Description

Product overview on Smokeless Coal

Smokeless coal is more efficient than a conventional open coal fire indoors because the high working temperature is radiated into the room as infra-red radiation, as can be judged by the bright red colouration of a mature fire. The hot gases produced are lost up the chimney, thereby reducing efficiency just as in an open coal fire. The gases mainly consist of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and some water vapor. With little or no smoke or similar volatile compounds, chimneys remain cleaner longer and require brushing less frequently. The main combustion reaction is:

C (s) + O₂ (g) → CO₂ (g)

In a restricted supply of air or oxygen, then toxic carbon monoxide can be formed:

2 C (s) + O₂ (g) → 2 CO (g)

Charcoal, either in unprocessed sticks or as shaped briquettes, is widely used for outdoor barbecue grills owing to its relatively low production of smoke and the intense heat generated which cooks food relatively quickly. What little smoke is produced by the charcoal may impart a smoky flavor to grilled food. Charcoal, tea, and raw wood are also commonly used in the manufacture of various smoked products such as smoked salmon. Charcoal is widely used in African countriesfor domestic cooking purposes.

Brief  History on Smokeless Coal

Coal was widely used for domestic cooking and heating during the Victorian period and up to the early 1950s in most towns in Britain. However, poor coal fuels and badly designed fireplaces created a good deal of local pollution from smoke and tars produced from partial combustion of the coal and disappeared up the chimney. As a result, the smoke and noxious gases were often trapped locally when a weather inversion occurred. Such trapped gases and smoke caused fogs and worse, smogs which discoloured clothing and was a serious health hazard.

Such pea soupers were generally more prevalent in the larger towns such as Manchester, Birmingham and London. There were also toxic gases such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides present in the same noxious mixture, both of which irritated the lungs of those exposed to the smog. The former gas produced by sulphur impurities in the coal, was especially iniquitous since it oxidises further in the air to produce sulphuric acid, a highly corrosive and strong acid.