Coal dust
Coal dust is a fine
powdered form of
coal. Because of the
brittle nature of coal, coal dust can be created during
mining,
transportation, or by mechanically handling coal.
Coal dust suspended in
air is
explosive. Coal dust has far more
surface area per unit
weight than chunks of coal, and is more susceptible to
spontaneous combustion. As a result, a nearly empty coal store is a greater explosion
risk than a full one. The
Luisenthal Mine Disaster and the explosion at
Benxihu Colliery are two examples of this type of explosion caused by coal dust.
Coal workers'
Pneumoconiosis, or black lung disease, is caused by
inhaling coal dust, typically dust produced in
coal mining.
For use in thermal
power plants, coal is ground into dust using a device called a
powdered coal mill [
1]. The resulting product, called
powdered coal or
pulverized coal, is then generally used in a
fossil fuel power plant for
electricity generation.
*
Pulverized coal-fired boiler*
Safety lamp
