Schwing Bioset is excited to announce that Joe Scholl, Product Manager of Thermal Technology, was chosen to present his paper, Drying of High-Moisture Coals For Power Production & Gasification, at this November’s POWER-GEN International.
A brief abstract of the paper follows:
It is generally accepted that coals containing higher moisture have a lower energy content and are, therefore, considered “low-rank” coals. Two of the four commercial coal grades are sub-bituminous and lignite, which comprise over 45 percent of the USA’s demonstrated / recoverable coal reserves (36.5% and 8.8%, respectively) and may have a moisture content from 25 to 50 percent (or more). When one considers that North America (USA, Canada and Mexico) holds approximately 497 billion short tons of recoverable coal resources (of which the USA holds approximately 486 billion short tons of) and the next five-highest national coal reserves (Russia, China, Australia, India and Ukraine), have combined recoverable coal resources of 495 billion short tons, one can see that North America’s coal resources can help secure the continent’s long-term energy demands.
With respect to coal gasification, some gasification technologies may be limited to a maximum coal moisture content of approx. 25%. In this respect, high-moisture coal drying may be a necessity (especially when utilizing a lignite source). With respect to power production, it has been demonstrated that reducing a coal’s moisture content by 20% can lead to a fuel value increase of approx. 10% (with further increases in fuel value achieved with greater moisture reduction). Therefore, for a 20% moisture content reduction, 10% less fuel can be combusted to produce the same amount of power, typically measured in megawatts (mW) or gigawatts (gW), which can also result in reductions to the emission of pollutants and / or “greenhouse gases.” Alternatively, combusting the same amount of dried coal could lead to a 10% increase in a plant’s power production. As ever-increasing economic and regulatory pressures mount to produce power via coal combustion more efficiently and cleanly, it is clear that high-moisture coal drying can play a vital role in the utilization of this important natural resource and this paper explores some of the methods by which high-moisture coal drying can be accomplished.
ABOUT POWER-GEN INTERNATIONAL
POWER-GEN International is the largest power generation event in the world. It provides a world stage for the innovations, ideas and solutions that have formed the industry for more than two decades. November marks their next event as POWER-GEN International celebrates 25 years of serving the global power market. With a record-setting expected attendance of more than 22,000 attendees, 75 countries and 1,400 exhibitors, there’s simply no other place to be for education, networking and new business development within the power industry.
