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DOE - Fossil Energy Techline - Issued on: March 19, 1999 Clean Coal Project Signs Fuel Supply Agreement, Starts Down Commercial Path as DOE Effort Nears End8-Year Contract Lets Company Produce Clean Coal Product for Power Plant and Industrial CustomersThe developer of an advanced clean coal processing technology that produces an upgraded coal-based fuel has signed a contract to supply the fuel to a Montana power plant. The agreement enhances commercial prospects for the Rosebud SynCoal Partnership just as it nears completion of its Clean Coal Technology agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy. This 8-year contract allows Rosebud, a partnership of Western SynCoal Company and SynCoal Incorporated, to produce its registered trademark fuel - SynCoal® - around the clock for a power plant and four industrial customers. Rosebud developed and demonstrated an advanced thermal coal conversion process and the SynCoal® fuel as one of 40 projects in the joint government-industry Clean Coal Technology Program. The technology is being pioneered in a first-of-its-kind demonstration facility located at one of the nation's largest coal mines, Western Energy Company's Rosebud Mine at Colstrip, Montana. Built as part of the $106 million Rosebud Clean Coal Technology project - nearly 60 percent of which was privately financed - the facility produces 1,000 tons per day of upgraded fuel by reducing the moisture and sulfur content and increasing the heating value of low-rank western coals. Under the new supply agreement Rosebud constructed a pneumatic fuel feeding system at the 330-megawatt Colstrip No. 2 generation unit in Colstrip, Montana. The plant is jointly owned by Montana Power Company and Puget Sound Energy. The pneumatic feed tube simplifies delivery of the upgraded fuel to the utility. The contract gives Rosebud the flexibility to market SynCoal® to industrial users while supplying the utility with any excess fuel from its 24-hour production schedule. Rosebud's industrial customer base already includes direct fired cement and lime kilns and a bentonite producer. Additional potential business for the fuel may exist in the asphalt industry as well as in the 3000 metal casting foundries in North America. DOE first selected Rosebud for its Clean Coal Technology Program in 1988. The Rosebud process uses heat coupled with physical cleaning to upgrade high-moisture, low-rank coals, producing a fuel with improved heating value, ash slagging potential, and low sulfur content. The low rank coal upgrading technology takes advantage of the plentiful, low cost, low sulfur Powder River Basin coals to produce SynCoal®. If handled properly, upgraded fuels like SynCoal® can provide low SOx and low NOx emissions without expensive or time consuming retrofits to existing power plants and industrial facilities. Utilities benefit from the generally lower cost of coal preparation processes to prevent sulfur dioxide emissions. Additionally, the Powder River Basin coals found in the western states generally emit fewer nitrogen oxides than eastern U.S. bituminous coals when combusted under similar conditions. The rapid ignition and consistent quality of SynCoal® makes it a very good supplemental fuel providing flame stability and more complete combustion making other lower quality fuels easier to use. These characteristics allow SynCoal® , when combined with poorer quality fuels, to both improve fuel quality and the utility or industrial plant performance. Because of the complete combustion and steady flame SynCoal® produces it is a good industrial fuel and can displace fuel oil or natural gas in many applications. The cement and lime industries have found that this fuel improves both capacity and product quality in their direct-fired kiln applications. The steady flame it produces appears to allow tighter process control and improved process optimization. DOE signed the Clean Coal Technology cooperative agreement with the Rosebud SynCoal Partnership in September 1990. Western SynCoal Company (WSC), a subsidiary of Montana Power Company's Energy Supply Division, is the managing general partner. Through December 1998, the demonstration facility - which is about one-tenth the size projected for future commercial facilities - had processed more than 1.9 million tons of raw coal into nearly 1.3 million tons of SynCoal®. Nearly all of the products have been shipped to customers. The plant has consistently met commercial performance standards. -End of TechLine - For more information, contact: Technical contact: Joseph B. Renk III, Federal Energy Technology Center, (412) 892-6249, e-mail: renk@fetc.doe.gov |