Currently, the use of coal is mainly to generate electricity and as a fossil fuel in different industries, because it is a cheap and efficient fuel, in addition to the fact that all the waste it generates can be adequately controlled.
In fact as data, in the United States around 91.8% of all the coal that is produced is used for the generation of electrical energy, this is equivalent to 540 billion tons of coal per year.
Finally, let’s remember that coal is a sedimentary rock that is formed by the lithification of plant remains in swampy environments, for this reason it has a high content of carbon (C) in its chemical composition, which is the element that gives it all the power calorific. The purer the coal, the better quality it will be.
Use in the production of electrical energy
The main use of coal is for the generation of electricity. Hydroelectric plants use this sedimentary rock as fuel to make the turbines that generate electricity work, because coal is currently considered a profitable or economical fuel.
Coal to produce steel
The second main use for coal is in the production and refining of steel. Steel is a material that is composed of iron and various chemical elements including carbon, which come from coal (coke).
Coal is used as fuel to melt the iron that will form part of the steel in special furnaces that burn this rock at high temperatures. Likewise, this sedimentary rock is considered an economical and high-power fuel.
In turn, the coke (coking coal) is refined and used to obtain the chemical elements that will form part of the steel.
Coke is a carbonaceous residue that is derived from bituminous coal but has a low sulfur and ash content, making it ideal for use in the steel industry.
Uses of coal in industry
Coal is one of the most used sedimentary rocks in industry. For example, it is used in the cement manufacturing industry, in the paper industry, in the aluminum industry, in the steel manufacturing industry, and one of the most important applications is for the production of chemical and pharmaceutical products. (chemical industry).
This wide application of this sedimentary rock in industry is due to the fact that coal is the most important raw material on the planet, coal tar, ammonium sulfate, creosote and other raw materials are extracted from it.
However, it must be clarified that coal is used above all for the generation of electrical energy and is widely used by hydroelectric plants.
Domestic uses of coal
Coal has important calorific properties, for this reason it is often used to cook foods such as meat and chicken, especially in underdeveloped places, where access to domestic gas or electricity is limited.
Also in countries that are in very cold environments that even reach temperatures below zero, it is used as a source to generate heat through its combustion.
Finally we can say that it is also used for the generation of electrical energy in houses.
Use of coal in cement production
Cement production requires large energy consumption, coal is a sedimentary rock that has the capacity to generate a large amount of heat energy through its combustion, this property makes it attractive to be used in the cement production industry.
Uses of coal to produce paper and aluminum
The production of paper and aluminum needs cheap and efficient fuels to be economically profitable. At this point, coal is a rock that works as a suitable fuel to meet the needs of the production of paper and aluminum, which is why it is widely used in these two industries.
Coal applications in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry
Coal is also important in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. In this case it is the refined tar that is used to produce certain chemical products such as oil, naphthalene, pheno and benzene.
Also, most chemical products on the market have carbon or carbon by-products in their composition. Some of them include aspirin, solvents, soaps, dyes, plastics, and fibers like nylon.
Uses of coal to make fertilizers
Coal can also be used to create ammonia-based fertilizers.
In this case, the coal breaks down into carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas, the hydrogen is then mixed with ammonia to create fertilizers that will be used in agriculture.
Uses of coal in transportation
Coal can be made into a synthetic gas consisting of a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, and it can also be made into a synthetic liquid through some chemical processes.
Both products, especially the liquid derivative, are important because they can be used as fuel for automobiles, buses, trains, and in general in the land transportation industry.
Uses of coal in the oil industry
Finally we can mention that coal is widely used in the oil industry. In oil production, a large amount of electrical energy is consumed in each of the processes, both extraction, transportation and oil refining.
So coal meets the expectations of being a widely efficient fuel for the purposes of this industry.
