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The anthracite coal mining landscape of northeastern Pennsylvania is in ruin, a by-product of two centuries of unchecked capitalism. Much of the land is stripped of its timber and surface mines lay abandoned. The industry began its decline after WWI and virtually collapsed during the post-WWII era. Waste piles of coal litter the landscape, and the streams and rivers are considered dead because of the minerals and high acid content of water draining from abandoned mines. Many scholars have written about the extreme work conditions the coal workers faced, the demise of the coal industry, and the impact of deindustrialization on the region's people. Often overlooked is how members of the mining communities had a radical hope. Radical hope helps oppressed people to see that another condition and another world is possible, although not guaranteed. Re-examining oral histories from the anthracite region recorded in the 1970s, when the industry was in its great decline, demonstrates how these mining communities anticipated a future good, understanding the struggle to attain it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the turn of the twentieth century, advocates for shorter working hours often claimed that workers were so fatigued by the end of the workday, that shortening daily hours from ten to eight would have little effect on output. This study examines the record for U.S. coal mining, analyzing both state-level and mine-level panel data during the transition to the eight-hour day. The hypothesis of zero effect is easily rejected. Instead, output declined almost proportionately with hours, but advancing technology made up for the lost output fairly quickly. There is some evidence that employment increased when the eight-hour day was adopted, as unionists hoped, but the effect is not precisely measured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'System change not climate change!' has been one of the prominent slogans the climate movement used during its ever growing campaigning against coal mining and the causally linked climate change. This article traces climate camps as a form of protest for a social movement and investigates its concepts. In analysing its intertwinement with particular sites of pollution, the environmental and the left movement, it demonstrates that the movement's broader aims of changing the system and reaching a better life for all might not always be reached, not even in the small scale of its own practices. Yet, as the juxtaposition of concurrent protest action and political, cultural and industrial development shows, climate camps in Germany, at least, have been making an impact, even if the impact is not unanimously called a success or recognized by all stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The North East of England has been a hub of mining activity throughout its recent history due to the abundance of large coal deposits in the region. The coal trade and the associated technologies developed by the collieries of Northumberland and Durham were a driving force behind some of the innovations of the Industrial Revolution. Waggonways of the region, as vital routes of commerce, became key testing grounds for civil engineering principles that would go on to influence the world. The excavation of William Brown's Walbottle Moor Waggonway by Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd in 2019 has provided insights into the construction of one such lifeline of industry. Excavated evidence combined with the documentary and cartographic sources has provided an opportunity to look in-depth at this waggonway. The phases of use, from construction to decommissioning, and the evolution of waggonway technologies in the region have been explored and engineering specific to the complex topography of the area is revealed. These revelations include the multiple phases of the waggonway, which indicate that an initial temporary trackway was used in the construction of the earthwork features along the line – a feature which is unique for the eighteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research focused on the issue of reducing the coal dust emission from the coal mining industry. Out of various binders for dust suppression, the authors used sodium carboxymethylcellulose (SCMC) with the spraying technology. The PM10 coal dust was recognized as the most harmful fraction. A laboratory setup based on a sealed dust suppression bunker with 10 g dust samples was tested, placed on a square with the dimensions of 250 × 250 mm. The air with the coal dust was blown and spread for one minute, until the concentration was equalized over the volume of the bunker; then, the concentration was measured for one hour. The untreated and treated samples of water and aqueous solutions with the SCMC content of 0.05%, 0.1%, 0.2%, and 0.4% were tested and the dust suppression efficiency was calculated. The best obtained efficiency of the 0.1% solution of SCMC was compared with other less or more concentrated solutions or distilled/technical water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2014, a fire at an open cut coal mine in South-eastern Australia burned for about 6 weeks. Residents of the adjacent town were exposed to high levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) during this period. Three and a half years after the event, this study aimed to investigate potential long-term impacts of short-term exposure to coal mine fire smoke on asthma. A cross-sectional analysis was undertaken in a group of exposed participants with asthma from Morwell (n = 165) and a group of unexposed participants with asthma from the control town of Sale (n = 64). Exposure was determined by modeled PM2.5 data for the mine fire period. Respiratory symptoms were assessed with a validated respiratory health questionnaire and symptom severity score. Asthma control was assessed with a validated questionnaire. Lung function testing included spirometry, bronchodilator response, and fraction of exhaled nitric oxide. There was no evidence that exposed participants had more severe asthma symptoms, worse lung function, or more eosinophilic airway inflammation than unexposed participants. However, there was some evidence that Morwell participants had more uncontrolled than well-controlled asthma, compared to the participants from Sale (adjusted relative risk ratio 2.71 95% CI: 1.02, 7.21, p =.046). Three and a half years after exposure, coal mine fire smoke did not appear to be associated with more severe asthma symptoms or worse lung function but might be associated with poorer asthma control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the formation of coal energy infrastructure in Pakistan's Thar Desert as part of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor. This infrastructure comprises an open pit coal mine and thermal power plant that traverses indigenous lifeworlds. My analysis takes up the subterranean matter of Thar's Desert – the coal, the sand, the water – and its related social and ecological contexts. I show that decades of technological processes of tests, drilling, chemical analyses, surveys, simulations, and maps of coal, water, and sand have yielded 