Development of coal mines and pools. What are the ways to mine coal? Placing hard coal

Low cost and ample reserves are the main factors driving an increase in the number of uses for brown coal. This type of fossil solid fuel, the earliest type of coal, has been mined by man for more than one hundred years. Brown coal is a product of peat metamorphism, in the stage between lignite and coal. Compared with the latter, this type of fuel is less popular, nevertheless, due to its low cost, it is quite widely used for the production of electricity, heating and other types of fuel.

Structure

Brown coal is a dense, earthy or fibrous carbonaceous mass of brown or pitch-black color with a high content of volatile bituminous substances. As a rule, the plant structure, conchoidal fractures, and wood pulp are well preserved in it. It burns easily, the flame is smoky, while a peculiar unpleasant smell of burning is emitted. Reacts with potassium hydroxide to form a dark brown liquid. When dry distilled, brown coal forms ammonia with acetic acid. Chemical composition (on average), minus ash: carbon - 63%, oxygen - 32%, hydrogen 3-5%, nitrogen 0-2%.

Origin

Brown coal is formed by layers of deposits of sedimentary rocks - flakes, often of great thickness and length. The material for the formation of brown coal is various kinds of hoops, conifers, trees and peat plants. Deposits of these substances gradually decompose without access to air, under water, under the head of a mixture of clay and sand. The decay process is accompanied by the constant release of volatile substances and gradually leads to the enrichment of plant residues with carbon. Brown coal is one of the first stages of metamorphism of such plant sediments, after peat. Further stages - coal, anthracite, graphite. The longer the process, the closer the state is to pure carbon-graphite. So, graphite belongs to the Azoic group, bituminous coal - to the Paleozoic, brown coal - mainly to the Mesozoic and Cenozoic.

Bituminous and brown coal: differences

As you can see from the name itself, brown coal differs from stone in color (lighter or darker). There are black varieties, but in powder form, the shade of such coal is still brown. The color of stone and anthracite is always black. The characteristic properties of brown coal are a higher carbon content, compared to bituminous coals, and a lower content of bituminous substances. This explains why brown coal burns more easily and produces a lot of smoke. The high carbon content also explains the mentioned reaction with potassium hydroxide and the peculiar unpleasant odor during combustion. The nitrogen content, in comparison with bituminous coals, is also significantly lower. When exposed to air for a long time, brown coal rapidly loses moisture, crumbling into powder.

Varieties

There are a lot of varieties and varieties of brown coal, among which there are several main ones:

1. Ordinary brown coal, dense consistency, matte brown color.
2. Brown coal of earthy fracture, easily erasable into powder.
3. Resinous, very dense, dark brown, sometimes even bluish black. At the fracture, it resembles resin.
4. Lignite, or bituminous wood. Coal with a well-preserved plant structure. Sometimes it even occurs in the form of whole tree trunks with roots.
5. Disodil - brown paper coal in the form of decayed thin-layered plant matter. Easily separates into thin sheets.
6. Brown peat coal. It resembles peat, with a lot of impurities, sometimes resembling earth.

The percentage of ash and combustible elements in various types of brown coal varies within wide limits, which determines the merits of combustible material of a particular type.

Mining

Lignite mining methods are similar for all fossil coal. Distinguish between open (career) and closed. The oldest closed-pit mining method is adits, deviated wells down to a shallow and shallow coal seam. It is used in case of financial inefficiency of the quarry device.

A mine is a vertical or deviated borehole in the formation from the surface to the coal seam. This method is used for deep bedding of coal-bearing seams. It is characterized by a high cost of extracted resources and a high accident rate.

Open pit mining is carried out at a relatively small (up to 100 m) depth of the coal seam. Open pit or open pit mining is the most economical; today, approximately 65% ​​of all coal is mined in this way. The main disadvantage of quarrying is the great damage to the environment. Mining of brown coal is mainly carried out by the open method due to the shallow depth of occurrence. Initially, overburden is removed (a layer of rocks above the coal seam). After that, the coal is smashed by the drilling and blasting method and transported by specialized (open-pit) vehicles from the mining site. Overburden operations, depending on the size and composition of the layer, can be carried out by bulldozers (with a loose layer of insignificant thickness) or rotary excavators and draglines (with a thicker and denser layer of rock).

