also occurs at Yarrawonga near Gunnedah. Southern Coalfield mines such as Appin , Tahmoor and Metropolitan produce mainly coking coal. Mines such as Ulan and Springvale in the Western Coalfield and Mandalong and Westside in the Newcastle Coalfield produce mainly thermal coal. In the Hunter Valley Coalfield both soft coking and thermal coal products are produced from mines such as Hunter Valley Operations and Bulga . In Queensland, the coal industry has grown rapidly from the early 1970s.

Most production has been of export coking coal from mines such as Goonyella and Kestrel in the Bowen Basin. However, thermal coal mines such as those at Newlands and Rolleston and mines near Brisbane have increased the proportion of steaming coal that is mined and exported. The Bowen Basin extends south from Collinsville to beyond Blackwater and Moura . A locally important thermal coal mine operates in the Callide Basin. Significant thermal coal resources occur in the Surat and Moreton Basins between Wandoan and Millmerran and mines are operating at Wilkie Creek , New Acland and Commodore . During the 1990s Pulverised Coal Injection (PCI) coals increased in importance with a number of PCI mines now operating in the Bowen Basin including Jellinbah East and Coppabella . Other locally significant black coal mines include Muja and Premier (Western Australia), Leigh Creek (South Australia) and Duncan (Tasmania). In 2009 economically recoverable black coal resources were reported to be 43.8 billion tonnes with over 96% of these resources in New South Wales and Queensland.

Australia has about 7% of the world's economically recoverable black coal and ranks fifth behind USA (31%), Russia (22%), China (14%) and India (8%). Mining In open-cut mining, rock covering the coal seam (the overburden) is blasted and removed by large draglines and/or electric or hydraulic shovels and trucks. Modern equipment and techniques allow open-cut mines to be operated to depths much greater than the 60m that was considered a maximum depth for many years. The use of advanced methods is typified in Queensland at the Goonyella mine where the upper section of overburden is removed by bucket wheel excavator followed by a truck and shovel operation that removes more overburden before the deeper overburden is stripped by dragline. Underground coal mining in Australia is done by either the bord and pillar or longwall method. In bord and pillar mining, coal is extracted in a series of parallel tunnels (bords) cut at right angles by another series (cut-throughs). This leaves blocks of coal known as pillars which may be extracted in a second stage of mining. Longwall mining results in large blocks of coal being totally extracted and the mine roof allowed to collapse behind the working face.

Generally, longwall techniques result in higher productivity and higher recovery of coal than does the bord and pillar method. Highwall mining was introduced into Australia in the early 1990s and uses the void left by open-cut mining to employ remote underground mining equipment to extract coal. Australia's first punch longwall mining operation commenced in the late 1990s using conventional longwall equipment to mine coal from blocks developed directly from an open-cut final highwall. In 2009 economically recoverable black coal resources were reported to be 43.8 billion tonnes with over 96% of these resources in New South Wales and Queensland. Australia has about 7% of the world's economically recoverable black coal and ranks fifth behind USA (31%), Russia (22%), China (14%) and India (8%). Processing Black coal may be used without any processing other than crushing and screening to reduce the rock to a useable and consistent size. However, it is often washed to remove pieces of rock or mineral that may be present. This reduces ash and improves overall quality.

Washing involves immersing the crushed coal in a liquid of high specific gravity in which coal floats and can be recovered while the heavier rock and minerals sink and are discarded. Uses The major use of black coal is for generating electricity in power stations, where it is pulverised and burnt to heat steam-generating boilers. Coal used for this process is called steaming coal. In 2008 77% of the electricity generated in Australia was produced by coal fired power stations (includes black and brown coals). Some types of black coal are suitable for coke-making. These coals are called coking coal and when heated in the absence of air produce gases and coke. Coke is a porous solid composed mainly of carbon and ash. Good quality coke is hard, has a high crushing strength, and is mainly used in blast furnaces that produce iron. Many organic chemicals, including tars and feedstocks for making various plastics, can be prepared from the by-products of coke and gas production. Some coal is used primarily to obtain these products. PCI coal is used in blast furnaces as a way of lowering operating costs and extending the life of coke ovens. Black coal is also used as a heat source in the manufacture of cement and food processing.

Brown Coal Brown coal, sometimes called lignite, is a relatively soft material which has a heating value only about one-quarter of that for black coal. It has a much lower carbon content than black coal and a higher moisture content. Where found near the surface in thick seams, it can be mined economically on a large scale by open-cut methods. Resources and Deposits Australian brown coal deposits are Tertiary in age and range from about 15 million to about 50 million years old. The main deposits are in Victoria, the only State that produces brown coal. In the Latrobe Valley in Gippsland, thick seams, up to 165 m, form part of a sequence of brown coal measures that is the basis of Victoria's electric power industry. Smaller deposits occur in the Bacchus Marsh, Altona and Anglesea areas of Victoria, in the St Vincents and Murray Basins and around Pidinga in South Australia, in the Murray Basin in New South Wales and Victoria, at Waterpark Creek near Rockhampton in Queensland, and at Scaddan, O'Sullivans and Balladonia in the south east of Western Australia.

In 2009 Australia's economically recoverable brown coal resources were reported to be 37 billion tonnes, all of which is in Victoria and with over 90% in the La Trobe Valley. Australia has about 24% of the world's economic resources and is ranked first. Mining The La Trobe Valley mines of Yallourn , Hazelwood and Loy Yang extract brown coal from large open-cut mines utilising giant bucket-wheel excavators, or dredgers, which may weigh several thousand tonnes. The coal is loaded onto conveyor belts for delivery to power stations. However, in a recent development the dredgers at Yallourn have been replaced by four large dozers. At Anglesea, Alcoa of Australia Ltd operates an open-cut mine to provide brown coal for its power station. This power station provides most of the electricity for the company's aluminium smelter at Point Henry. The small Maddingley mine near Bacchus Marsh produces a horticultural product. Annual brown coal production is about 68 million tonnes, all from Victoria and with over 98% from the La Trobe Valley.

