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 December marked commercial operation of coal beneficiation at Great River Energy's Coal Creek Station Posted on 1/29/2010 Great River Energy, Minnesota's largest generation and transmission cooperative, placed into service the DryFiningTM coal beneficiation process in December 2009 at its Coal Creek Station near Underwood, North Dakota. The process improves the value of lignite coal through a drying and segregation process. The dried and segregated coal has a significant impact on improving power plant operations at Coal Creek Station, the largest power plant in North Dakota. Through the system, the energy content of the lignite is being increased from 6,200 to 7,100 Btus per pound. This will reduce fuel input into the boilers in both units by about 14 percent by weight. In turn, this will increase overall power plant efficiency by 2 to 4 percent, and also reduce stack emissions significantly - sulfur dioxide and mercury by more than 40 percent, nitrogen oxide by more than 20 percent and carbon dioxide by 4 percent. Great River Energy developed the technology in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The Lignite Fuel Enhancement System - as DryFiningTM was originally called - was selected in round one of DOE's Clean Coal Power Initiative in 2003. The initiative focused on commercial-scale technology demonstrations to continue and expand the use of coal as a fuel source. The DOE project included the testing of a 115-ton prototype dryer that supplied up to one-sixth of the coal for Coal Creek Station's Unit 2, a 546-megawatt unit. The prototype unit dried and segregated the lignite before it entered one of eight pulverizers that feed lignite to the boiler. The project was successful in increasing boiler efficiency and decreasing stack flow, thus reducing emissions. Coal Creek Station, like many power plants throughout the world, uses lignite to generate electricity. Lignite has a moisture content of 39.5 percent. The coal drying component of DryFiningTM reduces the moisture content to about 29.5 percent. Great River Energy has partnered with WorleyParsons to make this technology available to the global marketplace. Thus, this innovative technology, developed in North Dakota, will be contributing to cleaner and more efficient power plants worldwide. The DryFiningTM system offers significant operating benefits for Coal Creek Station, which immediately translates into benefits for Great River Energy's cooperative members. "The project is part of a larger, long-term strategy designed to lower costs and improve our environmental performance, while developing new technology and innovation to benefit the fossil fuels industry," said David Saggau, president and CEO, Great River Energy. |
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©2010 Partners for Affordable Energy | |
