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TECHNOLOGY OF COAL PROCESSING

CLEAN COAL

NAME : AGUNG PRASETYO NUGROHONIM : 03101003021

FACULTY OF ENGINEERINGUNIVERSITY OF SRIWIJAYA

2012/2013


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INDEX

1. Introduction

2. Support And Criticisms

3. Prior Terminology4. Projects Regarding Clean Coal

5. Clean coal technology

6. Trends and forces

7. Methods to clean coal8. Conclusion

9. Bibliography


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INTRODUCTION

Clean coal is an umbrella term used primarily to describe technologies that may reduce

emissions ofcarbon dioxide (CO2) and othergreenhouse gas that arise from the burning

ofcoal for electrical power. Typically, clean coal has been used by coal companies in reference

tocarbon capture and sequestration, which pumps and stores CO2 emissions underground, and to

plants using an Integrated gasification combined cyclewhich gasifies coal to reduceCO2 emissions.

Carbon capture and sequestration technologies are being developed primarily in response to

regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency - most notably the Clean Air Act- and in

anticipation of legislation that seeks to mitigate climate change. Currently, the electricity sector

of the United States is responsible for about 41% of the nation's CO2 emissions, and half of the

sector's production comes from coal-fired power plants. Almost exclusively used to refer

tocarbon capture and sequestration technology (CCS),

Clean coal TheUS Department of Energycontinues to work with private industry todevelop carbon capture and sequestration technologies. Several methods are available under this

technology including pre-capture, oxy-fuel combustion, and post-capture CCS. Perhaps the most

popular example of a coal-based plant using (oxy-fuel) carbon capture technology is Vattenfalls

Schwarze Pumpe plant in Germany. However, it has not yet been demonstrated that carbon

stored underground will be able to stay there indefinitely. Another technology under

development is Integrated Gasification Combined Cycleor IGCC.

Othercarbon capture and sequestration technologies include those that dewater low rank coals.

Low rank coals often contain a higher level of moisture content which contains a lower calorific

content per tonne. This causes a reduced burning efficiency and an increased emissions output.

Reduction of moisture from the coal prior to combustion can reduce emissions by up to 50

percent

It has been estimated that commercial-scalecarbon capture and sequestrationpower stations

cannot be commercially viable and widely adopted before 2020 or 2025. This time frame is of

concern to environmentalists because, according to the Stern Review on the Economics of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umbrella_termhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_gasification_combined_cyclehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_gasification_combined_cyclehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_Protection_Agencyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Air_Acthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Air_Acthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_changehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_of_the_United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_of_the_United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Department_of_Energyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Department_of_Energyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Department_of_Energyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vattenfallhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_Gasification_Combined_Cyclehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_Gasification_Combined_Cyclehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stern_Reviewhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_gasification_combined_cyclehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_Protection_Agencyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Air_Acthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_changehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_of_the_United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_of_the_United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Department_of_Energyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vattenfallhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_Gasification_Combined_Cyclehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stern_Reviewhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umbrella_term


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Climate Change, there is an urgent need to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and climate

change sooner.

The UK government's Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is working towards a

clean energy future and supports clean coal projects across the country. In August 2010 UK

based company B9 Coal announced a clean coal project with 90% carbon capture to be put

forward to DECC in order to help the UK raise it's profile amongst green leaders across the

world. This proposed project gasifys coal undergroundand process it to create pure streams of

hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The hydrogen is then used as a emissions free fuel to run

analkaline fuel cellwhilst the carbon dioxide is captured. This UK project could provide a world

leading template for clean coal with CCS globally.

Clean Coal and the environment

According to the United NationsIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the burning ofcoal, a fossil fuel, is blamed forclimate change and global warming.. As 25.5% of the world's

electrical generation in 2004 was from coal-fired generation, reaching the carbon dioxide

reduction targets of the Kyoto Protocol will require modifications to how coal is utilized.[10]

Sequestration technology has yet to be tested on a large scale and may not be safe or successful.

Sequestered CO2 may eventually leak up through the ground, may lead to unexpected geological

instability or may cause contamination of aquifers used for drinking water supplies..There are

also concerns that plans to pump some of the sequestered CO 2 into certain oil and gas reserves, to

help make the fuels easier to pump out of the ground, will lead to increased concentrations of

CO2 in potential fuel supplies. This would have to be removed or released during the refining

process.

Technologies related to reducing the environmental impact of extracting energy from coal do not

address environmental impacts of coal mining. Examples of environmental impacts of coal

mining include the Kingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spill.

Byproducts

The byproducts of coal combustion are considerably hazardous to the environment if not

properly contained.

