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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]

Lightweight and adaptive adjustment are key research directions for deep neural networks (DNNs). In coal industry mining, frequent changes in raw coal sources and production batches can cause uneven distribution of appearance features, leading to concept drift problems. The network architecture and parameters should be adjusted frequently to avoid a decline in model accuracy. This poses a significant challenge for those without specialist expertise. Although the Neural Architecture Search (NAS) has a strong ability to automatically generate networks, enabling the automatic design of highly accurate networks, it often comes with complex internal topological connections. These redundant architectures do not always effectively improve network performance, especially in resource-constrained environments, where their computational efficiency is significantly reduced. In this paper, we propose a method called Topology Complexity Neural Architecture Search (TCNAS). TCNAS proposes a new method for evaluating the topological complexity of neural networks and uses both topological complexity and accuracy to guide the search, effectively obtaining lightweight and efficient networks. TCNAS employs an adaptive shrinking search space optimization method, which gradually eliminates poorly performing cells to reduce the search space, thereby improving search efficiency and solving the problem of space explosion. In the classification experiments of coal and gangue, the optimal network designed by TCNAS has an accuracy of 83.3%. And its structure is much simpler, which is about 1/53 of the parameters of the network dedicated to coal and gangue recognition. Experiments have shown that TCNAS is able to generate networks that are both efficient and simple for resource-constrained industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

bjective Taking the coal chemical process of a company in Hami, Xinjiang as the research object, the problem of high energy consumption in the low temperature separation and liquefaction system of coal chemical syngas was solved. Methods Aspen HYSYS software was used to simulate the separation liquefaction process of the single mixed refrigerant synthetic natural gas. The distribution ratio of the component in mixed refrigerant and the first and second stage compression pressure of the mixed refrigerant cycle were optimized by using BOX algorithm, with the minimum specific power consumption of the system as the objective function and the minimum heat transfer temperature difference of the cold box as the constraint condition of 3 ℃. Results The results show that the cold-heat composite curve of the optimized cold box is closer and smoother and the heat exchange effects are optimized, while keeping the production of LNG and methanol raw gas unchanged, with overall power consumption of the system decreased by 16.59%, exergy efficiency increased from 37.96% to 43.04%, significantly increasing the energy utilization rate. Conclusions The optimization of mixed refrigerant ratio and compression pressure by BOX algorithm has a significant effect on reducing energy consumption of syngas liquefaction process and increasing exergy efficiency, which has reference significance for the research of low temperature separation and liquefaction process of syngas in coal chemical industry. [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]

The content and methods of traditional safety training can no longer meet the needs of the industry or accident-targeted safety training. To solve this problem, this study proposes an accidental case data accident causing model-driven safety training method (ACDACM method) based on an analysis of the content and methods of China's safety training. This method is theoretically driven by the accident causation model and data-driven by the accident case information. Through data analysis of historical accident cases, basic information and comprehensive reasons for accidents can be obtained. Using data mining algorithms, the causes and combinations of high-frequency and high-risk accidents can be mined, supported by accident data, and a path map of the accident causes can then be obtained. The developed safety training project is more targeted by comparing accident causes with industry standards and regulations. This study considers coal and gas outburst accidents as an example and uses 24Model to analyze 84 coal and gas outburst accidents in China. The targeted safety training plan had eight parts of training content, and supporting PPTs, handbooks, and videos were produced. The application shows that this method can provide targeted safety training designs for industries or accidents and has industry universality. Finally, the advantages and development of the ACDACM method are elaborated and the future of safety training is discussed. This study provides theoretical and methodological support for targeted safety-training programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross sections of coal prices in England for 1695, 1795, and 1842 are used to infer transportation rates by sea, river, canal, and road. The effectiveness of monopolies, the degree of market integration, and the patterns of regional supply of each mining district are then established. The growth rates of productivity in sea, river, and road transport from 1695–1842 are computed and combined with a social savings assessment of canals to measure the overall growth in the productivity of shipping coal. Productivity growth was substantial but had a surprisingly limited impact on the geography of production and consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The features and trends of coal mining in the east of Russia are examined. The current and planned managerial decisions connected with coal production and supplies to competitive markets are analyzed. The coal products are ROM fuel, concentrate and middlings. The authors discuss approaches to effective mining and processing management within the chains of supplies, and to provision of the required quality of solid fuel produced and delivered to customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his report Der Rauch verbindet Städte , which appeared in the Frankfurter Zeitung in 1926, Joseph Roth described how coal mining