ENHANCING LOW-RANK COALS

摘要

Low-rank coals (LRCs), such as lignite and sub-bituminous coals, have high total moisture contents. These typically range between 30 - 70%. This usually limits their use to the direct surroundings of the coal deposit, because transport is not economical. Therefore, a common use for LRCs is electricity generation in mine mouth power plants. However, it is often the case that the location of the coal deposit is not close enough to electrical consumers. This in turn means the economic feasibility of such a power plant may be questionable, because of the development costs for power cistribution. Additionally, the emissions of carbon dioxide are higher than in conventional coal-fired power plants.2