Coal breaker the United States in the state of Pennsylvania (where, between 1800 and the mid-20th century, many of the world's known anthracite reserves were located). At least one source claims that, in 1873, coal breaking plants were found only at anthracite mines in Pennsylvania. The first function of a coal breaker is to break coal into pieces and sort these pieces into categories of nearly uniform size, a process known as breaking. The second function of a coal breaker is to remove impurities (such as slate or rock), and then grade the coal on the basis of the percent of impurities
Coal gasification has multiple beneficial uses such as aggregate in concrete, aggregate in asphalt for road construction, grit in abrasive blasting, roofing granules, etc. CO is of paramount importance in global climate change. Ash is formed in gasification from inorganic impurities in the coal. Some of these impurities react to form microscopic solids which can be suspended in the syngas produced by gasification. Typically coal contains anywhere from 0.2 to 5 percent sulfur by dry weight, which converts to HS and COS in the gasifiers due to the high temperatures and low oxygen levels. These "acid gases" are removed from the syngas