While it is possible to remove most of the sulfur dioxide (SO2),nitrogen oxides (NOx)

andparticulate matter (PM) emissions from the coal-burning process, carbon dioxide (CO2)

emissions and radionuclides will be more difficult to address.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stern_Reviewhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_for_Energy_and_Climate_Changehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B9_Coalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_coal_gasificationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFC_Energyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFC_Energyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFC_Energyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nationshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Changehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_changehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warminghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_coal#cite_note-9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Fossil_Plant_coal_fly_ash_slurry_spillhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Fossil_Plant_coal_fly_ash_slurry_spillhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_oxidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_oxidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particulatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particulatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stern_Reviewhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_for_Energy_and_Climate_Changehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B9_Coalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_coal_gasificationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFC_Energyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nationshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Changehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_changehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warminghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_coal#cite_note-9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Fossil_Plant_coal_fly_ash_slurry_spillhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_oxidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particulate


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Coal-fired power plants are the largest aggregate source ofmercury: 50 tons per year come from

coal power plants out of 150 tons emitted nationally in the USA and 5000 tons globally. In the

USA, neither the combustion products of oil.nor their associated solid or liquid waste streams,

are considered to be major contributors to mercury pollution.

Potential financial cost of clean coal

Whethercarbon capture and sequestration technology is adopted world wide will depend less

on science than on economics. Cleaning coal is very expensive.

Projected costs forcarbon capture and storage(CCS) can be found in that article. Credit Suisse

Group says $15 billion needs to be invested in CCS over the next 10 years for it to play an

important role in climate change. TheInternational Energy Agency says $20 billion is needed.

The Pew Center on Global Climate Change says the number is as high as $30 billion. Thosefigures dwarf the actual investments to date.

In the US, the Bush administration spent about $2.5 billion on clean coal technology a large

amount, but far less than what will be needed. CCS proponents say both the government and the

private sector need to step up their investments.

Bixby Energy

Bixby Energy is a new energy company that provides an alternative solution to CCS and other

coal-fired technologies. The system heats the coal in an oxygen free environment to produce a

form of natural gas. Burning the gas produces much less CO2 emissions than burning the coal

itself. Much of the carbon remains in the resulting paritally activated coal. Their technology has

already been proven. The company is preparing to have its first unit operating in China from

orders placed by their strategic partner and operators of the technology in China, Global Partners

United, LLC. Bixby Energy was able to come up with this technology with far less than the

billions still required to complete CCS systems.

FutureGen

FutureGen is a US government project, announced by President George W. Bush in 2003 tobuild a near zero-emissionscoal-fueledpower plant to producehydrogen and electricitywhile

using carbon capture and storage. Funding for the plant was withdrawn by the Department of

Energy on 29 January2008.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_(element)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_(element)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_storagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_storagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Energy_Agencyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Energy_Agencyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pew_Center_on_Global_Climate_Changehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_coal_technologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_of_Americahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bushhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_planthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_planthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_storagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Energyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Energyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_(element)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_storagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Energy_Agencyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pew_Center_on_Global_Climate_Changehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_coal_technologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_of_Americahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bushhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_planthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_storagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Energyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Energy


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.CLEAN COAL

Coal


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Support and criticism

Support

In the United States, clean coal was mentioned by formerPresidentGeorge W. Bushon several

occasions, including his 2007 State of the Union Address. Bush's position was that carbon

capture and sequestration technologies should be encouraged as one means to reduce the

country's dependence on foreign oil.

During the 2008 US Presidential campaign, both candidates John McCain and Barack

Obama expressed interest in the development ofcarbon capture and sequestration technologies

as part of an overall comprehensive energy plan.[24] The development of clean coal also creates

the possibility ofinternational business for the United States and other world markets.

The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, signed in 2009 by President Obama, allocated

$3.4 billion for advanced carbon capture and sequestrationtechnologies, including carbon

capture and sequestration demonstration projects.

Current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that we should strive to have new electricity

generation come from other sources, such as clean coal and renewables, and current Energy

Secretary Dr. Steven Chu has said that It is absolutely worthwhile to invest in carbon capture

and storage, noting that even if the U.S. and Europe turned their backs on coal, developing

nations like India and China would not.

In Australia, carbon capture and sequestration was often referred to by formerPrime

MinisterKevin Rudd as a possible way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (The previous Prime

MinisterJohn Howard has stated that nuclear poweris a better alternative, ascarbon capture and

sequestrationtechnology may not prove to be economically favourable).