Application

Lignite is used as fuel much less frequently than hard coal. It is used for heating private houses and small power plants. Through the so-called. dry distillation from brown coal receive mountain wax for woodworking, paper and textile industries, creosote, carbolic acid and other similar products. It is also processed into a liquid hydrocarbon fuel. Humic acids in brown coal make it possible to use it in agriculture as a fertilizer.

Modern technologies make it possible to produce synthetic gas from brown coal, which is an analogue of natural gas. To do this, the coal is heated to 1000 degrees Celsius, as a result of which gassing occurs. In practice, a rather effective method is used: a high temperature is supplied to the brown coal deposits through a pipe through a drilled well, and finished gas is already released through another pipe - a product of underground processing.

Since ancient times, coal has been a source of energy for mankind, not the only one, but widely used. It is sometimes compared to solar energy stored in stone. It is burned, receiving heat for heating, heating water, at thermal stations converted into electricity, used for smelting metals.

With the development of new technologies, they learned to use coal not only for generating energy by combustion. The chemical industry has successfully mastered the production technologies of rare metals - gallium and germanium. Composite carbon-graphite materials with a high carbon content, gaseous fuel of high calorific value are extracted from it, methods of plastic production have been worked out. The lowest-grade coal, its very fine fraction and coal dust are processed and are excellent for heating both industrial premises and private houses. In total, with the help of chemical processing of coal, more than 400 types of products are produced, which can cost tens of times more than the original product.

For several centuries people have been actively using coal as a fuel for obtaining and transforming energy, with the development of the chemical industry and the need for rare and valuable materials in other industries, the need for coal is increasing. Therefore, the exploration of new deposits is being intensively conducted, quarries and mines, enterprises for processing raw materials are being built.

Briefly about the origin of coal

On our planet, many millions of years ago, vegetation developed rapidly in a humid climate. Since then, 210 ... 280 million years have passed. For millennia, millions of years, billions of tons of vegetation died off, accumulated at the bottom of swamps, covered with layers of sediment. Slow decomposition in an oxygen-free atmosphere under a powerful pressure of water, sand, and other rocks, sometimes at high temperatures due to the close location of magma, led to the fossilization of layers of this vegetation, with a gradual degeneration into coal of varying degrees of coalification.

Major Russian deposits and coal mining

The planet has coal reserves of over 15 trillion tons. The largest extraction of minerals falls on coal, about 0.7 tons per person, which is more than 2.6 billion tons per year. In Russia, hard coal is available in different regions. It has different characteristics, features and depth of occurrence. Here are the largest and most successful hard coal basins:

The active use of Siberian and Far Eastern deposits limits their remoteness from industrial European regions. In the western part of Russia, coal is also mined with excellent indicators: in the Pechersk and Donetsk coal basins. Local deposits are being actively developed in the Rostov Region, the most promising of which is Gukovskoye. Processing of coal from these deposits gives high quality coal grades - anthracites (AC and AO).

The main quality characteristics of coal

Different industries require different grades of coal. Its quality indicators vary widely, even among those that have the same marking and largely depend on the field. Therefore, enterprises, before purchasing coal, familiarize themselves with its physical characteristics:

According to the degree of enrichment, coal is divided into:

• - Concentrates (burned for heating in steam boilers and generating electricity);
• - Industrial products used in the metallurgical industry;
• - Sludge, in fact, is a fine fraction (up to 6mm) and dust after rock crushing. It is problematic to burn such fuel, therefore briquettes with good performance are molded from it and used in household solid fuel boilers.

By the degree of coalification:

• - Brown coal is a partially formed bituminous coal. Has a low heat of combustion, crumbles during transportation and storage, has a tendency to spontaneous combustion;
• - Coal. It has many different brands (varieties) with different characteristics. Has a wide area of ​​use: metallurgy, energy, housing and communal services, chemical industry, etc.
• - Anthracite is the highest quality form of coal.

