Peat deposit. What is peat - properties, characteristics and applications

Peat- natural organic material, a combustible mineral; formed by the remnant of a cluster of plants that have undergone incomplete decomposition in swamp conditions. Contains 50 - 60% carbon. Calorific value (maximum) 24 MJ/kg. It is used comprehensively as fuel, fertilizer, heat-insulating material, etc. Peat reserves in Russia amount to over 186 billion tons.

The problems of intensifying and increasing the efficiency of production in the extractive industries are being solved, which have a special form of manifestation here, associated with the presence of such important factor production, like land, with its mineral reserves.

This also applies to such a mineral as peat, which, in addition to its traditional use as an energy and domestic fuel, the basis for organic-mineral fertilizers, etc.

The importance of the peat industry in Russia is due to the view that peat is one of the types of local fuel. In addition to fuel purposes, there is increasing attention to peat as a component of organic fertilizers. Peat can be used as bedding for livestock, greenhouse soils, a good antiseptic for storing fruits and vegetables, for the manufacture of heat and sound insulating boards, as a raw material for the production of physiologically active substances; known high quality peat as a filter material.

For the first time in Russia, the extraction of peat for fuel purposes was started in St. Petersburg in 1789, and in 1893 it was already widely developed in the Smolensk province. The period of the most active use of peat as a fuel on an industrial scale is considered to be the pre-war period. By 1940, all power plants in the Yaroslavl, Ivanovo, Vladimir, Kirov, and Kalinin regions were running on peat fuel. In addition, peat fuel has reached 20-40% in the fuel balances of energy systems of Mosenergo and Lenenergo.

Due to progress in the exploration and development of natural gas and oil, the share of peat in the country's fuel balance is decreasing (Fig.). However, this does not mean a decrease in the absolute size of peat extraction as a fuel.

Our country has large reserves of peat, which make up more than 60% of the world's resources. Studies show that in a number of regions peat as a fuel successfully competes not only with brown, but also with coal.

The development of the peat industry is carried out in two main directions:

1. extraction and use of peat for fuel and energy purposes and in agriculture;
2. production of new types of peat products through energy-technological, chemical and biochemical processing of peat.

It should be noted that as peat resources are developed in a number of regions of the European part of Russia, peat deposits in the North-West and Western Siberia will be involved in production - in economic regions that are characterized mainly by the worst natural and climatic conditions for peat extraction. This should be considered as a factor in the extensive development of the industry, which, nevertheless, should be accompanied by the intensification of the peat extraction process.

The unsurpassed benefits of peat and peat products are:

1. cleanliness and sterility, completely absent pathogenic microflora, pathogens, man-made pollution and weed seeds;
2. moisture capacity and air capacity (friability and flowability of the material) with a high ion-exchange ability allows you to adsorb and maintain the optimal moisture-air ratio, gradually give the plants elements of mineral nutrition);
3. the content in the composition of natural natural humic acids, which have a stimulating effect on the development of plants and beneficial microflora.

Peat deposits: Arkhangelsk, Vladimir, Leningrad, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm, Tver regions. In total, there are 7 large peat bases in Russia with operational reserves of 45 billion tons.

Peat massif

Peat is a complex polydisperse multicomponent system; its physical properties depend on the properties of individual parts, the ratios between them, the degree of decomposition or dispersion of the solid part, estimated by the specific surface or the content of fractions smaller than 250 microns. T. is characterized by high moisture content in natural occurrence (88-96%), porosity up to 96-97% and high ratio compressibility during compression tests. Peat texture. - homogeneous, sometimes layered; the structure is usually fibrous or plastic (highly decomposed peat). Color yellow or brown to black.

Slightly decomposed dry peat has a low density (up to 0.3 g/cm 3 ), low thermal conductivity and high gas absorption capacity; peat of high dispersion (after mechanical processing) forms during drying dense pieces with high mechanical strength and calorific value of 2650-3120 kcal/kg (at 40% humidity). Slightly decomposed peat is an excellent filter material, while highly dispersed peat is used as an impervious material. Peat absorbs and retains significant amounts of moisture, ammonia, cations (especially heavy metals). The filtration coefficient of peat varies within several orders of magnitude.

