COAL AVAILABILITY & ITS UTILIZATION IN INDIA What is coal? Where in India are coal and lignite available?

Give the utilization pattern for coal in India? List the coal conversion processes. Name the products obtained. Coal is a product of decay of plant debris formed over geological time scale, under sedimentary sequences in a stratified form. It is classified into peat, lignite, bituminous and anthracite -based on the degree of advance in coalification process. Besides the organic content it contains mineral matter in its matrix. It is an Organic rock. Approximate chemical formula of coal is (C3H4)n It is a hydrogen deficient solid hydrocarbon probably consisting of many interlocked aromatic rings. Reserves of Coal in India were estimated by the Geological Survey of India in1998-99 approximately as 79

billion tonnes and Lignite reserves as 29.36 billion

tonnes.
States having coal deposits in India: Bihar (including Jharkhand), Bengal, Madhya Pradesh (including Chattisgarh), Maharashtra, Andhra and Orissa. LIGNITE: Reserve available in Tamil Nadu (1999) = 26 billion tones, Rest of the reserves is in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Coal production in India: 1983-84: 138 million tonnes 2000-01: 300 ,, ,, Lignite production in : 1997-98: 23 million tonnes Utilization Pattern for coal in India: Power Generation, To manufacture coke and in Steel mills, Cement manufacture, Textile and Railways Smaller use: As household fuel Coal Conversion Processes & products: 1. Coke Manufacture (Coke, Coal tar, Gas) 3. Coal Gasification (Synthesis gas, Fuel gas) 5. Coal Hydrogenation (liquid hydrocarbons) 2. Coal Tar Distillation (aromatics, pitch) 4. Liquefaction of Coal (hydrocarbons) F.T. 6. Coal combustion (Steam for power)

Refer: S. SARCAR, FUELS AND COMBUSTION, 2 ED. 1990, CH 3 & CH 4 Ch 3: Coal as solid fuel, ranking, origin, composition, analysis, action of heat, oxidation and hydrogenation of coal. Ch 4: Coal preparation, storage, carbonization, briquetting, gasification and liquefaction. 1

CHEMICALS FROM COKE OVEN DISTILLATE

When coal is heated in the absence of oxygen to a temperature of about 1000 o C, coke forms together with liquid and gaseous decomposition products. It is this distillate, also called coal tar, which was a source of aromatics and many other chemicals for the early chemical industry. A typical coking operation produces 80% coke by weight, 12% coke oven gas, 3% tar and 1% light oil consisting of crude benzene, toluene and xylenes. CHEMICALS: BENZENE, TOLUENE, XYLENES, INDENE, COUMARONE, PHENOLS, CRESOLS, PYRIDINES, ANTHRACENE, PHENANTHRENE, CARBAZOLE, and PITCH (60% 0F TAR). FISCHER TROPSCH REACTION: SYNTHESIS GAS MIXTURES OF ALKANES (IRON, NICKEL, COBALT CATALYST, 150-300 o C) This process is not economical now as a route from coal to hydrocarbons. COAL GASIFICATION PROCESSES: COAL Process Texaco Main characteristics Pressurised entrained bed process involving the use of a watery slurry of powdered coal. Less suited for lignite. Product gas low in methane, and tar free. Low H2 /CO ratio (~ 0.7). Pressurized moving bed process suitable for noncoking, granular coal. Relatively high steam consumption. Product gas rich in methane, residual steam, and CO2 and contains tar, H2/CO ratio (~ 0.5) Atmospheric entrained bed process Powdered coal, high oxygen & steam used. Suitable for Syn-gas for ammonia/methanol. Suitable for lignite, fluid bed process 800-1000 o C Atm. pressure. Pressurized stationary fluid bed process for lignite. Higher gasification rates, better conversion than Winkler. Pressurized moving bed process- non-coking granular coal based. Less steam consumption, smaller reaction volumes and pure product gas than via Lurgi process. Pressurized entrained bedDry coal powder, lignite suitable. High thermal efficiency, pure product gas like that of Koppers- Totzek

Lurgi

Koppers-Totzek Winkler High temp. Winkler British GasLurgi slagging gasifier Shell

COAL HYDROGENATION:
In the F-T process, the hydrogen required to convert coal to aliphatic hydrocarbons is ultimately derived from water. In Bergius process, coal, lignite or coal tar were hydrogenated over an iron catalyst at 450 o C and 700 bar. Less drastic conditions were sufficient for coal hydrogenation when a solvent tetralin was used to hydrogenate the coal in a liquid- solid phase process at about 200 o C and 65 bar. Reference: Drydens OUTLINE OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY, 3rd Edition,1997, Ch. Coal & Coal Chemicals, pp 370-378. 2