Criticism

Environmentalists such as Dan Becker, director of the Sierra Club's Global Warming and Energy

Program, believes that the term clean coal is misleading: "There is no such thing as clean coal

and there never will be. It's anoxymoron"The Sierra Club's Coal Campaign has launched a site

refuting the clean coal statements and advertising of the coal industry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States_of_Americahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bushhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bushhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_the_Union_Addresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obamahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obamahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_coal#cite_note-23http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_businesshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_Australiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_Australiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Ruddhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_Australiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_Australiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Howardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_powerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_powerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Beckerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Beckerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Clubhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Clubhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxymoronhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxymoronhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States_of_Americahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bushhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_the_Union_Addresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obamahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obamahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_coal#cite_note-23http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_businesshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_Australiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_Australiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Ruddhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_Australiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_Australiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Howardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_powerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_sequestrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Beckerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Clubhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxymoron


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Complaints focus on the environmental impacts ofcoal extraction, high costs to sequester

carbon, and uncertainty of how to manage end resultpollutants and radionuclides.

The 2007 Australian of the Year, paleontologist and influential environmental activist Tim

Flannery made the assertion that the concept of clean coal might not be viable for all

geographical locations

Critics also believe that the continuing construction of coal-powered plants (whether or not they

use carbon sequestration techniques) encourages unsustainable mining practices for coal, which

can strip away mountains, hillsides, and natural areas. They also point out that there can be a

large amount of energy required and pollution emitted in transporting the coal to the power

plants. Also,scrubbers will do nothing to reduce greenhouse gases:

Scrubbers remove some particulates, SO2 , Hg(2+) , and SO3 pollution that causes smog but

they will do nothing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. In fact,

scrubbers are energy intensive and could lead to more of these emissions, leaving us further

unable to meet Kyoto targets.Cherise Burda, The Pembina Institute

The Reality Coalition, a nonprofit organization composed of Alliance for Climate Protection,

Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the

League of Conservation Voters, ran a series of television commercials in 2008 and 2009. The

commercials were highly critical of clean coal, stating that without capturing CO2 emissions and

storing it safely that it cannot be called clean coal.

Greenpeace is a major opponent of the concept because they view emissions and wastes as not

being avoided but instead transferred from onewaste stream to another.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_mininghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_mininghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_storagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_storagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_pollutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radionuclidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_of_the_Yearhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Flanneryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Flanneryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrubberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrubberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pembina_Institutehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenpeacehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_streamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_streamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_mininghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_storagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_storagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_pollutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radionuclidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_of_the_Yearhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Flanneryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Flanneryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrubberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pembina_Institutehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenpeacehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_stream


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introduced through the CCT Program now provides consumers cost-effective, clean, coal-based

energy.

Sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) control technologies emerging from clean coal

technology have moved into the utility and industrial marketplace and now provide cost-effective

regulatory compliance. A new generation of advanced coal-based power systems has been placed

in commercial service that represents a quantum leap forward in terms of efficiency and

environmental performance. These advanced power systems projects will provide a springboard

for widespread, global deployment. This in turn will contribute greatly to reductions in

greenhouse gas emissions.

The government and industry officials continue to use the term "clean coal" to describe

technologies designed to enhance both the efficiency and the environmental acceptability of coal

extraction, preparation and use, however today the term clean coal technology is usually used

in reference to carbon capture and storage, an advanced process that eliminates carbon dioxide

emissions from coal-based plants and permanently sequesters them.

In the early 20th century, prior to World War II, clean coal (also called "smokeless coal")

referred to anthracite and high-gradebituminous coal, used for cooking and home heating.
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PROJECTS REGARDING CLEAN

COAL

WASHINGTON Clean-burning coal. The phrase quickened pulses in coal country whenPresident Bush uttered it during his fall campaign, and it's getting renewed attention now in hisenergy plan.

But for all the talk, clean-burning coal will likely remain an oxymoron for years to come. Theutility industry, which uses coal to generate 52% of its electricity, faces formidable political,economic and technological obstacles to getting "clean."

Demonstration Projects From the '80s

Not that the government hasn't tried to spur change. During the 1980s, Congress ponied up $2.75billion for the Department of Energy's Clean Coal Technology program, which sponsored 31demonstration projects. The cleanest projects, called "combined-cycle coal-gasification plants,"turn coal into gas, which is burned to generate electricity.

So far, there have been no commercial orders for them. In recent years, utilities have almostexclusively built natural-gas-fired plants, which meet environmental standards and use a fuel that

until last year was abundant and cheap. In fact, $467 million of the demonstration moneyremains unspent.

But with the utility industry's recent problems, interest in coal gasification is building, saysRobert S. Kripowicz, who is in charge of the DOE clean-coal program. "People have begun torealize you can't hang your hats only on natural gas."

Hundreds of industry executives and politicianshave recently trooped through a gasification plantbuilt byTampa Electric Co. in Polk County, Fla.,with $140 million of help from the DOE. Situated

amid a 1,511-acre "recreational preserve" thatincludes five fishing lakes and bird-nesting islands designed with help from the NationalAudubon Society, the plant is 10% more efficient than most coal-fired plants.

