The largest coal deposits in the world. The hard work of a miner, or how coal is mined. What is bituminous coal and what does it look like

The coal mining industry is the largest segment fuel industry... All over the world, it surpasses any other in the number of workers and the amount of equipment.

What is the coal industry

The coal mining industry involves the extraction of coal and its subsequent processing. Work is carried out both on the surface and underground.

If the deposits are located at a depth of no more than 100 meters, the work is carried out in a quarry way. For the development of a deposit at great depths, mines are used.

Classic methods of coal mining

Working in coal mines and underground are the main methods of mining. Most of the work in Russia and in the world is carried out in an open way. This is due to the financial benefit and high speed extraction.

The process is as follows:

With the help of special equipment, the top layer of the earth covering the deposit is removed. Several years ago, the depth of open work was limited to 30 meters; the latest technologies have allowed it to be increased by 3 times. If the top layer is soft and small, remove it with an excavator. A thick and dense layer of earth is pre-crushed.
Coal deposits are beaten off and taken away with the help of special equipment to the enterprise for further processing.
The workers are restoring the natural relief to avoid harm to the environment.

The disadvantage of this method is that the coal deposits, which are at a shallow depth, contain impurities of mud and other rocks.

Coal mined by the underground method is considered to be cleaner and of higher quality.

The main task of this method is to transport coal from great depths to the surface. For this, passages are created: an adit (horizontal) and a shaft (inclined or vertical).

In the tunnels, coal seams are cut by special harvesters and loaded onto a conveyor that lifts them to the surface.

The underground method allows you to extract a large amount of minerals, but it has significant disadvantages: high cost and increased danger to workers.

Unconventional methods of coal mining

These methods are effective, but do not have mass distribution - at the moment there are no technologies that allow to clearly establish the process:

Hydraulic. Extraction is carried out in a mine at great depths. The coal seam is crumbled and delivered to the surface under the strong pressure of water.
Compressed air energy. She acts as both destructive and lifting force, compressed air is under strong pressure.
Vibration pulse. The formations are destroyed by the powerful vibrations generated by the equipment.

These methods were used back in the Soviet Union, but did not become popular due to the need for large financial investments. Only a few coal mining companies continue to use unconventional methods.

Their main advantage is the absence of workers in potentially life-threatening areas.

Leading countries in coal mining

According to the statistics of the world energy, a rating of the countries occupying leading positions in coal production in the world has been compiled:

India.
Australia.
Indonesia.
Russia.
Germany.
Poland.
Kazakhstan.

For many years, China has been the leader in terms of coal production. In China, only 1/7 of the available deposits are being developed, this is due to the fact that coal is not exported outside the country, and the existing reserves will last at least 70 years.

On the territory of the United States, deposits are evenly scattered throughout the country. They will provide the country with their reserves for at least 300 years.

The coal deposits in India are very rich, but almost all of the coal mined is used in the energy industry, since the available reserves are of very low quality. Despite the fact that India occupies one of the leading positions, artisanal methods of coal mining are progressing in this country.

Australia's coal reserves will last for about 240 years. The mined coal has the highest quality rating, a significant part of it is destined for export.

In Indonesia, the level of coal production is growing every year. A few years ago, most of the mined was exported to other countries, now the country is gradually abandoning the use of oil, and therefore the demand for coal for domestic consumption is growing.

Russia possesses 1/3 of the world's coal reserves, while not all of the country's lands have been explored.

Germany, Poland and Kazakhstan are gradually reducing the volume of coal production due to the uncompetitive cost of raw materials. Most of the coal is for domestic consumption.

The main places of coal mining in Russia

Let's figure it out. Coal mining in Russia is carried out mainly by open pit mining. Deposits across the country are scattered unevenly - most of them are located in the eastern region.

The most significant coal deposits in Russia are:

Kuznetskoe (Kuzbass). It is considered the largest not only in Russia, but throughout the world, located in Western Siberia... Coking and bituminous coal is mined here.
Kansko-Achinskoe. Mining is carried out here. The field is located along the Trans-Siberian Railway, occupying part of the territories of the Irkutsk and Kemerovo Regions, Krasnoyarsk Territory.
Tunguska coal basin. It is represented by brown and hard coal. It covers part of the territory of the Republic of Sakha, and the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
Pechora coal basin. Mining is carried out at this deposit Work is carried out in the mines, which allows the extraction of high-quality coal. Located on the territories of the Komi Republic and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
Irkutsk-Cheremkhovsky coal basin. It is located on the territory of the Upper Sayan. Provides coal only to nearby enterprises and settlements.