'coal data' that mediates Thar's ancient lifeworlds in a singular relation to its coal deposit. Coal data, the mediated representations of subterranean coal, forms the very basis upon which coal extraction is performed and global energy infrastructures are advanced. The Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC), a joint venture of Pakistani and Chinese actors financed by Chinese state-capital, repeatedly presents Thar's land as coal data. Through the kinds of cultural authority granted to data as representations of technological objectivity, the SECMC is able to claim coal infrastructure as the foundation for a national energy future of Pakistan. Despite the SECMC's efforts to overlay the land with mediated coal data, Thar's indigenous villagers have enacted a historic protest and long march, including hunger strikes with unprecedented participation by women, and filed a case in the High Court in order to protest the poisoning of their agricultural farmlands and the eventual displacement from their homes. Through these mediated constructions of Thar's land as coal data, and the indigenous movements against coal mining, the ground of the Thar Desert is being reconfigured and reproduced as – what I call – a coal ground. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal chemical energy industry has developed rapidly due to the primary position of coal in energy reserves in China. At the same time, coal chemical industry is also a high-water consumption industry. What's more, coal chemical wastewater contains high concentration of phenols, NH3-N, and toxic and harmful substances. In the study, an all-round investigation on wastewater treatment technologies was conducted in projects of the coal chemical industry. These data were analyzed in detail from the aspects of coal-to-gas project, coal-to-oil project, and coal-to-olefin project. In pretreatment, phenol ammonia recovery device is the key section. At present, the process of first de-ammonia with gas stripping method and then de-phenolization with extraction method is mostly adopted in China. In microbiological treatment system, serious odor is diffused around the sewage treatment facilities. Thus, negative pressure extraction measures should be adopted in the microbiological treatment system. In addition, there is no suitable method for the treatment of concentrated brine and crystal salt, so it needs further study. Finally, this research can provide references for the problems of wastewater environment restriction existing in the long-term development of coal chemical industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper builds on Freudenburg's concept of "privileged accounts" and Hajer's work on the discourse of environmental policy by analyzing the debate over coal-fired power in the United States before and after the 2016 presidential election. A mixed-methods analysis of qualitative interviews with federal energy policy actors shows that anti-regulation narratives were central to the discourse. Results highlight shifts in pro-coal narratives as members and supporters of the coal industry adapted their discursive strategies to align with political and market transitions: whereas respondents used varied narratives during the pre-election period, the core arguments in the post-election period revolved around a more cohesive set of narratives about legal opposition to regulations and the importance of coal as a source of affordable, reliable energy. Additionally, the themes of climate denial and coal jobs—documented as dominant in previous research—were relatively rare and remained peripheral to the central discourse coalitions identified in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The domination of the economy of Newcastle upon Tyne by the coal industry during the seventeenth- and eighteenth - centuries is well known. Many ships arriving to collect a cargo of coal did not carry cargo but carried ballast, often in the form of sand or gravel. Over many years a vast quantity of ballast was deposited along the banks of the river, often spilling into the water, causing obstruction to river traffic. The management of ballast became a major pre-occupation for the Burgesses of Newcastle and a complex organisation evolved to manage the problem. Ships masters paid fees to the town to deposit ballast at ballast staiths which was then conveyed to the ballast hills at some distance from the river. The cumulative amount of these fees provided a substantial income both to the town and the Ballast Conveyors who leased and ran the ballast staiths, resulting in significant competition between the leading citizens in the town to obtain a lease to work a ballast shore. The ballast trade and its associated social, political and business networks played a very important and previously little understood role in the economy of Newcastle during this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the challenges in the coal mining industry is self-heating of coal as this can become a problem during mining operations, stockpiling and transportation. This study reviews the mechanism of self-heating, areas of spontaneous combustion, various factors influencing self-heating and different experimental studies to predict its occurrence. The technical control measures applied to minimise self-heating with special consideration to South African coals are also discussed. The distribution and association of unknown materials accelerating spontaneous combustion at different bands within the seam is yet to be studied. A site evaluation of the effects of these parameters is underway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Express Letter reports three methane explosion accidents during tunnel construction in Southwest China. In recent years, tunnel construction of China is developing rapidly. The geological conditions of the tunnel passing through are extremely complex, especially, tunnels in coal strata increase rapidly, what's worse, many methane explosions occur during the tunnel construction. The backgrounds, causes and rescue operation of three methane explosion accidents situation are studied. Furthermore, we proposed relevant measures to prevent methane explosions of tunnels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While much recent literature has focused on the environmental cost of carbon fuels, these sources of energy generated large human costs in the work environment as well. Work in coal mines was famously dangerous. And while petroleum, gas extraction and refining were also risky, this paper demonstrates that they were far less dangerous than was coal, while energy productivity per worker was also higher in oil than coal. Relying in part on previously unexploited data, the paper also shows that on the eve of World War II, the human costs of energy – measured by fatalities per btu of output – were sharply less in oil and gas production than in coal mining. Thus the great twentieth century energy transition from coal to liquid and gaseous fuels reduced both the environmental and the workplace costs per unit of energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During 1895–1970, in the Indian coalfield of Jharia, circular migration of the mineworker coexisted