Coal Production Quality Adjustment to the Requirements of the Air Protection Standards in Katowicki Holding Weglowy Coal Mines

摘要

EU directives together with Polish international obligations related to the observance of the air protection standards make steam coal consumers take actions to meet the requirements of the air protection standards. Very often these actions focus on replacing coal technologies with natural gas or fuel oil technologies. In order to keep and even enlarge its sale markets, Katowicki Holding Weglowy has recently taken actions to increase the competitiveness of coal in comparison to other fuels. It means first of all the production of coals high in caloric value but low in sulphur and chlorine contents. Another field of interest is the production of coal and bio-mass mixtures and the promotion of modern coast combustion technologies for small and medium power generators (up to 8 MW). The paper presents a brief characteristics of coal washing technologies applied in KHW mines, and also the economic and ecological effects of the technological and organisational actions taken.