Brief historical outline

The first information about peat as a "combustible earth" for heating food dates back to 46 AD. e. and are found in Pliny the Elder. In the 12th-13th centuries. T. as a fuel material was known in Holland and Scotland. In the city of Groningen, the world's first book on turf was published in Latin by Martin Schock, A Treatise on Peat. Numerous misconceptions about the origin of T. were refuted in I. Degner, who used a microscope to study it and proved the plant origin of T. In Russia, information about T. and its use first appeared in the century. in the works of M. V. Lomonosov, I. G. Leman, V. F. Zuev, V. M. Severgin, and others. The works of V. V. Dokuchaev, S. G. Navashin, G. I. Tanfiliev, and others are devoted to t. In Russia, studies of the nature of t. were of a botanical nature. After the Great October Socialist Revolution, scientific, industrial and educational organizations on complex studying of T. and its use in national economy(Instorf, Moscow Peat Institute, etc.). The work of Soviet scientists has revealed the geographical patterns of the distribution of peat deposits, created a classification of the types of peat and peat deposits, compiled inventories and maps of peat deposits, and studied the chemical composition and physical properties of peat (I. D. Bogdanovskaya-Gienef, E. A. Galkina, D. A. Gerasimov, V. S. Dokturovsky, E. K. Ivanov, N. Ya. Katz, M. I. Neishtadt, N. I. Pyavchenko, V. E. Rakovsky, V. N. Sukachev, S. N. Tyuremnov and others). The All-Union Scientific Research Institute of the Peat Industry (Leningrad) with branches in Moscow and the village of Radchenko in the Kalinin Region, the Peat Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Byelorussian SSR, and problem laboratories of the Kalinin, Kaunas, and Tomsk polytechnical institutes and other institutes deal with the problems of using turf in the USSR.

Peat formation

Rice. 1. Scheme of location of peat bogs by relief

Peat is the precursor of the genetic series of coals (according to a number of scientists). The place of formation of T. is peat bogs (see Swamp), which are found both in river valleys (floodplains, terraces) and on watersheds (Fig. 1).

The origin of peat is associated with the accumulation of the remains of dead vegetation, the aboveground organs of which are humified and mineralized in the surface aerated layer of the swamp, called the peat horizon, by soil invertebrates, bacteria, and fungi. Underground organs located in an anaerobic environment are conserved in it and form the structural (fibrous) part of T. The intensity of the decay of peat-forming plants in the peat layer depends on the type of plant, water content, acidity and temperature of the environment, and on the composition of incoming mineral substances. Despite the annual growth of dead organic matter, the peat horizon does not cease to exist, being a natural "factory" of peat formation. Since many species of plants grow in peat deposits, forming characteristic combinations (bog phytocenoses), and the environmental conditions for their growth differ in terms of mineralization, water content, and environmental reaction, the peat that forms in different parts of peat bogs has different properties.

The so-called buried T. is known, which was deposited between glaciations or was overlain by loose deposits of varying thickness as a result of a change in the basis of erosion. The age of the buried T. is estimated at tens of millennia; Unlike modern, buried T. is characterized by lower humidity.

Peat classification

Rice. 2. Main types of peat deposit structure.

In accordance with the composition of the initial plant material, the conditions for the formation of T., and its physicochemical properties, T. is classified into one of 3 types: riding, transitional And lowland. Each type is subdivided into three subtypes according to the content of wood residues in the T.: forest, swamp forest And marsh. T. of different subtypes differs in the degree of decomposition. T. of the forest subtype has a high degree of decomposition (sometimes up to 80%), while marsh T. has a minimal degree of decomposition; forest marsh T. occupies an intermediate position. T. subtypes are divided into groups consisting of 4-8 species (Table 1). A species is the primary taxonomic unit of taxonomic classification. It reflects the initial plant grouping and primary conditions for the formation of a taxonomy and is characterized by a definite combination of the dominant remains of individual plant species (as well as characteristic remains). Layer-forming types of T. are the totality of several primary types of T., which differ little from each other in their properties and form large horizontally occurring homogeneous layers. Deposits of formation-forming species of one or another length and thickness (thickness), regularly changing in a certain sequence, form a peat deposit. The nature of the structure of a deposit of a certain climatic zone is influenced by the geomorphological, geological, hydrogeological, and hydrological conditions of each specific section of the swamp. Depending on the combination of individual types of peat, according to the depth of the peat deposit, the latter are divided into types. In the industrial classification of peat deposits, 4 types are distinguished: low-lying, transitional, high-moor and mixed. The primary unit of classification is the type of peat deposit (Fig. 2). In the European part of the USSR, 25 main types of peat deposits are distinguished, in Western Siberia - 32.

