Technical/Economic Analyses of Mine-to-Market Scenarios Involving Varying Levels of Coal Preparation and Coal Water Slurry Production Using a Computerized Coal Evaluation Model: Final Report

摘要

The Coal Evaluation Model (CEM) has been designed to allow the user to estimate the costs associated with different mine-to-market coal use scenarios under a variety of technical and economic constraints. This has been accomplished by establishing an algorithm which provides for a series of functional elements which can be linked together in various combinations depending upon the market objectives and limitations assumed by the user. These include the ability to separate the raw coal from its associated impurities as defined by its unique washability analyses and subject the beneficiated product to a variety of optional process, steps, culminating in a computation of the estimated cost of each link. By selectively including links, the user has the capability to evaluate a broad spectrum of conceivable mine-to-market scenarios. At the core of the CEM is a sophisticated data management system which permits the user to establish a coal washability library holding thousands of records, each having as many as five separate size fractions. These data can be easily recovered and manipulated according to product quality or separation efficiency criteria to define a theoretical feed for shipment direct to market or to subsequent process steps. This feed can be raw or beneficiated depending upon the nature of the scenario being defined and the availability of coal data. At the user's option, this coal feed can be incorporated into a coal use scenario which may include conventional physical preparation, advanced preparation, pelletization, and/or slurry production. Besides serving as a convenient means for managing large volumes of coal washability data and making rapid estimates of the costs associated with reasonably elaborate mine-to-market coal use scenarios, the CEM can be an efficient tool for performing sensitivity analyses. (ERA citation 12:036364)