Glossary of Terms
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X
A
ACTIVATED CARBON:
Normally wood or coal derived it is used as a medium for water and gas filtration.ANTHRACITE:
Coals with a volatile-carbon ratio equal to 0.12 or less. It has a bright black lustre and is coal of the highest rank.ASH:
Inorganic residue after incineration of coal.ASH ANALYSIS:
Expresses the composition of ash in terms of its oxides
B
BIN:
Coal storage area, underground excavation or surface structure.BITUMINOUS COAL:
A general term descriptive of coal intermediate in rank between sub-bituminous and semi-anthracite and including coking coals. Bituminous coals may be either bright or dull and are usually banded in appearance.BLACK COAL:
A general term for coal of either sub-bituminous, bituminous or anthracite rank.BLENDS:
A mixture of 2 or more coal types or brands. In the case of coke making, blending provides the manufacturer with the potential to mix lower cost poorer coking coals with higher cost hard coking coals and thereby reduce the overall cost of the coke oven feed.BOGHEAD COALS :
(Kerosene shale, oilshale, torbanite). Members of the sapropelic coal group, resembling cannel coals in general appearance and properties but distinguished microscopically by the presence of alginite, and macroscopically by a brown or yellow streak when scratched.
BROWN COAL:
Coal of the lowest rank, of a soft friable nature and high moisture in the air-dried sample.BTU:
British Thermal Unit, The quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of distilled water 1°F at its point of maximum density.
C
CARBON CONTENT:
The total amount of carbon in coal.CARBON CREDITS:
Derivative instruments that can be traded between scheme participants that allow the authorized holder to emit a specified amount of greenhouse gas, typically expressed as units of one tonne of CO2.CARBONIZATION:
The process of converting coking coal into cokeCARBON cAPTURE AND STORAGE (CCS):
The capture and long term storage of CO2.CARBON SEQUESTRAION:
The capture and long term storage of CO2.CLEAN COAL:
The coal product that has undergone processing (wet or dry).CLEAN COAL TECHNOLOGIES:
Technologies that are being developed to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired electricity generation to near-zero levels.COAL BLENDING:
Coal that is mixed in predetermined and controlled quantities to give a uniform feed or product.COAL DUST:
Particles of coal that can pass a No. 20 sieve.COAL HANDLING AND PREPARATION PLANT:
A plant used to upgrade the quality of coal including crushing, sizing and dryingusually refers to the reduction of ash forming mineral in coal.COAL MINE:
An area of land and all structures, facilities, machinery, tools, equipment, shafts, slopes, tunnels, excavations and other property, real or personal, placed upon, under or above the surface of such land by any person, used in, or to be used in, or resulting from the work of extracting in such area bituminous coal, lignite, or anthracite from its natural deposits in the earth by any means or method and the work of preparing the coal so extracted and includes custom coal preparation facilities.COAL MINING COMPANY:
A company that mines coal and coal products.COAL PREPARATION:
the work of cutting, boring, and blasting the coal at the face ready for the loading machines. The treatment by screening to give coal of various sizes to meet a purchaser's requirements; also treatment by one or more processes to reduce the amount of waste (ash) present in the coal.COAL RESERVE:
the economically mineable part of the coal resource, as defined in the JORC Code. It includes diluting materials and allowances for losses.COAL RESOURCE :
Coal in the ground with reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction, as defined in the JORC Code.COAL SIZING PLANT:
A Plant used to size, crush or screen coal to market specifications.COAL tECHNOLOGY:
Coal Technology covers processes involved in the production of clean coal.COAL WASHERY:
A Coal Washery or Coal Preparation Plant is a plant which removes ash from the coal to improve its quality as a commercial product.COKE :
The end product of the carbonization of coal. Generated from coking coal after being heated at high temperature in an atmosphere substantially devoid of oxygen, passing through a transient plastic stage in which the coal successively softens, swells and re-solidifies into a coherent cellular coke ready for use in the steel making process.COKING COAL:
Coals which are is suitable for coke making and used in the production of metallurgical coke.CONVEYOR:
The means of transporting coal from the boot end to the underground bin or surface. It consists of an endless belt being driven by a motor drum system over a structure roller assembly.