Tab. 1. - Classification of peat types.

Type	forest subtype	Forest marsh subtype		marsh subtype
	tree group	Woody-herbal group	wood-moss group	herbal group	Grass-moss group	moss group
Lowland	Alder Birch Spruce Pine lowland willow	wood-cane Woody-sedge lowland	woody-hypnum Woody-sphagnum lowland	horsetail Reed sedge Rotational Scheuchzeria lowland	sedge-hypnum sedge-sphagnum lowland	Hypnic-lowland Sphagnum lowland
Transition	woody transitional	Woody-sedge transitional	Woody-sphagnum transitional	sedge transitional Scheuchzerium transitional	sedge-sphagnum transitional	Hypnic transitional Sphagnum transition
Horse	Pine horse	Pine cotton	Pine-sphagnum	Pushy Scheuchzerian horse	Cottonseed-sphagnum Scheuchzeria-sphagnum	medium peat Fuscum peat Integrated riding Sphagnum-hollow

Peat deposits

Peat deposits are industrial accumulations of peat, clearly limited territorially and not associated with other accumulations. The size of the area occupied by peat deposits and swamps in the world is about 350 million hectares, of which about 100 million hectares are of industrial importance. In the territory Western Europe located 51 million hectares, Asia - over 100 million hectares, North America - over 18 million hectares. Data on the reserves of T. and its production in the USSR and abroad are given in Table. 2. Explored reserves of T. in the USSR by regions are given in Table. 3.

The study of the peat fund in the economic regions of the country is uneven. So, in the Central region of the RSFSR, more than 70% of the fund has been explored in detail, and in the West Siberian region, detailed exploration is 0.6% of the fund of the region and 82.8% is a forecast estimate.

The search for peat deposits includes the analysis of cartographic and aerial photographic materials, the search and exploration stage is supplemented by field work. Preliminary exploration is carried out on deposits with an area of ​​more than 1000 hectares to determine the feasibility of their use. Detailed exploration is carried out in order to obtain data for the preparation of a project for the development and use peat deposit.

Tab. 2. - Reserves and extraction of peat in the USSR and abroad (1975).

A country	peat reserves, Billion t (40% humidity)	Annual extraction of peat, mln. T
USSR	162,5	90,0
Finland	25,0	1,0
Canada	23,9	1,0
USA	13,8	0,3
Sweden	9,0	0,3
Poland (Poland)	6,0	1,3
Germany (Germany)	6,0	1,5
Ireland	5,0	5,0

Tab. 3. - Distribution of explored peat reserves in the USSR (1975).

Republic, economic region	Total area of ​​peat deposits within the boundaries of the industrial deposit, million ha	Peat reserves, billion tons (40% humidity)
RSFSR	56,6	149,9
Northwestern	8,9	19,8
Central	1,4	5,2
Central Black Earth	0,04	0,1
Volga-Vyatka	0,5	2,0
Volga region	0,1	0,3
Ural	2,7	9,1
West Siberian	34,1	103,9
East Siberian	3,1	4,0
Far Eastern	5,7	5,2
Kaliningrad region	0,1	0,3
Ukrainian SSR	9,9	2,3
Byelorussian SSR	1,7	5,4
Latvian SSR	0,5	1,7
Lithuanian SSR	0,3	0,8
Estonian SSR	0,6	2,3
Georgian SSR	0,02	0,1
Armenian SSR	0,001	0,0024

Development of peat deposits

Rice. 3. Machine for preliminary dewatering of the deposit.

The development of T. is preceded by drying and surface preparation. The surface preparation of the field is carried out after the construction of the drainage network and the completion of the preliminary drainage of the deposit (Fig. 3). Regardless of the purpose for which the fallow will be used, woody and sometimes moss vegetation is removed from its surface, the developed layer of the fallow at a depth of 25-40 cm is freed from wood inclusions or they are crushed into fractions of less than 8-25 mm. Divided by kart ditches and gross channels on certain areas (cards) the field surface is planned in the longitudinal direction perpendicular to the shaft channels and profiled with a transverse slope towards the cart ditches with an auger profiler. The implementation of these works contributes to a decrease in the level of groundwater and a decrease in the moisture content of the peat deposit to 86-89%, which ensures the productive operation of mechanisms for the extraction, drying and harvesting of T.

