Anthracite coal has the highest carbon count and contains the fewest impurities of all coals, and has the highest calorific content as compared to other types of coals such as bituminous coal and lignite. Anthracite coal is a hard mineral coal that has the highest luster and lowest impurities of all coals. It is the cleanest variety of coals.
Anthracite is the most metamorphosed type of coal it's carbon content is between 92.1% and 98%. The term is applied to those varieties of coal which do not give off tarry or other hydrocarbon vapors when heated below their point of ignition. Anthracite burns with a short, blue, and smokeless flame.
Anthracite may be considered to be a transition stage between ordinary bituminous 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.
With the growth of mini-mill's increasing need for higher quality materials in the (EAF) Electric Arc Furnace anthracite coal has become the injection carbon of choice for the top EAF steel plants. Because scrap metal is the primary source of metal in the EAF there have been a limited variety of finished products a mini-mill could produce. DRI pellets and other iron ore based materials have been substituting or supplementing traditional scrap allowing for a greater variety of finished products produced in the EAF. As a result of the use of these materials only the cleanest, lowest sulfur, anthracite injection carbons can be used. Anthracite is among the lowest sulfur materials available for injection and is the most environmentally friendly material due to its purity.