Southern Illinois University Carbondale

"Demonstration of a Coal Industrial Park Concept for Illinois Coal Industry Enhancement" – Carbondale and Elkhart, Illinois

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A typical coal mining operation in Illinois mines the coal and processes it on-site for the market. The processed coal is transported by rail to a thermal power generation station where it is burnt to produce electricity. Most of the by-products of combustion (fly ash, bottom ash, and scrubber sludge) are disposed at the power plant on-site at a substantial cost. The cost of coal delivered to the power plant ranges $28-30 per ton. The power plants spend on the average $7-10 per ton to dispose of combustion by-products. Mining operations, as well as on-site mining and processing waste disposal, also have the potential to create negative environmental impacts on land, air, and water such as acid mine drainage, mine subsidence, etc.

This project will demonstrate the concept of a coal industrial park (CIP), which integrates mining, processing, coal processing waste, and combustion by-products management operation (to the extent possible) to improve coal company profitability and minimize negative environmental impacts. An integral part of the concept is an on-site or near mine-site, small size (25-35 MW) fluidized bed combustion (FBC) power plant, which utilizes a low value/waste coal stream from the processing plant. The power generated is sold to the mine as well as to the outside markets. The by-products of combustion are co-managed with mining and processing wastes to minimize negative environmental impacts. Some of the by-products also may be used to fabricate products for use in mines as well as for construction industries. More specifically, the CIP concept achieves the following:

· More fully recovers the energy of mined coal; about 95% of the mined coal energy may be utilized as compared to about 80% to 85% currently.

· Minimizes negative environmental impacts associated with mining, and management of mining, and processing waste and coal combustion by-products.

· Generates and markets power generated from the use of coal waste at a competitive price.

· Reduces the cost of coal received by the power plant and the sulfur emissions cost.

· Fabricates and markets products from by-products of mining, processing, and combustion of coal for mining and construction industries.

A consortium organized by SIUC plans to demonstrate and commercialize these concepts at Turris Mine near Elkhart, Illinois over a six-year period (2001-2006). The “Coal Industrial Park” concept can be used at most mines in Illinois, with a life of about 20 years and availability of about 300 gallons per minute of water, to enhance coal production and employment.

Progress Report :The Consortium has developed an integrated concept for CIP and performed technical and economic feasibility studies. The studies to date indicate that return on investment of 20-25% can be achieved from implementation of the CIP concept. MWH Consulting of Chicago has independently verified these findings. A no-cost extension and proposal modification to incorporate additional tasks in the ongoing Phase I studies have been approved for this project. The changes will allow the project to conduct full scale combustion test planning, large scale vegetation experiments, development of a full scale material handling system, and development of a macro-level GIS model. These are critical elements of the Coal Industrial Park concept that should provide significant added value to the project and may accelerate commercial interest.