Coal and Petroleum Geology Flashcards
This maceral is derived from the remains of plant cell walls and tissues. It is brown-black and has a dull luster.
Vitrinite (Petroleum: Type 3 Kerogen, gas-prone)
This maceral is derived from algaes, spores, pollen, leaf cuticles, phytoplanktons, and bacterial microorganisms. It is yellow or brown and has a waxy luster.
Liptinite (Petroleum: Pure algal. Type 1 Kerogen, oil-prone) or Exinite (Petroleum: Pure planktonic. Type 2 Kerogen, oil- and gas-prone)
This maceral is derived from fungi and charcoal from fires. Black in color and has a dull luster.
Inertinite (Petroleum: Type 4 Kerogen, no petroleum yield)
The unburnable part of coal. Commercial coals typically consists of 3% to 9% of it.
Ash
This element causes ash to precipitate reducing efficiency and raising costs when burning coal.
Sodium
This element contributes to acid rain when not scrubbed out as you burn coal. Coals range to 0.5-8% of it.
Sulfur
Element that causes slagging in boilers and brittleness in steel in burning coal.
Phosphorus
Crude oil that contains little amounts of sulfur.
Sweet Crude Oil
An undesired by-product in petroleum that generates sulfur oxides when burned.
Sulfur
The solid form of petroleum
Tar and Bitumen
The gaseous form of petroleum
Natural Gas
Burning of excess natural gas to prevent any sudden explosions due to sudden increase in pressure.
Flaring
Bright, black, shiny and brittle branded coal lithotype, usually with cracks or fissures. Tends to break into small cubes. Composed of wood tissue.
Vitrain
Semi-bright black, and finely interlayered bands (mm-scale) of other coal lithotypes.
Clarain
Dull, black to gray-black banded coal lithotype which have rough surfaces. Bands have less cracks (fissures). Tends to break into lumps. Formed from spores and detrital plant materials.
Durain
Black to gray banded coal lithotype with silky lustre (shine). Sometimes fibrous. Soft and friable, sometimes like charcoal.
Fusain
Black to dark gray, non-banded coal lithotype with dull to greasy lustre (shine). Often breaks with conchoidal (glass-like) fracture.
Cannel
A sedimentary rock that contains >5% organic matter.
Black Shale
What are the two phyto- and zooplanktons?
Phytoplanktoms: Diatom (Silica) and Coccolithophores (Calcite)
Zooplanktons: Radiolaria (Silica) and Foraminifera (Calcite)
Polymer biomolecule consists of numerous aromatic rings and is a major component in land plants that can be converted to coal through deoxygenation.
Lignin
This type of coal has 60-70% carbon content and 30% moisture content. It disintegrates when exposed to air.
Lignite