Process Improves Energy Recovery, DOE Patent
Technology News Daily:
What began as a small in-house laboratory experiment to find a way to use discarded coal products called “fines” has now led to a full-scale demonstration that can boost coal operator profits, reduce waste at their plants, and recover valuable energy sources for consumers.
An efficient, cost-effective process for recovering coal fines is significant in today’s energy marketplace because 2 billion tons of coal fines are impounded in the United States, and about 50 million tons are added to that total each year at more than 700 coal impoundment sites. In full-scale tests conducted by CQ Inc., of Homer City, Pa., the GranuFlow(TM) process – which was developed and patented by scientists at the Office of Fossil Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) – has shown that it can recover and clean a significant portion of coal fines to produce an added source of energy for the nation’s future.
The GranuFlow process treats fine-sized coal particles (150 mesh, about 0.1 millimeters, or less) to improve their dewatering and handling characteristics. To demonstrate commercial viability of the process, CQ Inc., of Homer City, Pa., employed the process at four commercial coal preparation plants under full-scale operating conditions:
* PBS Coals’ Shade Coal Preparation Plant located near Central City, Pa.;
* Edison Mission Energy’s Homer City Coal Preparation Plant located near Homer City, Pa.;
* Jim Walter Resources’ No. 7 Coal Cleaning Plant located near Brookwood, Ala.; and
* PinnOak Resources’ Concord Coal Cleaning Plant located near Hueytown, Ala.
Related posts:
- Biofuel Guide – Ethanol And Biodiesel As Alternative Energy PR Urgent: Ethanol, as in beer and wine, is an...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
