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[Sean Mirrsen]

I've been reading on some geological info on the wiki recently (I wonder what else can DF make me do?), and found that in addition to lignite and bituminous coal that form in sedimentary rocks, there is also a suposedly higher-quality kind of coal called anthracite coal, that is found in metamorphic rock. Any specific reason why it was not added to DF? It seems to be fairly close to coke itself in terms of physical properties, but is deemed too expensive for powerplant/furnace use. Surely the cost restriction does not exist in DF?

With all the complaints and the quests for the perfect starting site, such an addition would make wood slightly less valuable than it currently is.

I can (and probably will) mod the stuff in myself, but a change on the official level would be nice.

[Align]

Why is it expensive? Maybe it's as rare as it is superior.

[Captain Failmore]

It's not so expensive that it's unusable, it's just prohibitively expensive for use in power-plants. There'd be no problem at all with it being used as a coke-substitute.

[Sean Mirrsen]

Maybe it's that it is substantially harder, and thus more difficult to mine, that makes it more expensive. The Wiki article doesn't state any specific reason. It's also used as a substitute to jet in trinkets like bracelets, because it's hard, glossy, and does not dirty your hands if you handle it.

By the way, I think this could be made into a nice game feature. Lignite, being the lowest quality, would take 1 fuel and 1.5 pieces of it to make 2 bars of coke. Bituminous coal would make 2 bars out of 1 fuel and 1 coal. Anthracite would make 2.5 bars of coke out of 1 fuel and 1 piece of it, thus making it a lot more useful. The downside is that it appears only in metamorphic rocks, so unless you also have something sedimentary in your site, you will not have much iron to go around, until you get sieges.

[Deathbane]

Ive done a whole A level in geology, and your deductions are wrong. I was thinking of implementing anthracite in chaos reigns, and heres some facts about it.

Anthracite is *not* more difficult to mine at all than coal.

it is NOT found in metamorphic rocks! That is wrong information. Coal in all forms is destroyed by metamorphic activity due to the heat and pressure. It is after all organic material. It is more likely to be found under sedimentary rocks, as it is formed in swamplike areas due to the death of vegetation.

Lignite is not the lowest rank of coal - Peat is the lowest rank of 'coal' like rock, and is taken directly from the ground. I dont know if dwarf fortress allows it, but you could always make peat a harvestable swamp 'plant' that can be used as fuel

Anthracite is simply a higher rank coal, bituminous coal becomes it after a longer time under the ground - your other suggestions sound reasonable.

[ January 20, 2008: Message edited by: Deathbane ]

[ January 20, 2008: Message edited by: Deathbane ]

[ January 20, 2008: Message edited by: Deathbane ]

[Sean Mirrsen]

Well, the Wiki is against you there. As far as the game goes, I'd much rather have a coal type present in the metamorphic rocks than otherwise, because there's hardly any point in adding yet ANOTHER coal type to the already-too-useful Sedimentary layers.

[Draco18s]

Just hit wikipedia myself:

Anthracite coal may be considered to be a transition stage between ordinary bituminous coal and graphite, produced by the more or less complete elimination of the volatile constituents of the former; and it is found most abundantly in areas that have been subjected to considerable earth-movements, such as the flanks of great mountain ranges. Anthracite coal is a product of metamorphism and is associated with metamorphic rocks, just as bituminous coal is associated with sedimentary rocks. For example, the compressed layers of anthracite that are deep mined in the folded (metamorphic) Appalachian Mountains of the Coal Region of northeastern Pennsylvania are extensions of the layers of bituminous coal that are strip mined on the (sedimentary) Allegheny Plateau of Kentucky and West Virginia, and Western Pennsylvania. In the same way the anthracite region of South Wales is confined to the contorted portion west of Swansea and Llanelli, the central and eastern portions producing steam coal, coking coal and domestic house coals.

From elsewhere on the interwebs (Google search result):

   Organic sedimentary rocks form from the build up and decay of plant and animal material. This usually forms in swamp regions in which there is an abundant supply of growing vegetation and low amounts of oxygen. The vegetation builds so quickly that new layers of vegetation bury the dead and decaying material very quickly. The bacteria that decay the vegetation need oxygen to survive. Because these decaying layers are buried so fast the bacteria use up what oxygen there is available and can not finish the decomposition of the vegetation. The overlaying layers become so heavy that they squeeze out the water and other compounds that aid in decay.
   This compressed vegetation forms coal. The longer and deeper that coal is buried makes it of higher quality. Peat is the first stage of coal formation. Lignite is the next grade of coal followed by bituminous and the highest grade, anthracite.
   Anthracite is actually a metamorphic rock. It forms during mountain building when compaction and friction are extremely high. This form of coal burns very hot and almost smokeless. It is used in the production of high grade steel.

Portion of the Encycopedia Britanica (it won't give me the whole article)

Anthracite is the most highly metamorphosed form of coal. It contains more fixed carbon (86 percent or greater on a dry, ash-free basis) than any other form of coal and the least amount of volatile matter (14 percent or less on a dry, ash-free basis), and it has calorific values near 35 megajoules per kilogram (approximately 15,000 British thermal units per pound), not much different from the calorific…

[Sean Mirrsen]

... Might as well make it produce 3 coke from 1 coal and 1 fuel...

Also related: might add a smelter reaction (since other buildings are not available atm) to convert peat into fertilizer, since that's its main use. But that's actually more on the mod side. We'd have to harvest peat somehow first, though... Can it be made to leave behind "peat stones", and still remain soil?

[ January 20, 2008: Message edited by: Sean Mirrsen ]

[Abyssal Squid]

Sean, have you looked at REACTION_STANDARD lately?  Lignite is 2 for 1 and bituminous coal is 3 for 1 already.  Anthracite would have to be better than that, although maybe only 3.5 for 1.

[Sean Mirrsen]

I gave it a 4 for 1.   :p

I might lower it later, but meh.

Packed the entire thing, along with my mineral balancer mod (including mineable peat and magnetite sand), and with the manual stone selection hack, to boot.

Will probably update my previous Diamonds and Rock Crystals mod.

Edit: There. New link in sig.

[ January 20, 2008: Message edited by: Sean Mirrsen ]

[AW]

I was reading about this in a book about the Susquehanna river just recently.  Didn't think it would apply to DF.  

Basically Central Pennsylvania had one of the most highly developed anthracite industries in the world...and the US was the biggest customer of anthracite.

But then someone dug a shaft right into the Susquehanna river and wrecked the most productive mines and collapsed the industry....right around the time demand was starting to slack as internal combustion, fuel oil and electricity started coming online.

You can buy anhtracite down there, but they don't market enough to justify large scale mining.
http://www.myerchin.org/AnthraciteCoalMining.html