GC: n

CT: Lignite, generally yellow to dark brown or rarely black coal that formed from peat at shallow depths and temperatures lower than 100 °C (212 °F). It is the first product of coalification and is intermediate between peat and subbituminous coal according to the coal classification used in the United States and Canada.

S: GB – https://goo.gl/NiMFET (last access: 8 December 2016)

N: 1. “Imperfectly formed coal”, 1808, from French, from Latin lignum “wood”. Brown coal that still shows traces of the wood it once was. Probably directly from Lithanthrax Lignius, name given to woody coal by Swedish chemist Johan Gottschalk Wallerius (1709-1785) in 1775.
2. A soft brownish coal showing traces of plant structure, intermediate between bituminous coal and peat.
3. Lignite contains about 60 to 70 percent carbon and has a calorific value near 17 megajoules per kilogram (7,000 British thermal units per pound).
4. The degree of alteration that occurs as a coal matures from peat to anthracite is referred to as the “rank” of the coal. Lignite together with sub-bituminous coals are low-rank coals and have a lower energy content than high-rank coals because they have a low carbon content. As time, heat, and burial pressure all increase, the rank does as well indeed high-rank coals, including bituminous and anthracite coals, contain more carbon than lower-rank coals which results in a much higher energy content. They have a more vitreous appearance and lower moisture content then lower-rank coals.
5. About 79 percent of lignite coal is used to generate electricity, 13.5 percent is used to generate synthetic natural gas, and 7.5 percent is used to produce fertilizer products (anhydrous ammonia & ammonium sulfate). A very small percentage is used as home heating fuel, for use as fertilizer and for use as oil well drilling mud.
6. Cultural Interrelation: We can mention the film The Kingdom of Coal (2011). Documentary directed by Casey Cooper Johnson and Antoneta Kastrati.

S: 1. OED – https://goo.gl/3y7Ekm (last access: 8 December 2016). 2. OD – https://goo.gl/pAii6g (last access: 8 December 2016). 3. GB – https://goo.gl/NiMFET (last access: 8 December 2016). 4. UKY – https://goo.gl/tIl17x (last access: 8 December 2016). 5. LEC – https://goo.gl/gIvoKO (last access: 8 December 2016). 6. IMDb – https://goo.gl/3F2ZVg (last access: 8 December 2016).

SYN: lignite coal, lignitic coal, brown coal, wood coal, fulvurite.

S: TERMIUM PLUS – https://goo.gl/ExYId9 (last access: 8 December 2016)

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