D
DEMURRAGE:
Refers specifically to the money payable to the owner for delay incurred for which the owner is not responsible in loading and/or discharging after the lay time allowed for in the charter party has expired. The rate of demurrage is usually agreed upon in advance in the charter party.
E
ENERGY COAL:
Coal used to provide heat for steam rising as part of the electricity generation process.F
FEEDER:
(1) A piece of equipment which aids the flow of coal from one location (perhaps a bin) to another (perhaps a conveyor belt); or (2) Breaker feeder which is a stationary but mobile piece of mining equipment which breaks large lumps of coal into smaller pieces and discharges coal onto a conveyor belt.FIXED CARBON:
That part of the carbon which remains behind when coal is heated in a closed vessel until all of the volatile matter is driven off.FLOTATION:
Wet process for the separation of coal from waste rock. The coal particles are lifted or floated to the surface by air bubbles in a liquid medium.FLUIDITY:
The degree to which coal becomes plastic over certain temperature ranges during the carbonization process. The measurement of “maximum fluidity " is used by some steel makers, particularly Japanese steel mills, in assessing the ability of coal particles to mix with other coals in a coke oven blend. Maximum fluidity is determined by placing a sample of finely ground coal in a crucible and measuring the speed of rotation of a paddle placed within the crucible which is heated. A gravitational force is applied to the paddle and the maximum rotation of the paddle is measured in dial divisions per minute or DDPM. The temperature at which the paddle reaches maximum rotation differs for varying coal types.
G
GATHERING CONVEYOR:
Any conveyor which is used to gather coal from other conveyors and deliver it either into mine cars or onto another conveyor. The term is frequently used with belt conveyors placed in entries where a number of room conveyors deliver coal onto the belt.GEOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION RANK:
is a term which signifies the degree of coalification that the sediments which constitute the coal have undergone. Rank increases from lignite to semi-bituminous to bituminous to semi-anthracite to anthracite. In the database coal reserves have been classified by rank.GLOBAL COAL SOLUTIONS PTY LTD:
A coal company that specializes in cleaner coal preparation techniques.
H
HARD COKING COAL:
Coals which make hard coke when carbonized in the coke oven.HGI Hardgrove Grindability Index :
Ease of pulverization (e.g. 30 is very hard, 70 is soft).
I
IM:
Inherent Moisture in coal..IN SITU:
Total reserves of coal in seam. Term used by geologists for coal that exists but is not necessarily mineable.
L
LIGNITE:
A brownish-black coal composed of vegetable matter which has been altered more than in peat, but less than in sub- bituminous coal.LONGWALL:
A system of working coal in which the seam is extracted on a broad front or long face.LONGWALL MINING:
A system of mining that involves the extraction of large blocks of coal, with the coal being mined on retreat in slices up to 1.0 metre thick from the longwall face.LOW STRIP-RATIO:
An overburden to coal ratio, measured in bank cubic metres to insitu tonnes. the lower the ratio generally means a lower cost of extraction.LOW SULPHUR AND ASH CONTENT COAL:
Coal that is generally less than 0.4% total sulfur and 18% ash.LOW VOLATILE COAL:
Normally below 22% of volatile compounds.