Today, 5 more deposits are being developed that can increase the annual volume of coal production in Russia by 70 million tons.

Coal Industry Outlook

Most of the coal deposits in the world have already been explored, from an economic point of view, the most promising belong to 70 countries. The level of coal production is growing rapidly: technologies are being improved, equipment is being modernized. This increases the profitability of the industry.

Coal is a type of fossil fuel formed from parts of ancient plants underground without access to oxygen. Today we will visit one of the oldest enterprises in Kuzbass, where mining operations for the extraction of coal in the subsoil section of the mine have been carried out since 1917.

Welcome to the oldest enterprise in Kuzbass - Mine No. 12 LLC, located in a small mining town near Novokuznetsk - Kiselevsk.

Combine:

For coal formation an abundant accumulation of plant matter is necessary. It forms when decaying plant material accumulates faster than bacterial decomposition occurs. The ideal environment for this is created in swamps, where stagnant water, depleted in oxygen, interferes with the vital activity of bacteria and thereby protects the plant mass from complete destruction.

In ancient peat bogs, starting from the Devonian period (about 416 million years ago), the very same organic matter accumulated, from which fossil coals were formed without access to oxygen. Most of the commercial deposits of fossil coal date from this period, although there are also younger deposits.

Coal mines:

Coal mining methods depend on the depth of its occurrence. Opencast mining is carried out in open-pit coal mines, if the depth of the coal seam does not exceed 100 meters. There are also frequent cases when it is profitable to develop a coal deposit by an underground method. To extract coal from great depths, mines are used. The deepest mines in Russia produce coal from a level of just over 1,200 meters.

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Coal has its own marking. Depending on the degree of conversion and the specific amount of carbon in coal, they are distinguished his four types: brown coals (lignites), bituminous coals, anthracites and graphites. In Western countries, there is a slightly different classification - lignites, subbituminous coals, bituminous coals, anthracites and graphites, respectively.

5.5% of the world's coal reserves are concentrated in Russia, which is more than 200 billion tons. This difference with the percentage of proven coal reserves (19%) is due to the fact that most of it is not suitable for development, as it is located in Siberia in the permafrost region. 70% falls on the reserves of brown coal.

The use of coal is diverse. It is used as a household fuel, energy fuel, raw material for metallurgical and chemical industry, as well as for the extraction of rare and trace elements from it.

As for the Kuznetsk coal basin, the Kuzbass is one of the the largest coal deposits in the world... At present, the name "Kuzbass" is the second name of the Kemerovo region.

Mining dump truck KOMATSU with a lifting capacity of 90 tons. But as the drivers say, it happens that they load more than 90

In total, we were in Kiselevsk for a week, most of the time we filmed. It can't get boring, it's really interesting.

When exposed to oxygen, coal ignites spontaneously. Well, or it smokes, as in the photo:

Loading:

Mining excavator bucket:

Even on a career during working hours, everything looks prettier. But it's difficult to shoot, everything is in motion:

Walking excavator:

At night, throughout the quarry, you can see how coal is burning in some areas:

Technique. We all have a plan that must be followed. Therefore, the movement never stops at the quarry.

Well, perhaps at the end of the shift for half an hour or an hour

Bucket tracks:

One such wheel costs 700,000 rubles, so they try to clear the roads from sharp stones:

In the excavator cab:

50-ton BELAZ followed by 90-ton KOMATSU:

IN walking excavator cab... This is a whole room. There is a couch, a microwave oven, a samovar, a washbasin and a bunch of posters with naked girls on the walls:

And this is from his arrow. Height 27 meters:

The welder repairs the ladle:

These machines drill the ground, and an explosive is poured into the 12-meter holes dug, undermine the rock... It does this so that the rock becomes looser, large strong layers are broken into small stones, which then becomes much easier to develop with an excavator:

Explosive. We were unable to capture the explosion itself:

And now, when the coal has been dug up, it is taken to the enrichment plant. Enrichment- a set of processes for the primary processing of raw materials, namely, the separation of coal from waste rock and sorting:

Inside atmospheric:

The place where both coal and rock travels along the conveyor belt, and women (!) This rock is separated from coal, collected and thrown away. There are large enough pieces that women alone cannot cope and throw off pieces of rock together. In the rest of the shops, everything is automated:

Car dumper:

Coal warehouse:

Loading coal into wagons that will go to consumers. It was a report from Kuzbass.

