Coal Energy

Obama sides with coal over clean energy

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 09:18:00 +0000

The Sierra Club is troubled by the Obama Administration’s support of the Susquehanna-Roseland project. The transmission line will be part of a pilot program to fast-track federal permitting on major power line projects. However, the unnecessary Susquehanna-Roseland line will bring dirty coal power into New Jersey while cutting across our public lands. The project is being used by PSE&G to increase exports of cleaner energy produced in state to New York City, where they can charge higher rates.

The president is wrong. The Susquehanna-Roseland project is not about renewable energy and will not create long-term jobs. The Susquehanna-Roseland line undermines green energy jobs as we invest in antiquated technology instead of a smart grid, energy efficiency and demand response programs.

President Obama is moving us in the wrong direction on energy issues. This is the third disappointment in the past two months. First, the approval of the Keystone pipeline to carry tar sands oil across the country, then scrapping the smog rule, and now promoting the expanded exportation of coal-fired energy through this pilot program and the Susquehanna-Roseland line.

The Susquehanna-Roseland line is unnecessary. Energy demand has dropped significantly and energy efficiency programs, local renewable generation, and grid reliability have increased in New Jersey. We do not need the power line and investing in clean energy programs in New Jersey would create many more jobs than shipping our money to Pennsylvania for dirty coal.

The National Park Service is currently reviewing the environmental impacts of the project as it crosses our federal public lands at the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, the Middle Delaware Scenic and Recreational River, and the Appalachian Trail. This new pilot program could jeopardize the NPS environmental review and put our public lands at risk. The NPS review could ultimately dramatically alter the route of the line or determine that the project is not needed at all under the “No Build” alternative and an expedited review under this pilot program would interfere with that process. The NPS review must not be rushed. They are examining eight alternatives, including three that would move the project entirely outside of the Delaware Water Gap.

(source)

Environmental Effects of Coal Burning

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 17:56:00 +0000

There are a number of adverse health and environmental effects of coal burning especially in power stations, and of coal mining. These effects include:

Coal-fired power plants shorten nearly 24,000 lives a year in the United States, including 2,800 from lung cancer
Generation of hundreds of millions of tons of waste products, including fly ash, bottom ash, flue gas desulfurization sludge, that contain mercury, uranium, thorium, arsenic, and other heavy metals
Acid rain from high sulfur coal
Interference with groundwater and water table levels
Contamination of land and waterways and destruction of homes from fly ash spills such as Kingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spill
Impact of water use on flows of rivers and consequential impact on other land-uses
Dust nuisance
Subsidence above tunnels, sometimes damaging infrastructure
Uncontrollable underground fires which may burn for decades or centuries.
Coal-fired power plants without effective fly ash capture are one of the largest sources of human-caused background radiation exposure
Coal-fired power plants emit mercury, selenium, and arsenic which are harmful to human health and the environment
Release of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, which causes climate change and global warming according to the IPCC and the EPA. Coal is the largest contributor to the human-made increase of CO₂ in the air

Carbon Intensity of Coal

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 14:27:00 +0000

Commercial coal has a carbon content of at least 70%. Coal with a heating value of 6.67 kWh per kilogram as quoted above has a carbon content of roughly 80%, which is

, where 1 mol equals to N_A (Avogadro Number) atoms.

Carbon combines with oxygen in the atmosphere during combustion, producing carbon dioxide, with an atomic weight of (12 + 16 × 2 = 44 kg/kmol). The CO₂ released to air for each kilogram of incinerated coal is therefore

This can be used to calculate an emission factor for CO₂ from the use of coal power. Since the useful energy output of coal is about 30% of the 6.67 kWh/kg(coal), the burning of 1 kg of coal produces about 2 kWh of electrical energy. Since 1 kg coal emits 2.93 kg CO₂, the direct CO₂ emissions from coal power are 1.47 kg/kWh, or about 0.407 kg/MJ.

The U.S. Energy Information Agency's 1999 report on CO₂ emissions for energy generation, quotes a lower emission factor of 0.963 kg CO₂/kWh for coal power. The same source gives a factor for oil power in the U.S. of 0.881 kg CO₂/kWh, while natural gas has 0.569 kg CO₂/kWh. Estimates for specific emission from nuclear power, hydro, and wind energy vary, but are about 100 times lower.

Energy Density of Coal

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 14:26:00 +0000

The energy density of coal, i.e. its heating value, is roughly 24 megajoules per kilogram.

The energy density of coal can also be expressed in kilowatt-hours, the units that electricity is most commonly sold in, per units of mass to estimate how much coal is required to power electrical appliances. One kilowatt-hour is 3.6 MJ, so the energy density of coal is 6.67 kW·h/kg. The typical thermodynamic efficiency of coal power plants is about 30%, so of the 6.67 kW·h of energy per kilogram of coal, 30% of that—2.0 kW·h/kg—can successfully be turned into electricity; the rest is waste heat. So coal power plants obtain approximately 2.0 kW·h per kilogram of burned coal.

As an example, running one 100-watt lightbulb for one year requires 876 kW·h (100 W × 24 h/day × 365 day/year = 876000 W·h = 876 kW·h). Converting this power usage into physical coal consumption:

It takes 325 kg (714 lb) of coal to power a 100 W lightbulb for one year. One should also take into account transmission and distribution losses caused by resistance and heating in the power lines, which is in the order of 5–10%, depending on distance from the power station and other factors.

Refined Coal

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 14:03:00 +0000

Refined coal is the product of the application of a coal upgrading technology that removes moisture and certain pollutants from lower-rank coals such as sub-bituminous and lignite (brown) coals and raising their calorific values. Coal refining or upgrading technologies are typically pre-combustion treatments and/or processes that alter the characteristics of a coal before it is burned. The goals of pre-combustion coal upgrading technologies are to increase efficiency and reduce emissions when coal is burned. Depending on the situation, pre-combustion technology can be used in place of or as a supplement to post-combustion technologies to control emissions from coal-fueled boilers. A primary benefit of refined coal is the capacity to reduce the net volume of carbon emissions that is currently emitted from power generators and would reduce the amount of emissions that is proposed to be managed via emerging carbon sequestration methodologies. Refined coal technologies have primarily been developed in the United States, several similar technologies have been researched, developed and tested in Victoria, Australia, including the Densified coal technology (Coldry Process) developed to alter the chemical bonds of brown coal to create a product that is cleaner, stable (not prone to spontaneous combustion), exportable and of sufficiently high calorific value to be a black coal equivalent.

Commercial Development of Refined Coal

United States

Evergreen Energy constructed a full-scale coal refinery near Gillette, Wyoming that began operation in late 2005. Designed originally to be a commercial plant, the facility encountered design and operational problems. Evergreen idled the facility in March 2008 and instead used the plant as a process development platform with its engineering, construction and procurement contractor Bechtel Power Corporation.