If we compare peat and bituminous coal, the heat of combustion of coal is higher. The lowest heat of combustion is for brown coal, the highest for anthracites. However, based on economic feasibility, simple coal is in great demand. It has an optimal combination of price and specific heat of combustion.

There are a lot of different characteristics of coal, but not all of them can be important when choosing coal for heating. In this case, it is important to know only a few key parameters: ash content, moisture content and specific heat. The sulfur content may be important. The rest are required when selecting raw materials for processing. What is important to know when choosing coal is the size: how large the pieces are. This data is encrypted in the brand name.

Size classification:

Classification by brands and their brief characteristics:

Depending on the characteristics of coal, its grade, type and fraction, it is stored for different times. (The article contains a table showing the storage periods of coal depending on the deposit and grade).

Particular attention should be paid to the protection of coal during long-term storage (more than 6 months). In this case, a special coal shed or bunker is required, where the fuel will be protected from precipitation and direct sunlight.

Large heaps of coal during long-term storage require temperature control, since in the presence of fine fractions in combination with moisture and high temperatures, they tend to ignite spontaneously. It is advisable to purchase an electronic thermometer and a long-cord thermocouple to bury in the center of the coal heap. You need to check the temperature once or twice a week, because some brands of coal ignite spontaneously at very low temperatures: brown ones - at 40-60 ° C, the rest - 60-70 ° C. Cases of spontaneous combustion of anthracites and semi-anthracites rarely occur (in Russia, such cases not registered).

One of the largest branches of the fuel and energy complex is the coal industry.

Back in the Soviet era, Russia became a recognized leader in the field of coal mining and processing. Here, coal deposits account for about 1/3 of the world's reserves, including brown coal, hard coal, and anthracite.

The Russian Federation ranks sixth in the world in terms of coal production, 2/3 of which is used to generate energy and heat, 1/3 - in the chemical industry, a small part is transported to Japan and South Korea. On average, more than 300 million tons per year are mined in Russian coal basins.

Characteristics of deposits

If you look at the map of Russia, over 90% of the deposits are located in the eastern part of the country, mainly in Siberia.

If we compare the volume of mined coal, its total amount, technical and geographic conditions, then the most significant of them can be called the Kuznetsk, Tunguska, Pechora and Irkutsk-Cheremkhovsky basins.

, otherwise Kuzbass, is the largest coal basin in Russia, and the largest in the world.

It is located in Western Siberia in a shallow intermountain basin. A large part of the basin belongs to the lands of the Kemerovo Region.

A significant disadvantage is the geographical distance from the main fuel consumers - Kamchatka, Sakhalin, the central regions of the country. It produces 56% of hard coal and about 80% of coking coal, approximately 200 million tons per year. The type of mining is open.

Kansk-Achinsk coal basin

Spread along the Trans-Siberian Railway through the territory of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Kemerovo and Irkutsk regions. 12% of all Russian brown coal belongs to this basin, in 2012 its amount was 42 million tons.

According to information provided by geological exploration in 1979, the total coal reserves are 638 billion tons.

It should be noted that the local one is the cheapest due to its open-cut mining, has low transportability and is used to provide energy to local enterprises.

Tunguska coal basin

One of the largest and most promising basins in Russia, it occupies the territory of Yakutia, Krasnoyarsk Territory and Irkutsk Region.

If you look at the map, you can see that this is more than half of Eastern Siberia.

The local coal reserves are about 2345 billion tons. Bituminous and brown coal and a small amount of anthracite are found here.

Currently, work in the basin is poorly conducted (due to poor knowledge of the field and the harsh climate). Over the year, about 35.3 million tons are mined underground.

Pechora basin

Located on the western slope of the Pai-Khoi ridge, it is part of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Komi Republic. The main fields are Vorkutinskoye, Vorgashorskoye, Intinskoye.

The deposits are mostly represented by high quality coking coal, which is produced exclusively by the mine method.

12.6 million tons of coal are mined per year, which is 4% of the total. Solid fuel consumers are enterprises in the North European part of Russia, in particular the Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant.

