How Is Coal Made Into Energy?
Coal is a black or brown sedimentary rock, made mostly of carbon and hydrocarbons, that took millions of years to create, according to the U.S. Energy Administration. The energy found in coal was stored in plants that lived those millions of years ago, when the earth was mainly swamps. This makes coal a non-renewable resource that will eventually be depleted. According to the American Coal Foundation, over half of the energy produced in the United States comes from coal.
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Conversion
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Energy is released from coal in the form of heat when it's burned, according to the American Coal Foundation. A pulverizer grinds coal ore into fine powder. The coal powder mixes with hot air, which allows the coal to burn more efficiently. The mixture of coal and hot air then moves into a furnace. The heat energy released from the burning coal heats water in a boiler, which creates steam. The rising steam powers a turbine that's used to transform heat energy into mechanical energy, which spins the turbine engine. As the turbine spins it powers a generator that turns mechanical energy into electrical energy with the help of magnets and a copper coil. The condenser then turns the steam back into water. where it returns to the boiler, and the cycle begins again.
Considerations
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There are newer, less commonly used ways to convert coal into electricity, such as fluidized bed combustion (FBC) and combined-cycle systems, according to the American Coal Foundation. Combined-cycle systems produce gas by heating coal, which powers a combustion turbine connected to a generator. Exhaust gases from this turbine heat water and create electricity with a steam-powered generator. Fluidized bed combustion involves coal inserted into a bed of particles suspended in air which reacts with heat to power a steam turbine.
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Effects
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Without clean coal technology, coal would release harmful chemicals like mercury and nitrogen oxides into the environment . Coal releases harmful chemicals into the environment when it's burned, according to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Emissions and by-products that result from burning coal include sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulates, carbon dioxide and mercury, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Solution
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Coal companies have developed clean-coal technology that removes harmful chemicals before the coal is burned. Scrubbers at the top of smokestacks remove additional chemicals after the coal is burned.
Fun Fact
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Nine out of every ten tons of coal mined in the United States is used to generate electricity, according to the American Coal Foundation.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit winter coal image by Rick Smith from Fotolia.com pollution image by Joseph Chiapputo from Fotolia.com