affected life, society, and work in the Ruhr Valley. The text demonstrates impressively and in metaphoric terms how the coal trade and its industrial use as a source of energy had a direct influence on everyday life and the economy. This article proceeds from coal as a source of energy to examine the connection between literature and energy, reading this text against the background of the field of Energy Humanities currently developing in the anglophone sphere. This research focus, which has to date hardly been pursued in the German-speaking world, provides a new and productive perspective within the field of Austrian Studies. [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 outbreak of the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict exacerbated the natural gas supply shortage in European countries. European countries restarted coal-fired power plants to maintain economic and social operations. The uneven distribution of coal resources in the world makes coal international trade inevitable. The intricate trade relations between trading countries have formed a coal trade network. When a country's coal exports are limited due to geopolitical factors, it will cause coal supply risks. The risk will spread to more countries along the trade network, eventually leading to the collapse of the trade network. This paper builds a crisis propagation model of the coal supply under the Russia-Ukraine conflict using the cascading failure model. The results showed that the Czech Republic, Ireland, Portugal, and Bulgaria become abnormal as the proportion of coal exports β increases. When the Russian Federation reduced its coal exports by 80% and countries maintained only 10% coal exports against crisis, 23 European countries were the worst. Iceland, Ireland, Turkey and other countries were spread by the indirect risk and became abnormal countries. The Czech Republic and Bulgaria were spread by multiple risk and became abnormal countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debates on the causes of Indonesia's recent democratic decline have mostly focused on institutional, political and attitudinal–behavioural causes. By bringing the rural political economy dimension into this conversation, this article presents another picture of the illiberal turn in Indonesian democracy. Specifically, it examines the implications of elite control over land and coal resources on democratic quality. Based on in-country fieldwork materials and relevant secondary data, it analyses instances of episodic repression, the contraction of democratic spaces and the corrosive effects of coal-fuelled intra-elite clientelism by looking at the elite control of land resources and the influence of political and economic elites benefitting from the coal industry in elections and the broader political arena. Finally, it also discusses the capitulation of key agrarian social movement actors to state interests and its impact on the movement's ability to resist democratic regression. This elaboration shows how the current contour of elite control over rural resources contributes to the declining quality of Indonesian democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of the growing demands of the modern economy, 21stcentury technology, and the challenges of Industry 4.0, the classical management of mining enterprises is not sufficient, and it is transforming into a process approach to the organization. The usage of the process management concept creates a situation for improving the organization at many levels, both at the strategy and operational levels. This provides an opportunity for a comprehensive view of the organization, but it is necessary to define indicators that determine the flexibility of operations, the achievement of profitability, and effective operational management. These indicators, called key performance indicators, focus on crucial aspects of the organization's activity that are fundamental to its current and future success. The contribution goal of the presented paper is to propose a new index for assessing the efficiency of coal mines, called the labor intensity index. The proposal is based on a previous three-area strategic analysis, including production indicators of coal mining companies, the state of coal mining in Poland, and economic factors affecting the current situation of the Polish coal mining industry. The analysis covered the period from 1988 to 2020. The use of new KPIs to assess performance in process terms is necessary to develop better new strategies for mining companies. It is particularly important in light of the industry's restructuring plans to restructure the mining industry and the far-reaching vision of decarbonizing the Polish energy sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict exacerbated the natural gas supply shortage in European countries. European countries restarted coal-fired power plants to maintain economic and social operations. The uneven distribution of coal resources in the world makes coal international trade inevitable. The intricate trade relations between trading countries have formed a coal trade network. When a country's coal exports are limited due to geopolitical factors, it will cause coal supply risks. The risk will spread to more countries along the trade network, eventually leading to the collapse of the trade network. This paper builds a crisis propagation model of the coal supply under the Russia-Ukraine conflict using the cascading failure model. The results showed that the Czech Republic, Ireland, Portugal, and Bulgaria become abnormal as the proportion of coal exports β increases. When the Russian Federation reduced its coal exports by 80% and countries maintained only 10% coal exports against crisis, 23 European countries were the worst. Iceland, Ireland, Turkey and other countries were spread by the indirect risk and became abnormal countries. The Czech Republic and Bulgaria were spread by multiple risk and became abnormal countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The separation of fine coal has been widely discussed in the coal preparation industry due to its high economic potential. Dense medium cyclone (DMC) is the most efficient equipment available for fine coal separation. However, the industrial application of DMC is far from satisfactory due to operational difficulties and maintenance. In this research, particle settling behavior in a dense medium cyclone was analyzed for improved separation. The calculation result about feed pressure and separation lower limit, which fits the experimental data well, might be a guidance for industrial DMC design and operation. According to the calculation result, it is highly recommended that the separation lower limit be set at 0.2 mm rather than 0.1 mm, because the feed pressure head required for the latter (50 D) is three times higher than the former (15 D). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of pre-oxidation viscosity reduction technology of coal has been carried out on a fixed ffuidized bed device. The effects of temperature, atmosphere, residence time on the bond index were investigated. The results showed that the bond index could be reduced to below 5 under the conditions of temperature 200 °C, residence time 30 min, atmosphere air and air containing atmosphere, and the coke type has changed from F-type to C-type,and from weakly sticky coal to non sticky coal. By analyzing the com¬position of ZSLB and ZSLA tar products, it was found that tar of ZSLB and ZSLA mainly consists of naphthalene series, alkanes, phenols, phenanthrene series, benzene series, anthracene series, pyrene series, fluorene series, indene series, and other substances, with a similar proportion, with the highest content of naphthalene series; the content of low distillate substances in tar of ZSLB is higher, and the temperature corresponding to the same fraction is earlier, presents a lighter weight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Non-communicable diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for 71% of deaths in 2021. The chronic and pervasive nature of these diseases spurs the need for novel treatment approaches, including using the workplace as a front for the promotion and dissemination of health messages and activities. Taking this into consideration, this study aimed to assess the efficacy of a workplace health promotion program that targeted nutrition, physical activity, and obesity outcomes in a New South Wales (NSW) coal mine site. Design: A 12-week quasi-experimental pre-test–post-test study. Setting: A coal mine site in rural NSW, Australia. Participants: At baseline there were n = 389 participants, with similar numbers at follow-up (n = 420) as well as 61 participants from both timepoints (8.2% repeated measures), with 89% of participants being male. Intervention: A multicomponent wellness intervention was implemented incorporating aspects of education, goal setting, and competition. Outcomes: Physical activity, nutrition, and weight. Results: The mean BMI at baseline was 30.01 kg/m2, and at follow-up 29.79 kg/m2 (p = 0.39). At follow-up, participants reported 81% lower odds of engaging in the exercise category 'no moderate physical exercise' (OR = 0.09, p < 0.001), as well as 111% higher odds of meeting physical activity and exercise guidelines (OR = 2.11, p = 0.057). There were no changes to diet outcomes and no association between employment characteristics and participating in physical activity. Conclusions: Workplace health promotion programs can be an efficacious strategy in improving physical activity outcomes and marginally improving weight outcomes in those in the mining industry. Further research is needed to determine the true effectiveness of these programs long-term, particularly in an environment as challenging and dynamic as the mining industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research status of traditional gasification technology for hydrogen production from organic solid waste are reviewed, the influence of three main factors, gasification medium, gasification temperature and catalyst, on hydrogen production effect is analyzed in detail, by analyzing the action mechanism and summarizing the advantages and disadvantages in the application process, the technical disadvantages of this technology are put forward purposefully, it is pointed out that the technology should be developed from four aspects: mechanistic exploration, development of high-performance composite catalyst/catalyst with special structure, development of hydrogen production technology by co gasification with coal, and coupling with other new gasification hydrogen production technologies in the future, so as to better promote the industrial application of the technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this article is to analyze income poverty in the coal industry between 1932 and 1960. The methodological approach proposed by the ECLAC - the food share method - is used to study the real value of the labor force. Our results show that real income in the coal industry rose, but failed to reach the poverty line, except for 1951-1953. The increment of the early 1950s took place during a national inflationary crisis and was the consequence of the workers movement of the late 1940s. In relative terms, there was a structural concordance between the real and comparative value of the labor force and the situation of paternalism and social control shown in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liang Yuan (Anhui University of Science and Technology, China, Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering) Prof. Chi-Min Shu (Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Taiwan, Distinguished Chair Professor) Prof. Shu-Gang Li (Xi'an University of Science and Technology, China) Prof. Jai P Gupta (Shiv Nadar University, India, Distinguished Professor/Director) Prof. Imre Miklos Szilagyi (Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary) Prof. IL Moon (Yonsei University, South Korean, Vice President). The Chair of the LPPSTA 2021 consists of the following persons Prof. Liang Yuan (Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering. I Guest Editors i Graph This compilation is based on the peer-reviewed and selected papers presented at LPPSTA 2021, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China, September 24-26, 2021. [Extracted from the article]

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]

