• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.123-128
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• 2024

Background: Coal miners are highly prone to occupational health risks, such as black lung disease. This study aims to assess the prevalence of black lung disease and the factors associated with black lung disease among coal miners in Asia. Method: This systematic review, conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines, searched through the scientific literature of the following databases: EBSCO, ScienceDirect, PubMed, and Scopus. We selected articles that studied black lung disease among coal miners from 48 countries in Asia and were published between 2014 and 2023. Article quality was evaluated using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program. Result: The seven articles that we review studied a total of 653,635 coal miners from various types of coal mines from three countries in Asia. Of these miners, 59,998 experienced black lung disease. Black lung disease is prevalent among 9.18% of coal miners in Asia, which is approximately four times higher than the worldwide prevalence. Common factors that influence black lung disease in Asia include age, years of dust exposure, smoking, drinking, working types, and sizes of mines, type of mines, respiratory functions, spirometry parameters, tenure, lack of attention to occupational health, inefficient surveillance, and weak occupational health service. Conclusion: Although the prevalence of black lung disease among coal miners in Asia is considerably high, it can be addressed through effective prevention measures, monitoring, control, and case reporting.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.613-624
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• 2014

The fractures in coal are the main migration and output channels of coalbed methane, directly influencing the permeability of the coal seams. It is of great significance to study the effect of fracture distribution in coals on the permeability of coal seam. The development rules of endogenetic and exogenetic fractures are different among various coal lithotypes. There is also difference in the fracture density for the same lithotype with different thicknesses. Through the observation and description of the macroscopic fractures in coal and the origin of fractures in coal, the effect of the coal lithotype and its thickness on fracture development in coal was discussed. It was found through the study that the density of fractures in vitrain band was the maximum for the same coal rank and thickness, followed by clarain band. There were few fractures developed in the durain band. However, the changes of fracture density in three types of bands presented different declining trends for low, medium and high coal rank. There were no fractures developed in the fusain. There were three variation patterns for the fracture densities at the same coal rank and coal lithotype: linear decrease, nonlinear decrease, and first decrease then remaining unchanged. However, the overall trend was that the fracture density decreased with the increase of thickness of coal band for the same coal rank and coal lithotype.

• Clean Technology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.299-307
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• 2016

These days, coal is one of the most important energy resources used for transportation, industry, and electricity. There are two types of coal: high-rank and low-rank. Low-rank coal has a low calorific value and contains large amounts of useless moisture. The quality of low-rank coal can be increased by simple drying technology and it needs to be stabilized by hydrocarbons (e.g. palm acid oil, PAO) to prevent spontaneous combustion and moisture re-adsorption. Spontaneous combustion becomes a major problem during coal mining, storage, and transportation. It can involve the loss of life, property, and economic value; reduce the quality of the coal; and increase greenhouse gas emissions. Besides spontaneous combustion, moisture re-adsorption also leads to a decrease in quality of the coal due to its lower heating value. In this work, PAO was used for additive to stabilize the upgraded coal. The objectives of the experiments were to determine the stabilization characteristic of coal by analyzing the behavior of upgraded coal by drying and PAO addition regarding crossing-point temperature of coal, the moisture behavior of briquette coal, and thermal decomposition behavior of coal.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Combustion
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.19-26
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• 2010

Combustion behavior of pulverized coal particles in a post-combustion gas reactor was investigated. Radiation emission from coal particles were analyzed by direct photograph and $CH^*$ radical chemiluminescence intensity. Coal particles were sampled during the combustion and were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and cross section micrograpy technique. Two coal types(one bituminous and one subbituminous coals typically used in the Korean power plants) were tested at typical combustion environment. Gas flow conditions were controlled to represent temperature and oxygen concentration. Experimental data were discussed along with conceptual descriptions of pulverized coal combustion, where particle heat-up, release and combustion of volatiles, and char combustion were sequentially progressed.

• Clean Technology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.464-468
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• 2013

In this study, in order to increase solid content of coal water fuel (CWF), various experimental parameters (i.e., coal type, additive, particle size distribution, drying method) were evaluated. To investigate the drying method, specimen is compared to using flash dry, fluidized bed dry and oil deposit stabilized coal. Difference of the solid content between low rank coal and high rank coal in this case indicate that high rank coal exhibits more higher than 20% of the solid cotent. And specimen for dispersibility was prepared by using dispersing agent of 4 types. As a result, using the dispersing agent was shown 5% higher in sold content than the case of not using the dispersing agent. Efficiency of CWF was improved by using fine coal of 80% in the particle size distribution of coal. Result of CWF using drying methods of 3 types, oil deposit stabilized (ODS) coal dried and stabilized was effective 12% higher in sold content than raw coal.

