Coal/oil mixture pipeline: a viable alternative coal transportation system

Conference · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1979

OSTI ID:5650841

Petrovic, L. J.

Slurry pipeline systems have been promoted as minimizing the environmental and socio-economic impacts of rail transportation and as increasing competition in interstate coal transportation. However, the scarce water resources of the coal rich western states may limit the number and/or capacity of these systems. Furthermore, these systems are not without their own operating and environmental problems. In this paper, a coal transportation system which utilizes coal/oil mixture technology is compared to the coal/water system and to another alternative, coal/methanol system. The primary considerations addressed are the system design considerations and trade-offs, the resource requirements (including capital) and the cost of delivered energy. Considerations such as the system environmental impacts, the status of the technologies, oil quality and supply, and the potential system flexibilities are discussed qualitatively. This qualitative comparison shows that the coal/oil slurry pipeline is an attractive economic, environmental, and technical alternative for transporting coal PROVIDED that oil is available in the region. Coal/water pipelines are a second choice based on economics and, furthermore, are limited by their demands on western water resources. The third choice is coal/oil slurry pipelines using oil generated onsite. The main attraction is the saving of about 1/2 the water requirements. However, the capital costs will be high. Coal/methanol slurry pipelines do not appear to have any economic or environmental advantages. Further secondary considerations must be addressed before a technically and economically viable coal/oil surry pipeline could be implemented.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (USA); Resource Engineering, Inc., Burlington, MA (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 5650841
• Report Number(s): CONF-791160-2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
013000* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Transport
Handling
& Storage
014000 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Combustion
02 PETROLEUM
025000 -- Petroleum-- Combustion
ALCOHOLS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
COAL
COAL LIQUEFACTION
DISPERSIONS
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ECONOMICS
ENERGY SOURCES
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FOSSIL FUELS
FREIGHT PIPELINES
FUEL OILS
FUEL SLURRIES
FUELS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
LIQUEFACTION
METHANOL
MIXTURES
OILS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
PIPELINES
SLURRIES
SLURRY PIPELINES
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
SUSPENSIONS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
TRANSPORT
VISCOSITY
WATER
WATER REQUIREMENTS