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By R. G. Gillies, C. A. Shook, W. H. W. Husband

"The current state of knowledge concerning pipeline transport of coal in water slurry form is summarized for the four categories: coal-water fuels, conventional fine coal slurries, coarse coals and stabilized mixtures of coarse and fine particles. Surface chemistry is of dominant importance for coal-water fuels and considerable progress in understanding the role of surfactants has been achieved in recent years. Little generalized research on the flow of conventional fine coal slurries has been done in the past 17years, although innumerable conceptual designs and feasibility studies have been undertaken. Coarse coal slurries are fairly well understood but the model which explains their flow requires more data to be established fully. Stabilized flow mixtures should probably obey the same model as coarse coal slurries but experimental results for stabilized mixtures have not yet been incorporated in a comprehensive theory.IntroductionPipeline transportation of coal in a water vehicle has been employed for many years in coal washeries. It has been used less frequently in hydraulic mining and thermal power station fuel supply systems. The suitability of coal for pipeline transport arises from its moderate specific gravity relative to the carrier fluid and the fact that throughputs are often large and steady over long periods of time."

Jan 1, 1990

By Lynn C. Fister

"Coal is rapidly becoming a major alternative to oil. According to the World Coal Study Final Report, total world coal trade could approach one billion tons annually by the year 2000. To facilitate the increased production and export market potential of the coal producing countries, advancements must be made to improve the transportation systems. Coal slurry pipeline systems could play a significant role in achieving these market forecasts.There are three major components to a coal slurry system the preparation plant, the pipeline and the dewatering plant. The experience and expertise gained from the Consolidation Coal Company system in Ohio, the Black Mesa system in Arizona and ETSI's Coal Evaluation Plant demonstrate that slurry pipeline technology is proven and available to meet the coal transport challenge.The costs of transporting coal by slurry pipeline can offer significant savings, as about 70 per cent of its costs are fixed. The reverse is true for railroads, where 75 to 80 per cent of the costs vary with inflation. All forms of transport-rail, barge and pipeline-will be required to move the massive volumes of coal. Coal slurry systems can provide a viable transport alternative.IntroductionThe importance of coal as a major alternative to oil is now well known and accepted throughout the world. Increasing oil prices over the last eight years have had a serious effect on national economics, particularly in those countries that are heavily dependent on oil. Coal can replace oil as the principal fuel source which could support world economic growth over the next two decades. This is the main conclusion of the World Coal Study (WOCOL) Final Report, published in May 1980.The product of that report was a result of considerable deliberation by key industry leader s and energy experts. The underlying message of the World Coal Study is that our energy and economic problems can be faced with confidence if coal use doubles by the early 1990s and triples by 2000, and if steam coal trade expand s considerably."

Jan 1, 1982

By J. Richard Lucas

The coal industry, one of the great basic industries in the nation, plays a major role in the American economy. Coal is the principal fuel used in generating tremendous quantities of low-cost power so necessary to the nation. Two-thirds of the electrical energy and one-fourth of all energy consumed in the nation is produced from coal. Large-scale production of steel, cement, and chemicals is vitally dependent upon this natural resource. Because of extensive reserves and low mining cost, it is one of the few natural resources in which the United States is a significant exporter. During 1965 in excess of 500 million tons of coal were produced, almost 10% over the previous year; more than 50 million tons were shipped to foreign markets. The utility market gained approximately 8% during the year for a total of 242 million tons.

Jan 2, 1966

By Ernest M. Spokes

For bituminous and lignite coals the economic picture continued to improve as it has each year since the low of 1961, with production at 480 mil- lion tons in 1964 compared with 1963's 459 million tons. The anthracite industry produced 16.3 million tons in 1964 and 18.3 million tons in 1963. The industry is looking toward a further expansion; among the new developments will be a mining wheel producing 3 million tons of lignite per year in South Dakota. It is expected that electric power generation will continue to provide the market for most of the increase in consumption, with exports second in importance in the expansion. Improvements in methods of mining and transporting coal underground and in strip mines, and the cooperation of carriers in finding ways to reduce transportation costs to distant markets, have made possible these expansions. Research continues to reduce costs of mining, transportation, steam generation of electric power and production of steam for space heating and manufacturing processes, to retain some markets and expand others. Other research seeks to expand markets by developing fuel from coal which will be more attractive than competing fuels, by reducing sulfur and other sources of air pollution. Public relations efforts of the industry are bearing fruit in a greater acceptance of coal as a modern fuel.