• Clean Technology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.288-296
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• 2023

Coal is abundantly available compared to other energy sources and is used as a versatile energy resource worldwide. To address the environmental issues stemming from conventional coal utilization, efforts are underway to develop clean coal utilization technologies, with IGCC technology being a notable example. In IGCC plants, coal is subjected to a CMD process where both drying and pulverization are achieved by supplying hot air. However, if the temperature of the supplied hot air is excessively high, it can lead to devolatilization and spontaneous combustion, thereby compromising the stable operation of the CMD process. This study aimed to measure the devolatilization and spontaneous combustion temperatures of different types of bituminous coal, and to explore their correlations with the characteristics of the coals. Six coal types exhibited devolatilization between 350 and 400 ℃, while three coal types showed devolatilization at temperatures exceeding 400 ℃. Spontaneous combustion ℃curred in one coal type below 100 ℃, six coal types between 100 and 150 ℃, and two coal types above 150 ℃. The measured initiation temperatures were compared with the coal characteristics including the oxygen, moisture, Fe₂O₃, and CaO content, the H/C ratio, and the O/C ratio to establish correlations. Regression analysis was used to calculate the regression coefficients and determination coefficients for each ignition temperature. It was found that 52.44% of the FC/VM data significantly influenced the volatile matter ignition temperature, and 59.10% of the Fe₂O₃ data significantly affected the spontaneous combustionignition temperature.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.135-140
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• 2022

Background: Coal mining is a hazardous industry. The purpose of the study is to identify the nature of occupational injuries and diseases among coal miners and to determine the factors that affect the rate of injury and duration of time loss from work. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using accepted workers' compensation claims data of 30,390 Australian coal miners between July 2003 and June 2017. Results: Musculoskeletal and fracture conditions accounted for approximately 60% of claims in all occupational groups. Cox regression analysis showed that older age and female gender were significant predictors of longer time off work. Injury types and occupations were associated with work time loss: mental health conditions, and machine operators and drivers had significantly longer durations of time off work. Conclusion: Future research can further address how these factors led to longer time off work so that coal industry regulators, employers, and healthcare providers can target interventions more effectively to these at-risk workers.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.216-230
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• 2011

Coal briquette manufacturers once served as major fuel suppliers for households. For the coal briquette industry, transportation accounts for a considerable portion of the total manufacturing cost as briquettes are heavy in weight but low in value-addition. Moreover, they were put under strict control by the government for the characteristics of the briquettes as public goods. This study intends to identify the factors of and the types of the location of coal briquette manufacturing industry. In particular, the focus of the study is the briquette manufacturers in Seoul. Moreover, this study aims to identify how government policy influenced the location of the industry. The coal briquette manufacturing industry in the example regions were oriented toward the market and trans-shipment points. Simultaneously, the industry underwent spatial changes due to the spatial policy. While derived spatial policies were significant factors for growth of coal briquette industry, explicit spatial policies only modified or facilitated some of the location features resulting from the characteristics of the industry.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.80-88
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• 2010

In order to offer a better understanding of air pollution of China as well as East Asia we attempted to characterize the chemical properties of the raw coal materials mined in China and their combusted bottom ashes generated from coal fired power plant. To this end, we measured the chemical characteristics of individual bottom ashes and feed coal fragments collected at a coal fired power generator which was operated with the raw coal dug at a coal mine in China. The chemical properties of these two sample types were determined by a synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence (SR-XRF) microprobe method. Through an application of such technique, it was possible to draw the 2D elemental maps in and/or on raw coal fragments and fired bottom ashes. The pulverized fine pieces of feed coal mainly consisted of mineral components such as Fe, Ca, Ti, Ca, and Si, while Fe was detected as overwhelming majority. The elemental mass of combusted bottom ash shows strong enrichment of many elements that exist naturally in coal. There were significant variations in chemical properties of ash-to-ash and fragment-to-fragment. Although we were not able to clearly distinguish As and Pb peaks because of the folding in their X-ray energies, these two elements can be used as tracers of coal fire origin.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.241-259
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• 2022

In general, the REE were produced by mining conventional deposits, such as the carbonatite or the clay-hosted REE deposits. However, because of the recent demand increase for REE in modern industries, unconventional REE deposits emerged as a necessary research topic. Among the unconventional REE recovery methods, the REE-bearing coal deposits are recently receiving attentions. R-types generally have detrital originations from the bauxite deposits, and show LREE enriched REE patterns. Tuffaceous-types are formed by syngenetic volcanic activities and following input of volcanic ash into the basin. This type shows specific occurrence of the detrital volcanic ash-driven minerals and the authigenic phosphorous minerals focused at narrow horizon between coal seams and tonstein layers. REE patterns of tuffaceous-types show flat shape in general. Hydrothermal-types can be formed by epigenetic inflow of REE originated from granitic intrusions. Occurrence of the authigenic halogen-bearing phosphorous minerals and the water-bearing minerals are the specific characteristics of this type. They generally show HREE enriched REE patterns. Each type of REE-bearing coal deposits may occur by independent genesis, but most of REE-bearing coal deposits with high REE concentrations have multiple genesis. For the case of the US, the rare earth oxides (REO) with high purity has been produced from REE-bearing coals and their byproducts in pilot plants from 2018. Their goal is to supply about 7% of national REE demand. For the coal deposits in Korea, lignite layers found in Gyungju-Yeongil coal fields shows coexistence of tuff layers and coal seams. They are also based in Tertiary basins, and low affection from compaction and coalification might resulted into high-REE tuffaceous-type coal deposits. Thus, detailed geologic researches and explorations for domestic coal deposits are required.