Grants and Contracts Details
Description
PUBLIC ABSTRACT
The extraction of coal typically results in the recovery of pure rock that ranges from small to very
large quantities depending on seam thickness and other characteristics. The eastern Kentucky coal fields,
which contain the highest quality coal in the U.S., retain nearly 85% of the original coal reserves or 64
billion ton after two centuries of escalating production.. However, approximately 80% of the remaining
coal exists in seams with a thickness less than 42 inches. To extract these coals economically, a large
amount of rock from the roof and floor is recovered with the coal. The average amount of rock in run-ofmine
eastern Kentucky coal ranges from 60% - 70%. The haulage, processing and storage of the rock
equate to elevated mining costs, poor energy inefficiency and a significant impact on the environment due
to the need for large off-site storage areas. Ideally, the majority of the pure rock should be removed near
the extraction point and placed back into the mined out areas, thereby, minimizing the negative impacts.
The removal of the pure rock, generally referred to as 'deshaling', needs be achieved using a dry
separation process to avoid the need for water treatment facilities at the mine site. A novel dry coal
processing technology that has the potential to efficiently remove pure rock from coal has been developed
to commercial-scale and is known as the Accelerator.
The Accelerator technology selectively breaks the coal away from the rock by slinging the coal
using rotors into a plate that has perforated holes of a predetennined size. The shock created by the
impact of the coal against the plate causes selective breakage between the granular boundaries between
the coal and rock. As such, purer particles of coal and rock are produced. As the material continues
through multiple stages of breakage, the coal particles size reduces at a rate greater than that of rock due
to the differential hardness between rock and coal. As such, the Accelerator product can be screened at a
given size (e.g., 2 inches) to remove the coarser rock material. Also, due to the impact breakage, the
cleaning characteristics of the material that reports to the preparation plant are improved which should
produce an increase in coal recovery and thus reduce the loss of coal to the reject storage areas. The
Accelerator technology is represented by Imperial Technologies Incorporated. There are no units
operating in Kentucky, the Central Appalachia coal fields and the Illinois coal basin.
A diverse team comprised of a research university (University of Kentucky), a leading coal
producer in Kentucky (James River Coal Company) and a process equipment manufacturer (Imperial
Technologies Inc) has been assembled to undertake the demonstration ofthe Accelerator technology. The
goal of the project is to demonstrate the potential of the Accelerator technology to improve coal mining
economics in Kentucky and to reduce the environmental impacts of extracting coal. To achieve this goal,
James River Coal Company will provide five sites in Kentucky to test the Accelerator. These sites will
include mining operations in the Kentucky coal producing counties of Pike, Perry and Leslie. Imperial
Technologies will supply a mobile 250 ton/hr Accelerator unit and technical assistance for the test
program. A test program developed and administered by University of Kentucky researchers will ensure
optimum conditions are realized for the coals tested at each site.
Based on a preliminary assessment, deshaling at a typical 1,000 tonlhr operation could provide an
annual revenue increase of around $10 million with the overall value of removing a ton of rock being $50.
If successful, increased profits would be realized trom an increase in clean coal production per ton of runof-
mine coal and a decrease in operating costs associated with transportation fuel and labor costs as well
as a reduction in disposal expenses.
11
Status | Finished |
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Effective start/end date | 7/1/06 → 6/30/07 |
Funding
- KY Office of Energy Policy: $115,867.00
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