Evergreen is now seeking to construct a coal refinery using the improved Bechtel design at locations in the Midwestern United States and in Asia.

Australia

Calleja Group constructed a full-scale 16,000 tonne per annum pilot demonstration plant at JBD Business Park at Maddingley Mine near Bacchus Marsh, Victoria that began operation in early 2004. From 2005 ECT Limited upgraded the facility, added a water recovery process with Victorian Government funding in 2007 and operated the plant as a process development platform with its engineering partner ARUP. In 2009 ECT Limited secured and agreement with Thang Long Investment Company (Tincom) of Vietnam to finalise commercial feasibility ahead of construction of a 2 million tonne pa export plant by 2014 and 20 million tonne pa export by 2020. ECT Limited is using the ARUP improved design to secure technology licensing agreements with brown coal suppliers in China, India, Indonesia, Poland, Greece and Russia.

Coal Liquefaction Methods

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:39:00 +0000

Coal liquefaction is the process of producing synthetic liquid fuels from coal.

The Coal liquefaction processes are classified as direct conversion to liquids processes and indirect conversion to liquids processeses. Direct processes are carbonization and hydrogenation.

Pyrolysis and carbonization processes

There are a number of carbonization processes. The carbonization conversion occurs through pyrolysis or destructive distillation, and it produces condensable coal tar, oil and water vapor, non-condensable synthetic gas, and a solid residue-char. The condensed coal tar and oil are then further processed by hydrogenation to remove sulfur and nitrogen species, after which they are processed into fuels.

The typical example of carbonization is the Karrick process. The process was invented by Lewis Cass Karrick in the 1920s. The Karrick process is a low-temperature carbonization process, where coal is heated at 680 °F (360 °C) to 1,380 °F (750 °C) in the absence of air. These temperatures optimize the production of coal tars richer in lighter hydrocarbons than normal coal tar. However, the produced liquids are mostly a by-product and the main product is semi-coke, a solid and smokeless fuel.

The COED Process, developed by FMC Corporation, uses a fluidized bed for processing, in combination with increasing temperature, through four stages of pyrolysis. Heat is transferred by hot gases produced by combustion of part of the produced char. A modification of this process, the COGAS Process, involves the addition of gasification of char. The TOSCOAL Process, an analogue to the TOSCO II oil shale retorting process and Lurgi-Ruhrgas process, which is also used for the shale oil extraction, uses hot recycled solids for the heat transfer.

Liquid yields of pyrolysis and Karrick processes are generally low for practical use for synthetic liquid fuel production. Furthermore, the resulting liquids are of low quality and require further treatment before they can be used as motor fuels. In summary, there is little possibility that this process will yield economically viable volumes of liquid fuel.

Hydrogenation processes

One of the main methods of direct conversion of coal to liquids by hydrogenation process is the Bergius process. The Bergius process was developed by Friedrich Bergius in 1913. In this process, dry coal is mixed with heavy oil recycled from the process. Catalyst is typically added to the mixture. The reaction occurs at between 400 °C (752 °F) to 5,000 °C (9,030 °F) and 20 to 70 MPa hydrogen pressure. The reaction can be summarized as follows:

n C + (n + 1) H₂ → C_nH_{2 n + 2}

After World War I several plants were built in Germany; these plants were extensively used during World War II to supply Germany with fuel and lubricants. The Kohleoel Process, developed in Germany by Ruhrkohle and VEBA, was used in the demonstration plant with the capacity of 200 ton of lignite per day, built in Bottrop, Germany. This plant operated from 1981 to 1987. In this process, coal is mixed with a recycle solvent and iron catalyst. After preheating and pressurizing, H₂ is added. The process takes place in a tubular reactor at the pressure of 300 bar and at the temperature of 470 °C (880 °F). This process was also explored by SASOL in South Africa.

In 1970-1980s, Japanese companies Nippon Kokan, Sumitomo Metal Industries and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries developed the NEDOL process. In this process, coal is mixed with a recycled solvent and a synthetic iron-based catalyst; after preheating H₂ is added. The reaction takes place in a tubular reactor at temperature between 430 °C (810 °F) and 465 °C (870 °F) at the pressure 150-200 bar. The produced oil has low quality and requires intensive upgrading. H-Coal process, developed by Hydrocarbon Research, Inc., in 1963, mixes pulverized coal with recycled liquids, hydrogen and catalyst in the ebullated bed reactor. Advantages of this process are that dissolution and oil upgrading are taking place in the single reactor, products have high H/C ratio, and a fast reaction time, while the main disadvantages are high gas yield (this is basically a thermal cracking process), high hydrogen consumption, and limitation of oil usage only as a boiler oil because of impurities.

The SRC-I and SRC-II (Solvent Refined Coal) processes developed by Gulf Oil and implemented as pilot plants in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. The Nuclear Utility Services Corporation developed hydrogenation process which was patented by Wilburn C. Schroeder in 1976. The process involved dried, pulverized coal mixed with roughly 1wt% molybdenum catalysts. Hydrogenation occurred by use of high temperature and pressure synthesis gas produced in a separate gasifier. The process ultimately yielded a synthetic crude product, Naphtha, a limited amount of C₃/C₄ gas, light-medium weight liquids (C₅-C₁₀) suitable for use as fuels, small amounts of NH₃ and significant amounts of CO₂. Other single-stage hydrogenation processes are the Exxon Donor Solvent Process, the Imhausen High-pressure Process, and the Conoco Zinc Chloride Process.

There is also a number of two-stage direct liquefaction processes; however, after 1980s only the Catalytic Two-stage Liquefaction Process, modified from the H-Coal Process; the Liquid Solvent Extraction Process by British Coal; and the Brown Coal Liquefaction Process of Japan have been developed.

Shenhua, the Chinese coal miner, decided in 2002 to build a direct liquefaction plant in Inner Mongolia, with barrel capacity of 20 thousand barrels per day (3.2×10³ m³/d). First tests were implemented at the end of 2008. A second and longer test campaign was started in October 2009.

Chevron Corporation developed a process invented by Joel W. Rosenthal called the Chevron Coal Liquefaction Process (CCLP). It is unique due the close-coupling of the non-catalytic dissolver and the catalytic hydroprocessing unit. The oil produced had properties that were unique when compared to other coal oils; it was lighter and had far fewer heteroatom impurities. The process was scaled-up to the 6 ton per day level, but not proven commercially.