Jan 2, 1965

Jan 1, 2009

By O. B. Bucklen, P. G. Meikle

INTRODUCTION The trend in the coal industry for many years has been to make every- thing "bigger and faster." This also held true for loading and storage facilities. Where once a million ton per year mine was rare, three to five million ton per year mines are not uncommon today in the bituminous industry. This greatly increased production, made possible through mechanization, required greatly improved loading facilities just to get the coal away from the mine. Also, there is a trend toward combining production from more than one mine and cleaning it in a single preparation plant. In addition to increased loading capacity, this frequently necessitates raw coal storage and blending facilities. The development of the unit train with its attendant economics, more than any other factor, has contributed to the widespread construction of storage and high-speed loading facilities. In the export market, the construction of ever larger coal colliers has contributed to a need for faster and larger loading facilities. In this climate of rapidly changing technology, any written account is faced with the possibility of obsolescence before its appearance. Thus, this chapter seeks to define the common and current practice in coal loading and storage facilities with the full knowledge that this practice is an ever-moving target. FUNDAMENTALS OF COAL STORAGE Storage of coal is becoming an increasingly important part of coal handling systems at mines, particularly since the advent of the unit train concept in transportation. In order to take advantage of reduced transportation rates on trainload shipments of coal offered by unit train movement, operators have found that storage is an economic necessity. In unit train practice large predetermined quantities must be loaded in relatively short periods of time as opposed to conventional practice where coal is loaded at a speed dependent on the production capacity of the mine and/or the cleaning capacity of the preparation plant. Two surveys of storage practices at mines reveal several objectives for storage.1, 2 Raw and/or clean coal storage is generally practiced in order to accomplish one, or a combination, of the following objectives: 1. To improve plant efficiency by distributing plant feed over the entire operating time, or to allow a preparation rate different from the production rate. 2. To limit interruptions of supply, ie, allow mine and plant to function independently with delays in one not affecting the operation of the other.

Jan 1, 1968

By O. B. Bucklen, J. P. Matoney, P. G. Meikle, R. L. Terry

INTRODUCTION The trend in the coal industry for many years has been to make every- thing "bigger and faster." This also holds true for loading and storage facilities. Where once a 1 million st per yr (910,000 mt/yr) mine was rare, 3-5 million st per yr (2,730,000-4,550,000 mt/yr) mines are not uncommon today in the bituminous industry. This great increase in production, made possible through mechanization, requires greatly improved loading facilities just to get the coal away from the mine. Also, there is a trend to- ward combining production from more than one mine and cleaning it in a single preparation plant. In addition to increased loading capacity, this frequently necessitates raw-coal storage and blending facilities. The development of the unit train with its attendant economics has contributed more than any other factor to the widespread construction of storage and high-speed loading facilities. In the export market, the construction of ever larger coal colliers has added to the need for faster and larger loading facilities. In this climate of rapidly changing technology, any written ac-

