The coal energy source in its purest form is simply fossilized carbon, which are formed in excess of 100 million years ago from once living plants. generally these plants die, or otherwise, and are buried underground. Such usually happens in cataclysms and as a result the plant trunks do not rot naturally, instead the trunks get submerged under the ground and are rapidly covered up with of earth. The high intense pressure squeezes the water of the plant sap out of the trunks living only the non-liquid matter.
Intense heat underground then begin the process of vaporizing the volatile materials out of the trunk. After the volatiles, all other materials with low latent heat of vaporization and low temperature, then become gasified and effuse out of the plant remains. Ultimately mostly only the carbon components of the plant matter and some remnants of the volatiles and low-temperature boiling materials remain. The high pressure and high temperature then continues to force a structural change of the carbon matter resulting the material known as coal in this evolution of the earth. […]
Energy Type:
The energy form of coal is chemical and as such obtains through the breakage of chemical bonds. Specifically this is accomplished through a chemical reaction between the carbon – the chemical make-up of coal – and oxygen. The reaction gives off heat energy and is of the class of chemical reactions generally termed exothermic reaction, of a fairly extensive reaction chemistry. During the reaction, one part of carbon combines with two parts of oxygen and forms carbon dioxide.