The status of coal briquetting technology in Korea

Conference · Fri Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1993

OSTI ID:68661

Choi, Woo-Zin

Anthracite is the only indigenous fossil fuel resource produced in Korea and is an important main source of residential fuel. Due to its particular characteristics, the best way to use Korean coal is in the form of briquettes, called {open_quotes}Yontan.{close_quotes} The ability to use this coal as briquettes was a great discovery made nearly 50 years ago and since then, has made a great contribution to the energy consumption of low and middle income households. Korean anthracite in coal briquette form has been used widely for household heating purposes. Collieries in Korea produced no more than one million tons of anthracite annually in the 1960s. Production, however, increased substantially up to about 17 million tons per year in the mid-1970s. In 1986, Korea succeeded in raising its coal production to 24.2 million tons, which was the maximum production level achieved by the Korean coal industrial sector. Since then, anthracite production has fallen. In 1991, coal output dropped to 15.1 million tons, a decrease of 12.2 percent from the 17.2 million tons produced in 1990, due to falling coal demand and rising labor costs. The role of coal as an energy source will be more important in the future to meet projected economic growth in Korea. While the production of indigenous Korean anthracite is expected to decrease under a coal mining rationalization policy, imports of bituminous coal will increase rapidly and will be used as an oil substitute in industry and power generation. In this chapter, general aspects of the Korean coal industry and coal utilization for residential uses, especially the Yontan coal briquetting techniques, are discussed. In addition, coal briquetting technology applications suitable for the APEC region will be presented.

• OSTI ID: 68661
• Report Number(s): CONF-9309459--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
ANTHRACITE
BRIQUETTING
COAL INDUSTRY
COAL MINING
HEATING SYSTEMS
PRODUCTIVITY
REPUBLIC OF KOREA
RESIDENTIAL SECTOR
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT