Sulfur Reduction Technologies In Coals By Mechanical Beneficiation PDF Download

Coal beneficiation as a means of reducing the sulfur and the ash content of coal is receiving increasing attention in the nation's drive to switch from the use of oil and gas to coal to meet the nation's energy requirements. However, increasingly stringent environmental controls are being placed on coal-burning plants. This paper briefly reviews current coal beneficiation practices and the advances in coal beneficiation technology that are being developed to significantly reduce the sulfur content of many high-sulfur coals. Technical and economic comparisons are presented for two currently used and two more recently developed coal beneficiation processes. The comparisons are based on conceptual process designs (developed on a common basis) for beneficiation plants designed to produce 1500 and 15,000 tons of moisture- and ash-free (MAF) coal per day. Three high-sulfur coals from significant U.S. coal-producing regions were chosen as feed coals to the conceptual plants. Results are presented for both ''grassroots'' and battery-limits-type beneficiation plants. The following conclusions may be drawn regarding the four beneficiation processes evaluated: 1. Wet mechanical beneficiation processes represent the least-cost methods. Costs for the chemical beneficiation processes are significantly higher. 2. Chemical beneficiation processes have the potential for effecting much greater sulfur reduction than the wet mechanical beneficiation processes. This is significant when considering the much lower SO/sub x/ emission levels that are being promulgated for coal-burning plants.