To address the instability timing problem of residual coal pillars under mining disturbance, their stress migration law and instability mechanism were studied via numerical simulation, physical simulation, and engineering tests considering residual coal remining in the 3101 working face of the Shenghua Coal Industry. The results show that as the mining progresses, the stress concentrates on both sides of the remaining coal pillar and empty roadway. When the first coal pillar in front of the working face loses its bearing capacity, the stress is transmitted forward, resulting in the advanced collapse of the empty roadway roof and an excessive load on the second coal pillar in front of the working face. Additionally, the critical value prediction model of the coal pillar stability safety factor fs ${f}_{{\rm{s}}}$ was constructed. If fs ${f}_{{\rm{s}}}$ is less than the critical value during the repeated mining period, the remaining coal pillar must be reinforced. A hollow grouting crossed anchor is selected for coal pillar reinforcement; thus, realizing the safe mining of the remaining coal pillars. Our research results provide theoretical support for the safe secondary mining of coal in China and similar coal mines worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India's coal production has ramped up over the years in response to rising demand from the country's booming energy market and other industries. We'll inevitably have to rely heavily on the energy industry. About 66% of India's energy needs are met by the country's thermal power plants, with 53% of that total coming from coal. India relies on the coal industry despite the fact that it causes serious difficulties for the environment, pollutes water supplies, and degrades land. In the next few decades, India would be completely depleted of its coal deposits if the current output rate of extraction is maintained. In this work, we discuss how to make long-term use of non-renewable resources possible for future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The source and harm of oily sludge are briefly described.The thermal treatment technologies and characteristics of oily sludge, such as pyrolysis, coking, combustion and smoldering combustion are introduced.The types and characteristics of oily sludge combustion equipment are emphatically introduced.In view of the problem that a large amount of acid gas will be produced in the combustion and smoldering combustion process, which will further aggravate the corrosion of equipment, this paper summarizes the influence and control technology of the corrosion behavior of the oily sludge thermal treatment equipment, in order to provide a better reference for the corrosion control methods and development in the oily sludge thermal treatment process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The degree to which an individual is willing to take risks i.e., risk tolerance is often cited as a significant causal element in the majority of workplace accidents. It is essential to determine the risk tolerance level of miners and utilise their risk profiles to design improved training modules, safety, recruitment, and deployment policies. This paper aims to identify the most critical factors (or features) influencing miners' risk tolerance in the Indian coal industry and develop a robust prediction model to learn their risk tolerance levels. To do end, we first conducted a questionnaire survey representing the complete feature set (with 36 features) among 360 miners and divided their responses into five classes of risk tolerance. Next, we propose a wrapper based hybrid system that combines particle swarm optimization (PSO) and random forest (RF) to train a multi-class classifier with a subset of features. In general, the proposed system selects the best feature subset by iteratively generating different feature combinations using the PSO and training an RF classifier model to assess the effectiveness of the generated feature subsets for the F1-score. At last, we compared the PSO-RF with four traditional classification methods to evaluate its effectiveness in terms of precision, recall, F1-score, accuracy, goodness-of-fit, and area under the curve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the options for reducing harmful emissions in the production of heat energy is the use of biomass, including in combination with industrial waste (for instance, coal and coke dust). Recent studies demonstrate that a mix of biomass and coal makes it possible to obtain a bio-coal briquette with better characteristics, which is a motivating factor in the search for alternative sources of heat energy from local agricultural waste. The aim of this research is to study the properties of bio-coal briquettes from biomass (sunflower husks and leaves) and industrial waste (coal and coke dust). The raw material was grinded and used for the production of bio-coal briquettes of 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, and 70% of biomass. The biomass was grinded to the size of no more than 2 mm for the fine fraction and no more than 6 mm for the coarse fraction. The briquettes were made mechanically using a hydraulic press with a compression pressure of 25 MPa without the use of any binder. The characteristics of the investigated bio-coal briquettes, such as density, strength, moisture content, ash content, volatile yield, calorific value, ignition time, burning duration, and burning rate, have good enough values. The fine fraction briquettes compared to the coarse fraction briquettes have a longer burning time (about threefold longer) and a lower burning rate. For all briquettes, an increase in the composition of coal dust results in a rise in the burning time, whereas the burning rate falls. The best in terms of strength, calorific value and combustion parameters are the following briquettes: 70% sunflower husk and 30% coal dust from the Karazhyra deposit; 60% sunflower husk and 40% coal dust from the Shubarkul deposit; briquettes from 70% sunflower husk and 30% coke dust; briquettes from 80% leaves and 20% coal dust from the Karazhyra deposit; and briquettes from 70% leaves and 30% coal dust from the Shubarkul deposit. The selected briquettes are suitable as an alternative source of fuel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that in September 2021, China announced that it would stop building new coal-fired power plants abroad. Topics include examines this announcement was made while China did not change its approach to domestic coal plants and considered this stands in contrast to other countries, which typically announce domestic coal exit laws before stopping public funding for overseas coal.