Indirect conversion processes

The main indirect process is the Fischer-Tropsch process. In this process, coal is first gasified to make syngas (a balanced purified mixture of CO and H₂ gas). Next, Fischer-Tropsch catalysts are used to convert the syngas into light hydrocarbons (like ethane) which are further processed into gasoline and diesel. This method was used on a large technical scale in Germany between 1934 and 1945 and is currently being used by Sasol in South Africa. In addition to creating gasoline, syngas can also be converted into methanol, which can be used as a fuel, or into a fuel additive.

Syngas may be converted to liquids through conversion of the syngas to methanol which is subsequently polymerized into alkanes over a zeolite catalyst. This process, named as the Mobil MTG Process, was developed by Mobil in early 1970s.

Environmental Effects of Coal Gasification

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 13:01:00 +0000

Environmental Effects of Coal Gasification: From its original development until the wide-scale adoption of natural gas, more than 50,000 manufactured gas plants were in existence in the United States alone. The process of manufacturing gas usually produced a number of by-products that contaminated the soil and groundwater in and around the manufacturing plant, so many former town gas plants are a serious environmental concern, and cleanup and remediation costs are often high. Manufactured gas plants (MGPs) were typically sited near or adjacent to waterways that were used to transport in coal and for the discharge of wastewater contaminated with tar, ammonia and/or drip oils, as well as outright waste tars and tar-water emulsions.

In the earliest days of MGP operations, coal tar was considered a waste and often disposed into the environment in and around the plant locations. While uses for coal tar developed by the late-19th century, the market for tar varied and plants that could not sell tar at a given time could store tar for future use, attempt to burn it as fuel for the boilers, or dump the tar as waste. Commonly, waste tars were disposed of in old gas holders, adits or even mine shafts (if present). Over time, the waste tars degrade with phenols, benzene (and other mono-aromatics – BTEX) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons released as pollutant plumes that can escape into the surrounding environment. Other wastes included "blue billy", which is a ferroferricyanide compound—the blue colour is from Prussian blue, which was commercially used as a dye. Blue billy is typically a granular material and was sometimes sold locally with the strap line "guaranteed weed free drives". The presence of blue billy can give gas works waste a characteristic musty/bitter almonds or marzipan smell which is associated with cyanide gas.

The shift to the CWG process initially resulted in a reduced output of water gas tar as compared to the volume of coal tars. The advent of automobiles reduced the availability of naphtha for carburetion oil, as that fraction was desirable as motor fuel. MGPs that shifted to heavier grades of oil often experienced problems with the production of tar-water emulsions, which were difficult, time consuming, and costly to break. (The cause of tar-water emulsions is complex and was related to several factors, including free carbon in the carburetion oil and the substitution of bituminous coal as a feedstock instead of coke.) The production of large volumes of tar-water emulsions quickly filled up available storage capacity at MGPs and plant management often dumped the emulsions in pits, from which they may or may not have been later reclaimed. Even if the emulsions were reclaimed, the environmental damage from placing tars in unlined pits remained. The dumping of emulsions (and other tarry residues such as tar sludges, tank bottoms, and off-spec tars) into the soil and waters around MGPs is a significant factor in the pollution found at FMGPs today.

Commonly associated with former manufactured gas plants (known as "FMGPs" in environmental remediation) are contaminants including:

BTEX
- Diffused out from deposits of coal/gas tars
- Leaks of carburetting oil/light oil
- Leaks from drip pots, that collected condensible hydrocarbons from the gas
Coal tar waste/sludge
- Typically found in sumps of gas holders/decanting ponds.
- Coal tar sludge has no resale value and so was always dumped.
Volatile organic compounds
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
- Present in coal tar, gas tar, and pitch at significant concentrations.
Heavy metals
- Leaded solder for gas mains, lead piping, coal ashes.
Cyanide
- Purifier waste has large amounts of complex ferrocyanides in it.
Lampblack
- Only found where crude oil was used as gasification feedstock.
Tar emulsions

Coal tar and coal tar sludges are frequently denser than water and are present in the environment as a dense non-aqueous phase liquid.

In the UK, former gasworks have commonly been developed over for residential and other uses (including the Millennium Dome), being seen as prime developable land in the confines of city boundaries. Situations such as these are now lead to problems associated with planning and the Contaminated Land Regime and have recently been debated in the House of Commons.

The more modern coal gasification processes (circa 1970 to 2006) also have environmental problems requiring various available technologies for mitigation.

UCG Environmental and Social Impacts

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 17:08:00 +0000

Underground Coal Gasification Environmental and Social Impacts

Eliminating mining eliminates mine safety issues. Compared to traditional coal mining and processing the underground coal gasification eliminates surface damage and solid waste discharge, and reduces sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions. For comparison, the ash content of UCG syngas is estimated to be approximately 10 mg/m³ compared to smoke from traditional coal burning where ash content may be up to 70 mg/m³. However, UCG operations cannot be controlled as precisely as surface gasifiers. Variable include the rate of water influx, the distribution of reactants in the gasification zone, and the growth rate of the cavity. These can only be estimated from temperature measurements, and analyzing product gas quality and quantity.

Subsidence is a common issue with all forms of extractive industry. While UCG leaves the ash behind in the cavity, the depth of the void left after UCG is typically more than other methods of coal extraction.

Underground combustion produces NO_x and SO₂ and lowers emissions, including acid rain. The process has advantages for geologic carbon storage. Combining UCG with CCS technology allows re-injecting some of the CO₂ on-site into the highly permeable rock created during the burning process, i.e. where the coal used to be. Contaminants such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide can be removed from product gas at a relatively low cost.

Aquifer contamination is a potential environmental concerns. Organic and often toxic materials (such as phenol) remain in the underground chamber after gasification and therefore are likely to leach into ground water, absent appropriate site selection. Phenol leachate is the most significant environmental hazard due to its high water solubility and high reactiveness to gasification. Livermore conducted a burn at Hoe Creek, Wyoming, producing operating pressure in the burn cavity greater than the surrounding rock, forcing contaminants (including the carcinogen benzene) into potable groundwater. However, some research has shown that the persistence of such substances in the water is short and that ground water recovers within two years

Underground Coal Gasification

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 17:03:00 +0000

Underground coal gasification (UCG) is an industrial process, which converts coal into product gas. UCG is an in-situ gasification process carried out in non-mined coal seams using injection of oxidants, and bringing the product gas to surface through production wells drilled from the surface. The product gas could to be used as a chemical feedstock or as fuel for power generation. The technique can be applied to resources that are otherwise unprofitable or technically complicated to extract by traditional mining methods and it also offers an alternative to conventional coal mining methods for some resources.

