Coal log pipeline pilot plant construction and tests: An update
Coal log pipeline (CLP) is an emerging technology for coal transportation that has many potential values including: (a) it transports twice the amount of coal transported by a coal slurry pipeline of the same diameter; (b) it uses only one-third to one-fourth the water used by a coal slurry pipeline for transporting the same amount of coal; (c) it does not require expensive slurry pumps; (d) dewatering of slurry at the pipeline outlet is much simpler for CLP than slurry pipelines; (e) there is no restart problem; (f) it is adaptable to drag reduction by using polymers and hence is energy efficient; (g) it eliminates air and land polluting problems caused by coal transportation by truck or train; (h) it completely eliminates spontaneous combustion during coal transportation and storage at power plants; (i) it eliminates highway congestion and accidents caused by coal trucks, and eliminates accidents and traffic jam at rail crossings caused by coal trains; (j) it is more economical to use CLP than to use truck and trains to transport coal in many circumstances. Since 1991, extensive research in CLP has been conducted at Capsule Pipeline Research Center (CPRC), University of Missouri-Columbia. The research has been sponsored by the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Missouri Department of Economic Development, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), and an industry consortium of two dozen companies. The R and D resulted in rapid advancement of the CLP technology. After a pilot plant testing of a complete CLP system, the CLP technology will be ready for commercial use. The pilot plant consists of: (a) A coal log machine that can mass produce 5.4-inch diameter coal logs; (b) A 6-inch-diameter steel pipe 3,000 ft long, equipped with a special pumping system that allows coal logs to bypass the pump unhindered (Being a closed loop, the pipeline can recirculate coal logs through the system indefinitely, for testing coal log abrasion resistance over any distance.); (c) A coal log injection system that can inject long trains (each consisting of 100 logs) into the pipe for testing; (d) A coal log ejection system that can eject the coal logs from the pipe after testing; and (e) An automatic control system for the pipeline, consisting of sensors and computers (PLCs and a SCADA). At the time of writing this abstract (November, 1998), the pilot plant is more than half completed the coal log machine has been built and the pipeline is under construction. The entire system will be completed in Spring 1999, followed by various tests. This paper, to be submitted in June 1999, will contain details on the CLP pilot plant construction and the results of preliminary tests. The test results will cover coal log manufacturing (compaction), coal log abrasion tests in the 6-inch pipe, and test of drag reduction in the 6-inch pipe.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Missouri-Columbia, MO (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 20082257
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Sixteenth Annual International Pittsburgh Coal Conference, Pittsburgh, PA (US), 10/11/1999--10/15/1999; Other Information: 1 CD-ROM. Operating systems required: Windows 95/98; Windows 3.X, Macintosh; PBD: 1999; Related Information: In: Sixteenth annual international Pittsburgh Coal Conference: Proceedings, [2000] pages.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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