along with the fact that workers became regular over time. This article suggests that the development of employee benefits influenced the patterns of migration and settlement of workers. Employers, guided by a new industrial sensibility, came up with specific employee benefits, with an objective of continuous production from a group of settled workers. The workers' approach to social security and the pressure exerted by them shaped the expansion of employee benefits. My finding takes an issue with the thesis of cheap migrant labour. The latter argument has insufficiently revealed the actual preferences of employees. My work critiques another thesis which suggests that workers maintained a preference for investment in rural homesteads; therefore choosing to remain oscillating migrants. My study suggests that workers developed a notion of the civilised and human form of life from the 1920s onwards. The self-respect campaign amongst the unprivileged caste groups, the movement for industrial democracy and national reconstruction and the International Labour Organisation's (ILO's) advocacy of civilised and human life for workers, gave a spur to new reproduction preferences. Now, they sought employee benefits regarded as necessary for a dignified living. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beneficiation of lower grade coal continues to play a vital role for Indian coal industries, and it brings newer challenges to maintain its competitiveness in the global coal market. Studies have shown that the actual clean coal yield in most of the Indian coal washeries is much lower than that of the theoretical yield. Improper quantification of raw coal qualities and inappropriate maintenance of operating conditions for the processing equipments are often believed to be the two major causes for this lower yield. So, the importance of accurate quantification of these raw coal qualities has been demonstrated in this article. In addition, maximization of the plant yield has been illustrated through a case study. The results indicate that the yield could be increased up to 64.83%, which is nearly 21.64% higher than the plant's actual yield. This study has been carried out in two stages: Firstly, variation of available coal quality and the presence of near gravity material have been quantified, and secondly, maintenance of constant incremental quality approach has been verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming to investigate the coal metamorphic degree dependences of both the distribution characteristics of the content of CBM and the output characteristics of CBM, the thermal simulation experiments were adopted in this study. The results confirm that the content of CBM shows a unimodal relationship with the elevated coal metamorphic degree. The CBM in high-rank coal-bed mainly falls into the category of thermogenic CBM. The thermogenic CBM is generated after the thermal stability of coal metamorphism. The output characteristic of thermogenic CBM is the dominant factor determining the relationship between content of CBM and coal metamorphism degree. Both the amount of thermogenic CBM and the content of CBM increase with the coal metamorphism degree with Ro max ≤ 3.5%; however, the opposite trend is found for Ro max ≥ 3.5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gladstone, Queensland, is one of Australia’s largest coal ports and the site of many industries. Few of the 65,000 residents of the region are socially and economically independent of the fossil fuel industry. Environmental engagement is fragmented. The city epitomises, in a striking way, the double bind of growth and sustainability. The Australian environmental movement is generally seen as distant and irrelevant to local concerns. The article analyses conditions for, forms of and implications of environmental engagement in a city where coal, gas and industry are taken for granted as necessary conditions for prosperity and economic security. To what extent are ecological relevant to the residents; and how can they be dealt with within the parameters that define their lifeworlds? What can the Gladstone experience teach us about possible solutions to the double bind of growth and sustainability? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trace elements (TEs) in coal result in substantial pollutant emissions and cause serious damage to the ecological environment and human health in China. The emission and control of TEs, especially mercury, during coal combustion are of significant concern, and extensive studies have been performed in China in recent years. This paper reviews the emission characteristics and control strategies of mercury and other TEs during coal combustion in China. The occurrence of TEs in Chinese coals, including the average content of TEs in Chinese coals, the distribution of TEs in Chinese coals from different coal-forming periods, coal ranks, and coal-bearing regions are summarized. The emission characteristics of five specific TEs (Hg, As, F, Se, and Cr) during coal combustion in China are reviewed in detail. Effects of the coal type, combustion temperature, and combustion mode on the partitioning behaviour and emission characteristics of TEs are discussed. The effects of existing air pollution control devices of coal-fired power plants in China on the speciation and emission of TEs are discussed comprehensively. Various sorbents, such as activated carbon, fly ash, calcium-based sorbents, metal oxides, and mineral sorbents, used for TE removal are also summarized. Moreover, the removal performance of different sorbents for capturing certain TEs is compared comprehensively. Finally, future work for TE emission control in China is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Each year China burns as much coal as the rest of the world. The coal use results in many benefits such as electricity, industrial heat, coke for steel manufacturing, and many valuable chemical products. Unfortunately, coal use also results in environmental degradation and widespread and severe health problems. China is especially vulnerable to these problems because of the abundant coal deposits occurring in every Chinese province, the predominantly rural population, and the widespread use of domestic coal burning. The health problems are attributed to exposure to fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5), mobilization of trace elements such as arsenic, fluorine, selenium, and possibly mercury and the release of organic compounds from incomplete combustion of domestic coal fires. Inhalation of minerals such as quartz and pyrite has deleterious health impacts contributing to lung cancer in women and black lung disease in coal miners. The extensive uncontrolled coal fires in China may also be a source of health problems. The overall situation has improved in recent years as uncontrolled fires have been extinguished, improved coal-burning stoves are being introduced, and people are switching to alternative fuel sources. Nevertheless, more needs to be done to minimize the health consequences of coal use in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China produced 17.1 billion cubic meters (BCM) of methane sourced from coal seams in 2015, of which 