Process of Underground Coal Gasification

Underground coal gasification converts coal to gas while still in the coal seam (in-situ). Gas is produced and extracted through wells drilled into the unmined coal–seam. Injection wells are used to supply the oxidants (air, oxygen, or steam) to ignite and fuel the underground combustion process. Separate production wells are used to bring the product gas to surface. The high pressure combustion is conducted at temperature of 700–900 °C (1290–1650 °F), but it may reach up to 1,500 °C (2,730 °F). The process decomposes coal and generates carbon dioxide (CO₂), hydrogen (ḥ), carbon monoxide (CO) and small quantities of methane (CH₄) and hydrogen sulfide(H₂S). As the coal face burns and the immediate area is depleted, the oxidants injected are controlled by the operator.

As coal varies considerably in its resistance to flow, depending on its age, composition and geological history, the natural permeability of the coal to transport the gas is generally not adequate. For high pressure break-up of the coal, hydro-fracturing, electric-linkage, and reverse combustion may be used in varying degrees.

Two methods are commercially available. One uses vertical wells and a method of reverse combustion to open internal pathways in the coal. The process was used in the Soviet Union and was later modified by Ergo Exergy. It was tested in Chinchilla site in 1998–2003. Livermore developed another method that creates dedicated inseam boreholes, using drilling and completion technology adapted from oil and gas production. It has a movable injection point known as CRIP (controlled retraction injection point) and generally uses oxygen or enriched air for gasification.

According to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation the following coal seam characteristics are most suitable for the underground coal gasification:

Depth of 100–600 metres (330–2,000 ft)
Thickness more than 5 metres (16 ft)
Ash content less than 60%
Minimal discontinuities
No nearby aquifers (to avoid polluting supplies of drinking water).

Types of Coal

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Tue, 24 May 2011 15:09:00 +0000

As geological processes apply pressure to dead biotic material over time, under suitable conditions it is transformed successively into:

Peat, considered to be a precursor of coal, has industrial importance as a fuel in some regions, for example, Ireland and Finland. In its dehydrated form, peat is a highly effective absorbent for fuel and oil spills on land and water
Lignite, also referred to as brown coal, is the lowest rank of coal and used almost exclusively as fuel for electric power generation. Jet is a compact form of lignite that is sometimes polished and has been used as an ornamental stone since the Upper Palaeolithic
Sub-bituminous coal, whose properties range from those of lignite to those of bituminous coal are used primarily as fuel for steam-electric power generation. Additionally, it is an important source of light aromatic hydrocarbons for the chemical synthesis industry.
Bituminous coal, dense sedimentary rock, black but sometimes dark brown, often with well-defined bands of bright and dull material, used primarily as fuel in steam-electric power generation, with substantial quantities also used for heat and power applications in manufacturing and to make coke
Steam coal is a grade between bituminous coal and anthracite, once widely used as a fuel for steam locomotives. In this specialized use it is sometimes known as sea-coal in the U.S. Small steam coal (dry small steam nuts or DSSN) was used as a fuel for domestic water heating
Anthracite, the highest rank; a harder, glossy, black coal used primarily for residential and commercial space heating. It may be divided further into metamorphically altered bituminous coal and petrified oil, as from the deposits in Pennsylvania
Graphite, technically the highest rank, but difficult to ignite and is not so commonly used as fuel: it is mostly used in pencils and, when powdered, as a lubricant.

The classification of coal is generally based on the content of volatiles. However, the exact classification varies between countries. According to the German classification, coal is classified as follows:

Name	Volatiles %	C Carbon %	H Hydrogen %	O Oxygen %	S Sulfur %	Heat content kJ/kg
Braunkohle (Lignite)	45-65	60-75	6.0-5.8	34-17	0.5-3	<28470
Flammkohle (Flame coal)	40-45	75-82	6.0-5.8	>9.8	~1	<32870
Gasflammkohle (Gas flame coal)	35-40	82-85	5.8-5.6	9.8-7.3	~1	<33910
Gaskohle (Gas coal)	28-35	85-87.5	5.6-5.0	7.3-4.5	~1	<34960
Fettkohle (Fat coal)	19-28	87.5-89.5	5.0-4.5	4.5-3.2	~1	<35380
Esskohle (Forge coal)	14-19	89.5-90.5	4.5-4.0	3.2-2.8	~1	<35380
Magerkohle (Non baking coal)	10-14	90.5-91.5	4.0-3.75	2.8-3.5	~1	35380
Anthrazit (Anthracite)	7-12	>91.5	<3.75	<2.5	~1	<35300
Percent by weight

The middle six grades in the table represent a progressive transition from the English-language sub-bituminous to bituminous coal, while the last class is an approximate equivalent to anthracite, but more inclusive (the U.S. anthracite has < 6% volatiles).

Cannel coal (sometimes called "candle coal"), is a variety of fine-grained, high-rank coal with significant hydrogen content. It consists primarily of "exinite" macerals, now termed "liptinite".

Largest Coal Importers by Country

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Sun, 22 May 2011 14:37:00 +0000

Countries with annual import higher than 30 million tonnes are shown.

**Imports of Coal by Country and year (million short tons)**
Country	2006	2007	2008	2009	Share
Japan	199.7	209.0	206.0	182.1	17.5%
China	42.0	56.2	44.5	151.9	14.5%
South Korea	84.1	94.1	107.1	109.9	10.6%
India	52.7	29.6	70.9	76.7	7.4%
Taiwan	69.1	72.5	70.9	64.6	6.2%
Germany	50.6	56.2	55.7	45.9	4.4%
United Kingdom	56.8	48.9	49.2	42.2	4.1%
Total	991.8	1,056.5	1,063.2	1,039.8	100%

Largest Coal Exporters by Country

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Sun, 22 May 2011 14:35:00 +0000

Countries with annual export higher than 10 million tonnes are shown.

**Exports of Coal by Country and year (million short tons)**
Country	2007	2008	2009	Share
Australia	268.5	278.0	288.5	26.5%
Indonesia	221.9	228.2	261.4	24.0%
Russia	112.2	115.4	130.9	12.0%
Colombia	74.5	74.7	75.7	6.9%
South Africa	72.6	68.2	73.8	6.8%
USA	60.6	83.5	60.4	5.5%
China	75.4	68.8	38.4	3.5%
Canada	33.4	36.5	31.9	2.9%
Vietnam	35.1	21.3	28.2	2.6%
Kazakhstan	32.8	47.6	25.7	2.4%
Poland	20.1	16.1	14.6	1.3%
Total	1,073.4	1,087.3	1,090.8	100%

Coal Production by Country

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Sun, 22 May 2011 14:33:00 +0000

The reserve life is an estimate based only on current production levels and proved reserves level for the countries shown, and makes no assumptions of future production or even current production trends. This is a list of countries by coal production in 2009 based mostly on Statistical Review of World Energy 2010 published in 2010 by BP ranks countries with coal production larger than 100 millions tonnes.