Jan 1, 1979

By John A. Rusnak

"This paper discusses the variation of coal strength based on the megascopic coal lithotypes for Central Appalachian high-volatile A coal beds. The composition of coal beds is complex and variable, depending on the depositional environment associated with original plant material, inflow of clastic material, and water level fluctuations in the original swamp/mire environment. Thus, different types of coal and sediment are formed within each coal bed. These differences in coal composition were first classified by Marie Stopes, a paleobotanist, in 1919. The classic coal megascopic lithotypes are vitrain, clarain, and durain, which correspond to bright, bright banded, and dull coal, respectively. Stopes also identified that the lithotype fusain, which is mineral charcoal, has no inherent strength and can act as a plane of discontinuity. In this study, two other coal-bed lithologies are also considered—bone and carbonaceous shale. This makes for a comprehensive suite of coal-bed stratigraphic components apart from rock partings. A total of 1,000 uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) and 440 indirect tensile strength (ITS) tests were conducted on cores from southern West Virginia that were specifically logged and described using the megascopic coal lithotype nomenclature. Statistical analysis is presented showing the results for each lithotype group with mechanical properties correlated to the lithotype. Previous studies have analyzed the mechanical breakage properties associated with coal lithotypes, which correlate well with these results. However, coal rank does appear to be a contributing factor, and this study is confined to only high-volatile A bituminous rank. Application of these results would be well suited to a rock mass classification system to address coal pillar rib stability. This would allow for rib support design and implementation to consider relative coal strength by visual observation of the seam stratigraphy through ongoing observations within a mine. Changes in seam composition can be readily identified, allowing the adjustment in rib support design. Another application would be for the determination of numerical modeling inputs based on detailed seam stratigraphy. However, these results, even with the standard strength reduction criteria, may not be applicable to currently accepted empirical coal pillar design procedures."

Jan 1, 2017

By Robert L. Frantz

Progress and improvement continue to be the bywords of a dynamic coal industry. The industry continues to gain strength and expand its horizons in the face of competition from atomic energy and the problems of restrictive legislation. The direct contribution of coal mining and transportation to the national economy is about $3 billion a year ac- cording to a study made by the National Coal Policy conference. Coal remains the backbone of the power industry producing almost two-thirds of all the electrical energy generated by fossil fuels and one-quarter of all the energy consumed in the nation. Power supplied by electric utilities increased 6.9% last year. The chairman of the Federal Power Commission predicted a 7.5% growth rate until 1980 for the nation's electric output. Some 80,500 MW of fossil fired power plant capacity are on order or under construction before 1974, compared to a present capacity, all sources, of about 290,000 MW. The comparable new additions of nuclear power plants is expected to total about 51,000 MW.

Jan 2, 1969

By B. D. Hong

The Coal supply and demand review arrived too late to appear in the May issue. In 1991, the US coal industry produced 902 Mt (994 million st) of coal, according to preliminary data compiled by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) (Table 1). This amount was 32 Mt (35 million st) less than the record 933.5 Mt (1 billion st) produced in 1990. Most of the decrease in coal production occurred east of the Mississippi River. The substantial stock buildup that stimulated production in 1990 was not repeated in 1991. In addition, coal consumption by electric utilities and coke plants dropped by about 1.8 Mt and 4.5 Mt (2 million and 5 million st), respectively. Moreover, a higher level of coal exports failed to bolster the 1991 production. Production Surface mines accounted for about 59% of the 902 Mt (994 million st) of coal produced in 1991. Underground mines produced for 41%. More than one-fourth of the total coal output was from federal and Indian coal leases. Production of all ranks of coal, except subbituminous, declined in 1991. Bituminous coal is produced mainly in the East. It totaled an estimated 590 Mt (651 million st), a 6% decrease. Production of subbituminous coal, mostly in the West, rose 3% to a record 228 Mt (252 million st). Lignite output was from Texas and North Dakota. It decreased by 1 % to 79 Mt (87 million st). Anthracite production, all from eastern Pennsylvania, fell by 17% to 2.7 Mt (3 million st).

Jan 1, 1992

By John W. Gunnett

The purpose of this afternoon’s presentation is to highlight the investigative proce dures employed to complete an engineering audit of a mining operation. Skelly and Loy has been retained to perform operational audits throughout the nation’s coal fields, The need for such studies is generally associated with long term coal supply contracts and is typically initiated by the utility company. However, a number of projects have been commissioned by mining companies while others have been jointly funded by the utility and mining company.

