University-industry team developing coal cleaning technolog...( Blacksburg Va. In support of the As...)

Blacksburg, Va. In support of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, the U.S. Department of State has awarded more than $1 million to a university-industry team led by the Center for Advanced Separation Technologies at Virginia Tech to help India increase energy production and reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by developing and testing advanced technologies for cleaning coal.

It has been shown that use of beneficiated (cleaned) coals can increase thermal efficiencies and can thereby reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 15 percent, said Roe-Hoan Yoon, director of the Center for Advanced Separation Technology and Nicholas T. Camicia Professor of mining and minerals engineering at Virginia Tech. By using state-of-the art technologies relating to coal quality, boiler and generator design, instrumentation and control, high-voltage distribution system, India could reduce CO₂ emissions to 45 percent of its present level, he said, citing an International Energy Agency (IEA) report.

In 2005-2006, India produced 380 million tons of coal, but only 17 million tons were beneficiated coals delivered to 12 power stations, according to Professor Sumantra Bhattacharya of Indian School of Mines University.

Ash-forming minerals are finely disseminated in Indian coals, making them difficult to remove from the carbonaceous matrix using conventional physical separation methods. Because water is a scarce resource in India, the researchers will develop low-cost dry beneficiation technologies that can remove well-liberated, easy-to-reject rocks or shales that are inadvertently added during the process of mining Indian coals.

Ground-breaking research like this makes important contributions to the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate. It illustrates how the public and private sector are working together to promote innovative solutions that achieve our mutual goals on ener
'/>"/>