**Production of Coal by Country and year (million tonnes)**
Country	2007	2008	2009	Share	Reserve Life (years)
China	2526.0	2782.0	3050.0	45.6 %	38
USA	1040.2	1062.8	973.2	15.8 %	245
India	478.4	521.7	557.6	6.2 %	105
EU	593.4	587.7	536.8	4.6 %	55
Australia	399.0	401.5	409.2	6.7 %	186
Russia	314.2	326.5	298.1	4.3 %	150+
Indonesia	217.4	229.5	252.5	3.6 %	17
South Africa	247.7	250.4	250.0	3.6 %	122
Germany	201.9	192.4	183.7	2.6 %	37
Poland	145.9	143.9	135.1	1.7 %	56
Kazakhstan	97.8	111.1	101.5	1.5 %	308
Total World	6,421.2	6,781.2	6,940.6	100 %	119

World Coal Reserves

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Sun, 22 May 2011 14:29:00 +0000

The 930 billion short tons of recoverable coal reserves estimated by the Energy Information Administration are equal to about 4,116 BBOE (billion barrels of oil equivalent). The amount of coal burned during 2007 was estimated at 7.075 billion short tons, or 133.179 quadrillion BTU's. This is an average of 18.8 million BTU per short ton. In terms of heat content, this is about 57,000,000 barrels (9,100,000 m³) of oil equivalent per day. By comparison in 2007, natural gas provided 51,000,000 barrels (8,100,000 m³) of oil equivalent per day, while oil provided 85,800,000 barrels per day.

BP, in its 2007 report, estimated at 2006 end that there were 909,064 million tons of proven coal reserves worldwide, or 147 years reserves-to-production ratio. This figure only includes reserves classified as "proven"; exploration drilling programs by mining companies, particularly in under-explored areas, are continually providing new reserves. In many cases, companies are aware of coal deposits that have not been sufficiently drilled to qualify as "proven". However, some nations haven't updated their information and assume reserves remain at the same levels even with withdrawals. Collective projections generally predict that global peak coal production may occur sometime around 2025 at 30 percent above current production in the best case scenario, depending on future coal production rates.

Of the three fossil fuels, coal has the most widely distributed reserves; coal is mined in over 100 countries, and on all continents except Antarctica. The largest reserves are found in the USA, Russia, China, India and Australia. Note the table below.

**Proved recoverable coal reserves (million tons (teragrams))**
Country	Bituminous & Anthracite	SubBituminous	Lignite	TOTAL	Percentage of World Total
United States	108,501	98,618	30,176	237,295	22.6
Russia	49,088	97,472	10,450	157,010	14.4
China	62,200	33,700	18,600	114,500	12.6
Australia	37,100	2,100	37,200	76,500	8.9
India	56,100	0	4,500	60,600	7.0
Germany	99	0	40,600	40,699	4.7
Ukraine	15,351	16,577	1,945	33,873	3.9
Kazakhstan	21,500	0	12,100	33,600	3.9
South Africa	30,156	0	0	30,156	3.5
Serbia	9	361	13,400	13,770	1.6
Colombia	6,366	380	0	6,746	0.8
Canada	3,474	872	2,236	6,528	0.8
Poland	4,338	0	1,371	5,709	0.7
Indonesia	1,520	2,904	1,105	5,529	0.6
Brazil	0	4,559	0	4,559	0.5
Greece	0	0	3,020	3,020	0.4
Bosnia and Herzegovina	484	0	2,369	2,853	0.3
Mongolia	1,170	0	1,350	2,520	0.3
Bulgaria	2	190	2,174	2,366	0.3
Pakistan	0	166	1,904	2,070	0.3
Turkey	529	0	1,814	2,343	0.3
Uzbekistan	47	0	1,853	1,900	0.2
Hungary	13	439	1,208	1,660	0.2
Thailand	0	0	1,239	1,239	0.1
Mexico	860	300	51	1,211	0.1
Iran	1,203	0	0	1,203	0.1
Czech Republic	192	0	908	1,100	0.1
Kyrgyzstan	0	0	812	812	0.1
Albania	0	0	794	794	0.1
North Korea	300	300	0	600	0.1
New Zealand	33	205	333-7,000	571-15,000	0.1
Spain	200	300	30	530	0.1
Laos	4	0	499	503	0.1
Zimbabwe	502	0	0	502	0.1
Argentina	0	0	500	500	0.1
All others	3,421	1,346	846	5,613	0.7
Total world	404,762	260,789	195,387	860,938	100

Wallerawang Coal Power Plant

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Sun, 15 May 2011 15:01:00 +0000

Wallerawang Coal Power Plant is located near Wallerawang, in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It is coal powered with two steam turbines and two 500 MW GEC (UK) alternators with a combined generating capacity of 1,000 MW.

Wallerawang Coal Power Plant was originally built with four 30 MW generators, completed in 1957-1959, which were referred to as Wallerawang A. Wallerawang B consisted of two 60 MW generators completed in 1961. Wallerawang A and B have both been decommissioned. The two 500 MW units in the current Wallerawang C station were completed in 1976 and 1980.

Wallerawang draws its cooling water from Lake Wallace and Lake Lyell, fresh water lakes on the Coxs River.

The coal for Wallerawang comes from mines in the local area, delivered by private road. 75% of the coal comes from the Angus Place colliery.

Carbon Monitoring for Action estimates Wallerawang Coal Power Plant emits 7.00 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year as a result of burning coal. The Australian Government has announced the introduction of a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme commencing in 2010 to help combat climate change. It is expected to impact on emissions from power stations. The National Pollutant Inventory provides details of other pollutant emissions, but, as at 23 November 2008, not CO₂.

Wallerawang Coal Power Plant
Country	Australia
Locale	Near Wallerawang, New South Wales
Status	Baseload
Owner(s)	Delta Electricity

Reactor information
Reactors operational	500 MW

Power station information
Generation units	2

Power generation information
Maximum capacity	1,000 MW

Rugeley Coal Power Plant

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Sat, 07 May 2011 13:49:00 +0000

Rugeley Coal Power Plant is a coal-fired power station located near Rugeley in Staffordshire. The site had two power stations on the site Rugeley A and Rugeley B. The A station has been closed and demolished. The current B station has an output of 1,000 megawatts (MW) and has a 400 kilovolt (kV) connection to the national grid. The station has the capacity to power roughly half a million homes.

The Rugeley B station uses two 500 MW generating sets, which can produce 8,760,000 MWh each year. The station usually burns 1.6 million tonnes of coal a year, producing 240,000 tonnes of ash.

Two power stations have stood on the site over the year; Rugeley A Power Station, opened in 1963, and Rugeley B Power Station, built in 1972.