COAL UTILIZ ATION W hat is coal and where in India is it available? Give the utilization pattern for coal in India? List the coal conversion processes. Nam e the products obtained. Approxim ate chem ical form ula of coal is (C3H4)n It is a hydrogen deficient solid hydrocarbon probably consisting of m any interlocked arom atic rings. Reserves of Coal in India were estim ated by the Geological Survey of India in199899 approxim ately as 79 billion tonnes and Lignite reserves as 29.36

billion tonnes.
States having coal deposits in India: Bihar (including Jharkhand), Bengal, M adhya Pradesh (including Chattisgarh), M aharashtra, Andhra and Orissa. Lignite: Reserve available in Tam il Nadu (1999) = 26 billion tones, Rest of the reserves is in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Coal production in India: 1983-84: 138 m illion tonnes 2000-01: 300 ,, ,, Lignite production in : 1997-98: 23 million tonnes Utilization Pattern for coal in India: Power Generation, To m anufacture coke and in Steel m ills, Cem ent m anufacture and Railways Sm aller use: As household fuel Coal Conversion Processes & products: 1. Coke M anufacture (Coke, Coal tar, Gas) 3. Coal Gasification (Synthesis gas, Fuel gas) 5. Coal Hydrogenation (liquid hydrocarbons) 2. Coal Tar Distillation (arom atics, pitch) 4. Liquefaction of Coal (hydrocarbons) 6. Coal com bustion (Steamfor power)

Refer: S. SARCAR, FUELS AND COM BUSTION, 2 ED. 1990, CH 3 & CH 4 Ch 3: Coal as solid fuel, ranking, origin, com position, analysis, action of heat, oxidation and hydrogenation of coal. Ch 4: Coal preparation, storage, carbonization, briquetting, gasification and liquefaction.

(Images 4 and 5)

(Image 6)

(Image 7)

(Image 8 and 9) Explosives used in mining

(Image 10) Workers using a Continuous Miner

(Image 11) (Image 12) Chris5of5.html Workers over looking a cutting machine as it loosens coal from a "long wall"

Technologies for Energy Conversion There are many different ways of mining, but they are separated into two categories, surface mining and underground mining. Surface mining is used when the coal is located close to the surface or on hillsides. Surface Mining This method pretty much involves removing the earth and rock that are covering the coal with heavy earth-moving equipment, removing the coal then replacing the excavated soil and reestablishing vegetation and plants. (webpage 6) The excavation usually on a stepped or benched, side slopes and can reach depths as low as 1500 ft. The advantages of surface mining is that it recovers 90% of the coal to be mined. (Book 2) Underground Mining (Webpage 4) This method is used to extract coal that lies deep beneath the Earth's surface. The coal is reached by drilling two openings into the coal bed to transport workers and equipment and to send coal to the surface. (images at top of page). Underground mining is broken up to 3 main methods: Conventional Mining: The older practice of using explosives to break up a coal seam Continuous Mining: Uses a huge machine with a large rotating steel drum equipped with tungsten carbide teeth, and it scrapes coal from a coal seam at high speeds. Long wall Mining: Uses a cutting machine with a large rotating steel drum that is dragged back and forth across a long wall or a seam of coal. The loosened coal then falls onto a conveyer belt and is taken out of the mine to the surface. Uses of Coal (webpage 7) According to the World Coal Institute, coal has many uses such as transportation, steel industry, domestic and agriculture uses and power generation. Most of the coal is being used for generating electricity.

1. Power Generation 2. Domestic 3. Steel Industry Non-Metallic Industry, 4. Cement 5. Other Commerce, public services, 6. transportation

62% 5% 16% 5% 2% 10%

Heavy Users of Coal around the World(1998) Poland South Africa Australia China India Czech Republic Greece Denmark USA 86% 90% 86% 81% 75% 74% 70% 59% 56% 8

Steel Production (Website 8) Around 67% of the steel that is produced world wide is made in a blast furnace where coke is used. Iron occurs in nature in chemical compounds, ores, Fe2O3, hematite. Coke is used to supply enough carbon as a reducing agent for the smelting of iron ore. Coal was first used in the 17th century because of over timbering. Also, iron can dissolve and react with H2S that is given off from coal. (Class notes) Gasification (Class notes) Gases are easier to handle, clean to burn and can be implemented into Natural Gas Coal Gas: a good flue gas from the volatile matter of heated coal (H2, CH4). Pros: Burns Clean, Cons: Low Yields, Produces Tars/Pollutants Producer Gas: Low calorific fuel gas from incomplete coal combustion (CO) Pros: Easy to produce, all coal goes to gaseous products and good for industrial processes Water Gas: formed from reacting coal with water at high temperature yielding a gas stream of H and CO Pros: high calorific value Cons: Endothermic, takes a lot of energy

Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) Electric Power Generation

Coal based electric power generation (i.e., direct combustion of coal in stoker fired and pulverised coal fired boilers) has historically been the backbone of the electric utility industry and this technology is well proven. But the technology has reached a plateau of maximum efficiency with only marginal potential for further improvements due to technical limitations. In addition to this limitation on efficiencies, tightening of environmental control requirements have resulted in substantial increase in both capital and operating costs to reduce emissions from conventional coalfired power plants and also in lowering plant efficiency and reliability, on the otherhand coal gasification technology has emerged as the most environmentally benign and competitive way of coal utilisation. Thus it would be of enormous benefit to the electric utility industry to find some practical means for combining the high efficiency of combined cycle system with the clean coal gasification-process for utilising coal which is a low cost and abundantly available fossil fuel. This has led to the development of IGCC Power system. IGCC is the technology designed to meet the higher efficiency and stringent environmental regulations required in the 21st century. IGCC systems have the potential to compete economically with conventional coalfired steam plants and have lowest possible level of
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pollution. As environmental control requirements increase, the economic advantages of IGCC would correspondingly increase. Similarly with further developments in coal gasification and gas turbine technologies taking place, the economic and performance benefits of IGCC would increase significantly. The efficiency of IGCC which is now around 40-45% is likely to increase to 55-60%. The capital cost of large and mature technology IGCC plants and PC plants with FGD are projected to be nearly same. IGCC is the most economical system when compared to the conventional pulverised coal fired plant for removal of sulfur and nitrogen. With high sulfur coals the efficiency difference between the two plants is higher since the auxiliary power consumption for the sulfur removal is up to 3% in the flue gas desulfurisation (FGD) unit of coalfired plant and negligible in the IGCC plant. IGCC plants require less water than coal fired plant as approximately 60% of power is generated from gas turbine. IGCC plants also require less land. IGCC systems are highly modular which enable phased construction and higher plants availability up to 85% or about 7400 hours per year of plant operation [7] and economy at smaller capacities of the order of 250 MW. Introduction of IGCC technology to utilities can create new business opportunities in the co-production of electricity with chemicals, liquid fuels etc. As the global demand for coal increases, worldwide carbon emissions will also increase. It is estimated that if all power producers were to use the most efficient clean coal technologies, IGCC being one of them, global carbon dioxide emissions could be cut by more than half, compared with the levels that would be emitted by the existing
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power plant technologies, i.e. pulverised coalfired [8]. The expert group on IGCC technology appointed by Govt. of India has prepared a Techno-Economic Feasibility Report (TEFR) in the year 1991 comparing the operational performance and economics of IGCC and PC based power generation for a 600 MW capacity plant with 35% ash coal. According to the results of the study given in Table 3 IGCC is more efficient, pollution is very less and capital and generation costs are comparable with PC plant [7]. IGCC technology is now moving from drawing board to commercial scale. A 250 MW IGCC plant of Tampa Electric Co. USA has successfully completed one year of commercial operation. The wabash project in USA of 262 MW IGCC plant began its commercial operation in November 1995. Sierra pacific pinion pine IGCC project, USA of 107 MW capacity is undergoing operation trials. A 250 MW IGCC plant at Buggenum, Netherlands has entered its final demonstration year. The capital cost of IGCC plant now is around $2000/kW which is likely to come down to $1500/kW. The global market for IGCC is expected to be 41 GW by 2004 [9]. 3.4 Integrated Gasification Fuel Cell Fuel cell is the most efficient and the least polluting system of power generation. Out of the 3 fuel cell systems based on the type of electrolyte used i.e. Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) and Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC), the latter two are suitable to utilise coal gas which resulted in the development of Integrated Gasification Fuel Cell (IGFC) System. PAFC is nearly commercial and the other two (MCFC and SOFC) are at development stage.
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IGFC can attain efficiencies up to 60% and are cool enough to prevent NOx formation. Sulfur and particulate present in the coal are removed during the gasification process before feeding the fuel gas to the fuel cell. A comparison between the emissions of a coalfired conventional power plant and IGFC system is given in the table 4 which shows that fuel cell generates extremely clean power [10]. There are two major challenges with respect to commercialisation of fuel cell: initial cost and reliable life. The two problems have to be solved to improve the economics of fuel cell.

3.5 Other Technologies In addition to IGCC, two other relevant technologies for power generation are : Pressurised Fluidised Bed Combustion (PFBC) and High Concentration Coal Water Slurry (HCCWS). The PFBC technology is demonstrated in 80-100 MW scale abroad. The PFBC is dependant on hot gas cleaning for the removal of particulate from the flue gases or on a heavy duty gas turbine which can tolerate particulate matter in the flue gases. Both hot gas cleanup and heavy duty gas turbine are under development. IGCC also incorporates a hot gas cleanup system which increases the overall efficiency, but wet scrubbing by water can be employed in place of hot gas cleanup with some loss in efficiency. Thus PFBC compared to IGCC is constrained by availability of hot gas cleanup technology. Another major disadvantage with PFBC is that more power is generated from steam turbine which is less efficient compared to gas turbine. Whereas in IGCC, more power is generated from the gas turbine and
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hence is more efficient. Continuous developments are taking place in the gas turbine technology which could result in higher efficiencies in IGCC beyond 50%. Such improvements in the steam turbine are limited. HCCWS consisting of 70% solids and 30% water is used for power generation either through combustion or gasification route. High ash content in the coal thermally penalises the conversion processes of coal slurry resulting in lower and uneconomical efficiencies. Therefore the coals have to be necessarily washed to bring down the ash content to around 15% to improve the efficiency and economics. But the cost of preparation of slurry itself depends upon the technoeconomics of washing which are at present unattractive for high ash coals. Thus application of HCCWS technology to high ash coal mainly depends on technoeconomics of washing the coal.

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