What is "anthracite"

Coal \Coal\ (k[=o]l), n. [AS. col; akin to D. kool, OHG. chol, cholo, G. kohle, Icel. kol, pl., Sw. kol, Dan. kul; cf. Skr. jval to burn. Cf. Kiln, Collier.]

1. A thoroughly charred, and extinguished or still ignited, fragment from wood or other combustible substance; charcoal.

2. (Min.) A black, or brownish black, solid, combustible substance, dug from beds or veins in the earth to be used for fuel, and consisting, like charcoal, mainly of carbon, but more compact, and often affording, when heated, a large amount of volatile matter. Note: This word is often used adjectively, or as the first part of self-explaining compounds; as, coal-black; coal formation; coal scuttle; coal ship. etc. Note: In England the plural coals is used, for the broken mineral coal burned in grates, etc.; as, to put coals on the fire. In the United States the singular in a collective sense is the customary usage; as, a hod of coal. Age of coal plants. See Age of Acrogens, under Acrogen. Anthracite or Glance coal. See Anthracite. Bituminous coal. See under Bituminous. Blind coal. See under Blind. Brown coal or Brown Lignite. See Lignite. Caking coal, a bituminous coal, which softens and becomes pasty or semi-viscid when heated. On increasing the heat, the volatile products are driven off, and a coherent, grayish black, cellular mass of coke is left. Cannel coal, a very compact bituminous coal, of fine texture and dull luster. See Cannel coal. Coal bed (Geol.), a layer or stratum of mineral coal. Coal breaker, a structure including machines and machinery adapted for crushing, cleansing, and assorting coal. Coal field (Geol.), a region in which deposits of coal occur. Such regions have often a basinlike structure, and are hence called coal basins. See Basin. Coal gas, a variety of carbureted hydrogen, procured from bituminous coal, used in lighting streets, houses, etc., and for cooking and heating. Coal heaver, a man employed in carrying coal, and esp. in putting it in, and discharging it from, ships. Coal measures. (Geol.)

   1. Strata of coal with the attendant rocks.

   2. A subdivision of the carboniferous formation, between the millstone grit below and the Permian formation above, and including nearly all the workable coal beds of the world.

      Coal oil, a general name for mineral oils; petroleum.

      Coal plant (Geol.), one of the remains or impressions of plants found in the strata of the coal formation.

      Coal tar. See in the Vocabulary.

      To haul over the coals, to call to account; to scold or censure. [Colloq.]

      Wood coal. See Lignite.

Anthracite \An"thra*cite\, n. [L. anthracites a kind of bloodstone; fr. Gr. ? like coals, fr. ?, ?, coal or charcoal. Cf. Anthrax.] A hard, compact variety of mineral coal, of high luster, differing from bituminous coal in containing little or no bitumen, in consequence of which it burns with a nearly non luminous flame. The purer specimens consist almost wholly of carbon. Also called glance coal and blind coal.

"non-bituminous coal," 1812, earlier (c.1600) a type of ruby-like gem described by Pliny, from Latin anthracites "bloodstone, semi-precious gem," from Greek anthrakites "coal-like," from anthrax (genitive anthrakos) "live coal" (see anthrax). Related: Anthractic (adj.).

n. 1 A form of carbonized ancient plants; the hardest and cleanest-burning of all the coals; hard coal. 2 A dark grey colour.

n. a hard natural coal that burns slowly and gives intense heat [syn: anthracite coal, hard coal]

Anthracite is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest calorific content of all types of coal except for graphite.

Anthracite is the most metamorphosed type of coal (but still represents low-grade metamorphism), in which the carbon content is between 92.1% and 98%. The term is applied to those varieties of coal which do not give off tarry or other hydrocarbon vapours when heated below their point of ignition. Anthracite ignites with difficulty and burns with a short, blue, and smokeless flame.

Anthracite is categorized into standard grade, which is used mainly in power generation, and high grade (HG) and ultra high grade (UHG), the principal uses of which are in the metallurgy sector. Anthracite accounts for about 1% of global coal reserves, and is mined in only a few countries around the world. China accounts for the majority of global production; other producers are Russia, Ukraine, North Korea, South Africa, Vietnam, the UK, Australia and the US. Total production in 2010 was 670 million tons.