Rugeley A Coal Power Plant

Construction of the A station started in 1956, and was commissioned between 1961 and 1962. The station was the first joint venture between the CEGB and NCB. The station took coal directly from the neighbouring Lea Hall Colliery by conveyor belt. The colliery was put into production some 6 months before the first generating unit was commissioned. This was the first such arrangement in Britain. The station was officially opened on 1st October 1963 by The Rt Hon Lord Robens of Woldingham P.C. (NCG chairman) & Sir Christopher Hinton KBE, FRS (CEGB chairman). The Lea Hall colliery was closed and demolished in 1991. One of the 5 cooling towers built at Rugeley was the world's first large dry cooling tower, and the first large scale experiment with a design aimed at eliminating water loss. On occasions this tower was used by the RAF for parachute development. Rugeley A was also the first power station in Britain to be controlled entirely from a central control room. The total cost of building it was £30m.

The station had five 120Mw generating sets which gave it a generating capacity of 600 megawatts. It was initially operated by the Central Electricity Generating Board, but following privatisation in 1990, was handed over to National Power. Two of the stations generating units were decommissioned in 1994, with the other three following in 1995. The station was demolished later in 1995.

Rugeley B Coal Power Plant

Rugeley B Coal Power Plant was commissioned in 1970 to work with the A station, and was completed by 1972. With both stations in operation, 850 people were employed at the stations in 1983. The current figure is only 146. A Flue Gas Desulfurization plant was constructed and commissioned at the B station in 2009. This will allow it to comply with environmental legislation and continue to generate electricity.

Rugeley power station
Country	England
Locale	Rugeley
Status	Operational
Construction began	A station: 1956
Commission date	A station: 1961-62 B station: 1970-72
Operator(s)	Central Electricity Generating Board (1963-1990) National Power (1990-2000) International Power (2000-present)

Power station information
Primary fuel	Coal

Power generation information
Installed capacity	1,000 MW

Komati Coal Power Plant

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Sun, 01 May 2011 14:36:00 +0000

Komati Coal Power Plant, is a coal-fired power plant operated by Eskom. Its 300 metre tall chimney was built in 1979, and is one of the tallest structures in the country. Komati is the only power station with a common steam range, meaning that its nine boilers jointly feed the nine generators.

The first unit was commissioned in 1961 and the last in 1966. In 1988, three units at Komati were mothballed, one was kept in reserve and the other five were only operated during peak hours. In 1990 the complete station was mothballed until 2008 when the unit 9 was the first to be recommisioned under Eskom's return to service project. The full station is expected to be online by 2011.

The Komati Coal Power Plant consists of five 100MW units and four 125MW units with a total installed capacity of 1,000MW. Turbine Maximum Continuous Rating is 30.00%.

Komati Coal Power Station
Country	South Africa
Locale	Mpumalanga
Commission date	1961
Owner(s)	Eskom

Power station information
Generation units	9

Power generation information
Installed capacity	1,000 Megawatt

Ironbridge Coal Power Plant

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 14:12:00 +0000

The Ironbridge or Buildwas coal power plant refers to a series of two coal-fired power stations which have occupied a site on the banks of the River Severn at Buildwas in Shropshire, England. The current Ironbridge B power palnt is operated by E.ON UK. The station stands near the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site, where the Industrial Revolution began.

Design

Project architect Alan Clark worked closely with landscape architect Kenneth Booth, in order to ensure that the station merged as seamlessly as possible into its natural surroundings. In this respect, the power station is unique amongst British coal-fired stations. When viewed from Ironbridge, the surroundings of the station are hidden by wooded hills. The cooling towers were deliberately constructed using concrete to which a red pigment had been added, to blend with the colour of the local soil. This had cost £11,000 in the 1960s. The towers cannot be seen at all from the world famous landmark, The Iron Bridge. The station's single 205 m (673 ft) high chimney is fifth tallest chimney in the UK. It is the tallest structure in Shropshire, as well as being taller than Blackpool Tower and London's BT Tower.

The station's turbine hall is decoratively clad in chipped granite faced concrete panels, aluminium sheeting, and glazing. The turbine hall obscures the rather more functional metal clad boiler house from view. A free-standing administration block continues the theme of concrete panelling, albeit with extensive use of large floor to ceiling windows. Period fittings within the administration block include a board room, containing murals that reference the industries of the Ironbridge Gorge, and a grand entrance hall with a metallic mural.

So impressive were the measures taken to ensure that the power station was an asset to the gorge and not an eyesore, that it was short listed for a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors/The Times conservation award in 1973.

Specification

The Ironbridge coal power plant generates electricity using two 500 MW generating sets. The turbines' blades are 1 m (3 ft 3 in) long each and when the turbines spin at their usual fixed speed of 3,000 rpm, the outermost tip of the last row of blades travel at approximately 2,000 km/h. The station uses low NOx burners and electrostatic precipitators to reduce its environmental impact. The majority of the station's ash waste is sold to the construction industry.

Coal supplies

Until recently (June 2010) approximately 3000 - 6000 tonnes of coal was delivered to the power station every day, via a branch line railway through Madeley, Ironbridge and Coalbrookdale, crossing the River Severn via, the Grade 2 Listed Albert Edward Bridge. The railway branch joins the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury line at Madeley Junction. The coal is delivered variously by DBS, Freightliner and Fastline. After the trains are emptied, they are usually stabled at Warrington Arpley Yard. Scheduled passenger services on the branch line were stopped in the 1960s, and so the line is kept open primarily for the transportation of coal to the power station. However, the Telford Steam Railway has aspirations to take over the now unused western-most track of the former double-track railway between the power station and Lightmoor Junction as part of their southern extension from Horsehay through Doseley.

A steam locomotive hauled special passenger train, organised by railtour company 'Vintage Trains', visited the branch line on 3 November 2007. The tour was entitled Pannier to Ironbridge, and was hauled by former Great Western Railway 0-6-0 Pannier tank No. 9466, which ran a return trip between Tyseley, near Birmingham, and Ironbridge.

Ironbridge today

In 1990 the CEGB was split into different companies for privatisation, and Ironbridge Power Station went through a number of ownership transfers before eventually being owned by Powergen. In 2001 Powergen was taken over by E.ON, an energy company based in Germany.

The station is currently the only major generator of electricity in Shropshire. The plant consumes about 1.2 million tonnes of coal and 20,000 tonnes of oil each year, and generated 2,990 GWh of electricity in 2004.

Environmental group Friends of the Earth claim that as of 2006, the station is the second worst polluting power station in the United Kingdom per megawatt output. Ironbridge has been opted out of the Large Combustion Plants Directive, which means the station will only be allowed to operate for up to 20,000 hours after 1 January 2008, and must close by 31 December 2015.