The coal industry is the largest global emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2). However, recent data suggests that coal mine methane (CH4) emissions worldwide are higher than those of the oil and gas industry. Furthermore, the coal industry is less active in reducing methane emissions than the oil and gas sectors due to lower profitability. Although uncertainties remain in quantifying methane emissions from mines, the use of satellite observations is revolutionizing the process of monitoring and improving the accuracy of emission accounting. The methodology presented here allows us to determine background CH4 concentrations and improve our ability to detect emission events using Sentinel-5P data. Knowing the background concentrations for the area of interest provides us the opportunity to track seasonal and annual variations and trends, as well as quickly detect periodic or accidental emissions from unregulated sources, etc. The methodology and systematic research applied in this paper for the period of May 2018 to the end of 2022 enables us to detect hundreds of large-scale emissions of CH4, NO2, and CO from the coal mines in the Kuznetsk Basin (the Kemerovo region), the largest coal mining area in Russia. We estimated that the amount of these emissions is significantly higher than the emissions reported by various authors for other coal mining regions such as Poland and Australia. We found that in cases of high methane quantity there is a positive correlation between NO2 and CO emissions in time and location. The source of emissions in the study area is homogeneous, which allows it to be used as a benchmark for building models to estimate and track emissions in heterogeneous areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As in 2020, the biggest stories in Mongolia in 2021 and 2022 were elections, COVID-19, and how to cope with the contracting economy. At the end of the year, Mongolia was struggling to meet public health challenges and to recover from the economic downturn. Both the government that was elected in 2020 and the president who took office in 2021 have promised to improve corruption, which is endemic in Mongolia, but people have yet to see much change. Popular dissatisfaction led to a huge public protest in December 2022 that demanded the government ensure more transparency in the coal trade. Thirty years after a peaceful transition to democracy, Mongolia is facing its greatest challenge: how to maintain and develop a transparent democracy that truly cares about public opinion and people's livelihoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal chemical industry is a pathway for cleaner and more efficient consumption of coal. The modern coal chemical industry in China also acts as a national strategic technology reserve. However, high water demand by this industry and the high volume of outflow, often containing high levels of recalcitrant organic and inorganic pollutants, are some of the major environmental issues that need to be addressed. The implementation of new water treatment systems and the retrofit of existing water treatment facilities are of interest to both academia and the industry. This review selected coal gasification, coal liquefaction， and coking as three of the representative techniques, and briefly introduced the background, conversion processes， and then pinpointed the main wastewater discharge steps and the basic characteristics of the wastewater. At last， the review compiled representative research studies that apply electrochemical techniques in treating wastewater from the coal chemical industry and summarized the treatment mechanisms and performances. Recommendations for future study are provided accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is significant for saving energy to manufacture superb‐property batteries. Carbon is one of the most competitive anode materials in batteries, but it is hard for commercial graphite anodes to meet the increasingly higher energy‐storage requirements. Moreover, the price of other better‐performing carbon materials (such as graphene) is much higher than graphite, which is not conducive to massive production. Pitch, the cheap by‐product in the petroleum and coal industries, has high carbon content and yield, making it possible for commercialization. Developing pitch‐based anodes can not only lower raw material costs but also realize the pitch′s high value‐added utilization. We comprehensively reviewed the latest synthesis strategies of pitch‐derived materials and then introduced their application and research progress in lithium, sodium, and potassium ion batteries (LIBs, SIBs, and PIBs). Finally, we summarize and suggest the pitch′s development trend for anodes and in other fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decrease in fly ash production due to the shift in coal industries toward a green environment has impacted many concrete industries as fly ash is a significant component in cement and concrete. It is critical for concrete industries to identify the availability of fly ash in landfills to meet their demand if the supply decreases. This paper aims to analyze the suitability of UAVs in determining the fly ash stockpile volumes. A laboratory test is performed to validate the proposed UAV method. Then, a real quarry site is selected to demonstrate the suitability in a large scale. The results indicate that the UAVs estimate the most accurate volume of the stockpile when the flight height is about five times the stockpile height. A considerable range of 3.5–5 times the stockpile height is most suitable for quantity takeoff. The findings of this study provide a recommendation for choosing the most appropriate technology for the quantitative estimation of fly ash in existing landfills on a large scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "carbon peak, carbon neutral" goal and the rapid development of new energy sources such as photovoltaic and hydrogen energy have accelerated the decline of the traditional coal industry. Therefore, the coal industry urgently needs to seize the opportunity for coal transformation and achieve high-quality development to improve its