Noxious Chemicals


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But it still is far from clean. Coal contains dozens of noxious chemicals, including lead, arsenicand other heavy metals; sulfur dioxide, which creates acid rain; nitrogen oxides, which createsmog; tiny soot particles, which can invade and collect in human lungs; mercury, a toxic metalthat accumulates in animals, fish and the humans who eat them; and carbon dioxide, which manyscientists believe is artificially warming Earth's atmosphere by trapping more heat from the sun.

While the Tampa power plant collects more of these than traditional plants, plant officials saythat it was not built to cope with mercury, which is facing federal regulation, or CO2. Bothcontinue to go right up the stacks.

As it stands, clean coal remains a hard sell. "When we talk to utilities, they tell us they arereluctant to make a commitment, because they are concerned about regulations they might facein five, 10 or 15 years' time. It's very frustrating for us," says David H. Pai, president of asubsidiary ofFoster Wheeler Corp., the Clinton, N.J., company that builds modern coal-firedpower plants.

What Utilities Want

To stimulate a return to coal-fired plants, Mr. Pai suggests a combination of governmentincentives and a new kind of insurance package to protect a company against future pollutionliability. "Otherwise, you're going to have the Tampa plant sitting there and nobody is going tostep up and buy the next one," he says.

The government has money for incentives: Besides the $467 million in unspent demonstrationmoney, the Bush budget would add another $2 billion in the next 10 years. In addition, theadministration proposes to extend tax credits to support research and development projects anddirects federal agencies to "explore new regulatory approaches" that will encourage advances in

clean-coal technology.

For more than 30 years, most coal-fired plants have been exempt from the federal Clean AirAct's pollution controls. Under a compromise that gave birth to the law, most of the nation's coalplants were "grandfathered" on the assumption that older plants would soon wear out. Bututilities found clever ways to keep many of them running, a fact that continues to rileenvironmental groups.

"Coal is so cheap because its dirtiness still doesn't count against it," says David Hawkins, an air-pollution expert for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

"All the data show that the low-hanging fruit for cleaning up the air is addressing the problem ofpollution by utilities," says Kirsten Bryant of Alabama's Environmental Council. Her group ispart of a coalition campaigning against Atlanta-based Southern Co., one of the nation's largestoperators of coal-fired plants.

"Clean-burning coal is a complete oxymoron," declares Lori Ehrlich, a Marblehead, Mass.,housewife who has taken on PG&E National Energy Group, a unit of San Francisco-


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based PG&E Corp. that bought two old coal-fired plants in Massachusetts. The fight began afterone plant, in Salem, left part of Ms. Ehrlich's house coated in soot.

Ms. Ehrlich formed HealthLink, a community group, that successfully fought for tougher stateregulations. The state's new rules require reductions in sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury

and carbon dioxide by 2006. "This law is much tougher than we had expected," says PG&Espokeswoman Lisa Franklin. The company, she says, is still considering its options.

Those options, however, don't include coal gasification and other demonstration-plant options.They "don't make sense economically" as a fix for the older plants, she says. "We're looking athundreds of millions of dollars here."

Possible Solutions for Now

A more likely solution, she thinks, will be adding both a "scrubber," a small chemical plant thatremoves sulfur dioxide, and a giant catalytic converter to trap several other pollutants. As for

CO2, PG&E has an agreement to plant more forests in Malaysia, a move to offset global CO2accumulation; PG&E gets credits from Massachusetts for that.

PG&E hasn't shunned clean-coal technology altogether. PG&E and Southern have joined theDOE in the nation's ultimate coal research program, the "Zero Emissions Coal Alliance."Currently a small research project at Los Alamos National Laboratory, its ambition is to trap allpollutants, achieving clean-burning coal.

The Zeca plant will combine coal gasification with a process that traps CO2 in magnesiumsilicates, a gray powder made from grinding commonly found rocks. Klaus Lackner, one of theZeca scientists, says it will require mining six tons of rocks to trap the CO2 from one ton of coal.

The rock dust would then be buried back in the rock mines.

He figures the process will take at least 20 years to develop and could double the price ofelectricity. Noting that coal is the nation's most plentiful fossil fuel and a cheap source ofhydrogen which might be used to power cars Mr. Lackner thinks Zeca isn't so far-fetched."It is not so expensive that the economy couldn't handle it, but it's expensive enough that you justdon't do it willy-nilly. If you succeed, you are protecting a trillion-dollar industry.0022


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CLEAN COAL TECHNOLOGYClean coal technology is any technology that aims to reduce the environmental impact of coal

energy generation, including chemically washing impurities from the coal, gasification, and

carbon capture and storage. When coal is burned inpowerplants and factories, the smoke

released into the atmosphere is harmful to the environment. Since the Industrial Revolution,

public outcry over acid raid, smog, and global climate change has forced coal producers to

consider the cleanliness of the energy source. Since the American coal industry pumps 2 billion

tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year and contributes more than one-third of the

nation's overall greenhouse gas emissions, clean coal has been developed to reduce the amountof carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.