Fig 4. Machine for deforestation and baling of timber

All operations for preparing the surface of a peat deposit are mechanized (see Peat machines). Removal of woody vegetation during preparation includes cutting (felling) trees and shrubs with simultaneous packing and stacking of trees in bags on the surface of the fallow by a special machine (Fig. 4). Then the packages are loaded onto tractor dump trucks and transported to intermediate railroad warehouses.

Rice. 5. A machine for preparing fields by deep milling.

Stumps and wood inclusions are removed from the deposit by uprooting machines or processed by deep milling machines (Fig. 5) with subsequent separation and removal of wood residues outside the fields. To obtain peat with average standard properties, machines are used for mixing the deposit or drainage and enrichment machines, which extract the peat mass from the layer of the deposit with cutters or bars, process and spread the layer of peat on the surface of the field. Small wood residues and chips are removed from the working surface of the cards by machines with a prick or drum-chain working body.

Rice. 6. Harvesting transshipment machine.

T. is mined in the USSR milling(more than 95% of the total industrial production), excavator And quarry-deep ways. The prototype of the excavator method is the elevator method, which up to October revolution In 1917, about 1.3 million tons (1913) of lumpy tons were mined. The excavation of tons was carried out manually. Elevator machines transported raw tar from the quarry, mixed it and molded it into bricks. Drying, harvesting and loading operations were carried out manually. In the 20s. a method was developed for hydraulic extraction of peat (“hydropeat”) with full mechanization of production processes. It was applied from to . The complex-mechanized excavation method includes excavation of turf from the deposit with a bucket device, processing of raw turf, its formation and lining of peat bricks on the drying field, cleaning and storage. Milling extraction of t. has been developed in the USSR since the late 40's. It is fully mechanized and is less labor-intensive, metal-intensive and energy-intensive. The main technological operations of the milling method of extraction of t.: grinding the upper layer (milling) of the deposit at a depth of up to 25 mm, drying the milled t., harvesting and stacking the finished t. The duration of the drying of the layer is from 1 to 2 days. The number of such cycles in a season is 20-28; with the pneumatic method of cleaning up to 40-50 cycles. Three schemes are used for the extraction of t. Extracted by peat machines, T. is stored in field piles for about 6 months on average. Most effective method storage and fight against spontaneous combustion of T. - isolation of stacks from atmospheric air a layer of crude T.; introduced (1975) polymer film insulation.

Peat loading into peat wagons in Radovitsky

Careerless-deep This method is used to produce lumpy T. for domestic needs. Its essence lies in the excavation of T. from narrow trenches, processing, molding and lining peat bricks on the extraction-drying field with simultaneous crushing of the trenches by the mining machine.

In the process of peat processing, due to the increase in the specific surface of the dispersed material, the properties of the product are improved. The dispersion of crude turf increases the coefficient of volumetric shrinkage, which is a prerequisite for obtaining not only dense, but also durable products. Processing reduces the moisture capacity of fuel fuel. Mechanical processing of fuel is carried out by working bodies of various types: screw, screw-knife, spiral-conical, cone, slot, crushing, grinders.

Integrated use of peat

In the 16-17 centuries. coke was burned out of peat, resin was obtained, T. was used in agriculture, medicine, etc. At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. industrial production of peat semi-coke and resin began. In the 30-50s. T. began to be used in the energy sector, as well as for the production of gas and as a municipal fuel. In the 50s. studies have been carried out on the energy-technological application of T. The possibility of using peat from one deposit at the same time for Agriculture and industry led to the creation of a new direction - the integrated use of T.; this is facilitated by the diverse properties of its various types. Thus, in slightly decomposed horseback T., the content of carbohydrates reaches 40-50%; in strongly decomposed T., humic acids make up 50% or more. Some types of T. are rich in bitumen, the content of which reaches 2-10%. Slightly decomposed horse T. has a high water and gas absorption capacity, low odds thermal conductivity.

Rice. 7. Preparation of peat composts at the deposit.

Peat high degree decomposition finds various applications in agriculture (Table 4). It is used for the preparation of composts (Fig. 7), mixtures with mineral fertilizers and lime, for the production of peat-ammonia and peat-mineral-ammonia fertilizers (see Organo-mineral fertilizers). Peat containing vivianite is used as a phosphate fertilizer, lime - as a lime fertilizer. Lowland soil, applied in large doses (500 t/ha or more), contributes to the cultivation of soddy-podzolic soils and to the improvement of their physical and physicochemical properties.

