An evaluation of deeply-cleaned coals as industrial boiler fuels

Conference · Thu Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1999

OSTI ID:20013499

Miller, B G; Wincek, R T; Scaroni, A W

AMAX Research and Development Center (AMAX) recently conducted a program for the US Department of Energy (DOE) in which processes for preparing ultra-clean coal were developed (Jha et al., 1997). The coal cleaning methods targeted were advanced column flotation and selective agglomeration. The goal was to develop a coal-based fuel, preferably a coal-water slurry fuel (CWSF), that would be a viable alternative to fuel oil or natural gas in industrial and utility boilers, and would also be appropriate for advanced combustion systems that are under development. Additional objectives were to develop near-term applications of the advanced coal cleaning technologies in new or existing coal preparation plants in order to efficiently process minus 28 mesh fines and convert them into marketable products, and to determine the extent of removal of toxic trace elements from coal by the advanced cleaning technologies. AMAX cleaned three coals in an integrated advanced column flotation and selective agglomeration process development unit. The coals were from the Taggart (Virginia), Indiana VII (Indiana) and Hiawatha (Utah) seams. As a complement to the AMAX program, Penn State is evaluating the deeply-cleaned coals as industrial boiler fuels. Specifically, the handling characteristics, combustion performance, and trace element emissions of the coals are being determined. The coals are being tested in demonstration (20 million Btu/h) and research (2 million Btu/h) boilers as part of a Penn State/DOE project characterizing trace element emissions from coal-fired industrial boilers. This paper will discuss the atomization characteristics and combustion performance (in the demonstration boiler) in a 1 ton/h filter cake re-entrainment circuit. In addition, the combustion performance of the ultra-clean CWSFs is compared to that of other CWSFs prepared in Penn State's 1 ton/h single and double-stage grinding circuit.

• Research Organization: Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Defense
• OSTI ID: 20013499
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
AGGLOMERATION
ATOMIZATION
BITUMINOUS COAL
COAL PREPARATION
COMBUSTION PROPERTIES
FLOTATION
FUEL SLURRIES
MATERIALS HANDLING
WATER