Jan 1, 1992

All coal preparation unit operations in which fine coal is handled depend to some extent on wettability of coal surface by water. The wetting results from interactions between the coal surface and water molecules that are determined by the composition of coal matrix (interrelated with coal rank) and heterogeneous constituents such as oxygen functional groups, mineral impurities and pores. The contact angle of water on an unoxidized, homogeneous coal hydrocarbon matrix is calculated to be 100o, and much lower values measured on real coal specimens result from contributions from the heterogeneous constituents. While the effect of wettability is critical in flotation and oil agglomeration, suppression of respirable dust, and coal water fuels, it has been shown to play a significant role also in coal flocculation with semi-hydrophobic and totally hydrophobic flocculants.

Jan 1, 1995

By McCarthy. Richard E.

The prime movers of the Centralia Project, the surface coal mine and the power plant, private utilities are very aware of public attitudes. They have established and maintain the reputation for leadership in public service and are genuinely concerned that this project initiate the pro-grams and design the hardware to answer the question :What will be the impact of the mine and the plant on the physical environment, i.e., the air, soil and the water." So in the beginning almost as soon as the decision had been made to go ahead with the project, officials of the two private utilities, Washington Water Power and Pacific Power & Light went on record and publicly stated time and again that the overall approach of the Operators would be to do all that was reasonably possible to safeguard the environment. This attitude became part of the thinking of the project planners, part of the design of the power plant and part of the plan for the surface mine. The coal to be mined is from the Skookumchuck formation. The formation is Late Eocene and is made up of poorly consolidated marine and non-marine deposits. The major overburden removal equipment is a bucket-wheel excavator -conveyor system and a 56 yard dragline. Mining of the coal will be done with truck and shovel. The coal is processed, washed and crushed to 1 ¼ " for delivery to the power plant. The muddy water created by the washing process is chemically treated and the solids removed by a thickener-vacuum filter system.

Jan 1, 1971

What has happened to the basic coal industry during the past year? Has it been a better year for coal than 1961? What striking new developments have occurred in mining, preparation and utilization? Are there positive signs that production will go up? What has happened in the utility market, the metallurgical market and the export market? Is the controversial question of coal transportation nearer to a solution? What progress has research made for coal during the year? The answer to these and many other important questions are offered in the following review of the Coal Industry-1962.

Jan 2, 1963

Coal production during 1963 amounted to 446 mil- lion tons, an anticipated increase of about 6% over the 1962 production of 422 million tons. Electric consumption was 207 million tons, a continuation of its upward trend with an increase of about 7%. The metallurgical market consumed 77 million tons: the industrial market, 96 million tons; and the retail market, 26 million tons. Exports were 46 million tons. Modernization continues in the coal industry as it approaches the mid-1960's. The industry has shown a keen desire to explore and pursue new developments, new concepts and new managerial methods and techniques that have become so vital and important for industrial well-being.

Jan 2, 1964

Occasionally it is interesting, and sometimes useful, to review the past for early references to our industry, and to learn of the trials and travail passed through before it arrived where it now is - and the results of such a review follow. Some time ago one of our modern playwrights and poets, Arthur Guiterman, turned to coal, with the following result : Afar in the Carboniferous time I grew in Paleozoical slime, A lepidodendron with boughs on my stem And lepidostrobusea grew out of them. My roots in the mud of the ages I spread And up to the heavens I vaunted my head, I throve in the heat of tropical sun, And now I am coal at two dollars a ton.

Jan 1, 1935

Occasionally it is interesting, and sometimes useful, to review the past for early references to our industry, and to learn of the trials and travail passed through before it arrived where it now is- and the results of such a review follow. Some time ago one of our modern playwrights and poets, Arthur Guiterman, turned to coal, with the following result: Afar in the Carboniferous time I grew in Paleozoical slime, A lepidodendron with boughs on my stem And lepidostrobuses grew out of them. My roots in the mud of the ages I spread And up to the heavens I vaunted my head, I throve in the heat of tropical sun, And now I am coal at two dollars a ton