4.43 BCM is from wells drilled from the surface. This level of production is a clear indicator that China has gone into early stage large-scale coalbed methane (CBM) development. CBM resources in China have been extensively investigated since the 1980s. Research has focused on the geological controls of reservoir character. There have been significant advances over the last 37 years that have aided China’s CBM industry. CBM resources less than 2000 m in depth in China are estimated to be 36.81 trillion cubic meters, of which more than 84% occur in nine large-scale basins, such as the Qinshui, Ordos, Junggar, Qianxi, Erenhot, and Hailar. CBM accumulation and coal reservoir characteristics are controlled by the deposition, structure, coal rank, hydrology as well as other geological factors. Each basin has its own unique geological controls that influence the character of CBM reservoirs in both subtle and obvious ways. Coal reservoir geology in some basins or regions in China are still not well understood because of the complexity of the geological settings. At present, large-scale CBM production in China only occurs within the Qinshui and Ordos basins, mostly sourced from middle-to-high rank coal reservoirs. The CBM geology in other basins needs further investigation in order to achieve large-scale commercial production. To this end, the geological research in the paper should address issues such as how to stimulate economic gas flow from deep low permeability reservoirs and how best to efficiently produce from multiple horizons simultaneously. This paper summarizes these and other key issues that are significant scientific and technical challenges for the CBM industry within China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

General information of China’s coal production, processing, and standardization of coal quality management over the past 30 years is introduced in this article. Analysis of the present situation and future projections of China’s coal production are also presented. Coal production in China increased year by year from 1980 and reached the maximum of 3.974 Gt in 2013. Provinces including Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, and Shaanxi are the main coal producing regions in China at present and Xinjiang will become another important coal producer in the future. The production of low-rank bituminous coal and lignite increased rapidly in the past 10 years. Coal consumption for electricity generation accounts for about 50% of product coal in China, much lower than that in developed countries. On the contrary, the proportion of coal consumption for coke-making is higher than other main coal producing countries, up to about 15% of total coal production. China became a net importer of coal since 2009 and the imports had reached 3.27 Mt in 2013. Coal washing rate in China has remained at a lower level for many years, much lower than that in developed countries (such as America and Europe). As for coal quality management, China has the world’s most systematic management standards for coal quality evaluation and specifications for feed coal in various utilizations. In recent years, with the strengthening of coal management, China has set a series of commercial coal quality standards in which civil coal standards were also included. China is facing the problem of decline in coal demand in recent years. Traditional coal production has suffered from excess capacity and higher inventory in China since 2012. The development of coal industry in China will change to rely more on quality and efficiency, developing scientific capacity, and achieving clean utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to the continuous high demand for energy, huge amounts of coals are consumed every year in China, giving rise to large volumes of coal combustion products (CCPs) from coal-fired power plants. Fly ash (FA), bottom ash (BA), boiler slag (BS), and flue gas desulphurization (FGD) gypsum are the primary CCPs generated. The disposal of these CCPs may occupy large areas of useful cultivated land, and cause serious environmental problems. However, these products might be also utilized as recoverable resources. Therefore, it is of economic and environmental significance to carry out research on the utilization of these CCPs. The present review first describes the physicochemical, mineralogical, and environmental geochemical properties of FA, slag, and FGD gypsum. Then the authors focus on the current and potential high value-added applications for these products in China. The utilization of FA for concrete and cement, soil amendment and fertilizer, in the ceramic industry, for catalysis, as adsorbents for the removal of flue gas, heavy metals, dyes and organic compounds, for zeolite and geopolymer synthesis, for recovery of valuable metals, and for recovery of unburned carbon and cenospheres, is discussed. The utilization of slag, such as reclamation of the burnable carbon, use in concrete, cement, and building materials, for roadway pavement and waste-water treatment, and for the production of acoustic barriers is reviewed as well. The current utilization of FGD gypsum includes use as a cement retarder, for the production of building plaster (β-hemihydrated gypsum) and calcium sulphate whiskers (α-hemihydrated gypsum), the production of fire-resistant panels, and use as a fertilizer and soil amendment agent. Furthermore, the possible influence of CCP properties on their utilization, and the advantages and disadvantages of various applications are discussed in this review. Finally, new directions for the future utilization prospects of CCPs in China are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is, and in the coming decades should continue to be, the largest producer and user of coal in the world. The high volume of coal usage in China has focused attention not only on the toxic trace elements that may be released from coal combustion but also on the valuable elements that may occur in the coal and associated ash. Valuable elements in several coals (or coal ashes) and some coal-bearing strata in China (e.g. Ge, Ga, U, rare earth elements and Y, Nb, Zr, Se, V, Re, Au, and Ag, as well as the base metal Al) occur at concentrations comparable to or even higher than those in conventional economic deposits. Several factors are responsible for these elevated concentrations: (1) injection of exfiltrational solutions during peat accumulation or as part of later epigenetic activity; (2) injection of infiltrational epigenetic solutions; (3) introduction of syngenetic alkali volcanic ashes into the peat-forming environment or into associated non-coal-forming terrestrial environments; (4) input of terrigenous materials into the coal-forming environment; (5) leaching of non-coal partings by groundwater/hydrothermal solutions; and (6) mixed processes involving both hydrothermal solutions and volcanic ash. The valuable elements in Chinese coals may be associated with either the organic matter or mineral matter, or have a mixed organic- and inorganic-affinity. For example, the Ge and U in coal-hosted ore deposits dominantly occur in the organic matter, with only traces of U-bearing minerals being present; gallium mainly occurs in boehmite