New, clean energy sources, like wind energy and solar power, have recently stormed the market;

none of them, however, are as cost-efficient as coal, but they are all friendlier to the

environment. Coal companies have responded by beginning development of a new technology,
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clean coal technology, as a way of accessing coal's efficiency while removing the impurities that

cause most environmental issues. Coal is a major source of power generation in the United States

(50%) and China (80%).New sociopolitical trends, however, are threatening coal's position on

top, and clean coal technology is the coal industry's answer to concerns about environmental

damage caused by burning coal.

Coal plants release hundreds of millions of tons of ash and pollutant gases into the air every year

(as seen here at St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, Russia)

Who Benefits

Coal companies like Arch Coal,Peabody, Massey Energy Company, CONSOL Energy,

and Yanzhou Coal Mining Company stand to benefit from the improved environmental

image given to coal by terms like "clean coal" and "emissions-free", whether or not carbon

emissions are lowered in the technology. Chevronhas also entered the clean coal game,

partnering recently with the Penn State University Institutes of Energy and Environment in

order to develop clean coal power. If carbon emissions can be lowered in a cost-effective

way these companies will also benefit from environmental and politial support.

Companies that produce equipment associated with coal, from mining machinery (Joy

Mining Machines) to railway transportation (Union Pacific andBurlington Northern Santa

Fe) stand to benefit from the increased demand for coal that would be caused by the

increased popularity of clean coal technology.

Because 70% of world steel production uses coal, and many other industrial input

producers require coal power, companies like Arcelor Mittal, US Steel, Corus Group,

and Nucorstand to benefit as cleaner, cheaper coal technologies make it easier for the

companies to meet environmental regulations. While short-run costs will rise (as more

expensive clean coal is used), long-run costs stand to fall as clean coal technology could help

industry make the politically forseeable transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.

Who Hurts

Alternative energy companies and their affiliates stand to lose the most from the advent ofcleaner coal technologies.

Solar companies like Suntech and Kyocera stand to lose their limited market share. Solar

poweris already less cost-efficient than coal; making coal environmentally friendly would

remove any attraction, other than long-term sustainability, from solar. The drop in solar
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energy demand would also hurt silicon distributors like MEMC Electronicsand Hemlock, as

the current silicon market lies only in two places: semiconductors and photovoltaic cells.

Companies specializing in

1. Wind energy (Suzlon, Siemens, and General Electric)

2. Natural gas (BP, Chevron, and Anadarko)

3. Nuclear(Exelon and Entergy)

4. Hydroelectric energy

all stand to lose from the increased popularity of coal as a method of electricity generation that

would result from a drop in all coal emissions (including carbon).

Trends and Forces

Coal's Abundance and Cost-Efficiency

Though coal is a nonrenewable resource, it is highly abundant in the U.S. and China, two places

where energy is in great demand. It is believed that 25% of the world's coal supply is in the U.S.,

and though coal companies are forced to refrain from most highly damaging mining practices,

the product is relatively cheap and easy to extract. In the short run, this makes coal a highly utile

natural resource in terms of U.S. energy production, but in the long run, it is projected that the
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reserves will only last another 250 years at current consumption rates. While this may seem like

a long time, one must consider how consumption is growing exponentially.

Contribution to electricity generation worldwide by energy source

Rising worldwide demand for energy

The world's economy is growing quickly, fueled by the extreme growth of hugely populated

developing countries like India and China. As economies grow, due to the proliferation of

industrial technology and manufacturing jobs, there is an increasing need for energy. 84% of

U.S. coal is used to produce electricity, but coal around the world has many uses. The fuel isused to power factories and steel blast furnaces, manufacture synfuels, and, in developing

countries, power steam engines and heat homes.

Coal is the most cost-efficient source of energy in the world; currently, coal is abundantly found,

cheaply harvested, and burns with a relatively high efficiency of 33% energy converted to

electricity (compared to a high 18% for solar panels). Because of this, many developing

countries have and may turn to coal as an economically viable source of energy to power their

expansion. China, for instance, has seen huge increases in its demand for natural resources, of

which coal is a major one; over 80% of China's installed capacity is coal-powered, and capacity

continues to grow.

