Anthracite Anthracite Anthracite, often referred to as hard coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the highest ranking of coal. Anthracite is the most metamorphosed type of coal (but still represents low-grade metamorphism), in which the carbon content is between 92% and 98%. The term is applied to those varieties of coal which do not give off tarry or other hydrocarbon vapours when heated below their point of ignition. Anthracite ignites with difficulty and
Coal oil Coal oil Coal oil is a shale oil obtained from the destructive distillation of cannel coal, mineral wax, or bituminous shale, once used widely for illumination. Chemically similar to the more refined, petroleum-derived kerosene, it consists mainly of several hydrocarbons of the alkane series, with 10 to 16 carbon atoms in each molecule and a higher boiling point (175–325 °C) than gasoline or the petroleum ethers and lower than the oils. Because kerosene was first derived from cannel coal, classified as terrestrial type of oil shale, it continued to be popularly referred to as "coal oil" even after production shifted