Coalification is a geological process of formation of materials with increasing content of the element carbon from organic materials that occurs in a first, biological stage into peats, followed by a gradual transformation into coal by action of moderate temperature (about 500 K) and high pressure in a geochemical stage.
Coalification is the process of metamorphism that takes place with time under conditions of increasing pressure and temperature. The original peat swamp vegetation is transformed to brown coal, lignite, subbituminous coal, bituminous coal (low, medium, high rank), semi-anthracite, anthracite, meta-anthracite by the loss of moisture and volatile matter, and the consequent concentration of carbon. The aromaticity of macromolecules in coal increases with coal rank, whereas the relative amount of functional groups depends on coal rank and maceral type. Coal rank influences the chemical and physical properties of macerals(Coalification – an Overview | ScienceDirect Topics, n.d.).
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