The global demand for coal, however, as fallen due to the global financial crisis. Weak demand

caused the average weekly coal commodity spot prices in Northern Appalachia to fall from $138

in August 2008 to $58 in March 2009.
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China

While 25% of the world's reserves are in the U.S., 40% or more of the world's production is in

China. China's abundance of coal and it's growing electricity use make it the world's largest coal

producer, user, and polluter. For this reason, many environmental groups around the world are

pressuring China to shift its energy production in line with the Kyoto Protocol; coal companies

in China and around the world are attempting to meet this demand for environmental friendliness

while maintaining coal's energy dominance by developing clean coal technology. China,

however, plans to export coal next year. Falling domestic demand has lowered the importance of

coal, and a slowing economy has lowered the importance of its environmental impact.

Environmental Concerns

When burned, coal's simple impurities combine to create environmental problems like smog and

acid rain. Furthermore, the burning of any carbon-based substance creates carbon gases, like

carbon dioxide and methane, that act as greenhouse gases. While coal has an average efficiency

of 33% energy output, its dirtiness makes it highly undesirable in and environmental and social

context, which is the primary reason that clean coal technology (if developed) could be so

important.

Estimated CO2 emissions per Terrawatt of various electricity sources

Traditional Clean Coal

Traditional clean coal technology works by removing impurities from the coal, allowing more

carbon and oxygen to react when the coal is burned. Such technologies also act after the burning,

filtering ash and pollutant gases like NO2 out of the emissions. This is a highly useful technology

in terms of ending localized environmental degradation such as acid rain and smog. For the most

part, however, when coal producers claim such technologies "emissions-free", they are referring
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to traditional pollutant emissions - ash, NO2, etc. Now, with increased public interest in the

challenge ofglobal climate change, carbon-based gases are considered to be emissions; many

environmentalists consider traditional, cheaper clean coal technology to be "greenwashing"

because it is refered to as "zero-emissions" even though there are carbon emissions.

Truly Clean Coal

Truly clean coal technology, in which greenhouse emissions are significantly reduced, has not

yet been developed in a way that makes it remotely cost effective. Though there are technologies

that can sequester carbon emissions in compounds or geological reserves, these technologies are

expensive enough that nuclear technology would be much more cost-effective. In the current

environmental, political, and economic climate, however, there is huge demand for the

refinement of carbon-free coal. Increasing fear ofclimate change, international accords like the

Kyoto Protocol, and rapid economic expansion coupled with environmental degradation in

countries like China and India may combine the three forces to push the development of cost-

effective and truly clean coal technology. If not, then coal could be on its last legs as renewable,

clean energy sources are also in the process of being refined.

Underground Coal Gasification

Underground coal gasification is the process of burning coal directly in the ground and extracting

methane (and other gases) as a source of fuel.Two holes are drilled in an area containing

underground coal using equipment similar to that used in oil drilling. A burner is then inserted in

the hole, and the resulting combustion releases methane and other gases that can be burned toproduce energy. Traditional coal mining becomes prohibitively expensive and dangerous at

depths greater than a few hundred meters, leaving nearly 85% of the worlds known coal

resources inaccessible. However, UCG is possible at depths of up to 1000 meters, making 400%

more coal partially recoverable.It is also cheaper to burn the coal in the ground than to extract it,

wash it, and ship it. The current cost is about $2.00 per thousand cubic feet of methane gas,

which is about 50% the cost for an equivalent amount of natural gas. UCG was invented in the

1930s, but recent advancements in technology and favorable energy economics have made UCG

more attractive, especially in China. The Chinese government has heavily supported UCG

programs, and China, the largest consumer of coal in the world, has the largest UCG

development program.
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Coal consumed by country per year, in billion short ton.

Energy Legislation

On June 26, 2009, the House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security

Act. The victory marks the first major action by the U.S. Congress to address climate change.

However, the bill still needs to be approved by the Senate in order to be passed into law. Coal

company executives have complained that targets and timetables set by the bill are in advance of

the industry's abilities and have called for a lowering of the bills near-term emissions targets,

which currently require a 17 percent cut below 2005 levels by 2020.

Because of the nature of coal power, as well as the nature of coal harvesting, government

regulations could play a large part in pushing forward the development and implementation of

truly clean coal technology. Examples of national and international legislation include

The Kyoto Protocol: an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a

global effort to stop climate change. The method by which Kyoto achieves this is by

mandating emissions caps and through cap-and-trade systems oftrading carbon credits. This

has the potential to greatly damage the coal industry, making it a major driver for the

development of truly clean coal technology. It should be noted that the U.S. has not ratified

the treaty and has no plans to do so. China, while part of the treaty, is classified as a

developing country and therefore has no obligation to lower its emissions. The country will

soon be the largest polluter in the world because of its use of coal in an overwhelming part of

its energy production.
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California's mandate that 25% of electricity will come from clean sources by 2020 and