Today, Russia occupies one of the leading places in the field of mining. The first place, of course, is occupied by oil and natural gas. In Russia, there are such main types of mineral extraction as:

• Natural gas production
• Oil production
• Coal mining
• Uranium mining
• Shale mining
• Peat extraction

As you know, mining is a rather difficult process in which it is necessary to get gaseous, solid or liquid minerals from underground. It is this production that covers the first economic spectrum. The main tasks of the mining itself are: to find a deposit of any mineral, after which it is taken out of the bowels of the Earth and then delivered to the place of processing.

However, I would like to pay considerable attention to the peat industry, which is currently in short supply.

Group chemical composition of the organic part of various types of peat

The peat industry is a category of industry that provides the country with fuel as well as fertilizer. Today, peat is used in agriculture, chemical plants, power plants.

So what is peat? Peat has a characteristic brown color. It is formed over time from the almost decomposed remains of plants, mainly mosses. Peat deposits are swamps and ponds, which are almost overgrown. In Russia, areas with peat are located in forests. In fact, peat consists of 60% carbon, which makes it the most important biomaterial. it has a fairly high calorific value. Peat is also used to make various thermal insulation materials, such as slabs.

Recall that in 2010 in Russia there was a terrible fire associated with the ignition of peat areas, as a result of which forests were damaged. After the incident, it became obvious that the peat industry would take a long time to recover.

Now around the world receive approximately 25 million tons of peat. In 1985, peat extraction reached its peak, namely, 380 million tons were obtained in a year. However, since the 1990s, the level of mineral extraction has dropped significantly to 29 million tons.

The peat industry began to emerge as early as the 12th-13th centuries. Scotland and Holland were the first countries to extract and use it. And since the XVI century. peat mining began to develop in Germany, France and Sweden. Russia lagged behind European countries a little, because for the first time the mineral began to be mined in 1700, when under the leadership of Peter I near Voronezh, for the first time, peat deposits were found. After 3 years, deposits were discovered near Azov. Much later, towards the end of the XVIII century. Peat extraction began near St. Petersburg and in the Smolensk region. Almost until the 20th century. oil production was carried out in a primitive way, i.e. using the simplest equipment: molding frames, peat grinders and various scooping devices. Basically, molded and carved peat was mined. To the place of processing, peat was taken away on horseback, as well as by water, through canals and rivers. During the time of the landlords, various committees and schools were created in the provinces, where they studied the methods of extraction and processing of peat. End of the 19th century marked the transition to the extraction of minerals by the factory method, thanks to which minerals were mined with already improved equipment.

Oddly enough, since the beginning of the XX century. Russia began to outpace European countries in technologies for peat extraction, as well as in quantity. Approximately 40 peat extractions were formed in the Moscow region. It was in Russia in 1913 that the world's first power plant was built, which processed peat into fuel. Engineers V. Kirpichnikov and R. Klasson developed a hydraulic peat extraction scheme. In 1914, thanks to this method, Russia managed to build industrial enterprises for the processing of peat. Already in the 1920s, excavators began to be put into operation, which greatly simplified the extraction of all minerals. Peat began to be supplied from the Urals to heavy industry enterprises, which used peat gas as a process fuel. In the late 1920s, entire scientific centers and institutes of the peat industry. In 1988, peat extraction exceeded the figures for all previous years. In comparison with 1914, it has increased by 93 times.

Today, enterprises specializing in peat processing are combined into whole complexes. For example, in the Smolensk region there is an enterprise "Smolenkstorf", it extracts about 100,000 tons of milled peat, processing it into energy raw materials, about 280,000 tons are mined for agricultural purposes, etc.

Details about the methods and types of peat extraction

As mentioned earlier, most of the peat deposits are on the surface. Peat is extracted only according to two main schemes:

• from the surface of the earth (cutting the topsoil)
• from quarries (using excavators)

There are only 5 types of peat:

• milling (cutting)
• hydraulic scraper
• hydropeat
• lump
• baguette

milled peat- one of the most common types. It is mined at a depth of only 2 cm thanks to a tractor that loosens the soil, crushes the peat and turns it into fine crumbs. Then the peat dries in the sun, gathers into rolls, and then another layer is loosened. After each such process, peat is mined in the same place 5-6 more times. The collected peat is delivered to a special site and there it is collected into separate heaps. A suitable season for the extraction of such peat is the summer period, when natural drying of the mineral is possible. The milling method is also used to obtain sod peat.

