Coal refuse

Coal refuse (also described as coal waste, coal tailings, waste material, culm, boney or gob[1]) is the left over material from coal mining, usually left as tailings piles or spoil tips. For every tonne of hard coal generated for mining, there is .4 tonnes of waste material, which includes some lost coal that is partially economically recoverable.[2] Coal refuse is distinct from the byproducts of burning the coal, such as fly ash.

Where economically viable, some coal industries try to reprocesses these wastes. In more industrialized economies, this may include complex reprossessing,[3] for example in use of fluidized bed combustion power plants.[4] While in less industrialized systems, manual sorting may be employed. For example, in the Jharia coalfield, a large economy of "coal cycle wallahs" who manually sort mine tailings with their families, and then transport those reprocessed coals on bicycles more than 40 miles to market.[5][6]

Piles of coal refuse can have significant negative environmental consequences, including leaching iron, manganese and aluminum pollution into waterways and causing acid mine drainage.[7] These runoff can create both surface and groundwater contamination.[8] And, because most of the material has toxic components in them, many piles of coal refuse are not very good for reclamation via plants like beach grasses.[4][9]

Moreover, burning of this waste coal typically produces more environmental toxins than higher-energy coals.[1] For every 100 tons of coal waste burned, 85 high-toxicity tons of waste ash are left.[4] These piles are also vulnerable to fires, many of them igniting on their own.[4] There have been some attempts to use coal waste in concrete production, similar to the use of Fly ash.[10]

In the United States, most waste coal piles developed from 1900 to 1970 when processing techniques were not as complex.[11] The U.S. has a longstanding inspection program of these refuse piles.[12] In Pennsylvania alone, there are over 770 such piles identified.[13] There are at least 18 coal waste burning plants in the United States.[14]

Disasters

In the 1966 Aberfan disaster in Wales, a colliery spoil tip collapsed, engulfing a school and killing 116 children and 28 adults. Other accidents involving coal waste include the Martin County coal slurry spill (USA, 2000) and the Obed Mountain coal mine spill (Canada, 2013).

References

1. "Waste Coal | Energy Justice Network". www.energyjustice.net. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
2. Fecko, P.; Tora, B.; Tod, M. (2013-01-01), Osborne, Dave (ed.), "3 - Coal waste: handling, pollution impacts and utilization", The Coal Handbook: Towards Cleaner Production, Woodhead Publishing Series in Energy, Woodhead Publishing, 2, pp. 63–84, ISBN 978-1-78242-116-0, retrieved 2020-08-02
3. Woodruff, D.; Macnamara, L. (2013-01-01), Osborne, Dave (ed.), "16 - Treatment of coal tailings", The Coal Handbook: Towards Cleaner Production, Woodhead Publishing Series in Energy, Woodhead Publishing, 1, pp. 529–559, ISBN 978-0-85709-422-3, retrieved 2020-08-02
4. POWER (2016-07-01). "The Coal Refuse Dilemma: Burning Coal for Environmental Benefits". POWER Magazine. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
5. "The Human Cost Of India's Push to Produce More Coal". Yale E360. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
6. Pai, Sandeep; Carr-Wilson, Savannah (2018). Total Transition: The Human Side of the Renewable Energy Revolution. Rocky Mountain Books. ISBN 978-1-77160-248-8.
7. "Waste Coal | Energy Justice Network". www.energyjustice.net. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
8. Kowalska, Arlena, et al. "VLF mapping and resistivity imaging of contaminated quaternary formations near to 'Panewniki' coal waste disposal (Southern Poland)." Acta Geodynamica et Geromaterialia, vol. 9, no. 4, 2012, p. 473+. Gale Academic OneFile, https://link-gale-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/A311377866/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=GPS&xid=f0f488c8. Accessed 7 Aug. 2020.
9. Dove, D.; Daniels, W.; Parrish, D. (1990). "Importance of Indigenous VAM Fungi for the Reclamation of Coal Refuse Piles". Journal American Society of Mining and Reclamation. 1990 (1): 463–468. doi:10.21000/jasmr90010463. ISSN 2328-8744.
10. Caneda-Martmez, Laura, et al. "Evaluation of chloride transport in blended cement mortars containing coal mining waste." Construction and Building Materials, vol. 190, 30 Nov. 2018, p. 200+. Gale General OneFile, https://link-gale-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/A569157868/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=GPS&xid=5ed3c9d1. Accessed 7 Aug. 2020.
11. "Waste Coal | Energy Justice Network". www.energyjustice.net. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
12. Administration, United States Mining Enforcement and Safety (1976). Coal Refuse Inspection Manual. U.S. Department of the Interior, Mining Enforcement and Safety Administration.
13. "What Is Coal Refuse". ARIPPA. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
14. "Coal Waste | Waste Coal Ash | Byproduct Of Coal Processing Operations". www.rpmsolve.com. Retrieved 2020-08-02.