competitiveness. This study used a combination of literature analysis and case supplementation to identify 12 influencing factors of coal industry transformation. The DEMATEL method was used to classify the 12 influencing factors into four groups: strong cause, weak cause, strong outcome, and weak outcome. Then, the ISM method was used to construct a multi-level recursive structure of the factors influencing the transformation of the coal industry. The results show that the influencing factors of coal industry transformation can be divided into a three-layer hierarchical structure. Among them, policy traction is the most critical fundamental influence, technological change has the highest importance in the indirect influence layer, while safety production, related industries and support, and capital funding are the most effective direct influence. It should be the focus of attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Paper investigates how changes in coal employment affect wages in 20 industries. • The impact of coal transitions on welfare programs in 10 coal states is studied. • Migration of coal workers decreased wages in construction and manufacturing sectors. • An increase in coal wages leads to a rise in wages in several sectors. • Increasing coal employment increases SNAP caseloads. The U.S. coal industry is in the midst of a transition. Changes in regulation and technological innovation from other fossils and renewables have affected its competitiveness. These could have significant impacts on the labor market where jobs could be lost. In this study, we investigate how changes in employment in the coal industry affect wages in 20 industries in 10 U.S. coal producing states. We assess how these transitions impact welfare programs, since coal producing regions are associated with higher poverty levels. Results show that in the long run, migration of coal workers decreased wages in the construction, manufacturing sectors. Point estimates reveal that an increase in separations of coal workers increase Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) caseloads. In states where coal mining has a smaller contribution to GDP, an increase in coal employment increases SNAP caseloads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modern coal chemical industry is a typical high carbon emission industry, which has formed a large-scale development in China. In the context of carbon neutrality, it is considered to be an ideal combination mode that captures high-concentration CO2 emitted by the modern coal chemical plants and transports it to oilfields through pipelines, which can both realize the low-carbon development goals of the modern coal chemical industry and reduce the cost of the whole process of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), as well as promote the development of CCS in China. Based on the data from modern coal chemical projects and depleted oil basins across China, a model of a pipeline network with optimal layout design was constructed, aiming to achieve specific emission reduction targets. Meanwhile, its economic effects will be analyzed. It turns out that this layout can help achieve an annual emission reduction of 280 million tons of CO2, with an average annual net income of USD 2.20 billion, and a unit net income of USD 7.85 per ton of CO2. A total of 166 pipelines up to 15,783 km in total length need to be built across China. Suitable storage sites can be found within an average radius of 94 km for emission sources. A total of 11,115 km of pipelines needs to be built in the "Three North" areas, accounting for 70.4% of the total pipeline length. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Axon regeneration is an energy-demanding process that requires active mitochondrial transport. In contrast to the central nervous system (CNS), axonal mitochondrial transport in regenerating axons of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) increases within hours and sustains for weeks after injury. Yet, little is known about targeting mitochondria in nervous system repair. Here, we report the induction of sustained axon regeneration, neural activities in the superior colliculus (SC), and visual function recovery after optic nerve crush (ONC) by M1, a small molecule that promotes mitochondrial fusion and transport. We demonstrated that M1 enhanced mitochondrial dynamics in cultured neurons and accelerated in vivo axon regeneration in the PNS. Ex vivo time-lapse imaging and kymograph analysis showed that M1 greatly increased mitochondrial length, axonal mitochondrial motility, and transport velocity in peripheral axons of the sciatic nerves. Following ONC, M1 increased the number of axons regenerating through the optic chiasm into multiple subcortical areas and promoted the recovery of local field potentials in the SC after optogenetic stimulation of retinal ganglion cells, resulting in complete recovery of the pupillary light reflex, and restoration of the response to looming visual stimuli was detected. M1 increased the gene expression of mitochondrial fusion proteins and major axonal transport machinery in both the PNS and CNS neurons without inducing inflammatory responses. The knockdown of two key mitochondrial genes, Opal or Mfn2, abolished the growth-promoting effects of M1 after ONC, suggesting that maintaining a highly dynamic mitochondrial population in axons is required for successful CNS axon regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the integrated evaluation problem of financial risk in coal industry restructuring, a model of linear regression and PCA is put forward. This paper studies the univariate correlation and multivariable mixed correlation between the main business income and the book value of fixed assets and nonfixed assets in the statements of coal listed companies and gives the correlation function between the variables by using a variety of univariate linear, univariate nonlinear, and binary linear regression methods. It also points out that the coal enterprises in China are basically in the stage of increasing scale income at the present stage and can continue to achieve rapid increase in profits through mergers and