During the last decade there has been a renewed interest in under standing from a fundamental point of view the gasification of carbon. Basi cally there are two major issues in controlling the reactivity of carbon: i) reduction of the gasification rate of carbon materials in hostile environment ii) increase of the gasification rate in order to utilize carbonaceous compounds more effectively. Although these two objectives look somewhat contradictory, they are part of the general topics of understanding gasification reactivity of carbon. Refractory applications of carbon in furnace linings,...

The study of coal for the production of energy is certainly not a new area of research. Many research works were carried out to improve the efficiency of industrial and domestic facilities. In the sixties, however, because of the availability and low cost of petroleum, coal consumption decreased and the research effort in this area was minimum. Meanwhile, the situation has totally changed. Considering the reserves of oil and the instability ofregions where they are located, it is becoming absolutely necessary to develop other sources of energy.The major alternative to oil appears to be coal,...