COAL AS FUEL USED IN THERMAL POWER STATIONS
Marina Rodriguez Higuero & Dilan Feliu Kay

Coal

Coal is a combustible black sedimentary rock usually occurring in layers called coal beds. The harder forms, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure. Coal is composed primarily of carbon along with other elements like: hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.  

Throughout history, coal has been a useful resource for human consumption. It is primarily burned for the production of electricity or heat, and is also used for industrial purposes such as refining metals. Coal forms when dead plant matter is converted into compost, which in turn is converted into lignite, then sub-bituminous coal, then bituminous coal, and lastly anthracite. This involves  processes that take a long period of time.

Coal is the largest source of energy for the generation of electricity worldwide. Coal is extracted from the ground by mining, either underground by shaft mining through the seams or in open pits

Coal is primarily used as a solid fuel to produce electricity and heat through combustion. World coal consumption was about 6.75 billion short tons in 2006 and is expected to increase 48% to 9.98 billion short tons by 2030.

Thermal Power Station

A thermal power station is a power plant in which the prime mover is steam driven. Water is heated, turns into steam and spins a steam turbine which drives an electrical generator. After it passes through the turbine, the steam is condensed in a condenser and recycled to where it was heated

Some thermal power plants also deliver heat energy for industrial purposes. A large part of human CO₂ emissions comes from fossil fueled thermal power plants; efforts to reduce these outputs are various and widespread.

The easiest way to explain how a central function is to imagine that we do at home on fire and the fire there we put a teapot. This teapot comes steam, and before the tea is a fan. The steam coming out of the pot goes to the fan and drives a generator that had a light bulb and turn.