Engineering/Economic Analysis of Coal Preparation with Flue-Gas Desulfurization for Keeping Higher-Sulfur Coals in the Energy Market

摘要

This assessment indicated the potential attractiveness of coal cleaning combined with flue gas desulfurization (FGD). In 1980, the Department of Energy decided, due to the very substantial changes in economic conditions that have occurred since 1975, to sponsor an effort to update the previous study. The emission standards used were those applicable as of January 1981. Every attempt was made to insure a conservative analysis. The intent was to understate rather than overstate economic benefits. In this regard, attempts were made to employ cost-related factors such as transportation, ash disposal, grinding, cleaning plant utilization, cleaning plant operation and maintenance, etc., that would tend toward conservative economic findings. The results indicate that for many potential situations the economic advantage of a combined approach is quite significant. Key elements in economic advantage relate to: (1) the availability of coals capable of significant reductions in ash and sulfur at reasonable Btu recovery levels; and (2) a beneficiated-coal sulfur level compatible with significantly less than full-scale scrubbing requirements. Even so, the range of variables is such that each source-user combination must be individually assessed (48 cases were analyzed). The cost assessments of FGD combined with coal cleaning as compared to FGD used alone indicated savings as high as 70% to an additional 3% cost as compared to flue gas desulfurization alone when applied to new steam coal utilities; the results are even more impressive for existing plants, where study assessments indicated a 15% to 91% savings. (ERA citation 07:052582)