anthracite
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GC: n

CT: Anthracite is black to steel gray in colour and have a brilliant, almost metallic lustre. Although anthracites are difficult to ignite, they burn with a pale blue flame and require little attention to sustain combustion. In the past they were used for domestic heating because they produce little dust upon handling, burn slowly, and emit relatively little smoke. Anthracite is rarely used for this purpose today because of its limited abundance and relatively high cost and the ready availability of other sources of energy (e.g., natural gas and electricity) for heating purposes.

S: GB – https://goo.gl/ORUCmC (last access: 16 December 2016)

N: 1. 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”.
2. A type of coal, relatively hard, jet black, with a metallic lustre, sub-conchoidal fracture, unbanded, with less than 10% volatiles and more than 90% carbon. It burns with intense heat and a non-luminous flame.
3. It contains more fixed carbon than any other form of coal and it has calorific values near 35 megajoules per kilogram, not much different from the calorific values for most bituminous coal.
4. Anthracite coal, mined from the planet’s oldest geological formations, has spent the longest time underground. The coal has been subjected to the most pressure and heat, making it the most compressed and hardest coal available. Hard coal contains greater potential to produce heat energy than softer, geologically “newer” coal.
5. The degree of alteration that occurs as a coal matures from peat to anthracite is referred to as the “rank” of the coal. Anthracite together with bituminous coals are high-rank coals and contain more carbon than lower-rank coals which results in a much higher energy content. Moreover they have a more vitreous (shiny) appearance and lower moisture content then lower-rank coals.
6. A tiny percent of all remaining coal resources are anthracite. Pennsylvania anthracite was mined heavily during the late 1800s and early 1900s, and remaining supplies became harder to access because of their deep location. The largest quantity of anthracite ever produced in Pennsylvania was in 1917.
7. Cultural Interrelation: We can mention the book Early Coal Mining in the Anthracite Region (2002) written by John Stuart Richards.

S: 1. OED – https://goo.gl/TjBpTU (last access: 16 December 2016). 2. DGES p. 30. (last access: 16 December 2016). 3. GB – https://goo.gl/VfNRKJ (last access: 16 December 2016). 4. TB – https://goo.gl/e5bMdU (last access: 16 December 2016). 5. UKY – https://goo.gl/tIl17x (last access: 16 December 2016). 6. TB – https://goo.gl/e5bMdU (last access: 16 December 2016). 7. AP – https://goo.gl/HRUztR (last access: 16 December 2016).

SYN: blind coal, stone coal, black coal, kilkenny coal, hard coal.

S: TERMIUM PLUS – https://goo.gl/27sU0g (last access: 16 December 2016)

CR: bituminous coal, carbon , coal, coke, energy source, lignite , mineral coal, natural gas, peat, soft brown coal.