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The global economy threatens the uniqueness of places, people, and experience. In Here and There Bill Conlogue tests the assumption that literature and local places matter less and less in a world that economists describe as “flat,” politicians believe has “globalized,” and social scientists imagine as a “global village.” Each chapter begins at home, journeys elsewhere, and returns to the author’s native and chosen region, northeastern Pennsylvania. Through the prisms of literature and history, the book explores tensions and conflicts within the region, tensions and conflicts created by national and global demand for the area’s resources: fertile farmland, forest products, anthracite coal, and college-educated young people. Making connections between local and global environmental issues, Here and There uses the Pennsylvania watersheds of urban Lackawanna and rural Lackawaxen to highlight the importance of understanding and protecting the places we call home.

Coal is the largest non-renewable energy as well as an important basic energy and industrial raw material. Thus, correctly understanding the molecular structure characteristics of coal has important theoretical value for realizing carbon neutralization. In this work, we clarified the molecular structure characteristics of anthracite, where the organic matter in anthracite was characterized and analyzed by industrial/elemental analysis, FTIR, XPS, XRD and solid 13 C NMR. The ratio of bridge carbon to the perimeter carbon of anthracite was 0.38, and the degree of condensation in the aromatic structure was high. Nitrogen in coal primarily exists in the form of pyridine and pyrrole. Based on the information on functional group composition, the carbon skeleton structure, and surface element composition, a molecular structure model of Yangquan anthracite could be constructed, where the molecular formula was C 208 H 162 O 12 N 4 . This study may serve as a reference for researchers in this field to consult and refer to the construction ideas and methods of molecular structure models of different coal samples.

The study of the adsorption characteristics of coal is of great significance to gas prevention and CO 2 geological storage. To explore the adsorption mechanism of coal, this study focuses on columnar anthracite. Adsorption tests on coal rock under a range of physical field conditions were conducted using the volumetric method. The adsorption characteristics of anthracite for CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 gases under different conditions were investigated using Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) and Molecular Dynamics (MD) methods. The results showed that the adsorption capacities of anthracite for these three gases are in the order of CO 2 > CH 4 > N 2 , and that the adsorption capacity increases with increasing gas injection pressure. The CO 2 /CH 4 /N 2 gas molecule adsorption capacity of the anthracite macromolecular structure model decreases with increasing temperature. The increase in temperature has the greatest influence on the CO 2 absorption capacity, followed by the CH 4 and N 2 adsorption capacities. The research offers a theoretical basis for the control of coal mine gas and the geological storage of CO 2 .

This study systematically investigates the graphitization behavior of high-metamorphic anthracite from Huyan Mountain (Shanxi, China) under extreme thermal conditions (2100–3000 °C) through integrated experimental and microstructural analyses. Acid-washed and demineralized coal samples, with or without Fe₂O₃ catalyst, were subjected to controlled thermal treatment to evaluate structural evolution and catalytic effects. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis identifies a critical graphitization threshold at d 002 = 0.3368 nm, beyond which interlayer spacing ceases reduction despite continued lattice refinement. Below 2700 °C, Fe₂O₃ catalysis significantly accelerates aromatic layer stacking and in-plane defect healing, advancing graphitization process. Post-threshold stabilization (≥2700 °C), both catalytic and non-catalytic systems exhibit analogous d 002 stagnation, yet high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) reveals persistent structural ordering, including increased carbon layer stacking (up to 10 layers) and reduced edge defects. Comparative scanning electron microscopy (SEM) demonstrates enhanced flake alignment and interlayer compactness in catalyzed samples. These findings highlight intrinsic limitations in coal-derived graphite synthesis, emphasizing precursor composition as a decisive factor in graphitization potential. The work provides critical insights into graphitization mechanisms and constraints for artificial coal-based graphite production.

Most bulk-scale graphene is produced by a top-down approach, exfoliating graphite, which often requires large amounts of solvent with high-energy mixing, shearing, sonication or electrochemical treatment 1 – 3 . Although chemical oxidation of graphite to graphene oxide promotes exfoliation, it requires harsh oxidants and leaves the graphene with a defective perforated structure after the subsequent reduction step 3 , 4 . Bottom-up synthesis of high-quality graphene is often restricted to ultrasmall amounts if performed by chemical vapour deposition or advanced synthetic organic methods, or it provides a defect-ridden structure if carried out in bulk solution 4 – 6 . Here we show that flash Joule heating of inexpensive carbon sources—such as coal, petroleum coke, biochar, carbon black, discarded food, rubber tyres and mixed plastic waste—can afford gram-scale quantities of graphene in less than one second. The product, named flash graphene (FG) after the process used to produce it, shows turbostratic arrangement (that is, little order) between the stacked graphene layers. FG synthesis uses no furnace and no solvents or reactive gases. Yields depend on the carbon content of the source; when using a high-carbon source, such as carbon black, anthracitic coal or calcined coke, yields can range from 80 to 90 per cent with carbon purity greater than 99 per cent. No purification steps are necessary. Raman spectroscopy analysis shows a low-intensity or absent D band for FG, indicating that FG has among the lowest defect concentrations reported so far for graphene, and confirms the turbostratic stacking of FG, which is clearly distinguished from turbostratic graphite. The disordered orientation of FG layers facilitates its rapid exfoliation upon mixing during composite formation. The electric energy cost for FG synthesis is only about 7.2 kilojoules per gram, which could render FG suitable for use in bulk composites of plastic, metals, plywood, concrete and other building materials. Flash Joule heating of inexpensive carbon sources is used to produce gram-scale quantities of high-quality graphene in under a second, without the need for a furnace, solvents or reactive gases.