Low cost and ample reserves are the main factors driving an increase in the number of uses for brown coal. This kind 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 also black varieties, but in powder form, the shade of such coal is still brown. Stone and anthracite colors always remain 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:

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

The percentage of ash and combustible elements in different 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 rock mass 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 industry, 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 acts as an analogue natural gas... To do this, coal is heated to 1000 degrees Celsius, as a result of which gassing occurs. In practice, quite effective method: a high temperature is supplied through a pipe through a drilled well to the brown coal deposits, and ready gas is already coming out through another pipe - a product of underground processing.

Coal mining as an industrial sector became widespread at the beginning of the twentieth century and to this day continues to be one of the most profitable types of mining. Coal is mined on an industrial scale all over the world.

Contrary to popular belief, this fossil is used not only as a quality fuel. In the middle of the twentieth century, the coal industry gave a powerful impetus to the development scientific research for the extraction of hydrocarbons from minerals.

Where is the mining

Most large countries coal miners - China, USA, India. ranks 6th in the world ranking for its production, although it is among the top three in terms of reserves.

In Russia, brown coal, coal, hard coal (including coking coal) and anthracite are mined. The main coal mining regions in Russia are Kemerovo region, Krasnoyarsk Territory, Irkutsk Region, Chita, Buryatia, Komi Republic. There is coal in the Urals, the Far East, Kamchatka, Yakutia, Tula and Kaluga regions. There are 16 coal basins in Russia. One of the largest - more than half of Russia's coal is mined there.

How coal is mined

Depending on the depth of the coal seam, its area, shape, thickness, various geographic and environmental factors, a certain method of coal mining is selected. The main such methods include the following:

mine;
development in a coal open pit;
hydraulic.

In addition, there is opencast coal mining, provided that the coal seam lies at a depth of no more than one hundred meters. But this method is very similar in shape to open pit coal mining.

Mine way

This method is used at great depths and has an indisputable advantage over open methods of coal mining: coal at great depths is of higher quality and practically does not contain impurities.

To access the coal seams, horizontal or vertical tunnels (adits and mines) are drilled. There are known cases of coal mining at a depth of 1500 meters (mines "Gvardeyskaya", "Shakhtyorskaya-Glubokaya").

Underground coal mining is considered one of the most difficult specializations due to a number of dangers:

Constant threat of groundwater breakthrough into the shaft.
Constant threat of accompanying gases breakthrough into the shaft. In addition to possible suffocation, explosions and fires are a particular danger.
Accidents due to high temperatures at great depths (up to 60 degrees), careless handling of equipment, etc.

In this way, approximately 36% of the world's coal reserves are extracted from the earth's interior, which is 2,625.7 million tons.

Open way

Coal mining operations are classified as open pit mining, since they do not require the drilling of mines and adits to great depths.

This mining method consists in undermining and removing overburden (a layer of excess rocks over coal deposits) from the mining site. After that, with the help of excavators, water cannons, bulldozers, crushers, draglines and conveyors, the rock is crushed and transferred further.

This method of coal mining is considered less safe than closed (mine). But he also has certain risk factors associated with careless handling of equipment and large vehicles, the possibility of poisoning by exhaust gases and substances accompanying machine activity.

A significant disadvantage of this method is considered to cause great harm to the environment due to the removal of a large area of the land layer and its accompanying natural elements.

The open-cut method is considered one of the most widespread in the world - it produces more than 55% of coal per year, which is 4102.1 million tons.

It was first used in the Soviet Union in the 30s of the twentieth century. It involves the extraction of coal in deep mines, while the transportation of coal to the surface occurs using energized water jets. This method made it possible to use the lack of underground coal mining - underground water - for your own good.

Recently, hydraulic coal mining is considered one of the most respectable methods. It can replace the laborious and dangerous process of coal mining by miners, instead of which water will act as a destructive and lifting force.

The disadvantages of this method of coal mining include the following:

constant contact of working tools and mechanisms with water and rock;
certain difficulties in replacing or repairing working equipment;
dependence of the coal mining process on the thickness, angle of inclination and hardness of the rock.

This method produces about 7.5% of coal annually, which is 545.5 million tons.