75% by 2050

U.S. Energy Regulations, like a bill being pushed through Congress over the summer of

2007 mandating that 20% of the United States' electricity will come from clean sources by

2020

The European Union is looking to get 22% of its energy from clean sources by 2010

China's Renewable Energy Law is planning on raising the total percentage of renewable

energy used in the country to 10% by 2020

Because of coal's powerfully negative environmental image and the rise of climate change as a

hot-button environmental issue, the future ofcoal powerhas major political implications. From

mandatory emissions caps to carbon trading markets to subsidies of alternative, clean,

and renewable energy sources, these legislative regulations are putting pressure on coal by

forcing companies to limit coal powerproduction or by making coal expensive relative to other

power sources. Traditional clean coal technology is essentially an attempt to regain public

support; the fact that burning coal will always release greenhouse gases keeps traditional clean

coal from being a truly environmentally viable form of energy (at least until carbon sequestration

techniques are perfected), but such technologies are being touted by coal companies as the

answer to all their problems nonetheless. With major political support (a plank of Barack

Obama's presidential platform is the support of clean coal), clean coal technology in any form

has the potential to be driven forward by the government, restoring the coal industry's image in

the process.

Carbon Sequestration

Carbon sequestration, or carbon capture and storage (CCS), is a process whereby carbon dioxide

emitted from coal power plants is captured and stored underground. Nearly $3.4 billion were

allocated to CCS in the U.S. stimulus package, and the European Union has established

incentives for power plants to adopt CCS technology. Sequestration technology is already in use

in the oil and chemical industries, though CCS would be prohibitively expensive for the private

sector without government subsidy.
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METHODS TO CLEAN COAL

A coal cleaning plant may consist of different reduction, cleaning and de-watering / dryingmethods. Different combinations may also be used. The basic commercial methods, as well asenvironmental considerations in general, are described inn the following section.

Jigs

The methods operate by differences in specific gravity. Jigs rely on stratification in a bed of coal

when the carrying water is pulsed. The shale tends to sin, and the cleaner coal rises. The basicjig, Baum Jig, is suitable for larger feed sizes. Although the Baum Jig can clean a wide range ofcoal sizes, it is most effective at 10-35 mm. A modification of the Baum Jig is the Batac Jigwhich is used for cleaning fine coals. The coal is stratified by bubbling air directly through thecoal-water-refuse mixture in this cleaning unit.

For intermediate sizes the same principles are applied, although the pulsing may be from the sideor from under the bed. In addition, a bed or hard dense mineral is used to enhance the


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stratification and prevent remixing. The mineral is usually feldspar, consisting of lumps ofsilicates of about 60 mm size. Figure A1 shows a Baum Jig and a feldspar Jig for finer coal.

Jigs offer cost effective technology with a clean coal yield of 75-85% at about 34% ash content.The jigs are used more frequently than dense-medium vessels because of their larger capacities

and cheaper costs

Dense-medium separators

Dense-medium vessels also operate by specific gravity difference; however, rather than usingwater as the separation medium, a suspension of magnetic and water is used. This suspension hasa specific gravity between that of coal and the refuse and a better separation can be obtained. Theslurry of fine magnetite in water can achieve relative densities up to about 1.8. Different types ofvessels are used for dense-medium separators such as baths, cyclones and cylindrical centrifugalseparators. For larger particle sizes, various kinds of baths are used, but these require asubstantial quantity of dense-medium, and therefore of magnetite. For smaller sizes, cyclones are

used where the residence time is short and throughput relatively high. Cylindrical centrifugalseparators are used for coarse and intermediate coal.

Dense-medium cyclones clean coal by accelerating the dense-medium, coal and refuse bycentrifugal force. The coal exits the cyclone from the top and the refuse from the bottom. Betterseparation of smaller-sized coals can be achieved buy this method.


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Key factors in the operation of any dense-medium system based on magnetite are the controlequipment and the efficiency of magnetic recovery for recycle. There can be a build-up of otherminerals in the medium, making control more difficult. Figure A2 shows example of a dense-medium bath and a dense-medium cyclone.

Hydrocyclone

Hydrocyclones are water-based cyclones where the heavier particles accumulate near the wallsand are removed via the base cone. Lighter (cleaner) particles stay nearer the center and areremoved at the top via the vortex finder, see Figure A3. The cyclone diameter has a significantinfluence on the sharpness of separation.

Concentration tables

Concentrating tables are tilted and ribbed and they move back and forth in a horizontal direction.The lighter coal particles to the bottom of the table, while the heavier refuse particles are


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collected in the ribs and are carried to the end of the table, see Figure A4. Fine coal can becleaned inexpensively with this unit, however, the capacity is quite small and they are onlyeffective on particles with specific gravities greater than 1.5.