acquisitions and other expansion methods. At the same time, it is also concluded that nonfixed assets, namely, intangible assets and human capital, contribute more to the main business income of coal enterprises in China, which objectively proves the correctness of our thinking of developing knowledge economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal petrology plays a significant role in understanding coal behaviour during various industrial processes such as carbonization, gasification and liquefaction and helps in characterizing them accordingly. Proper use of fluorescence microscopy and vitrinite reflectance measurement is crucial; carbonization study shows that maceral composition and rank affect the thermoplasticity wherein vitrinite contributes most to the coke formation. Further, the vitrinite is catalyzed by the presence of exsudatinite. Liptinite, when associated with vitrinite, lowers the viscosity of coal during coke making. Coal petrology is successfully used to assess suitability of a coal for coking to predict coke strength and to evaluate coal for coal-blend designing. Composition, structure and behaviour of coke are revealed through petrographic study. The stability and reactivity of coke can also be realised through microscopy. Gasification of coal is performed best in bituminous coal while it is expensive in case of low rank or low grade coals. It can be a simple coal gasification, fixed bed gasification, fluidized-bed gasification, entrained-flow and molten-bath coal gasification. Though any coal may be used for gasification but coal with high reactive components are more suitable but bituminous coal with high inertinite is also suitable as per few researchers. Some minerals have catalytic effect while others act as inhibitors. Elemental composition of organic and inorganic matter of coal, its surface characteristics, porosity and intrinsic reactivity have important bearing on efficiency of gasification. Coal liquefaction is a clean fuel technology which requires proper petrological characterization of coal before processing it. Rank and type of coal along with its composition influence the liquefaction behaviour. Thus, it is imperative to carry out a complete coal microscopy before coal is utilized for making coke/coke-blend or liquid and gaseous hydrocarbon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assess the value of stranded coal-fired power plants in Germany in the light of the critical decision to phase them out by 2038. In a Monte Carlo simulation, the scenarios under consideration (slow decommissioning at the end of the technical lifetime in 2061, the highly probable phase-out by 2038, and an accelerated phase-out by 2030) are additionally assigned distributions to display the uncertainty of future developments. The results show an overall stranded asset value of €2.6 billion given the phase-out by 2038 and an additional €11.6 billion if the phase-out is brought forward by 8 years. This study also describes the impacts of carbon pricing and the feed-in from renewable energy sources on the merit order and eventually the deterioration in economic conditions for hard coal and lignite power plants. Lastly, we discuss the immediate concerns for the share prices of the affected companies and help to close the research gap regarding stranded physical and financial assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of China's dual carbon target, Beijing, as the capital of China, should play an exemplary role in carbon emission reduction. On the premise of optimizing high-emission sectors such as coal and industry, Beijing is still a certain distance from the goal of carbon neutrality. Therefore, on the basis of Beijing's energy resource endowment, considering Beijing's economic development and carbon neutrality goals and scientifically and reasonably planning Beijing's carbon emission reduction path are important tasks. We construct an energy structure optimization model to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. The model analysis concludes that the residents and transportation sectors will account for a large proportion of Beijing's total carbon emissions in the future. To achieve the goal of carbon neutrality, the electricity substitution of fossil energy and the high proportion of external power are two necessary measures, and the optimal path of carbon emission reduction is proposed. [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]

• The interface features of coal-rock combination are obtained and a 3D reconstruction model is established. • The influence of interface inclination on the temporal characteristics of damage and failure of coal-rock combination is analyzed. • The influence of interface inclination on the fracture fractals of damage and failure of coal-rock combination is analyzed. • The effect of interface inclination on the damage and failure of primary coal-rock combination is studied. In recent years, China's coal mines have gradually entered into deep mining. Ensuring safe and efficient extraction of deep coal resources has emerged as a key concern in the coal mining industry. The characteristics of the coal-rock interface play a significant role in influencing the damage and failure of the coal-rock combination. In order to deeply study the influence of interface inclination on the damage and failure law of the primary coal-rock combination, this paper successfully established the three-dimensional reconstruction model of the coal-rock combination with 5 different inclination angles (0°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 90°) by combining CT technology and AVZIO software. Then PFC2D software was used to simulate the damage and failure of coal-rock combination under different interface angles. The results show that: the loading damage characteristics of coal-rock combinations with different dip angles are similar, that is, the fracture evolution of coal-rock bodies is mainly concentrated in the coal bodies, and the damage and failure of coal-rock interfaces are the most severe. In the early stage of the loading damage, the fractal dimension of the coal-rock combination increases with the increase of interfacial