BR I personally thought the whole article was worth a read. I noted the following: That the dominance of coal is here for some time to come, It also raises the legitimate question as to what, if anything, could change the role coal plays in power generation, currently at 41% worldwide. Also Ultra-fine coal dewatering and low-rank coal dewatering have been on the agenda for over 100 years. The U.S. Department of Energy has funded significant work in recent years in the use of dewatering aids, hyperbaric centrifugal filters, and the dewatering by displacement process. Upgrading of low-rank coals has long been possible technically; to date the challenge has been related to the economics and the engineering detail. As well, many of the products from these processes have suffered from self-heating or dusting problems. One (of many) that looks particularly promising is the mild hydrothermal upgrading recently demonstrated by the Exergen company with results at tonnage scales. A range of low-rank coals have been upgraded from moisture contents around 60–70% to product at 20–25%. Hydrothermal dewatered coal slurry appears to be an ideal fuel for high-efficiency direct injection coal engines.
MNM Price at posting:
4.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