Irkutsk-Cheremkhovsky basin

It stretches along the Upper Sayan from Nizhneudinsk to Lake Baikal. It is divided into the Baikal and Sayan branches. Production volume - 3.4%, open-pit mining method. The deposit is remote from large consumers, delivery is difficult, therefore local coal is used mainly at Irkutsk enterprises. The reserve is about 7.5 billion tons of coal.

Industry problems

Today, active coal mining is carried out in the Kuznetsk, Kansko-Achinsky, Pechora and Irkutsk-Cheremkhovsky basins, the development of the Tunguska basin is planned. The main mining method is open, this choice is due to its relative cheapness and safety for workers. The disadvantage of this method is that the quality of the coal suffers greatly.

The main problem faced by the above basins is the difficulty of delivering fuel to remote regions, in this connection it is necessary to modernize the Siberian railways. Despite this, the coal industry is one of the most promising sectors of the Russian economy (according to preliminary estimates, Russian coal deposits should last for more than 500 years).

Russia boasts the most generous coal deposits, but they are often located in remote regions, which complicates their development. In addition, not all deposits are recoverable for geological reasons. We bring to your attention a rating of coal basins in the world, concealing colossal natural resources, most of which will remain in the bowels of the earth, without being extracted to the surface.

Tunguska Basin, Russia (coal reserves - 2.299 trillion tons)

The undisputed world leadership in terms of the volume of coal deposits belongs to the Russian Tunguska Basin, which covers an area of ​​more than a million square kilometers and covers the territories of the Irkutsk Region, Yakutia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The block's reserves amount to 2.299 trillion tons of bituminous and brown coal. It is too early to talk about the full-scale development of the basin's fields, since most of the zones of possible production have not yet been studied enough due to their location in remote areas. In those areas that have already been explored, mining is carried out by open and underground methods.

Kayerkansky coal mine, Krasnoyarsk Territory

Lena Basin, Russia (1.647 trillion tonnes)

In Yakutia and partly in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, there is the second largest coal basin in the world - Lensky - with reserves of 1.647 trillion tons of brown and bituminous coal. The main part of the block is located in the Lena River basin, in the area of ​​the Central Yakutsk Lowland. The area of ​​the coal basin reaches 750 thousand square kilometers. Like the Tunguska basin, the Lensky block has been insufficiently studied due to the inaccessibility of the area. Extraction is carried out in mines and open-pit mines. At the Sangar mine, which was closed in 1998, a fire broke out two years later, which has not been extinguished to this day.

Abandoned mine "Sangarskaya", Yakutia

Kansk-Achinsk Basin, Russia (638 billion tonnes)

The third position in the ranking of the largest coal blocks in the world went to the Kansk-Achinsk basin, whose reserves amount to 638 billion tons of coal, mostly brown. The basin is about 800 kilometers long along the Trans-Siberian Railway. The block is located in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Irkutsk and Kemerovo Regions. About three dozen deposits have been discovered on its territory. The basin is characterized by normal geological conditions for development. Due to the shallow bedding of the strata, the development of the sites is carried out in a quarry way.

Borodinsky coal mine, Krasnoyarsk Territory

Kuzbass, Russia (635 billion tonnes)

The Kuznetsk Basin is one of the largest developed blocks in the country. Geological reserves of Kuzbass coal are estimated at 635 billion tons. The basin is located within the Kemerovo region and partly in the Altai Territory and the Novosibirsk Region, where sub-bituminous coal and anthracite are mined, respectively. In Kuzbass, the predominant method is underground mining, which allows you to extract higher quality coal. Another 30% of the fuel volume is mined by open pit mining. The rest of the coal - no more than 5% - is extracted hydraulically.

Open-pit mine "Bachatsky", Kemerovo region

Illinois Basin, USA (365 billion tonnes)

The fifth largest coal reserve in the world is the Illinois Basin with an area of ​​122 thousand square kilometers, located in the state of the same name, as well as in the territories of neighboring regions - Kentucky and Indiana. Geological coal reserves reach 365 billion tons, of which 18 billion tons are available for opencast mining. The depth of extraction is average - within 150 meters. Up to 90% of the coal produced comes from only two of the nine available seams - "Harrisburg" and "Herrin". Approximately the same amount of coal is used for the needs of the heat and power industry, the rest is coked.