Ironbridge Coal Power Plant
Country	England, United Kingdom
Locale	Shropshire, West Midlands
Status	Operational
Construction began	1929
Commission date	A station: 1932 B station: 1969
Decommission date	A station: 1981
Operator(s)	West Midlands Joint Electricity Authority (1932-1948) British Electricity Authority (1948-1954) Central Electricity Authority (1954-1957) Central Electricity Generating Board (1957-1990) Powergen (1990-2001) E.ON UK (2001-present)

Power station information
Primary fuel	Coal

Power generation information
Installed capacity	A station: 200 MW B station: 1,000 MW

Ekibastuz GRES-2 Coal Power Plant

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 13:10:00 +0000

The Ekibastuz GRES-2 Coal Power Plant is a coal-fueled power generating station in Ekibastuz, Kazakhstan. GRES-2, built in 1987, has installed capacity of 1,000 MWe and has the world's tallest flue gas stack at 419.7 metres (1,377 ft) high. The chimney is about 38 metres (125 ft) taller than the Inco Superstack in Sudbury, Canada. Locals refer to it as "the Cigarette Lighter". This chimney is the tallest chimney ever built.

The Ekibastuz GRES-2 Coal Power Plant is the start of the Powerline Ekibastuz–Kokshetau and uses a transmission voltage of 1,150 kV, the highest transmission voltage in the world. The extension of this line to Elektrostal in Russia is also designed for 1,150 kV, but it currently operates at only 400 kV. About 3/4 of the energy produced by GRES-2 is exported to Russia.

50% of GRES-2 shares are owned by Inter RAO UES, and 50% by Kazakhstan's government.

The planned capacity of 4,000 MWe is to be provided by eight equal units, 500 MWe each.

Unit 1 was launched into service in December, 1990.

Unit 2 was launched into service in December, 1993.

Construction of Unit 3 was started 1990 but later stopped.

2006 fire

On 30 May 2006, the chimney of the GRES-2 Power Station caught fire as flames and smoke could be seen pouring out of the top of the building. There were no reports of injuries and there was no word on the cause of the blaze. Firemen at the scene said all those inside the building had been evacuated.

Tilbury Coal Power Plant

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 12:45:00 +0000

Tilbury Coal Power Plant refers to a series of two power stations, in Essex, England. The first station on the site, Tilbury A Power Station, was oil-fired and opened in 1956 with a generating capacity of 360 megawatts (MW). The A station was mothballed in 1981, by which time it had been replaced by Tilbury B Power Station. Opened in 1967, the B station fires coal, as well as co-firing oil and biomass. It has a generating capacity of 1,428 MW, enough electricity to meet the needs of 1.4 million people, equivalent to 80% of the population of Essex. The stations are both situated on a site on the north bank of the River Thames, on the outskirts of Tilbury.

The Tilbury Coal Power Plant B contains four generating units, one of which has been decommissioned since the stations opening and is now redundant, only being used as spare parts for maintenance of the remaining 3 generating units, all 4 units were available before this with a combined capacity of 1428 MW, enough power for 1.4 million people, approximately 80% of the population of Essex. Cooling water is drawn from the Thames. Fuel is delivered by ship to dedicated unloading jetties. The station connects to the National Grid at the nearby 275 kV substation.

In early 2007, npower announced plans to replace the current B station with a 1,600 MW 'cleaner' coal-fired power station. The station would cost £1 billion and could be operational by 2014. The plans have been supported by the Port of London Authority.

Incidents

2008 boiler incident

On 1 July 2008, a man servicing an offline boiler at the station fell 20 ft (6.1 m) from scaffolding into the boiler. Crews used an internal staircase in the boiler to rescue the man, and he was taken to safety by 11am.

2009 fire

A fire broke out at the power station on 29 July 2009. The fire broke out shortly after 3:00pm, with the failure of one of the station's high pressure turbine units. Workers were evacuated immediately, and the fire was reported to be under control by 5:30pm. There were no casualties.

Tilbury Coal Power Plant
Country	England
Locale	Tilbury
Status	Operating
Commission date	A station: 1956 B station: 1967
Decommission date	A station: 1981
Owner(s)	Central Electricity Generating Board (1956-1990) National Power (1990-2000) Innogy (2000-2002) npower (2002-present)

Power station information
Primary fuel	Coal
Secondary fuel	Oil
Tertiary fuel	Biomass

Power generation information
Installed capacity	A station: 360 MW B station: 1,428 MW

Grootvlei Coal Power Plant

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 14:17:00 +0000

Grootvlei Coal Power Plant is coal power plant located in Balfour, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

The first of Grootvlei's six units was commissioned in 1969. In 1989 three units were mothballed and in 1990 the other three followed. Due to the power crisis being experienced in South Africa, Eskom decided to return the station to service. By 2008 two of Grootvlei's units were back online, providing 585MW to the national grid.

Grootvlei's units 5 and 6 were the first test facilities for dry cooling in South Africa. Unit 6 has an indirect dry cooling system.

The Grootvlei Coal Power Plant consists of six 200MW units for a total installed capacity of 1,200MW. Turbine Maximum Continuous Rating is 32.90%.

Grootvlei Coal Power Plant
Country	South Africa
Locale	Mpumalanga
Commission date	1969
Owner(s)	Eskom

Power station information
Primary fuel	Coal
Generation units	6

Power generation information
Installed capacity	1,200 Megawatt

Cockenzie Coal Power Plant

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 15:04:00 +0000

Cockenzie Coal Power Plant is a coal-fired power station in East Lothian, Scotland, capable of co-firing biomass. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, near the town of Cockenzie and Port Seton, 8 mi (13 km) east of the Scottish capital of Edinburgh. The Cockenzie Coal Power Plant has dominated the local coastline with its distinctive twin chimneys, since it opened in 1967. Initially operated by the nationalised South of Scotland Electricity Board, it has been operated by Scottish Power since the privatisation of the industry in 1991. In 2005 a WWF report named Cockenzie as the UK's least carbon-efficient power station, in terms of carbon dioxide released per unit of energy generated. The 1,200 megawatt power station is set to close by 2016, but there are plans to replace the current station with a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power station.

Since 1991, the Cockenzie Coal Power Plant has been owned by the privatised Scottish Power utility group. It recently surpassed its originally intended lifespan. It is now run as a 'marginal station', guaranteeing seasonal and peak supply and non-availability of other power stations. For this reason considerable investment has been made to improve start-up times to maximise generating opportunities in the deregulated electricity generation market. Since 2001, the station has exported electricity to Northern Ireland via an undersea power link.

CCGT replacement

The Cockenzie Coal Power Plant must close by 31 December 2015, so Scottish Power are currently considering replacing it with a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power station. If the station is built, it will require a 17 km (11 mi) gas pipeline from East Fortune, to supply it with fuel.

