INTRODUCTION TO COAL

1.1 WHAT IS COAL

Coal is a fossil fuel that appears as black or brownish-black sedimentary rock. It

is formed when dead plant matters are covered with dirt and rock over millions of
years, in which the resulting pressure and heat turned the plants into the substance
that is called as coal. The coal formation process involves biological and geological
processes. The geological processes take place over millions of years. Thus, coal is
classified as non-renewable energy, since it takes millions of years to form. The
process of coal formation is illustrated in Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1: Formation of Coal (Source:https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=coal_home)

Coal contains the energy stored by plants that lived hundreds of millions of years
ago in swampy forests, in which coal is primarily composed of carbon, along with
variable quantities of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulphur, oxygen and nitrogen.
Coal is formed from the physical and chemical alteration of peat, that composed of
plant materials that accumulate in wetlands, which break down through the process of
peatification. If peat are buried, then the peat can be altered into different ranks of
coal through the process of coalification. There are four main types of coal, in which
the types of coal are ranked based on the types and amount of carbon the coal
contains and the amount of heat energy the coal can produce. The four types of coal
are;

i. Anthracite, which contains 86%-97% carbon and generally has the highest
heating value of all the types of coal

ii. Bituminous coal, which contains 45%-86% carbon. This type of coal is used to
generate electricity and is an important fuel and raw material for making iron and
steel.

iii. Sub-bituminous coal typically contains 35%-45% carbon, and it has a lower
heating value than bituminous coal.

iv. Lignite, which contains 25%-35% carbon and it has the lowest heating value of all
the types of coal. Lignite coal deposits tend to be relatively young and were not
subjected to extreme heat or pressure. Lignite is crumbly and has high moisture
content, which contributes to its low heating value.

Coal is extracted from the ground by coal mining. Coal miners use large
machines to remove coal from the earth. Many coal deposits, called coal
beds or seams, are near the earth's surface, while others are deep underground.
Modern mining methods allow coal miners to easily reach most of the nation's coal
reserves and to produce about three times more coal in one hour. Two primary
methods used by coal miners to remove coal are distinguished in Table 1.1.

Surface Mining Underground Mining

 Often used when coal is less than 200  Also known as deep mining
feet underground.
 Applied when the coal is several hundred
 The topsoil and layers of rock known as feet below the surface. Some
overburden are removed to expose coal underground mines are 1,000 feet deep
seams. While mountaintop removal is and extend for miles.
where the tops of mountains are
 Miners ride elevators down deep mine
dynamited and removed to access coal
shafts and travel on small trains in long
seams.
tunnels to get to the coal, and they also
 After coal removal, the disturbed area use large machines to dig out the coal.
may be covered with topsoil for planting
grass and trees.

 Surface mines is less expensive, and

produce most coal
 Figure 1.2: Coal Surface Mining Illustration
Figure 1.3: Coal Deep Mining Illustration

Table 1.1: Methods of Coal Mining

After removing the coal from the ground, the miners may send it to a preparation plant
near the mining site. The plant cleans and processes coal to remove rocks, dirt, ash,
sulfur, and other unwanted materials. This process increases the heating value of the
coal.

1.2 USES OF COAL

Several uses of coal including electricity generation, industrial uses and synthetic
fuel production. The primary use of coal is it is used as solid fuel to produce electricity
and heat through combustion. When coal is used for electricity generation, it is usually
pulverized and then burned in a furnace with a boiler. The furnace heat converts boiler
water into steam, which is then used to spin turbines which turn generators and create
electricity. The thermodynamic efficiency of this process has been improved over time;
some older coal-fired power stations have thermal efficiency in the vicinity of 25%,
whereas newest supercritical and ultra-supercritical steam cycle turbines, operating at
temperatures over 600oC and pressures over 27MPawhen using lower-grade lignite
fuel.

An alternative approach of using coal for electricity generation with improved

efficiency is the integrated gasification combine cycle (IGCC) power plant. Instead of
pulverizing the coal and burning it directly as fuel in the steam-generating boiler, the
coal is gasified to create syngas, which is burned in a gas turbine to produce
electricity, similar to the combustion of natural gas a turbine. Hot exhaust gases from
the turbine are used to raise steam in a heat recovery steam generator which powers
a supplemental steam turbine. At least 40% of the world’s electricity comes from coal,
an in 2016, 30% of the United States’ electricity comes from coal, down from
approximately 49% in 2008.