Crown III Coal Mine, Illinois, USA

Ruhr Basin, Germany (287 billion tonnes)

The famous German Ruhr block is located in the basin of the river of the same name, which is the right tributary of the Rhine. This is one of the oldest coal mining sites, known since the thirteenth century. Commercial reserves of coal lie on an area of ​​6.2 thousand square kilometers, at a depth of up to two kilometers, but in general, the geological strata, the total weight of which is within 287 billion tons, reaches six kilometers. About 65% of the deposits are coking coal. The extraction is carried out exclusively by underground method. The maximum depth of mines in the field is 940 meters (Hugo mine).

Workers of the Auguste Victoria coal mine, Marl, Germany

Appalachian Basin, USA (284 billion tonnes)

In the eastern part of the United States, in the states of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Alabama, the Appalachian coal basin is located with reserves of 284 billion tons of fossil fuels. The basin area reaches 180 thousand square kilometers. There are about three hundred coal mining areas in the block. 95% of the country's mines are concentrated in the Appalachian Mountains, as well as about 85% of the quarries. The coal mining enterprises of the basin employ 78% of the industry workers. 45% of coal is mined by open pit mining.

Removal of mountain peaks for coal mining, West Virginia, USA

Pechora Basin, Russia (265 billion tonnes)

In the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and Komi there is the eighth largest coal basin in the world with an area of ​​90 square kilometers - Pechora. The coal deposits of this block are 265 billion tons. Fishing is carried out in permafrost regions, forest-tundra and tundra. In addition, difficult production conditions are associated with the fact that the reservoirs are unevenly occurring and are characterized by a high level of methane content. Working in mines is dangerous due to high concentrations of gas and dust. Most of the mines were built directly in Inta and Vorkuta. The development depth of the plots reaches 900 meters.

Open-pit mine "Yunyaginsky", Vorkuta, Komi Republic

Taimyr Basin, Russia (217 billion tonnes)

Another Russian coal block entered the world's top ten - the Taimyr Basin, which is located on the territory of the peninsula of the same name and covers an area of ​​80 thousand square kilometers. The structure of the seams is complex, part of the coal deposits is suitable for coking, and most of the reserves are energy grades. Despite the significant volumes of fuel reserves - 217 billion tons - the basin's fields are currently not being developed. The prospects for the development of the block are rather vague due to its remoteness from potential consumers.

Coal layers on the right bank of the Shrenk River, Taimyr Peninsula

Donbass - Ukraine, RF, DPR and LPR (141 billion tons)

Donbass closes the rating of the largest coal basins with a volume of deposits of 141 billion tons, which covers the territory of the Russian Rostov region and a number of regions of Ukraine. On the Ukrainian side, part of the administrative territory in the basin area is engulfed in an armed conflict, is not controlled by the Kiev authorities, while being under the control of the unrecognized republics - DPR and LPR in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, respectively. The basin area is 60 thousand square kilometers. All major brands of coal are distributed in the block. Donbass has been intensively developed for a long time - since the end of the 19th century.

Mine "Obukhovskaya", Zverevo, Rostov region

The above rating in no way reflects the real situation with field development indicators, but only shows the scale of the largest geological reserves in the world without reference to the actual levels of exploration and extraction of minerals in a particular country. The total amount of proven reserves at all deposits in the states that are leaders in the coal mining industry is significantly less than the volume of geological deposits even in one large basin.

From the above diagram, it is obvious that there is no dependence not only between the volumes of proven and total geological reserves. There is also no link between the scale of the largest basins and the proven amount of coal in the countries in which they are located. For example, despite the fact that Russia has four of the largest basins in the world, in terms of proven reserves, the country is inferior to the leadership of the United States.

The ratings show the wealth of Russian mineral resources, but not at all the possibility of their development. In turn, production rates depend on other factors. For example, we recall that Pronedra wrote earlier that Russia in 2017 will increase its coal exports. Decisions of this kind are made taking into account a number of conditions that do not depend on the volume of reserves. We are talking about the complexity of work at the fields, the technologies used, economic feasibility, the policy of the authorities and the position of industry operators.