In recent years, to cope with global warming and reduce carbon emissions, the technology of mixing ammonia into pulverized coal as a carbon-free energy source has received widespread attention. This paper uses a 350 MW W-type flame boiler as the research object. Numerical simulation was used to study the characteristics of combustion emissions from the combustion of anthracite coal blended with 10-30 % ammonia using numerically simulated cloud diagrams and component concentration data. The study shows that with the increase in the proportion of ammonia, the overall temperature of the furnace decreases, the CO 2 concentration decreases, and the NO X concentration increases slightly.

Anthracite-associated graphite is an important graphite resource with a wide range of applications besides being used as a fuel. This paper introduces a method for evaluating the graphite equivalent evaluation of anthracite-associated graphite. A series of graphite-anthracite standard samples with known graphite content were prepared, and their Raman spectra were obtained using a Raman spectrometer. By employing peak-fitting analysis to decipher the peak spectrum information of the D peak and G peak, trends in the peak position, peak intensity ratio, half-width, and peak area of the D peak and G peak in standard samples with different graphite contents were obtained. Subsequently, a standard curve and fitting equation were established using the peak area data. The goodness of fit for the equation (R2) was 0.9984. Then the equation was used to evaluate 100 natural anthracite-associated graphite samples with unknown graphite content, obtaining a corresponding graphite equivalent evaluation.

Underground coal gasification (UCG) technology is a novel, clean, and efficient mining method. Among its various processes, coal pyrolysis is a primary source of the gas produced during underground gasification, with gas generation patterns varying according to coal particle size. This study investigates the differences in gas production during the pyrolysis of anthracite coal at 600°C across different particle sizes. The results indicate that as particle size decreases, significant changes occur in the functional groups of the coal samples, including a reduction in free hydroxyl and C-OH content, with some of these groups being released as CO and CO 2 . The content of -CH 2 initially increases and then decreases as particle size decreases, a trend related to the interaction of -CH and -CH 2 with free H⁺. Pyrolysis gas analysis further reveals that the relative content of CH₄ increases as particle size decreases.

The co-gasification of coal and textile dyeing sludge (TDS) is an effective way to handle the huge production volumes of TDS and its associated problems. In this study, the influence of TDS on the fusion behavior of Yongcheng anthracite coal (YC) was investigated using an ash fusion temperatures (AFTs) analyzer under a reducing atmosphere. The regulating mechanisms of mineral transformations, aggregation degree of the aluminosilicate network, and liquid phase content were investigated by X-ray diffractometery, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Slag and network theory calculations and FactSage thermodynamic software calculations were also performed. The results showed that the AFTs of YC decreased upon increasing the TDS mass ratio, and the flow temperature decreased to 1643.15 K when the TDS content reached 20%. The formation of feldspar minerals (anorthite, albite, hercynite, etc.) and the low-temperature eutectic were the main reasons for the decrease in the AFTs. The bridging oxygen bonds of the mixed ashes network were destroyed by metal ions (i.e., Fe 2+ , Ca 2+ , Na + ) from the TDS. The presence of non-bridging oxygen bonds was confirmed, and the peak strengths of Si–O-Si and Si–O-Al bonds decreased. The intensity of Si–O-M(M: Ca 2+ , Fe 2+ , or Na + ) vibrational gradually increased. The proportion of four configurations of Si–O bonds also increased upon increasing the TDS content, which promoted the depolymerization of the silicate melt and decreased the AFTs. FactSage calculations were in good agreement with the experimental ash fusion behavior. Graphical abstract

In view of the problems of uncomprehensive utilization of solid waste resources and environmental pollution caused by the stacking of coal gasification cinder, the gel inhibition performance of coal gasification cinder was studied. A new kind of anti-fire gel material was prepared by crosslinking with gasification cinder as the base material, HPMC as the gelling agent, and Na 2 CO 3 as the coagulant. The effect of coal to oil gasification ash gel on coal spontaneous combustion and activation energy was analyzed in essence and phenomenon through temperature-programmed experiments and determination of marker gases. Results showed that the concentration of CO gas and C 2 H 4 gas of anthracite during the process of temperature oxidation decreased by 38.1% and 65.8%. The inhibition rate after gel treatment was 56.4%, and the activation energy was 6.5%. It shows that the adjunction of ash gel can validly mitigate the reaction rate of the coal spontaneous combustion process and inhibit the reaction procedure between coal and oxygen. The inhibition performance is better than the common CaCl 2 .