White coal
Encyclopedia
White coal is a form of fuel
produced by drying chopped wood over a fire. It differs from charcoal
which is carbonised wood. White coal was used in England
to smelt lead
ore from the mid-sixteenth to the late seventeenth centuries. It produces more heat than green wood but less than charcoal and thus prevents the lead evaporating. White coal could be use mixed with charcoal for other industrial uses than lead smelting. White coal was produced in distinctive circular pits with a channel, known as Q-pit
s. They are frequently found in the woods of South Yorkshire
.
Nowadays White coal is made from
Benefits of white coal:
India is fast becoming a major manufacturer and consumer of white coal. A large number of companies have switched their boiler fuels to use white coal instead of fossil fuels. White Coal manufacturing capacity is coming up in droves in the state of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan.
The production of White coal (Briquettes made of Biomass) using agricultural and forest waste is more common in North India
.
Fuel
Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air...
produced by drying chopped wood over a fire. It differs from charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
which is carbonised wood. White coal was used in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to smelt lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
ore from the mid-sixteenth to the late seventeenth centuries. It produces more heat than green wood but less than charcoal and thus prevents the lead evaporating. White coal could be use mixed with charcoal for other industrial uses than lead smelting. White coal was produced in distinctive circular pits with a channel, known as Q-pit
Q-pit
Q-pits are kiln sites which were dug for the production of white coal prior to the Industrial Revolution when white coal was largely superseded by the use of coke.- Purpose :...
s. They are frequently found in the woods of South Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
.
Nowadays White coal is made from
- Groundnut shells
- Cotton Flower & Salk,
- Castor Seed Shells,
- Forest Leaves, Wood chips & shavings,
- Sugarcane Bagasse,
- Rice husk & Paddy Straw
- Mustard waste, Coir dust
- Coffee husk, Sunflower & waste,
- Maize stalks, bajra cobs,
- Sesame seeds oil cake, Wheat Straw
Benefits of white coal:
- White coal is cheaper than coal and fire wood.
- There is no sulphur in the white coal, therefore no toxic gases.
- Moisture content is nil.
- Biomass briquettesBiomass briquettesBiomass briquettes are a biofuel substitute to coal and charcoal. They are used to heat industrial boilers in order to produce electricity from steam. The most common use of the briquettes are in the developing world, where energy sources are not as widely available...
have a higher practical thermal value. - Briquettes have consistent quality, have high burning efficiency, and are ideally sized for complete combustion.
- Combustion is more uniform compared to coal and boiler response to changes in steam requirements is faster, due to higher quantity of volatile matter in briquettes.
- Low ash contents.
- The calorific value of the finished briquettes is approximately 4 to 5 kcalCalorieThe calorie is a pre-SI metric unit of energy. It was first defined by Nicolas Clément in 1824 as a unit of heat, entering French and English dictionaries between 1841 and 1867. In most fields its use is archaic, having been replaced by the SI unit of energy, the joule...
/kgGramThe gram is a metric system unit of mass....
.
India is fast becoming a major manufacturer and consumer of white coal. A large number of companies have switched their boiler fuels to use white coal instead of fossil fuels. White Coal manufacturing capacity is coming up in droves in the state of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan.
The production of White coal (Briquettes made of Biomass) using agricultural and forest waste is more common in North India
North India
North India, known natively as Uttar Bhārat or Shumālī Hindustān , is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage...
.