Clean Coal Technology

Overview

Burning and current use of Coal

Clean coal technologies
Is clean coal actually clean?
The future of clean coal and politics
Summary

Types of Coal

Lignite (brown coal) - 25% to 35% carbon, around

70% when dry

Subbituminous 35% to 45% carbon

Bituminous 45% to 86% carbon

Anthracite (black coal) 86% to 98% carbon

Coal and Electricity

There are about 600 U.S. coal plants.

Coal generates 54% of electricity
There are 249 projected coal power plants to be
built between 1999 and 2009, another 483 by
2019, and another 710 by 2030

Burning of Coal

In 2002 fossil fuels released 23 billion tons of CO2

into the atmosphere
of the 23 billion tons 41% was from coal
Burn 1 ton of black coal and you get 4 tons of CO2
Anthracite releases 67% more CO2 than methane
and brown coal releases 130% more CO2
emissions than methane
Coal also contains trace amounts of sulfur and
Nitrogen that when burned can cause
environmental issues

The Effects of Sulfur Dioxide from

Coal

In the 1960s trees as well as aquatic life in lakes

were dying
Due to acid rain from sulfur dioxide emissions
from burning of coal
Created scrubbers to clean the coal
The sulphates had reflected light back into space
keeping the earth cooler
Once the sulphates were gone the temperature of
the earth rose

Why is coal still used?

Cheapest for power stations relative to the amount

of heat it generates when burnt

http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?
story_id=10145492

How does a coal power plant work?

http://www.cs.wright.edu/~egr190/Alternative
%20energy/coalart.gif

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Coal_power_plant_
Datteln_2_Crop1.png

So what is clean coal?

It is actually a vague term that does not describe

any one process
Can include the removal of nitrogen and sulfur
that create acid rain
Can include the storage of CO2
The term clean coal is abused

Clean Coal Technologies

Coal washing
Wet scrubbers
Low NOx burners
Electrostatic precipitators
Gasification
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)
Fuel Cells
Magnetohydrodynamics

Coal Washing

Grinding coal into pieces and passing it through

gravity filtration
One technique: Putting coal into a barrel with a
liquid with a specific density where the coal floats
and the impurities sink

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4468076.stm

Wet Scrubbers

When the emissions reach

the flue of the furnace
limestone and water are
sprayed
The SO2 reacts with the
calcium carbonate
(limestone) to form gypsum
(calcium sulfate)
The gypsum is collected and
used for construction
99% effective

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4468076.st
m

Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)

Use of
First stage: combustion occurs in an oxygen
deficient zone where NOx is usually formed
Second Stage: hydrocarbons are formed which
react with the already formed NOx
Third Stage - internal air staging completes the
combustion but may result in additional NOx
formation, which can be minimized by completing
the combustion in an air lean environment

Electrostatic Precipitators (Particle

emissions)

Creates an electrical field that removes unwanted

charged particles
99% effective

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4468076.st
m

Gasification

Coal is reacted with oxygen and steam to form a

syngas (mostly hydrogen and part CO)
Syngas is cleaned and burned which then turns a
turbine
As gas cools it heats water, which turns another
turbine

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4468076.st
m

Gasification (continued)

Gasification is seen as part of zero-emission system

Improved SO2 and NOx emissions (already low)
Unproven on widespread scale
Up to 45% efficient
Currently only demonstration units exist on a trial
basis
Right now syngas being cleaned at low
temperatures. In the future will be cleaned at higher
temperatures, increasing efficiency
Costly, but current coal power plants can be
modified

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

Capturing CO2 and storing it underground

(geosequestration)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4468076.st
m

CSS (continued)

There are many problems with CSS

CO2 is hard to capture
Once captured it needs to liquified which takes
20% of the energy yielded from the coal
Where the CO2 is stored needs to be monitored
There are only so many places that are good for
mass storage
Transportation could be costly

Fuel Cells

Allow hydrogen from coal

to react with oxygen to
produce electricity
electrochemically
Still in early development
Costly

http://www.australiancoal.com.au/cleantech.htm#fuelc
ell

Magnetohydrodynamics

Coal is burned to form an extremely hot gas or

plasma
Given electrical charge by adding a compound like
potassium salt
The charged gas or plasma is passed through a
magnetic field and electricity is produced
The heat from the combustion gases is used to turn
a steam turbine too
Still in development
Costly

So is clean coal really clean?

Unfortunately there is no way to make coal clean

Processes like gasification can make coal burning
more efficient, but it still burns plenty of CO2
CO2 can be stored underground using CSS, but
that could lead to more problems in the future
Best solution: STOP USING COAL!!!!

Clean Coal and Politics

Barack Obama has said that he would develop

five first-of-their-kind coal-fired plants with
CCS technology
Wants to spend $150 billion over 10 years for
renewable energy sources such as wind, solar,
biofuels, plug-in hybrids and clean-coal
technology
Wants to cut carbon-dioxide emissions from
power plants, oil companies and other industries.
But we're talking politics.

Summary

Coal is very inefficient and is a huge cause of

global warming, but cheap
Clean coal is a term that describes many different
technologies
Clean coal is by no means clean
CSS will be put in use in the near future, which
may or may not be a good thing

Works Cited

"Clean Coal Technologies - Examples." Australian Coal Association. Australian

Clean coal technology: How it works." BBC News. 28 Nov. 2005. BBC News. 6
"Coal power Still going strong." The Economist 15 Nov. 2007.
Davidson, Paul. "Major issues await Obama." USA Today 6 Nov. 2008.
Flannery T. 2005. The Weather Makers: How Man is Changing the Climate and
"IEA Clean Coal Centre." IEA Clean Coal Centre. IEA Clean Coal Centre. 6 Nov.
Schirber, Michael. "What Exactly Is Clean Coal?" Foxnews.com. 3 Nov. 2008. Fox