and kaolinite, and to a lesser extent, in the organic matter. Rare earth elements and Y occur as carbonate-minerals (e.g. florencite, parisite), phosphate-minerals (e.g. rhabdophane, silico-rhabdophane, and xenotime), and in part are associated with the organic matter. Some metals (e.g. Ge, Al, Ga) have been successfully extracted at an industrial scale from Chinese coals, and others have significant potential for such extraction. Major challenges remaining for coal scientists include the development of economic extraction methods from coal ash, and the control of toxic elements released during the metal extraction process to protect human health and to avoid environmental pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the China Energy and Environmental Policy Analysis model which takes into account the current characters and potential reforms of energy markets in China, and from the perspective of economy-wide cost-effectiveness, this study aims to analyze how carbon mitigation burdens should be shared among key emission sectors in China, as well as how these sectors would behave to meet their burdens. This study finds that in general, allocating mitigation burdens based on historical emissions could realize the national target in a cost-effective way. However, some adjustments should be made to the coal, electricity, and transportation sectors. The mitigation targets for all sectors, especially for the coal sector, should not be set too high in the short-term. And the burden shared by the electricity sector should increase if electricity pricing is deregulated; meanwhile, energy efficiency and the energy input structure should be improved in the electricity sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forecasting of energy consumption, price, and investment in coal industry is one of the most important proactive approaches and policy instruments used by decision-makers in China. Due to the richer information on timerelated changes than the other methods, autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) is applied to estimate the further coal price, consumption, and investment of China from 2016 to 2030. The best-fitted models for coal price, consumption, and investment at each predicted step are selected. The empirical results show that the annual average rate of coal consumption and investment will decrease between 2016 and 2030 except for coal price, which exhibits fluctuant behavior in the forecast period. The annual droop rate of coal consumption from 2016 to 2030 will be rather big, nearly the same with the annual growth rate from 2000 to 2015. The coal investment has the similar result with coal consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both a liquid-solid fluidized bed separator (LSFBS) and a dense medium cyclone (DMC) are used for cleaning coal of -1+0.25 mm size. However, a comparison of LSFBS and DMC’s performance in separation of difficult-to-separate coal has seldom been reported. Difficult-to-separate coarse coal from the Tangkou plant was processed using LSFBS and DMC. The products with the same ash content were analyzed by the float-sink tests to compare the separation efficiencies. According to the results, the concentrate yield andEpvalue obtained by the DMC were 48.85% and 0.045, respectively, while the values obtained by LSFBS were 32.86% and 0.12, respectively. The results showed that DMC was more efficient than LSFBS for separating the Tangkou difficult-to-separate coal with a higher yield and a lowerEpvalue. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines in what sense the decline of the coal industry contributed to the emergence of a debate about the genesis, shape und future of ‘Britishness’ in the 1990s and early 2000s. Taking a discourse-analytical approach, it argues that the decline of the coal industry contributed to bringing about the debate in two ways: firstly, by feeding into popular narratives of national decline and renewal, it helped to provide the debate’s intellectual background. Secondly, the political cleavages of the 1980s and 1990s between Old Labour, Thatcherism and New Labour elevated the coal industry to a contested symbol for a way of life and a political orientation. These differing interpretations, in return, were associated with a particularly British social reality, a self-conception of the British nation that was embedded in the London-centric political and cultural discourse. Changes to this self-narration required an explanation, which various contributions to the discussion of ‘Britishness’ in politics and popular culture sought to provide in the 1990s and early 2000s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers an original contribution to the literature on coal communities and the history of the coal industry in Britain by examining changes and contested interests within Britain’s coal territories since nationalisation in 1947. The analysis is organised around three distinct but over-lapping meanings of coal community: economic locality, ideological communality and occupational group. As economic localities mining communities became stronger in the 1960s, even as the coal industry itself was shrinking, but then less viable as all forms of industrial employment dwindled in the 1980s. In ideological terms coal communities were divided by gender as well as class, but became more cohesive with social change and greater opportunities for women. A network of increasingly solid localities contributed—despite the divisions of 1984-1985 and subsequent job losses—to the strengthening of a national occupational community, partly because deindustrialisation was a common working class disaster that transcended regional boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently there have been calls for sociology in Britain to reflect on its longstanding historical attention and focus, something which has been neglected of late. At the same time there is growing interest in the historiography of British sociology and critical reflection on how its early post-war assumptions went on to structure later research, writing and scholarship. Developing both of these insights this article looks at British sociology’s longstanding relationship with the coal industry, its work and especially its communities. From Coal is our Life (1956) through to Coal was our Life (2000) the sector has been an important site of sociological attention. It was an early focus of post-war community studies, becoming home to a residual traditional working class. Later still it was an arena of conflict on the front line of Thatcher’s Britain, before becoming a site on which to study loss and deindustrialisation. This article asks what sociology learnt from the deep coal mining industry and what it might still explore in the future around questions of regeneration and the ‘half-life’ of deindustrialisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction draws on the work of Raymond Williams to identify the ‘structures of feeling’ that surround the figure of the coal miner in contemporary British culture. As an analysis of the media coverage of the closure of the UK’s last deep-coal mine in December 2015 demonstrates, mine workers were cast as ‘residual proletarians’ whose modes of