Australia produces about 7% of the world's brown coal and is ranked fifth largest after Germany (21%), Russia (10%), Turkey (9%) and USA (8%). Uses In Victoria, almost all of the brown coal extracted is burnt to heat steam-generating boilers in electrical power stations located near the coal mines. It is also made into briquettes , which are used for industrial and domestic heating in Australia and are also exported. Brown coal can also be used to produce water gas, which is used in the production of ammonia, solvents, and liquid fuels, and can be a source of industrial carbon, used to decolourise and purify solutions and (as char) in iron, glass, and cement manufacture.

Suggestions for Further Reading It's Elemental - The Element Uranium It's Elemental Melting Point: 1408 K (1135°C or 2075°F) Boiling Point: 4404 K (4131°C or 7468°F) Density: 18.95 grams per cubic centimeter Phase at Room Temperature: Solid Element Classification: Metal Period Number: 7 Group Number: none Group Name: Actinide Radioactive What's in a name? Named for the planet Uranus . Say what? Uranium is pronounced as you-RAY-nee-em. History and Uses: Uranium was discovered by Martin Heinrich Klaproth, a German chemist, in the mineral pitchblende (primarily a mix of uranium oxides) in 1789. Although Klaproth, as well as the rest of the scientific community, believed that the substance he extracted from pitchblende was pure uranium, it was actually uranium dioxide (UO2).

After noticing that 'pure' uranium reacted oddly with uranium tetrachloride (UCl4), Eugène-Melchoir Péligot, a French chemist isolated pure uranium by heating uranium dioxide with potassium in a platinum crucible. Radioactivity was first discovered in 1896 when Antoine Henri Becquerel, a French physicist, detected it from a sample of uranium. Today, uranium is obtained from uranium ores such as pitchblende, uraninite (UO2), carnotite (K2(UO2)2VO4·1-3H2O) and autunite (Ca(UO2)2(PO4)2·10H2O) as well as from phosphate rock (Ca3(PO4)2), lignite (brown coal) and monazite sand ((Ce, La, Th, Nd, Y)PO4). Since there is little demand for uranium metal, uranium is usually sold in the form of sodium diuranate (Na2U2O7·6H2O), also known as yellow cake, or triuranium octoxide (U3O8).

Since it is naturally radioactive, uranium, usually in the form of uranium dioxide (UO2), is most commonly used in the nuclear power industry to generate electricity. Naturally occurring uranium consists of three isotopes : uranium-234, uranium-235 and uranium-238. Although all three isotopes are radioactive, only uranium-235 is a fissionable material that can be used for nuclear power. When a fissionable material is struck by a neutron , its nucleus can release energy by splitting into smaller fragments. If some of the fragments are other neutrons, they can strike other atoms and cause them to split as well. A fissionable material, such as uranium-235, is a material capable of producing enough free neutrons to sustain a nuclear chain reaction. Only 0.7204% of naturally occurring uranium is uranium-235. This is too low a concentration to sustain a nuclear chain reaction without the help of a material known as a moderator. A moderator is a material that can slow down a neutron without absorbing it. Slow neutrons are more likely to react with uranium-235 and reactors using natural uranium can be made using graphite or heavy water as a moderator.

Methods also exist for concentrating uranium-235. Once the levels of uranium-235 have been increased to about 3%, normal water can be used as a moderator. Uranium-238, uranium's most common isotope, can be converted into plutonium -239, a fissionable material that can also be used as a fuel in nuclear reactors. To produce plutonium-239, atoms of uranium-238 are exposed to neutrons. Uranium-239 forms when uranium-238 absorbs a neutron. Uranium-239 has a half-life of about 23 minutes and decays into neptunium -239 through beta decay . Neptunium-239 has a half-life of about 2.4 days and decays into plutonium-239, also through beta decay. Although it does not occur naturally, uranium-233 is also a fissionable material that can be used as a fuel in nuclear reactors. To produce uranium-233, atoms of thorium -232 are exposed to neutrons.

Thorium-233 forms when thorium-232 absorbs a neutron. Thorium-233 has a half-life of about 22 minutes and decays into protactinium -233 through beta decay. Protactinium-233 has a half-life of about 27 days and decays into uranium-233, also through beta decay. If completely fissioned, one pound (0.45 kilograms) of uranium-233 will provide the same amount of energy as burning 1,500 tons (1,350,000 kilograms) of coal. Uranium is a dense metal that has uses outside of the nuclear power industry. It is used as a target for X-ray production, as ammunition for some types of military weaponry, as a shield against radiation, as a counterweight for aircraft control surfaces and in the gyroscopes of inertial guidance systems. Uranium compounds have been used for centuries to color glass. A 2,000 year old sample of yellow glass found near Naples, Italy contains uranium oxide.

Uranium trioxide (UO3) is an orange powder and has been used in the manufacture of Fiestaware plates. Other uranium compounds have also been used to make vaseline glass and glazes. The uranium within these items is radioactive and should be treated with care. Uranium's most stable isotope , uranium-238, has a half-life of about 4,468,000,000 years. It decays into thorium -234 through alpha decay or decays through spontaneous fission. Estimated Crustal Abundance: 2.7 milligrams per kilogram Estimated Oceanic Abundance: 3.2×10-3 milligrams per liter Number of Stable Isotopes: 0 ( View all isotope data ) Ionization Energy: 6.194 eV

Question: What is the scientific name for brown coal?
Answer: Lignite