Froth flotation

Froth flotation is the most widely-used method for cleaning fines. Froth flotation cells utilize thedifference in surface characteristics of coal and refuse to clean ultra fine coal. The coal-watermixture is conditioned with chemical reagents so that air bubbles will adhere only to the coal andfloat it to the top, while the refuse particles sink. Air is bubbled up through the slurry in the celland clean coal is collected in the froth that forms at the top. Figure A5 shows an example of frothflotation. This type of cleaning is very complex and expensive and is principally formetallurgical coals. One of the commonest stepz to improve the performance of a flotation unit isto separate the pyrite at an earlier stage using cyclones, spirals or tables.

DRY CLEANING


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The dry coal preparation technique uses an air dense fluidized bed, which makes use of thecharacter of an air-solid fluidized bed-like liquid. The uniform and stable air-solid suspension isformed, which processes a certain density, light and heavy feed is separated by density insuspension. The low density material floats up to the top and the high density material sinksdown to the bottom. Two qualified products are obtained after separating and removing the

magnetic. The separator is comprised of an air chamber, an air distributor, a separating vessel aswell as a transportation scraper. In the separating process the screened (6-50 mm) coal and densemedium are fed into the separator, the compressed air from an air receiver is provided to the air-chamber, and then uniformly to the distributor which fluidize the dense-medium. Thecomparative stable fluidized air-solid suspension which processes a certain density is formedunder certain technical conditions. The feed is stratified and separated according to its density.The separated materials are transported in counter flow. In Figure A6, the floated light product

such as clean coal is discharged to the right, and the sunken heavy product to the left.


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CONCLUSION

Coal is the dirtiest of all fossil fuels. When burned, it produces emissions that contributeto global warming, create acid rain and pollute water. With all of the hoopla surrounding nuclearenergy, hydropowerandbiofuels, you might be forgiven for thinking that grimy coal is finally onits way out.But coal is no sooty remnant of the Industrial Revolution -- it generates half of the electricity in

the United States and will likely continue to do so as long as it's cheap and plentiful. Clean coal

technology seeks to reduce harsh environmental effects by using multiple technologies to cleancoal and contain its emissions. Power Sources

Coal is a fossil fuel composed primarily of carbons and hydrocarbons. Its ingredients help make

plastics, tar and fertilizers. A coal derivative, a solidified carbon called coke, melts iron ore and
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reduces it to create steel. But most coal -- 92 percent of the U.S. supply -- goes into power

production. Electric companies and businesses with power plants burn coal to make the steam

that turns turbines and generates electricity.

When coal burns, it releases carbon dioxide and other emissions influe gas, the billowing clouds

you see pouring out of smoke stacks. Some clean coal technologies purify the coal before itburns. One type of coal preparation, coal washing, removes unwanted minerals by mixing

crushed coal with a liquid and allowing the impurities to separate and settle.

Other systems control the coal burn to minimize emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides andparticulates. Wet scrubbers, or flue gas desulfurization systems, remove sulfur dioxide, a major

cause ofacid rain, by spraying flue gas with limestone and water. The mixture reacts with thesulfur dioxide to form synthetic gypsum, a component of drywall.Low-NOx (nitrogen oxide) burners reduce the creation of nitrogen oxides, a cause of ground-level ozone, by restricting oxygen and manipulating the combustion process. Electrostaticprecipitators remove particulates that aggravate asthma and cause respiratory ailments by

charging particles with an electrical field and then capturing them on collection plates.Gasification avoids burning coal altogether. With integrated gasification combined cycle(IGCC) systems, steam and hot pressurized air or oxygen combine with coal in a reaction thatforces carbon molecules apart. The resulting syngas, a mixture of carbon monoxide andhydrogen, is then cleaned and burned in a gas turbine to make electricity. The heat energy fromthe gas turbine also powers a steam turbine. Since IGCC power plants create two forms ofenergy, they have the potential to reach a fuel efficiency of 50 percent .
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. www.wikipedia.org

2. www.yahoo.com

3. www. britannica.com

4. www.google.com

5. www.msn.com

6. www.ask.com

7. www.nationalgeographic.com

8. www.howstuffworks.com

9. www.encyclopedia.com

10. www.discovery.com

Dates worked on No of hours Info collected
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15.10.2011 to 26.01.2011 20 hrs Introduction

23.10.2010 to 29.10.2010 15 hrs Supports and criticisms

30.10.2010 to 06.11.2010 15 hrs Prior terminology

20.11.2010 to 11.12.2010 20 hrs Clean coal technology and

25.12.2010 to 08.10.2011 10 hrs Methods to clean coal And conclusion.

(021) agung prasetyo nugroho

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