Michael Putland 12M 1

Coal
The Fuel of the Future!!
Michael Putland 12M 2
About Coal
Coal has been used for many years, and is
a very useful fuel.
There is a huge demand for coal, and it has
a huge industry.
Coal has hundreds of uses, from heating
your room to fuelling power plants.
It does have some disadvantages,
however
Michael Putland 12M 3
Disadvantages of Coal
Like other fossil fuels, coal raises quite a few
environmental issues.
Coal mining itself has a direct impact on the
environment, such as causing subsidence, as
well as mine waste that must be managed.
Coal combustion produces several types of
emissions, that particularly affect ground level
air.
There have been policies introduced that affect
the consumption of coal and other fossil fuels.

Michael Putland 12M 4
Emissions of Coal Combustion


The main emissions of coal combustion are
Sulphur Dioxide (SO
2
), Nitrogen Oxides (NO
x
),
particulates, Carbon Dioxide (CO
2
), and Mercury
(Hg).
Sulphur dioxide has been linked with acid rain, and
many industrialized countries have introduced
regulations to limit them.
Equipment that is invested in to minimize these
emissions include flue gas desulphurization (FGD)
In addition, there are increased restrictions on
other emissions.

Michael Putland 12M 5
Solving the Emission Problem
An already in use system of reducing emissions is shown here:
Sulphur emissions from the boiler are to be controlled by a hydrated
lime injection system (spray dryer) in line with a bag house. The spray
dryer is required to achieve a minimum efficiency of 92%. This equates
to an emissions limit of 0.161 lbs SO
2
/10^6 Btu when applied to a
maximum of 1.4& sulphur coal. The SO
2
removal requirement and
emissions limit are enforced on a 30-day rolling average.
A bag house is proposed for particulate emissions control. This
company has obtained a particulate emissions guarantee of 0.020 lbs
TSP/10^6 Btu and 0.018 lbs PM10/10^6 Btu from the boiler vendor.
NO
X
emissions are minimized by a mass-feed stoker configuration
having inherently low emissions, in conjunction with the low excess
air/staged combustion (LEA/SC). The company has obtained a NO
X
emissions guarantee of 0.32 lbs NO
X
/10^6 Btu from the boiler vendor.
The NO
X
emissions limit is enforced on a 30-day rolling average.

Michael Putland 12M 6
New Ideas
New ideas to increase efficiency of burning coal are further
minimizing the amount of emissions.
Australian researchers have established the theory behind a more
efficient way of burning brown coal, a strategy which can
substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
A chemical engineer, John Sanderson described his research as
seen below:
What Im working on is a way of making fluidised bed technology
more reliable.
This demonstration fluidised box contains a powder.
Air is passed up from the bottom of the powder
making it seem to fluidise and take on the
appearance of boiling liquid. It resembles a lava
lamp
Michael Putland 12M 7
Fluidised Bed Combustors
Fluidised bed combustors are large containers of churning, bubbling
red hot sand in which the lumps of brown coal burn. The hot sand
and the bubbling motion helps transfer heat from the burning coal
for generating steam in the power station.
The problem to date has been that most research using fluidised
beds has been carried out in laboratories, on too small a scale for
industrial use. The problem is that when scaled up, fluidised beds
dont always work the same way.
Mr. Sanderson used Scaling Laws very simple mathematical laws
that can be applied to complex systems, e.g. as animals get bigger,
pulse-rates slow down and life spans increase, so regardless of
size, life will consist of approximately 1 billion heart beats. Using
these laws, he has managed to overcome the problem of scaling,
and first test are positive.
Fluidised beds are a more environmentally friendly way of burning
coal because they improve the efficiency of the burning process by
around 30%.
Michael Putland 12M 8
Just a Note
If you didnt understand all of that, it
doesnt matter. It just shows how
important coal is, that people would go
to that length to make sure it can still be
used.
Michael Putland 12M 9
Support for Coal
There are many organisations that are promoting
coal, such as the World Coal Institute (WCI)
They believe in:
-Promoting the recognition of the vital
contribution of coal to the energy mix and
sustainable development
-Stimulating the creation of a policy
environment which supports clean coal as a major
part of a sustainable energy future
-Promoting policies that will encourage the
development of clean coal technologies
Michael Putland 12M 10
Coal for the Future
Coal is a very useful fuel, and is so being used all
the time. The rate of consumption is increasing,
and eventually it will run out.
However, from estimates taken, it will not be much
before 2100, so its not your problem! You wont be
around to suffer the consequences!
Michael Putland 12M 11
And Finally
Coal is very useful, is working well, and as the
saying goes If it isnt broken, dont fix it.
Coal will last a while yet, and you will not need to
worry about when it runs out.
It may not be pretty, but it burns. Coal works,
and it will keep working into the future. Coal IS
the fuel of the future!