When it comes to coal that is used residentially, we tend to forget that our supply of the fossil fuel is limited to the test of time. After all, the reserves that are available today were created over millions upon millions of years during a process known as coalification. In fact, this is an important part of our history as experts have stated that our planet simply isn’t able to create anymore. Here at DFC Fuels, we stock a wide range of coal from bituminous to anthracite and in this blog, we’ve decided to go over everything there is to know about its creation. Read on to find out more…
In order to understand how coal is created, it is important that we understand what it is made from. Millions of years ago, our planet was covered in swamp-like land and this meant that a lot of the plants would grow out of the water. Naturally, they would come to the end of their lifespan and fall into the water deposits where there was a significantly reduced oxygen supply which caused the decaying process to slow down and allowed the vegetative matter to build up.
Overtime, the matter began to compress itself and this led to a lot of pressure building up underneath the swamp-like lands. As any science student will know, a build-up pressure often leads to physical and chemical changes and this is exactly what happened to the vegetative matter. In fact, the intense heat that was created fuelled these changes even further and eventually the matter turned into a material known as peat, the youngest and softest form of coal.
There are four different types of coal that can be found deep within the earth and these are known as peat, lignite, bituminous coal and anthracite. The longer the materials are subjected to the intense heat and pressure under the ground, the more developed they will become. For example, anthracite is the oldest form of coal, is significantly harder than peat and has a much higher carbon content.
We understand the importance of coalification and how it plays a role in the history of our planet. In fact, the different levels of pressure and heat that the dead vegetative materials were subjected can explain the different types of coal that we know and use today! To find out more information about our range of traditional bituminous coal, the most abundant form of the fossil fuel, get in contact with the best coal merchants on the market and speak to a member of the team today!