Subbituminous Coal

subbituminous coal, also called black lignite, generally dark brown to black coal, intermediate in rank between lignite and bituminous coal according to the coal classification used in the United States and Canada. In many countries subbituminous coal is considered to be a brown coal. Subbituminous coal contains 42 to 52 percent carbon (on a dry, ash-free basis) and has calorific values ranging from about 19 to 26 megajoules per kilogram (about 8,200 to 11,200 British thermal units per pound). Subbituminous coal is characterized by greater compaction than lignites as well as greater brightness and lustre. The woody structure characteristic of most lignite is absent from subbituminous coal, which often exhibits alternating dull and bright maceral bands composed of vitrinite in patterns similar to those found in bituminous coals. Some subbituminous coal is macroscopically indistinguishable from bituminous coal.

It has been estimated that nearly half of the world’s proven coal reserves are made up of subbituminous coal and lignite, including deposits in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany and other western European countries, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States. Most subbituminous coal is relatively young geologically, generally dating from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras (from about 251 million years ago to the present); however, the rank of a coal is more dependent on the temperature reached during burial than on age.

Subbituminous coal contains less water (typically 10 to 25 percent) and is harder than lignite, making it easier to transport, store, and use. Although subbituminous coal has lower calorific values than bituminous coal, its sulfur content is often low, sometimes less than 1 percent. Since subbituminous coal has a much lower calorific value than the same amount of a bituminous coal, more subbituminous coal must be burned to obtain the same amount of energy. Due to environmental concerns, an increasing number of coal-fueled electric-power plants have switched from burning bituminous coal to subbituminous coal and lignite, which also tends to have a relatively low sulfur content. In general, low-sulfur coal formed in continental, freshwater basins (such as the Green River and Powder River basins of the western United States) possesses much lower levels of sulfates than coal from basins adjacent to marine environments.