Coal transportation

Coal was originally supplied to the station directly from the deep mines of the neighbouring Lothian coalfield, but these have since been exhausted or closed. Subsequently coal has been supplied from open cast mines in the Lothians, Fife, Ayrshire and Lanarkshire.

The power station was the first to use the new "merry-go-round" system of coal deliveries by rail. This system uses hopper wagons which carry around 914 tonnes of coal each. This coal is delivered to the station's coal store, which has the capacity to hold up to 900,000 tonnes of coal. The coal store is situated on the opposite side of B1348 road between Prestonpans and Cockenzie and Port Seton, to the rest of the station. Coal is transported from the coal store to the station's boiler house by a conveyor belt. It is then weighed, sampled and screened, before being pulverised in a pulverising mill. It is then blasted into the station's furnaces with preheated air, to heat the station's boilers.

Water use

The water used in the station's boilers is taken from the local water supply, but is purified in the station's water treatment plant. In the boilers, the water is super heated to a temperature of 556 °C, before it is piped to the station's turbogenerators. It hits the turbine blades, causing the turbine shaft to rotate at 3,000 rmp. This is connected to a generator, which generates electricity at 17 kilovolt (kV). The steam is reheated and then fed to intermediate and low pressure turbines.

After use, the steam is then condensed back into water, using a cooling medium; water from the Firth of Forth. 30 million gallons of water are used for cooling purposes every hour. It is then discharged back into the Firth of Forth.

Ash use and removal

The burning of coal in power stations generates a lot of ash and dust. The station's electrostatic precipitators capture fly ash from the flue gases, preventing them from entering the atmosphere. Bottom ash is also produced by the station. Ash from the station is sold through the ScotAsh company, a joint venture between Scottish Power and Blue Circle. It is used in the construcion industry and in products such as grout and cement. Any remaining ash is piped to the large lagoons in the nearby town of Musselburgh, where it is capped and planted, and used as a nature reserve.

Electricity distribution

The electricity is initially generated at 17 kV. This is stepped up via a transformer to 275 kV for distribution on the National Grid. The electricity is not just distributed to Scotland, but England too, which it is connected to via a double circuit overhead line, operating at 275 kV and 400 kV, to Stella near Newcastle upon Tyne.

Specification

The Cockenzie Coal Power Plant occupies a 24 hectare site. It generates electricity using four 300 megawatt (MW) generating units, for a peak supply of 1200 MW.

Cockenzie Coal Power Plant
Country	Scotland
Locale	Cockenzie
Status	Operational
Commission date	1967
Operator(s)	South of Scotland Electricity Board (1967-1991) Scottish Power (1991-present)

Power station information
Primary fuel	Coal
Secondary fuel	Biomass

Power generation information
Installed capacity	1,200 MW

Coal Creek Power Plant

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:47:00 +0000

Coal Creek Power Plant is the largest power plant in the U.S. state of North Dakota. Located at near the Missouri River between Underwood, North Dakota and Washburn, North Dakota, it is the largest lignite-fired electricity plant in North Dakota. Its two generators are each rated at 605 megawatts (Unit 1 went in service in 1979, Unit 2 came online in 1980), with a peak total production of nearly 1.2 gigawatts.

The station is owned by Great River Energy, an alliance of Minnesota rural electric cooperatives, and trasmits its power to Minnesota over a 700 kilometres (430 mi) HVDC transmission line which is operated at +/- 400 kV. The line and plant were completed and put in service by 1981.

The Coal Creek Power Plant, part of the larger CU Project, was the subject of controversy.

The boiler building of Coal Creek Station is 89.91 metres high. Hereby the boiler is fixed to the roof. The chimney of Coal Creek Station is 198.12 metres tall.

Coal Creek Station is the third-largest producer of coal ash in the country, generating over four million pounds of surface waste stored onsite each year.

Some of the waste heat generated by the coal combustion is utilized by the nearby Blue Flint Ethanol plant.

Mintia-Deva Coal Power Plant

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 18:01:00 +0000

The Mintia-Deva Coal Power Plant is Romania's third largest thermal power plant having 5 identical groups of 210 MW each and one of 235 MW thus totalling a capacity of 1285 MW^[1]. The power plant is situated in the Hunedoara county (South-Eastern Transylvania), on the banks of the Mureş River, 7 km from the city of Deva.

It is controlled by Electrocentrale Deva, a state owned company. The 3 chimneys of the power station are 220 metres tall.

Mintia-Deva Power Plant
Country	Romania
Locale	Hunedoara county
Status	Active
Owner(s)	Termoelectrica

Power station information
Primary fuel	sub-bituminous coal
Generation units	6

Power generation information
Maximum capacity	1,285 MW

Vales Point Coal Power Plant

noreply@blogger.com (Energetic) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 19:03:00 +0000

Vales Point Coal Power Plant is one of two coal fired power stations on the shores of Lake Macquarie. Vales Point is located on the southern shore of the lake, near the township of Mannering Park. It has two steam turbines, with a total generating capacity of 1,320 MW of electricity.

Vales Point was the first major power station in New South Wales to be located near its fuel source (coal).

Vales Point Coal Power Plant was originally built with three English Electric 200 MW turbo-alternators. The first two were completed in 1963, and the third in 1964. In 1966, a fourth turbo-alternator manufactured by Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) Limited in the UK, with a capacity of 275 MW, was added.

These four units were known as "A" Station, its capacity of 875 MW making it the most powerful in New South Wales at that time. The original four generating units forming "A" Station were decommissioned in 1989.

In 1978, two Toshiba 660 MW units were added, becoming Vales Point Coal Power Plant "B". The combined capacity of 2 195 MW made Vales Point the largest power station in Australia at the time. The Toshiba 660 MW turbo-alternator became the standard in New South Wales, with similar units later being installed at Eraring, Bayswater and Mount Piper.

Vales Point Coal Power Plant uses salt water from Lake Macquarie for cooling. The coal for Vales Point comes from local mines, and is delivered by conveyor.

Carbon Monitoring for Action estimates this power station emits 9.32 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year as a result of burning coal.^[1] The Australian Government has announced the introduction of a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme commencing in 2010 to help combat climate change. It is expected to impact on emissions from power stations. The National Pollutant Inventory provides details of other pollutant emissions, but, as at 23 November 2008, not CO₂.

Vales Point Power Station is recognisable in the background of the music video for the 1982 Midnight Oil track "U.S. Forces".

Vales Point Power Station
Country	Australia
Locale	New South Wales
Status	Baseload
Commission date	1978
Owner(s)	Delta Electricity

Power station information
Primary fuel	coal
Generation units	2
Combined cycle	No

Power generation information
Maximum capacity	1320 MW