being and consciousness were portrayed as both admirable and pitifully out of date. The introduction goes on to demonstrate the dominance that selective memories of the miners’ strike of 1984/1985 exert over contemporary understandings of coal mining. Drawing on the work of Williams again, the introduction reflects on how certain images and tropes have reached hegemonic status while others have been marginalised. The introduction concludes by arguing that historical scholarship must extricate itself from the stranglehold of ‘1984/85’ and contends that the true significance of coal for contemporary British history lies in the extraordinary range of emotions, meanings and significations with which both the industry and the miners were invested by the contemporaries themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work leaching of low grade Indian coal was investigated. Coal samples of pre-treated and treated were characterized to quantify the quality of coal. An attempt has been made in this work to reduce the mineral matter from low grade coal of particle size 250 μm by leaching with H2SO4, HCl, Na2CO3 and NaOH solution as leaching agent at a temperature of 100°C for 3 h. It was found that the final ash content of treated coal was 22% from 38% of ash of feed raw coal by NaOH treatment alone compared to rest of the solvents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mine overburden removed during surface mining is considered as “waste” or “spoil” that is consuming a vast tract of land for storage. Due to high ash content (30–50%) of Indian coals, 130 million tons of fly ash per year is generated with less than 50% of it is being used. Many a time thermal power plants are close to coal mines. Hence, in the present study it is proposed that a mixture can be prepared using fly ash and coal mine overburden with or without cement, which can be used as a stabilized pavement material. The present study deals with characterization of cement stabilized mine overburden fly ash mixture as a pavement material. Mixtures with varying cement percentage of 4–7% were prepared. Based on the unconfined compressive strength and California Bearing ratio values of the stabilized mixture, it was observed that it can be used as a stabilized pavement material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dependency on coal consumption to maintain energy security is common to the majority of developing countries where the coal is found in abundance. China and India are the leaders in coal consumption from the developing countries group, so establishing a relationship between the coal consumption and the economic growth for these two will derive useful lessons for policy-makers. This paper re-examines the causal relationship between coal consumption and economic growth in China and India for the period 1969–2013, for the first time using a frequency domain–based Granger causality test proposed by Brietung and Candelon (2006). The empirical results support unidirectional causality running from coal consumption to economic growth for both China and India. The findings of this paper provide important policy implications for energy policies and strategies for these two countries under study. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

By 1918, the British coal industry, like all industries, was facing the pressures of transitioning from a wartime to a peacetime economy. The pressures brought by a slowing economy would leave many coal miners, who possessed limited transferrable skills, harbouring deep concerns about their future employment. For those still in employment, concerns were increasing for workers’ health. Sharp increases in respiratory illnesses across the nation’s coalfields were now a major cause of disablement. Accompanying this was the almost inevitable possibility of unemployment, prompting major concerns among workers and trade unions. This article will explore how the nature of industrial relations across Britain’s coalfields changed during the interwar years in response to these challenges, and reveals how the government developed schemes to train disabled coal miners for work in other industries. The relationship between trade unions and the Ministry of Labour, and the incremental passage of legislation to address issues concerning workers’ occupational health in Britain’s coal mines will be examined. The onset of the Second World War ensured the coal industry was now central to the war effort. Recruitment was intensified accordingly. The improvement to working conditions underground, negotiated by trade unions, helped ensure that the workforce and the coal industry more generally were well-prepared for the challenges of the post-First World War economy, and the difficulties the Second World War would bring. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To understand the mercury (Hg) pollution characteristics and health risks in indoor and outdoor dust of Huainan residential areas, 122 dust samples were collected indoors and outdoors. Average Hg contents in indoor and outdoor dusts of Huainan city were 0.321 ± 0.724 (n= 61) and 0.072 ± 0.163 (n= 61) mg/kg respectively. The average Hg content in indoor dust was characterized by PJ (Panji district) > XJJ (Xiejiaji district) > DT (Datong district) > TJA (Tianjiaan district), and in the order of PJ > DT > XJJ >TJA in outdoor dust. According to enrichment factor and geo-accumulation index, the enrichment degree and pollution intensity for Hg are ranked as “very high enrichment” and “heavily polluted” in indoor dust, and “significant enrichment” and “moderately polluted” in outdoor dust Hg concentrations in indoor dust were highly significantly associated with the coal combustion and frequency of open windows, and Hg concentrations in outdoor dust were significantly associated with the coal combustion and traffic density. The inhalation of Hg vapor is the main route of Hg exposure to adult and children. The hazard risks of Hg for different exposure ways in indoor and outdoor dust were more risk for children than for adults, but have no obvious health risk for them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study was performed to investigate the frequency of bladder cancer in patients with an occupational history such as underground hard coal mining and/or painting after the structural change in the local industry. A total of 206 patients with bladder cancer and 207 controls were enlisted regarding occupational and nonoccupational bladder cancer risk factors by questionnaire. The phase II enzymesN-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2), glutathioneS-transferases M1 (GSTM1), and T1 (GSTT1) and the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs11892031[A/C] reported to be associated with bladder cancer in genome-wide association studies were genotyped. The bladder cancer risk in varnishers and underground hard coal miners was increased as previously shown in a study in this area performed in the 1980s. The occupation of a car mechanic was associated with a significantly elevated bladder cancer risk and higher in the case of underground hard coal miners even though the mine was closed in 1987. The frequency of GSTM1 negative genotype was comparable in cases