M
MACERALS:
Microscopically recognizable individual organic constituents of coal. They are recognized on the basis of their reflectance and morphology (e.g. Vitrinite, Exinite and Inertinite).MANAGER:
Every colliery is in the charge of a professional mining engineer holding a 1st class certificate of competency and / or appointed by the owner; he is in charge of all operations.Marketable Reserve:
Similar to coal reserve, a term used to describe the amount of coal that can physically be mined from a reserve at an acceptable cost, as defined in the JORC Code.METALLURGICAL COAL:
Coals, which are consumed in the production of pig iron, either via the coke oven process, direct injection (PCI) or by direct reduction.MILLING:
The process of crushing coal to micron size to allow it to be pneumatically fired into a boiler or blast furnace.MINE PLAN :
A two-dimensional representation of the proposed or existing mine workings, usually prepared as part of an economic assessment of the coal reserve (through the JORC process).MINING METHOD:
Coal mining operations can be either open cut or underground. There are then specific mining methods which describe the techniques used in more detail.MINING LEASE:
Title granted under the Mining Act 1992 that provides rights to mine a coal resource.MT:
Million tonnes.MTPA:
Million tonnes per annum.MV :
Medium Volatile coal, >22% and < 31% on dry mineral matter free basis.
O
OPEN-CUT MINING:
A type of mining where the overburden is removed to expose coal seams and allow their extraction by surface means.OVERBURDEN:
The material of any nature, consolidated or unconsolidated, that overlies a deposit; Top soil/strata overlying the coal seam.
P
PHOSPHORUS:
To be avoided in coking coal because it accumulates in hot metal giving undesirable properties in resultant steelPCI COAL:
Coals, which are suitable for direct injection into the blast furnace in a pulverized state. PCI replaces oil and displaces some quantity of coke. Traditionally, the PCI coal price is closely linked to thermal coal which will allow the blast furnace operator to reduce the overall cost of raw material by reducing the volume of coke needed to produce each tonne of hot metal.PRODUCER:
A company which operates coal mines.PROXIMATE ANALYSIS:
The analysis of coal or coke in terms of moisture, ash, volatile matter and (by difference) fixed carbon.PYRITE:
A hard, heavy, shiny, yellow. Mineral, FeS2 or iron disulphide; generally in cubic crystals. Also called iron pyrites, fool's gold, and sulfur balls. May be applied also to copper pyrites, tin pyrites, etc., but iron pyrite is the most common sulphite found in coal mines.
R
ROM:
Raw coal as mined that has not undergone any screening, crushing or beneficiation.RUN OF MINE:
Raw coal as mined that has not undergone any screening, crushing or beneficiation.
S
S:
Sulfur Forms sulfur dioxide during coal combustion.SEAM:
Layer or bed (of coal).SEMI-SOFT COAL:
A type of coking coal that can be blended with a hard coking coal to produce an acceptable hard coke.SOFT COKING COAL:
Coals, which make soft (or weak) coke when coked alone in a coke oven.SPECIFIC ENERGY (CALORIFIC VALUE):
The energy in kilocalories released per kg of coal burned.STEAMING COAL:
Coal used to provide heat for raising steam as part of the electricity generation process.SULFUR:
Forms sulfur dioxide during coal combustion.
T
THERMAL COAL:
Normally used for the generation of heat for raising steam and other general industry applications. These coals generally do not exhibit any coking properties and therefore would not make coke in a conventional coke oven. However, thermal coals can be used as PCI coals provided they have levels of ash, moisture, volatile matter and sulfur which make them suitable for the production of blast furnace pig iron.TOP SIZE:
Maximum size of saleable coal.TRADER :
A company or individual which trades in coal.TRADEABLE CARBON CREDITS:
Derivative instruments that can be traded between scheme participants that allow the authorized holder to emit a specified amount of greenhouse gas, typically expressed as units of one tonne of CO2.TRANSPORT:
Types of coal transport, road, rail, ship, barge e.t.c.
U
ULTIMATE ANALYSIS:
The analysis of a coal expressed in terms of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur and oxygen. High nitrogen and sulfur contents can create high levels of NOx and SOx which are serious pollutants.UNDERGROUND:
A type of mining where the coal seam is accessed by shaft or drill into underground workings.V
VENTURI:
A specially shaped orifice employed in devices where the energy released by the expansion of high pressure air, steam or water can be used to do useful work (air movement, pumping, dusting, etc.).VM (Volatile Matter):
The percentage of coal which is lost as volatile matter (gases) when coal is incinerated under standard conditions.
