Title:  Coal Quiz
Level:  Primary/Middle
Time:  1 Class Period

Objective:  

Students will review basic facts about coal and display their knowledge.

Background Information:

What is Coal?

Coal is a burnable carbonaceous rock, which means it is a rock that contains organic matter (plant and animal residues) and lots of carbon and other elements (hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, among others).  But is also has various amounts of mineral matter, and is also considered a mineral of organic origin.  Coal is also a fossil fuel – a substance containing the remains of once-living plants and animals that can be burned to release energy.

How was/is coal formed?

During the carboniferous period of geologic time (280 to 345 million years ago) scientists believe that great quantities of vegetation and other organic matter collected and underwent slow decomposition.  This occurred mainly in swamps and in lagoons and a spongy, brown material called peat was formed.  Geologic forces buried the peat deep under the Earth’s surface and layers of peat were further compacted by heat and pressure.  The compressed peat was eventually converted to coal. The greater the heat and pressure, the harder the coal is.

What are the four (4) major types of coal?

Lignite – A brownish-black coal with generally high moisture and ash content, and the lowest carbon content and heating value.

Sub-Bituminous – A dull black coal with a higher heating value.

Bituminous – A soft, intermediate grade of coal that is the most common and most widely used in the United States.

Anthracite – The hardest type of coal, consisting of nearly pure carbon. Anthracite has the highest heating value and lowest moisture and ash content.

Where is coal found?

Proven coal deposits exist on every continent, including Antarctica.  The United States has the world’s largest supply of recoverable or mineable reserves, accounting for about 24 percent of total reserves.  Coal is found in 38 states and nearly one-eighth of the country lies over coal beds.  Top coal mining states include: Montana, Illinois, Wyoming, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Colorado, Texas and Indiana.

How plentiful is coal?

Coal is far more plentiful than domestic oil or natural gas, making up about 95 percent of America’s fossil energy reserves.  Total U.S. coal resources – deposits that are both known and believed to exist – are estimated at nearly four trillion tons.  The known coal likely to be mined in the foreseeable future is some 494 billion tons.  The amount of demonstrated reserves considered recoverable with current technology is more than 296 billion tons – enough to last over 300 years at current levels of use.

How is coal mined?

There are two basic ways to mine coal.  Surface mining is used when coal is found close to the surface or on hillsides.  This method essentially involves removing the overburden (earth and rock covering the coal) with heavy earth moving equipment, scooping out the coal, replacing the excavated soil and reestablishing vegetation and plant life, a process known as reclamation.  The advantages of surface mining are many.  Where it can be used, it permits recovery of 90 percent or more of the coal to be mined.

Underground mining is used to extract coal lying deep beneath the Earth’s surface or in seams exposed on hillsides.  The coal is reached by drilling two openings into the coal bed to transport workers and equipment and to send coal to the surface.  Both openings serve to circulate air in the mine.  Coal is then broken up and mined by one of several methods:

Conventional mining – The older practice of using explosives to break up a coal seam.

Continuous mining – A huge machine with a large rotating steel drum equipped with tungsten carbide teeth scrapes coal from a seam at high speeds.

Long wall mining – A cutting machine with a large rotating steel drum, which is dragged back and forth across a “long wall” or seam of coal.  The loosened coal falls onto a conveyer belt for removal from the work area.  After coal is extracted it is removed by automatic extraction systems that cut the coal, which is loaded on shuttle cars to a central loading area in the mine or placed on belt conveyors, which remove coal to the surface.

What is reclamation?

As coal is removed from one section of a surface mine, the land at another part is returned, regraded and replanted so it will be as good as or better than it was before mining began.  This process is called reclamation.  Because of it, modern surface mining is a temporary land use, involving not just excavation or extraction of the coal, but also restoration and return of the land to productive use.  Reclaimed land has been successfully used for wildlife preserves, golf courses, recreational parks, commercial development sites, pasture land, native habitats and productive farmland.  Since the mid-1970’s, over two million acres of mined lands owned by coal producers have been reclaimed and an additional 100,000 acres of abandoned mines (remnants of neglect from a bygone mining era earlier in the 20^th century) have also been reclaimed using money paid by today’s coal producers into a national trust fund.

What is coal used for?

Coal’s primary use is for the generation of electricity.  In fact, coal generates 56 percent of the electricity consumed in America each day, far more than any other energy source.  Worldwide, it provides 40 percent of total electricity generation.  Coal is also used in the industrial and retail sector as a fuel for heating and powering foundries, cement plants and other industrial and manufacturing facilities.  A number of electric power plants also use coal to produce steam for generating electricity and for heating. Coal is still used in the iron and steel industry.  However, the domestic use of coke (a substance made by heating coal to very high temperatures) has decreased due to changes in blast furnace and steel-making technologies as well as in shift in steel demand. Coal from the United States is exported to more than 40 countries around the world and contributes some $3.5 billion annually on the positive side of our balance of payments.  Currently, Canada, Japan, and Italy are among the biggest customers receiving shipments of U.S. coal.

Why is coal used to generate electricity?

Coal is used to generate electricity because it’s reliable and a low-cost energy source produced in compatibility with our nation’s environmental laws.  Today 23 of the 25 lowest operating cost electric generation power plants in America are fueled by coal.  The relatively low cost of coal-fired electricity has given the United States an important advantage in a world marketplace that has become increasingly competitive.  Inexpensive electricity leads to lower operating costs for businesses, which ultimately boosts the economy, helps moderate inflation and increases competitiveness.

How is coal transported?

Shipping coal to market is a big business.  Most coal sent from mine to market travels either by rail or by barge.  Trucks and covered conveyors systems are used to move coal over shorter distances.  There is even a coal slurry pipeline (which mixes coal with water and sends it through a metal tube to its destination) connecting a mine in Arizona with a power plant in Nevada that handles several million tons annually.  Lake carriers and ocean vessels move large coal shipments over the Great Lakes and overseas.

Activity:

Coal Quiz - Test your coal knowledge.  See how many of the following 10 questions you can answer correctly.  Circle the correct answer.

Provided by American Coal Foundation