Besides that, there are also many industries use coal and coal byproducts. The
concrete and paper industries burn large amounts of coal to produce heat. The steel
industry uses coal indirectly to make steel. Coal coke is made by baking coal in
furnaces. The steel industry uses coal coke to smelt iron ore into iron to make steel.
The high temperatures created by burning coal coke give steel the strength and
flexibility needed for bridges, buildings, and automobiles.

In addition, coal can be turned into gases and liquids that can be used as fuels or
processed into chemicals to make other products. These gases or liquids are
sometimes called synthetic fuels or synfuels. Synthetic fuels are made by heating
coal in large vessels. These fuels produce fewer air pollutants when burned than
burning coal directly. For example, in North Dakota, the Great Plains Synfuels
Plant converts coal into synthetic natural gas (syngas). Syngas produced from coal
can also be used to produce electricity and hydrogen. Apart from that, coal can also
be converted into a liquid fuel like diesel or gasoline through several different
processes, which to be further discussed in the following section. The conversion is
known as coal to liquid fuel, abbreviated as CTL.

Currently, no commercially operating facilities in the United States produce

liquids from coal, but coal has been converted to liquids in South Africa for decades.
The Sasol plant in South Africa has been producing liquid coal since 1955. More
plants are being opened across the world and China is notably creating the two
biggest liquid coal plants in the world. Large coal reserves are found in the United
States, China, India, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, South Africa and Australia,
with most countries starting new Coal to Liquid projects.
 COAL LIQUEFACTION

2.1 INTRODUCTION

Coal liquefaction is a process of converting coal to liquid fuel (CTL). The process
of coal liquefaction creates synthetic liquid fuel from solid coal as substitutes for
various petroleum products. Liquid coal can become a petroleum substitute and be
used in the transportation industry. It is used as alternative liquid fuels like methanol
and dimethyl ether (DME), it is also used in lubricants, synthetic waxes and chemical
feed stocks. CTL products are versatile, that CTL fuel can be used to run variety of
vehicles including cars, trucks, tanks and jets.

There are two different coal to liquid conversion processes exist as illustrated in
Figure 2.1. These processes are;

i. Direct liquefaction : works by dissolving the coal in a solvent at high temperature

and pressure. This process is highly efficient, but the liquid products require
further refining to achieve high grade fuel characteristics.

ii. Indirect liquefaction : gasifies the coal to form a syngas, which is then condensed
over a catalyst. The Fischer-Tropsch process is applied for this approach to
produce high quality, ultra-clean products.
Figure 2.1: Coal Liquefaction Methods (Source:https://www.netl.doe.gov/alternate-route-coal-liquid-fuel)
2.2 PROCESS DESCRIPTION

2.2.1 DIRECT COAL LIQUEFACTION (DCL)

The fundamental process approach of DCL is that; it does not involve gasification
at all. Direct coal liquefaction involves contacting coal directly with a catalyst at
elevated temperatures and pressures with added hydrogen (H2), in the presence of a
solvent to form a raw liquid product which is further refined into product liquid fuels.
DCL is termed direct because the coal is transformed into liquid without first being
gasified to form syngas, and then transformed into liquid products. Therefore, the
DCL process is, in principle, the simpler and more efficient of the two processes. It
does, however, require an external source of H2, which may have to be provided by
gasifying additional coal feed, biomass or the heavy residue produced from the DCL
reactor. The DCL process results in a relatively wide hydrocarbon product range
consisting of a variety of molecular weights and forms, with aromatics dominating.
Accordingly, the product requires substantial upgrading to yield acceptable
transportation fuels.

Many different processes have been developed for DCL, but most are aligned
similarly in regards to reaction chemistry and the process concept. Common features
are the dissolution of coal into a solvent, followed by the hydrogenation of the coal
with H2 over a catalyst. The process can be very efficient with an overall thermal
efficiency in the range of 65%. The DCL process involves hydrogenation process, in
which hydrogen is added to the coal, breaking down its organic structure into soluble
products. The reaction is carried out at elevated temperature and pressure, up to
400oC - 500oC and 20MPa - 70MPa, respectively, in the presence of a solvent. The
solvent is used to facilitate coal extraction and the addition of hydrogen. The
solubilized products, consisting mainly of aromatic compounds, then may be
upgraded by conventional petroleum refining techniques such as hydrotreating to
meet final liquid product specifications.

