Anthracite is a type of coal that is known for its high carbon content, low impurities, and high energy density. It is the highest ranking of coals and is categorized into several grades. Standard grade is used especially in power generation. High grade (HG) and ultra-high grade (UHG) are used largely in the metallurgy sector. Anthracite is about 1% of global coal reserves and is mined in only a few countries around the world. The Coal Region of Northeastern Pennsylvania in the United States has the largest known deposits of anthracite coal. Producers include Russia, Ukraine, North Korea, South Africa, Vietnam, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and the United States.
Anthracite coal mining and use have serious environmental impacts. Coal mining can cause noise pollution, loss of wildlife, sinkholes, topographical alteration, flooding, water pollution, air pollution, and fires. Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a significant environmental impact of coal mining. It causes heavy metals to dissolve and seep into ground and surface water. The environmental impacts of coal mining are diverse. They range from coal fires, landscape transformation, vegetation deterioration, subsidence, land cover changes, and pollution of air, water and soil.
To limit these effects, several measures can be taken:
- Recycling: Recycling coal ash promotes reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reduced disposing in landfills, and reduced use of other materials.
- Regulation: Governments can regulate the mining and use of anthracite coal to ensure that it is done in an environmentally responsible manner. This can include requiring companies to obtain permits before mining or using anthracite coal and imposing fines for non-compliance with environmental regulations.
- Alternative energy sources: Encouraging the use of alternative energy sources such as wind, solar and hydroelectric power can help reduce the demand for anthracite coal.
- Conservation: Conserving energy by using energy-efficient appliances and cutting down on energy consumption can help reduce the demand for anthracite coal.Anthracite is also an excellent filter media for water clarification in drinking or industrial use, when used in combination with filtering sands. Water clarification is an important step in a water or wastewater treatment process to remove suspended solids through gravity settling. Anthracite is known for producing reliable improvements in turbidity extraction, mostly because of its great capacity to retain solids. Turbidity extraction is when suspended solids that cause the cloudiness or haziness of a liquid sample are removed. Turbidity extraction can also be used to measure the quality of water as it is and indicator of the presence of inorganic sediment, bacteria or precipitates.To order Anthracite, go to bm.com.sa.