Sod peat obtained by excavation. Each such piece of peat weighs at least 500 g. This method of extraction practically does not differ from previous method, but the only difference is that it needs weather conditions. Sod peat can be mined at any time of the year. Such peat is mined from a depth of 50 cm using a special disk with a cylinder in which peat is pressed.

Hydropeat obtained by hydraulic method, which was first proposed in 1914, as mentioned earlier.

carved peat mined from peat bricks by hand, sometimes by machine-forming.

As for the transportation of peat from the extraction sites, it is carried out after the final drying of the peat and is exported by narrow-gauge railway. For agricultural purposes, peat is transported by road.

Peat in agriculture

Peat is useful to mankind not only as a fuel, but also on an agricultural scale. Peat is an excellent fertilizer, while peat that has decomposed by 40% is good for this area. It is extracted from swamps and overgrown reservoirs. Peat, which is only 25% decomposed, is excellent for animal bedding. Before use, peat is usually well ventilated, but not dried to the limit. Sometimes it is specially frozen, so that later it is more easily crushed and distributed over the areas that should be fertilized. Because peat contains too little phosphorus and potassium, it is necessary to add manure, superphosphate and a little potassium chloride to it.

Peat favors soil fertility, improves its structure. Due to the fact that peat contains practically no micro and macro elements, it is rich in useful acids that stimulate growth and development. It is good for any kind of soil because it has a gas-absorbing advantage. Actually. Peat can be divided into two types: Light and heavy. Light has a degree of decomposition of 15%, and heavy as much as 40% and above. In agriculture, peat contributes well to ensuring long-term moisture retention, as well as oxygen exchange.

Peat industry today

Peat resources cover about 400 million hectares, but only about 300 million hectares have been put into operation. Only 23 countries of the world are engaged in peat extraction. The leading ones are Russia, where about 150 million hectares are concentrated, and Canada, where peatlands make up 110 million hectares. Peat is a renewable resource and much more is produced than is consumed. The world's peat stock is concentrated in Russia, because 60% of the resources are contained there. But in terms of production, Russia is in fourth place, ahead of Canada, Finland and Ireland.

Only 30% of the world's peat is used for fuel, the remaining 70% is used for horticulture and agriculture. The upper peat layer has suitable properties for livestock, floriculture, crop and vegetable growing in greenhouse conditions. Peat plays an important role in the world market, especially vegetable peat, which is the most exported.

The largest peat deposit is concentrated in the Tver region - 21%. Thanks to this, the Tver region is fully provided with energy and soil fertility. OJSC "Tvertorf" produces the largest amount of peat products throughout Russia. In the 90s, the extraction of the mineral dropped significantly. Due to the crisis, the equipment has ceased to be updated, the capacity of enterprises specialized in peat has also decreased. Today, production rates are trying to resume, but the process requires significant funding and more labor.

The main problem associated with the peat industry is the development of regulatory and legislative framework. There are some contradictions in the legal status of peat deposits, which lacks clarity in the application of loans provided by the tax service. There are also noticeable shortcomings in the calculation of payments and taxes on land. Therefore, today the peat industry is undergoing serious stagnation.

The Russian government has set a goal by 2030 to increase the level of peat extraction and processing to improve domestic, allied and agricultural conditions. The first necessary criterion is to improve the industrial base, i.e. to develop new equipment, only then can peat be effectively used at power plants specializing in heat supply. In the future, due to useful properties, peat can be used in medicine. The peat extract is enriched with minerals, so its properties are excellent for the human body, it has a particularly healing effect on the skin and subcutaneous tissues. By 2030, it will be planned to restore the peat base, build boiler houses and thermal power plants in remote regions, the main resource of which will be peat.

Many people do not quite understand what peat is and what it is for. And someone thinks that this is the same land. But everything is not so simple.

This substance represents something more valuable. This article will discuss the formation of peat, its application and properties.

In contact with

What is peat and what does it look like

Peat is a mineral. It belongs to sedimentary rocks and is solid in state. In ancient times it was called flammable earth.