and controls (53% versus 54%). In the case of NAT2, the slow NAT2 genotype was more frequent (62% versus 58%) and ultra-slow NAT2 genotype (NAT2*6A and/or *7B alleles only) was 23% versus 15%. An occupational history of a varnisher or an underground hard coal miner remains a risk factor for bladder cancer occurrence. Data indicate that in the case of bladder cancer, GSTM1 is a susceptibility factor related to environmental and/or occupational exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Ventilation mill for grinding coal is one of the main steam power plants in the system that makes a significant effect on the level of energy efficiency with its work. The aim of this paper is to increase the energy efficiency of thermo power plant Kostolac B by reducing the problem of wear in ventilation mill for coal grinding. The idea of this research is to investigate the optimum hardfacing technologies to increase wear resistance of impact plates in ventilation mill. Before applying hardfacing on impact plates in the exploitation conditions, it is necessary to model test hardfaced samples for determination of the optimal technology and filler material for revitalization. The relative weight loss of the impact plates after 1440 h period of exploitation in real conditions is very small, 5–8%. The application of this approach can reduce the number of possible repairs and extends the period between them, resulting in significant economic effects. Before and after revitalization of ventilation mill is conducted analyzing of failure during the working period. In this paper, we present time of repair of ventilation mills number 22, 23, 24 and 25, the number of repairs before and after revitalization and cost of repairs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article explores the local history and set of conditions central for the rise of “coal nationalism” in the post-industrial town of Doncaster. Based on ethnography, interviews and archival research, the essay shows how Doncastrians were not merely victimized by the effects of neoliberal restructuring programmes and deindustrialization, but strived to cope with and give meaning to the changes affecting their lives. In the space left by the dissolution of industrialism, new competing scale-making projects over meaning, memory and future played out. Several social actors nostalgically invoked the industrial past to cope with existential insecurity. Some called upon the lost empire or the EU, while others turned to exclusionary Englishness as the solution to current hardship and grievances. United Kingdom Independence Party (Ukip), strategically locating their annual conference in 2015 in the white-majority working-class town, tapped into local anxieties and disillusionment, promising to secure future and security for British nationals in the extractive industries. Examining the tensions emerging out of the intersection of various scale-making projects, the essay suggests that the rising appeal of English nationalism cannot be reduced to neoliberal restructuring, nor just the legacies of industrialism, nor to the passage of transition or global migration. It is all of these, which in turn constitute the Ukip code. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Coal as an energy source is vital for developing industries. Chemical analysis of coal becomes necessary to identify its properties and to minimize its negative environmental effects because these countries are obligated to use an environmentally friendly coal. This paper aims to supply information for a more universal coal evaluation and this information will surely support research on new coal technologies and help to solve the environmental problems yielded by coal consumption. Information in the current study is useful for an engineer to know and understand before attempting selection and design of an industrial process that use coal. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Currently, there is no established occupational risk factor for prostate cancer. However, in the 1980s, a hospital-based case-control study in the greater Dortmund area showed an elevated risk for hard coal miners and, based on few cases, for painters and varnishers. Therefore, approximately 10 yr later, a similar study regarding prostate cancer was performed in this area. In total, 292 patients with prostate cancer who underwent radical prostatectomy and 313 controls who underwent transurethral resection of a benign prostatic hyperplasia were investigated by questionnaire. All of them were operated on between 1995 and 1999. This study showed a decreased risk for prostate cancer in hard coal miners (odds ratio [OR] = 0.67, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.44–1.03). Occupational exposures related to an elevated risk for prostate cancer were exposures to combustion products (20% cases vs. 11% controls), colorants and dyes (19 vs. 13%), and cutting fluids (8 vs. 6%). The different prostate cancer risks for underground coal miners in two studies with a time interval of approximately 10 yr are striking. Factors to be discussed are the introduction of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening for prostate cancer and investigation of cases that underwent radical prostatectomy, where the disease in general is locally confined. Working conditions in the local underground coal mines improved over time but did not change markedly in the period of interest. In essence, the present study does not corroborate an elevated prostate cancer risk in former underground hard coal miners from the greater Dortmund area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prostate cancer is the most frequent occurring malignancy in men in many Western countries. Unfortunately, only a few studies on occupational risk factors have been published. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate possible occupational risk factors in a former center of coal, iron, and steel industries the greater Dortmund area, located in the western part of Germany. In three local departments of urology, a total of 238 prostate cancer cases and 414 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia as controls were requested to provide information for all jobs ever performed for 6 mo or longer. Jobs performed less than 10 yr prior to diagnosis were excluded from the analysis due to the latency of prostate cancer. In addition, data on smoking habits and age were obtained. Analysis of data was performed by means of logistic regression. Hard coal miners and, based on fewer cases, painters, stratified by age, showed a significantly elevated prostate cancer risk. Smoking history did not influence prostate cancer risk. The causes of the observed increased prostate cancer risk in hard coal miners cannot be explained by merely the risk factor “male sexual hormones.” In former decades, underground hard coal miners were exposed to high concentrations of dust and different xenobiotics such as hydraulic oils. Surprisingly, in a study performed about a decade later in the same area, prostate cancer risk in underground hard coal miners was found to be reduced. However, exposure to colorants was associated with an increased prostate cancer risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the effectiveness of Chinese regulations on occupational health and safety, this study provides an exploratory method by applying multiple interrupted time series (MITS) analysis. Taking coal mine safety in China as a case study, this article analyzes the background of the coal industry, especially during the period 1980–2009, and selects three typical pieces of national legislation specific to mining and work safety as the interventions. The data relevant to coal mine safety and the ‘third variables’ were collected to empirically support the study. The estimated results indicate different effects of these interventions on state-owned enterprise (SOE) mines and township and village enterprise (TVE) or small mines. Specifically, though the mortality rate in SOE mines is on a downward trend, these interventions have had no significant effect on it. However, only the 2002 act significantly reduced the mortality rate per million tons in TVE mines. The effectiveness of the interventions seems to depend on certain conditions, such as technology, administration and socioeconomic environment and type of coal mine. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Extant literature shows the exploitative nature of coal mining in central Appalachia, yet the coal industry continues to dominate West Virginia. Fusing conceptual work on culture and power, this research extends the existing literature by examining how the coal industry is able to secure its hegemony. The coal industry relies on several salient mechanisms to establish a normative culture of coal. However, the destructive practice of mountaintop removal prompts some residents to join grass-roots environmental organizations and speak out against Big Coal in the region. Using newspaper coverage, public relations documents, direct observation, and in-depth interviews, findings highlight the contradictions between the coal industry’s pro-coal discourse and respondents’ lived experiences. Results show how culture, discourse, and material conditions sustain the power of the coal industry in West Virginia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper presents a detailed analysis of relationships between steam coal prices on the Atlantic and Pacific basins. The division took into account both the importers (Japan, Europe) and the exporters (South Africa and Australia). The data used in the analysis came from Argus Base and included time series from the period January 2002–August 2011. The analysis has revealed that there is a cointegration between the prices, which means that they are in a long-term equilibrium. The application of the Granger causality test has shown that the Pacific basin plays a dominant role in the process of shaping prices. Both the import prices and the pair Japan and Australia were causes for the remaining prices. Instantaneous causality was calculated using the directed acyclic graph (DAG) method. The results obtained indicate that there is no instantaneous causality for the pair of importers in Asia and Europe. The structural restrictions for the model yielded the impulse response function. All the analyses conducted indicate a dominant role of the Pacific basin in shaping the prices of steam coal. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study used the circuit of culture to examine advertisements and websites of U.S.-based industry trade groups representing the energy industries of coal (American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity) and petroleum (American Petroleum Institute). Using a census of all advertisements available through the trade groups’ websites during spring 2014, the study identified 4 prominent narratives created by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity and American Petroleum Institute to enhance public support for the industries while fostering uncertainty around climate change and reducing concern for climate initiatives. The research reveals the power inequities surrounding climate discourse by suggesting that wealthy industry trade groups employ a discursive practice of distraction and appropriation of U.S cultural values and mores, essentially shifting public dialogue from climate change and potential environmental policies to how these policies would hurt the industries and adversely affect the average U.S. citizen. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It is necessary to monitor and balance the pulverized coal velocity and flowrate among the conveying pipelines leading to injection burners and to optimize the air-coal ratio for safety, economical operation, and reduction of pollution of coal-fired boilers in power plants. A novel electrostatic sensing system is reported for monitoring the velocity and relative mass flowrate of pulverized coal. The design, implementation, and on-plant trials of the system are reported. The velocity of pulverized coal was determined by autocorrelating the output derived from a linear electrostatic sensor array. The relative concentration and mass flowrate were obtained by the root mean square values of the output of two ring-shaped electrodes with the consideration of the pulverized coal velocity. The instrumentation was evaluated on a full-scale 600 MW power generation unit. The results demonstrate that the technique provides reliable measurement of pulverized coal velocity, relative flowrate, and split distribution among the injection pipes from the same pulverizing mill. The prototype achieved split balance and optimized air/coal ratio in combination with the pulverized coal balancing control valve and proportional-integral-derivative controller in fuel injection pipes in a power plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyethylene oxide (PEO) is an efficient flocculant for the settling of various minerals including coal, quartz, and phyllosilicate. However, it is rarely used in coal flotation. In this research, the flotation of a bituminous coal with PEO addition was investigated. It was found that PEO worsened the flotation performance in tap water. But it significantly improved the flotation in the sodium hexametaphosphate solution. The tube-settling experiments, floc observation and Zeta potential analysis indicated that the sodium hexametaphosphate hindered the flocculation of kaolinite so coal was selectively flocculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determination of spatial distribution of coal quality parameters can ease management of the operations in coal mines. In this study, in order to provide guidance for the excavations, Can coal mine production map showing regions having suitable coal parameters as feed coals for a power plant and also for public sale was prepared using adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system tool. Statistical relationships among calorific value, ash content and sulphur content were evaluated using the data obtained from boreholes opened in the mine between 2006 and 2009. According to the obtained production map, coals of Can mine are not suitable for public sale because of their high sulphur content and hence they should be blended with low sulphur coals to meet the requirements, before sale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]