Coal and Petroleum

Coal : Coal is a mineral of dark brown or black colour formed from the remains of plants buried in the earth's crust millions years ago. It is very pure form of carbon. It mainly consists of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The coal deposits are spread over in the state of Jharkhand, Madhya Pardesh and West Bengal.

Destructive distillation of coal: The process of heating coal in the absence of air is called the destructive distillation of coal. Coal contains a number of elements such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur. When coal is heated in the absence of air, a number of products are obtained. Peat has least carbon content and Anthracite has most carbon content.

The main products obtained by the destructive distillation of coal are as follows:

Coke

Coal tar

Ammonical Liquor

Coal gas

Coke: It is a hard, solid residue left behind destructive distillation of coal. It is pure form of carbon and used in steel manufacture, in power generations. Coal fields found near Bokaro and Jharia in Jharkhand.

Coal tar: Thick, black, opaque liquid obtained as by product of the process of destructive distillation of coal. manufacturing coke. Used in antidandruff shampoos, ointments, soaps, perfumes, and making naphthalene balls.

Coal gas: Gaseous fuel obtained as a by product of the process of manufacture coke. It is mainly composed of methane. Coal gas, gaseous mixture - mainly hydrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide - formed by the destructive distillation of coal and used as a fuel.

.Ammonical Liquor : The ammonia produced as a result of destructive distillation of coal is absorbed in water. The aqueous solution of ammonia, i.e. ammonium hydroxide solution is called ammonical liquor. It is used in the preparation of fertilizers such as ammonium sulphate and ammonium superphosphate.

Uses :

Coal is used as a fuel to convert water into steam to run thermal power plants for the generation of the electricity. It is also used as fuel in homes and factories, and to run steam engines.

Coal is used in the preparation of fuel gases such as coal gas.

Coal is also used to obtain natural gas. For this, finely ground coal is heated with hydrogen under pressure in the presence of suitable catalyst. The complex molecules present in coal combine with hydrogen to form methane.

Petroleum : Petroleum is a naturally occuring oil that consists of hydrocarbons with some other elements, such as sulphur, oxygen and nitrogen. It is also called as rock oil.

Refining of petroleum : Petroleum is mixture of several hydrocarbons. It also contains water, salt and rocky materials. It cannot be used as crude.The process of seperating different components of petroleum is called refining of petroleum. This is done by the process of fractional distillation. The components obtained after fractional distillation are asphalt, lubricating oil, paraffin wax, fuel oil, diesel, kerosene, petrol and petroleum gas.

Pollution by Coal & Petroleum: When coal and petroleum are burnt, the products like carbon dioxide, water, oxides of nitrogen and oxides of sulphur are released into air. When combustion takes place in insufficient air (oxygen), carbon monoxide is formed instead of carbon dioxide. The oxides of sulphur, nitrogen and carbon monoxide are poisonous at high concentrations among these products - Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. The increase in amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will lead to intense global warming. Thus, we need to use these resources judiciously.

Conservation of Coat and Petroleum: General practices to reduce the consumption of coal petroleum are as follows: • Switch off the lights, fans, television and electrical appliances when not needed. • Use energy efficient appliances to save electricity. • Use stairs to climb at least up to three floors a building. • Public transport system needs to be improved, so that people can use them instead of using their personal vehicles. • On cold days, an extra sweater can be used instead of heating device like heater or sigri.

Sample Questions

(More Questions for each concept available in Login)

Question : 1

Coke can be obtained from coal by the process of _________________
A. Carbonisation	B. Refining	C. Burning of air	D. Heating in the absence of air
Right Option : D
View Explanation

Question : 2

Read the given statements and select the correct option. Statement - 1 : Petroleum is called 'black gold'. Statement - 2 : Petroleum is a dark oily liquid.
A. Both statements 1 and are true but statement 2 is the correct explanation of statement 1.
B. Both statements 1 and 2 are true but statement 2 is not the correct explanation of statement 1.
C. Statement 1 is true but statement 2 is false.
D. Both statements 1 and 2 are false.
Right Option : B
View Explanation

Question : 3

The product obtained by the dry distillation or destructive distillation of coal is __________________
A. Natural gas	B. Water gas	C. Producer gas	D. Coal gas
Right Option : D
View Explanation