Coal slurry pipeline based midwest fuel hub
- Bechtel Technology & Consulting San Francisco, CA (United States)
Low sulfur Powder River Basin (PRB) coal is a sought after fuel to comply with the year 2000 emission regulation for utility boilers. PRB coal is presently not competitive East of the Mississippi mainly because of railroad switching requirements and boiler designs not compatible with the PRB fuel characteristics. The use of the Lakes for transportation is an exception. The Lakes shipping lanes however, are only open part of the year. It is proposed to construct a coal slurry pipeline from the center of Wyoming coalfields to a hub near Detroit with access to low cost waste energy from power generation stations. The coal slurry pipeline will transport up to 25 million tons per year of fine PRB coal which has been removed from the conventionally transported coal, namely coal transported by rail. The rail delivered coal will have less dust. The system fits the DOE Vision 21 concept to mine and utilize coal in highly efficient systems and with the least environmental impact. The PRB coal is of subbituminous rank and not directly compatible with the boilers in Michigan/Indiana/Ohio area, which are designed to burn bituminous coal. Upgrading of the PRB coal using the hydrothermal slurry upgrading process can transform the PRB coal into a higher Btu content fuel by removing a large portion of the inherent moisture. Such upgraded PRB coal has proven an excellent reactive fuel when burned conventionally as PC fuel, or even when burned in slurry form as Coal Water Fuel (CWF). The cost of the process can be recovered when the process is combined with a coal slurry pipeline transport system. The result is an upgraded competitive fuel or fuels, which can be used for co-firing or re-burning applications to reduce SO{sub 2} and NOx emissions of utility boilers. The fuels can be powdered for direct fuel injection into boilers or blast furnaces as well as CWF. Depending on the stability of the upgraded PRB coal, the pipeline product could also be dewatered and prepared for export. This paper describes the concept and preliminary cost information. It also reports on reactions of the industries, which could be involved in the complex system, namely, coal mining companies, railroads, pipeline operators, fuel suppliers, and utilities.
- OSTI ID:
- 349093
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-980985-; ISBN 1-890977-15-2; TRN: IM9924%%93
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 15. annual international Pittsburgh coal conference, Pittsburgh, PA (United States), 14-18 Sep 1998; Other Information: PBD: 1998; Related Information: Is Part Of Fifteenth annual international Pittsburgh coal conference: Proceedings; PB: [1500] p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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