Coal is brown. Coal mining. Brown coal deposit

The use of brown coal is not so common in comparison with its stone analogue, however low cost causes the relevance of heating through this fossil among small and private boiler houses. In Europe, this breed is also called lignite, although it is rarely distinguished from the general classification of coal. As for the special purpose, for example, in Germany it is used to supply steam power plants, while in Greece brown coal allows to produce up to 50% of electricity. But again this material does not have a wide distribution as a kind of solid fuel, at least in the form of an independent resource.

General information about lignite

Lignite is a dense stone-like mass of light brown or black color. At close examination you can see its vegetative wood structure. In the boiler room, brown coal burns quite quickly, giving off soot and a peculiar smell of burning. As for the composition, it is formed by ash, sulfur, carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Impurities correspond to the same elements that are present in other types of coal.

In terms of material composition, most of these fossils refer to humites. Transitional sapropelite and humus impregnations occur in the form of interlayers in deposits of humite. In the basins, brown coal is grouped by micro-components of vitrinite. It should be noted that the ash components in such deposits are the most difficult to calculate. For the calculation of heat engineering indicators it is recommended to refer to special tables and compare these rocks with the characteristics of the boiler plant equipment.

Origin of deposits

The largest deposits are characteristic of the Mesozoic-Cenozoic deposits. As an exception, only the Lower-Carboniferous deposits of the Moscow Region basin can be distinguished. European deposits are mainly associated with the Neogene-Paleogene strata , and Jurassic deposits prevail in Asia. Fossils of the Cretaceous period are less common . Russian reserves also for the most part have material from the Jurassic deposits. The main part of the fossil lies at a shallow depth (10-60 m). Due to this factor open coal mining is allowed, although there are also problematic channels up to 200 m. The main raw material for the formation of lignite was once served as deciduous and coniferous trees, peat bogs and pylops. Enrichment with carbon is due to the fact that the decomposition process took place under water and without air access. Also, the wood base was mixed with sand and clay, due to which a further stage of transformation of the deposits forms graphite.

Coal mining

Russia is the fifth largest producer of lignite. About 75% of the total volume of fossil is supplied to the production and fuel and energy enterprises, and the rest is used in the chemical industry and metallurgy. A small share is also exported. The technology of development and direct production in general resembles also the methods of working with other varieties of carbon deposits. But mining brown coal has its advantages. Since this breed is relatively young, a large share of the resource is extracted from the open fields. To date, this method is the most effective, safe and cheap. True, from the ecological point of view, this is not the best method of extraction, since the development of deep quarries entails extensive dumps of the so-called overburden.

Large deposits

If to speak about Russia, the largest deposit of brown coal is the Solton complex of quarries. This is the only source of coal located in the Altai. According to experts, this field contains about 250 million tons of rock. Also known is the Kansk-Achinsk multi-kilometer brown coal basin, which is located in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. In both cases, the extraction is conducted using open technology. Quite promising deposits of lignite are being developed in Germany, which is the largest supplier of this coal in Europe. The most large-scale developments are being carried out in East Germany, where the Mid-German and Lausitsky basins are located. According to some sources, these deposits contain 80 billion tons. As in Russia, German specialists are guided by the open method of extraction, moving away from the costly mine method.

The cost of brown coal

By its quality characteristics, brown coal loses to the more familiar stone analogue. At the same time, several factors allowed us to slightly increase the demand for a less attractive resource. Among them, we can note the cost of brown coal. The average price varies from 800 to 1200 rubles. For 1 ton. The higher the heat of combustion, the higher the price tag. For comparison: a ton of coal can be purchased at best for 2000 thousand rubles. As already mentioned, the nuances of operating boiler houses with the use of brown coal still hinder its wide distribution. But suppliers of quality material find customers both among energy companies and in the segment of individual consumption.

Conclusion

To the end user, lignite can be supplied in sorted or unsorted form. As a household fuel, it is usually used for pulverized combustion, and for complex metallurgical plants it is made from coke biscuits. Due to the low cost and wide distribution of large deposits, brown coal does not last in the list of demanded fuel materials. Nevertheless, against the background of increasing requirements for energy efficiency of heating systems and tightening of environmental standards, such raw materials are becoming less attractive. In many countries, the use of brown coal is limited only to production needs, but examples from Russia and Germany confirm the relevance of the breed in terms of household use.