The first mentions date back to the first century AD. In those days, people used the breed for cooking.

The place where the peat is located is called a peat bog. The composition of the breed depends on the species. The main ingredient in the formula is carbon.

Outwardly, the fossil is similar to the earth. It has a crumbly loose structure of brown color.

What is peat made from?

The rock is formed from decayed parts of plants, both woody and herbaceous, fungi, mosses.

What kind of plants can these be?

• reeds;
• sedge;
• cinquefoil;
• horsetails;
• down jackets;
• cattail.

An important role in the origin is played by woody and semi-shrub plants:

• birch;
• alder;
• wild rosemary;
• heather.

The softness and color of the rock determines the humus.

Peat types and their characteristics

The difference between types is determined by the depth of the location.

Their characteristic:

1. Horse. This composition is weakly decomposed. It contains many remains of upland vegetation;
2. Lowland. Consists of a large amount of organic matter, therefore it is very useful for the soil;
3. Transition. This view is located between the previous two.

Where is peat mined

The substance is found in swampy areas. Wetlands are ideal places for rock formation. When they dry out, masses of decayed plant residues remain in their place.

This is peat. Due to its formation in swampy areas, some people think that there is a liquid rock, but this is not so.

Currently, there are a lot of places on the planet with large reserves of peat. Even countries in which the production of the substance is at a high level may not worry about its presence for a long time. These countries include:

• Russia;
• Belarus;
• Canada;
• Ireland.

These are just a few examples of states. In fact, there are many more places where peat is mined.

Peat deposits in Russia

Almost 50 thousand deposits are located throughout Russia. A large number is located in the Asian part of the country. The largest place of peat formation is Vasyugan.

These are several of the largest swamps, the area of ​​\u200b\u200bwhich is approximately 55 thousand square meters. km. They cover the Tomsk, Omsk and Novosibirsk regions.

Peat extraction methods

There are several ways to mine the rock. The most popular of them is milling. It is the production of peat by grinding.

Process description:

1. Digging special channels for water drainage.
2. Equipment leaves for the dry place.
3. Peat layers are crushed into powder by devices called milling machines (this explains the name of the method).
4. The resulting powder is dried. Drying is carried out by mixing and agitating the powder.
5. Then the material is collected in separate piles and sent for processing.

After processing, the raw material may come out in pieces or granules.

Another way is excavator or lumpy. The method got its name because the rock is mined in pieces. The operation consists in capturing the rock with the excavator bucket, which is sent for processing in whole compressed pieces.

There is another way, which is called carved. But in modern world due to technical development, it is already obsolete. The whole operation is carried out manually. That is, after drying the territory, the workers, as it were, cut the rock into pieces with shovels. Then it is sent for processing.

Areas of peat use

If in ancient times peat was used only for cooking when kindling a fire, then in the modern world it has been used in many areas.

Agriculture

The breed is of great benefit to the development of agriculture. It is an excellent fertilizer: it significantly improves the soil, makes it more porous and enriches it with nutrients. The latter is due to the fact that peat itself contains many useful acids. The chemical composition includes several macronutrients.

The breed is useful for plants. It contributes to their better development, preventing the accumulation of heavy metals in them, and reduces the content of nitrates in grown products.

Therefore, many summer residents purchase it for the garden. To do this, you don’t even have to go anywhere, and you won’t need to look for anything. Now peat can be bought at any store that sells gardening products. However, you should choose your product carefully. Poor quality product can harm plants.

The main criterion for selection is acidity. Manufacturers change it to increase the range of products. This change is called neutralization of acidity, and the resulting mixture is called neutralized peat.

animal husbandry

Here, peat is needed as bedding for animals, because it can absorb moisture and odors well. It also has bactericidal properties, which helps protect livestock from diseases.

Basically, sphagnum peat is used for this purpose.

Medicine

For the same reasons as in the previous case, the breed has found application in medicine.

Peat baths are very beneficial for health.

Energy industry

Peat is an excellent fuel. It is still used in some power plants. One of the advantages of the rock as a fuel is that it does not need oxygen supply for combustion.

Chemical industry

Many chemical products are made from matter. For example:

• paraffin;
• wax;
• ammonia;
• herbicides;
• some acids;
• methyl and ethyl alcohol.

It turns out that peat is not just a part of the earth. Many things that surround people are made from peat. We can say that humanity is lucky that there are still a lot of peat reserves.