Government-Developed Coal Cleaning Process Sold in Australia, Expands Commercial Use

"Microcel" Technology Moving into Overseas Markets

Washington, DC - An advanced U.S. coal cleaning technology first developed in a Federal laboratory is gaining a foothold in the Australian coal market.

The Department of Energy (DOE) said today that ICF Kaiser Engineers, one of the licensees of the Microcel technology that originated at the government's Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center, had sublicensed the technology to an Australian firm which, in turn, had sold 16 units to the owner of Australia's largest coal mine.

MicrocelTM is a novel froth flotation column cell for cleaning finely ground coal. It was first developed by a Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University professor, Dr. Roe-Hoan Yoon, working as a summer intern at DOE's Pittsburgh center in the early 1980s. In the U.S. Microcels have already been employed at commercial coal cleaning installations in Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, and for ore processing in Arizona and Georgia.

DOE also said that just prior to the Australian sale, another U.S. Microcel licensee, Control International of Salt Lake City, Utah, completed negotiations to sell six units to the China National Coal Development Corporation.

"These are more examples of the Federal investment in advanced technology paying off. World markets are opening for more efficient, affordable environmental technologies. Because of the joint U.S. government-industry development of technologies like Microcel, U.S.-developed technologies are increasingly in demand throughout the world," said Patricia Fry Godley, DOE's Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy.

The Microcel processes uses "microbubbles" in a water-filled flotation column to separate mineral impurities from coal. It is particularly effective in cleaning very fine coal particles, typically smaller than grains of sand, that are often discarded in coal waste ponds.

Professor Yoon conducted the original lab-scale research for the Microcel during a summer appointment at the Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center. The Energy Department provided the main support for this early research through two University Coal Research Program grants. The results led to a successful commercial demonstration and then the licensing of the Microcel process.

Microcel has been commercially available since it was first licensed to ICF Kaiser on March 14, 1990. ICF subsequently provide a sublicense to Bulk Material and Coal Handling of Australia. The sale of 16 Microcels went to BHP's Peak Downs Mine, Australia's largest coal mine. BHP selected the Microcel technology over competing flotation technologies, including an Australian-developed process.

While the sale will constitute the country's first use of Microcel for coal cleaning, it is not the first exposure Australian firms have had to the advanced technology. Microcels had previously been sold in Australia, as well as in Korea, for processing graphite.

With the most recent sales, there are now 44 commercial Microcel installations operating or planned worldwide.

- End of Techline-

For More Information:
Hattie Wolfe, Office of Fossil Energy, 202/586-6503