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Politics : The Trump Presidency -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: robert a belfer who wrote (80701)	7/1/2018 11:34:36 PM
From: combjelly	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 356246

Lignite and bituminous coal still have a significant amount of hydrogen atoms and even water. Lignite, in particular, still has some of the plant structure visible. What makes them dirtier is the sulfur and mineral content. The sulfur oxidizes to SO2 and SO3 which combines with water in the air and winds up as sulfuric and sulfurous acid. The mineral content winds up as fly ash, which has a significant amount of silica(glass) in it. Both are very dangerous to breath or handle. The water content means they won't burn as hot and tends to be smoky unless forced air is used in combustion. Scrubbers are usually used to reduce the fly ash and acid in the flue gasses, at least in developed countries. If scrubbers aren't used, or not properly maintained, the flue gasses are a health hazard to the surrounding population. Not to mention an environmental one. Acid rain used to be a serious problem in the industrialized world until it was finally addressed. Many plants used really high smoke stacks so that others had to deal with the problem before scrubbers were required and policed to make sure they were operating properly. Anthracite is relatively cleaner. It still produces acids and fly ash, but typically at much lower levels. And doesn't produce as much smoke so it was what was used in cooking, although care still had to be taken because it didn't flavor food in a good way. Still, it was key in moving ovens into the home instead of cooking in front of the fireplace.