Major Industrial Uses of Coal
Coal has a wide range of important uses - the major ones being:
- Electricity generation
- Steel production
- Cement manufacture
Of all the electricity generated worldwide about 40 per cent is produced from coal. It is also the principal form of reductant in the metallurgical industries, with over 66 per cent of world steel production dependent on coal.
With the exception of power stations there was a decline in the consumption of black coal by majors users in 2006.
Other Industrial Uses of Coal
Other important users of coal in Australia include the alumina refineries in Queensland and Western Australia, paper maunufacturers, breweries and the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. In alumina refineries coal is used to generate process heat to separate alumina from the impurities in the ore. Under high temperatures and pressure the alumina is dissolved while the impurities remain solid.
Paper manufacturers and breweries use coal for steam raising and for heating and processing, and bricks, tiles and earthenware pipes are fired at high temperatures, often in coalfired kilns.
Several chemical products can be produced from the by-products of coal. Refined coal tar is used in the manufacture of a range of chemicals - pitch, creosote oil, naphthalene, phenol, pyridine, benzene and toluene. Ammonia gas recovered from coke ovens is used to manufacture ammonia salts, nitric acid and agricultural fertilisers - sulphate of ammonia and ammonium nitrate.
Thousands of different products have coal or coal by-products as components. Soap, aspirin, solvents, dyes, plastics and fibres like rayon and nylon are some of them.