Preparation and combustion of Yugoslavian lignite-water fuel, Task 7.35. Topical report, July 1991--December 1993

Technical Report · Tue Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10168030· OSTI ID:10168030

Anderson, C M; DeWall, R A; Ljubicic, B R; Musich, M A; Richter, J J

Yugoslavia`s interest in lignite-water fuel (LWF) stems from its involvement in an unusual power project at Kovin in northern Serbia. In the early 1980s, Electric Power of Serbia (EPS) proposed constructing a 600-MW power plant that would be fueled by lignite found in deposits along and under the Danube River. Trial underwater mining at Kovin proved that the dredging operation is feasible. The dredging method produces a coal slurry containing 85% to 90% water. Plans included draining the water from the coal, drying it, and then burning it in the pulverized coal plant. In looking for alternative ways to utilize the ``wet coal`` in a more efficient and economical way, a consortium of Yugoslavian companies agreed to assess the conversion of dredged lignite into a LWF using hot-water-drying (HWD) technology. HWD is a high-temperature, nonevaporative drying technique carried out under high pressure in water that permanently alters the structure of low-rank coals. Changes effected by the drying process include irreversible removal of moisture, micropore sealing by tar, and enhancement of heating value by removal of oxygen, thus, enhancement of the slurry ability of the coal with water. Physical cleaning results indicated a 51 wt % reduction in ash content with a 76 wt % yield for the lignite. In addition, physical cleaning produced a cleaned slurry that had a higher attainable solids loading than a raw uncleaned coal slurry. Combustion studies were then performed on the raw and physically cleaned samples with the resulting indicating that both samples were very reactive, making them excellent candidates for HWD. Bench-scale results showed that HWD increased energy densities of the two raw lignite samples by approximately 63% and 81%. An order-of-magnitude cost estimate was conducted to evaluate the HWD and pipeline transport of Kovin LWF to domestic and export European markets. Results are described.

• Research Organization: North Dakota Univ., Grand Forks, ND (United States). Energy and Environmental Research Center
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: FC21-86MC10637
• OSTI ID: 10168030
• Report Number(s): DOE/MC/10637--3820; ON: DE94004111; BR: 400408000/AA0505000
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010300
013000
014000
COAL MINING
COAL PREPARATION
COAL PREPARATION PLANTS
COMBUSTION
COMBUSTION PROPERTIES
DEASHING
DRYING
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FUEL SLURRIES
LIGNITE
PREPARATION
PRODUCTION
PROGRESS REPORT
RHEOLOGY
SLURRY PIPELINES
TRANSPORT
TRANSPORT, HANDLING, AND STORAGE
UNDERWATER OPERATIONS
YUGOSLAVIA