The direct liquefaction process is also known as Bergius Process, which is

adopted from the inventor of the technology, Friedrich Bergius in 1913. In Bergius
Process, the coal is finely grounded and dried in a hot stream of hot gas. Then, the
dry products is mixed with heavy oil recycled from the process along with the catalyst
like tungsten or molybdenum sulfides, tin or nickel oleate. Figure 2.2 illustrate a typical
block diagram of a DCL plant showing hydrotreating unit (HTU) immediately
downstream of the direct liquefaction reactor, to upgrade the distillate product as it is
being produced.

Figure 2.2: Block Diagram of Direct Coal Liquefaction Process

2.2.2 INDIRECT COAL LIQUEFACTION (ICL)

Indirect coal liquefaction, ICL takes solid coal through a gas phase before being
converted into a raw liquid form, in which it requires prior gasification of the coal into a
syngas, before it can be converted into liquid fuel. Therefore, while DCL takes coal
directly into a liquid phase, ICL consists of two major steps:

i. Gasification to produce a synthesis gas (syngas); and

ii. Conversion of the carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H2) in the syngas to a
range of hydrocarbon fuels/products such as gasoline,
diesel, methanol and chemicals.

The Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process is well known for conversion of coal to oil. It is a
catalyzed chemical reaction in which carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H2) are
converted into liquid hydrocarbons of various forms. Typical catalysts used are based
on iron and cobalt. The principal purpose of this process is to produce a synthetic
petroleum substitute, typically from coal, natural gas or biomass. Indirect coal
liquefaction through FT process is illustrated in Figure 2.3.

Figure 2.3: Indirect Coal Liquefaction Through Fisher-Tropsch Process

Synthesis gas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, is reacted in the

presence of an iron or cobalt catalyst; much heat is evolved, and products like
methane, synthetic gasoline and waxes, and alcohols are made, with water or carbon
dioxide produced as a byproduct. The catalyst is usually supported on carbon or
silicon dioxide to optimize its activity. An important source of the hydrogen-carbon
monoxide gas mixture, also known as water gas, is obtained by the gasification of
coal, in which water gas is manufactured and it also involves treating white-hot hard
coal or coke with a blast of steam. The gasification process resulted in carbon
monoxide and hydrogen formation.

Thus, gasification is the first step of coal liquefaction or production of

Fischer-Tropsch fuels from biomass such as corn stover or stalks, wood or switch
grass. The feed gas is produced in a gasifire by heating the gas to a temperature
greater than 700oC. By carefully controlling the oxygen content, the hydrocarbons in
the feedstock are broken down to carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The temperature,
pressure and catalyst determine whether a light or heavy synthetic oil is produced.
2.3 ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH CONCERN

The concern of using coal liquefaction is the disposal of carbon dioxide, a

by-product of the process. If carbon capture and storage facilities are not employed,
the CO2 emissions greatly affect the carbon footprint of greenhouse gases causing
more environmental damage. However, if proper equipment, storage facilities and
plant designs are incorporated the process becomes a lot cleaner. Because the coal
is gasified, not burned like in conventional coal plants, the impurities will be removed
from the synthesis gas and embedded in the ash by-product, making it a cleaner
process.

Clean coal technologies are continually developing. Today, efficiencies of 46%

can be achieved by implementing the best available technology. With further research
into techniques such as ultra-supercritical combustion, efficiencies of up to 50% could
be achieved in the near future. Work is underway to exploit the opportunities of
capturing and storing CO2, which is an inevitable by-product of the thermal use of all
fossil fuels. By coupling liquefaction process with integrated gasification, coal could
provide a source of low-carbon hydrogen for fueling transport without producing local
emissions. There will be challenges in bringing these technologies to market, but with
the right mix of research investment and market incentives, coal may stake a place in
a sustainable and secure energy future.

3.0 CONCLUSION

Liquid coal is achieved through a process of liquefaction where coal is converted

into a liquid fuel like gasoline or diesel. Concerns about carbon dioxide emissions
have held back large productions of this process. South Africa has the only
commercial Coal to Liquids industry in operation today but new projects and plants
are beginning across the world. The goals for most companies are to diversifying the
liquid fuel supplies and avoid reliance upon crude oil, and at the same time, minimize
and avoid pollution due to coal liquefaction.
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