inclination, but the growth rate of the fractal dimension shows a decreasing tendency with the increase of interfacial inclination. With the increase of the inclination angle of the interface of the assemblage, the growth rate of the acoustic emission signal and the total cumulative acoustic emission of the coal-rock combination show a tendency of increasing firstly, then decreasing and then increasing again. The porosity near the coal-rock interface is relatively large when the coal-rock combination is damaged by a load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to realize the resource utilization of coal gasification fine ash (CGFA) in cement fields, a key is to solve the problem of low activity of CGFA. This paper studied the performance of CGFA as supplementary cementitious materials in cement. Furthermore, to enhance the activity of CGFA, targeted chemical activators were employed, with triethanolamine (TEA) and simulated high salinity wastewater (SHSW) chosen as representatives of organic and inorganic agents, respectively. It was found that CGFA had a synergistic effect with cement at a low dosage, while the inhibition effect on cement hydration was dominant at a high dosage. TEA promotes the strength development of the CGFA-cement system by promoting early hydration of cement and dissolution of active minerals in CGFA. However, the promoting effect of TEA on cement hydration will change to an inhibiting effect with the development of time, which will have an adverse effect on the development of strength. In general, the optimal dosage of TEA is 0.03 %, which can increase the 28-day activity index of CGFA from 69.1 % to 75.6 %. SHSW accelerates the strength development of the CGFA-cement system by promoting the hydration of cement and facilitating the dissolution and hydration of active minerals in CGFA. In addition, X-ray diffraction results show that a new hydration product, Friedel's salt, is formed under the excitation of SHSW. But this new hydration product will gradually dissolve as the pH decreases. The 28-day activity index of CGFA can be increased to a maximum of 83.3 % under the excitation of 2 % SHSW. [Display omitted] • The direct use of CGFA has adverse effects on the properties of cement. • Activity index of CGFA can be increased to a maximum of 83.3 % by chemical activators. • Activators promote the dissolution and hydration of active minerals in CGFA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Benue Trough Basin (BTB) of Nigeria is geologically and geo-morphologically subdivided into upper, middle, and lower segments. The BTB is the subject of geological research due to its rich coal deposits that have the potential for oil and gas. The purpose of the present study is to examine the origins, depositional environments, and thermal history of the selected coals and the processes that influence their quality. Coal samples from different open cast coal mines in the middle BTB were examined using proximate and ultimate, x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray fluorescence (XRF), laser ablation induced coupled plasma (LA-ICPMS), and petrographical analyses. The coal samples contained mainly quartz, kaolinite, and organic carbon. The XRD spectra peaks revealed the triclinic and monoclinic structure of kaolin. The SiO2/Al2O3 ratios confirmed the dominance of quartz and kaolinite. The Ni/Co versus V/Cr, Cu/Zn, and V/Mo values in the studied coals suggest oxic depositional environments, whereas the V/(Ni þ V) and V/(V þ Cr) values indicate oxic to suboxic conditions. The Ce/Ce* values are slightly below 1, which indicates a suboxic depositional environment. Maceral texture is indicative of transformations from subbituminous to high volatile C or B bituminous coal. The maceral components and mineral matter (-10%) of the studied coals imply deposition in the planar margin mire, and a river system of planar margin mire environments, respectively. The high gelification index (GI) and tissue preservation index (TPI) values indicate peat accumulation developed within a wet forest swamp. The ternary diagram of the maceral component suggests deposition in a wet moor environment with intermittent moderate to high flooding episodes. The studied coals are sub-hydrous vitrinite inferring hydrogen-poor and thermally immature characteristics. The low V and Ni contents, low H/C and high O/C, indicate Type III terrestrial organic matter with the potential to generate gaseous hydrocarbons. The investigated coals were deposited by the river within telmatic, limnic, and limno-telmatic zones in the planar margin mire depositional environments. Overall, the integrated petrologic and geochemical data used in this study provides a reliable approach for the assessment of coal depositional environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present situation, Covid-19 is considered to be an unbeaten global pandemic. In every single fleeting moment, this SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus-2) causes greater damage to our life including the physical world including drastic imbalance of the whole economic condition of any country. The lockdown governed in two consecutive years (2020 and 2021) in the world to control the spreading of the virus poses an undue threat to the industrial sectors including the coal mining sectors that determine the economic growth of the country. With these negative impacts of coronavirus-2 in our life, this present review aims to explore some of the positive influences of the Covid-19 pandemic through the restoration of the environmental system which are otherwise not possible. This quantitative review finds that spreading of the Covid-19 pandemic indirectly improves the air and water quality by reducing the number of vehicles, reduces the CO2, NOx, particulate matter, and other polluting gases emission from coal-based power plants through periodical lockdown in the country. Moreover, the lockdown implemented to minimise the spreading of the Covid-19 significantly reduces the coal dust production from the mining and transportation of coal that indirectly reduces environmental pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]