Jan 1, 1939

GENERALTHE coal deposit, where it is being worked, consists of a bed of brown coal varying in thickness from 120 ft. to 200 ft., covered by an overburden of clay, drift, loam, etc., of a thickness of 22 ft. to 40 ft., and averaging 28 ft.The overburden is first entirely removed from the coal, and then the coal is excavated by. large revolving shovels which work at the bottom of the hole or open cut in the coal and deliver it in shovel bucketfuls to the transport system. The shovels owned by the Commission and available for this coal excavation are two Bucyrus steam revolving shovels, one being type 150B, weighing 150 tons, having a 21-cub. yd. bucket, and capable of digging a 47-ft. face; and the other being type 175B, weighing200 tons, having a 31-cub. yd. bucket, and capable of digging a 61-ft. face.In addition to these two steam shovels, the Commission has recently obtained a No. 250 Ruston electric revolving shovel weighing 340 tons, and having a bucket of 10 cub. yd. capacity, and capable of digging a 75-ft. face. When this electric shovel has been erected it will replace the steam shovels on the coal excavation, and the permanent transport system has been designed to take delivery of the coal from its bucket.The duty to be performed by the transport system is to take the coal from the shovels, elevate it out of the open cut, transport it to the screening house, deliver it iuto the hoppers at the top of this building, then to take the coal after it has passed over the screens and distribute the required grades to the power house and to the briquetting plant.

Jan 1, 1924

By J. O. Pitts

"Background The preponderance of Canada's coal resources is located in areas remote from high demand domestic users and at some significant distances from deepsea ports. This places great demands on the transportation system and has forced the coal and the transportation industries to adopt highly efficient methods of handling the product and hauling it to market position. Most of the coal not consumed in minemouth thermal power stations is carried by rail over lines operated by the two transcontinental railway systems, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific. These rail networks are extensive and have the advantage (as compared to most other North American railways) of being able to handle coal movements from origin through to destination without interchange to other rail carriers. Coal SourcesWith exception of the coal produced in Cape Breton, Nova iScotia, all the significant shipping volumes in Canada emanate ifrom mines located in the three most westerly provinces. Figure I ishows the geographic distribution of the major mining operaitions shipping coal to domestic and export markets. The prinicipal routes and the tonnages carried (1980 calendar year) are ialso indicated. iThe 1980 shipping data are summarized in Table I. Saskatchewan lignite began moving from Bienfait to Thunder Bay by CP Rail unit trains in mid-1981 at the rate of one million tonnes per year. The product is handled through Thunder Bay Terminals and delivered directly to a nearby Ontario Hydro electrical generating station."

Jan 1, 1985

The Maddingley brown coal seam at Bacchus Marsh, where mined and bored, tends on the whole to a higher content of volatile matter than the Latrobe Valley brown coals, and this masks the presence of lignitic or earthy coal bands in the bore core analyses. Visits to the Lucifer Open Cut, at Bacchus Marsh, during 1948, revealed, however, a banded condition in the coal seam, as shown in Fig. 1. This banding showed in a face that had been exposed for a considerable period of time, permitting partial drying out and oxidation of the surface coal. The bands consist of different coal types, ,comparable with those found in the Yallournand Latrobe brown coal seams(l).The' light coloured bands in Fig. 1 consist of a buff to light-brown earthy coal of low specific gravity, that closely resembles the pollen coal, that occurs, as similar thin bands in the Yallourn and Latrobe seams. The 40 ft. of coal above the uppermost of these light coloured bands dries out on exposure to a black, closely cracked surface, composed of small dice-like fragments of a lustrous vitrain-like substance, and in every respect resembles the lignitic coal bands of the Yallourn and Latrobe seams.The coal between and below the light-coloured bands develops fewer and more widely spaced shrinkage cracks on drying out, and remains brown in colour and earthy in appearance, resembling the earthy coal of the Yallourn and Latrobe seams.Representative samples were cut of these coals, taking care to exclude surface coal, and analyses were made of them by the Metropolitan Gas Company, through the kindness of Dr. R. S. Andrews, Chief Chemist to the Company...

Jan 1, 1948