Analysis of Clean Coal Technology

How does the coal industry make coal cleaner, do they just throw it in a bathtub wash it? In fact, on a basic level, that is what Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) Technology, more commonly known as Coal Scrubbing, does. Coal is placed in large tanks filled with water and a limestone solution and then boiled. It is the limestone that is able to collect the sulfur concentrations out of the coal and into the solution. Through this process, “more than 95 percent of the sulfur pollutants in coal can be captured inside the boiler” (US Dept. of Energy). While these numbers are truly staggering, that 95% just includes the sulfur that is

Coal (n): A combustible black or dark brown rock consisting mainly of carbonized plant matter, found mainly in underground deposits and widely used as fuel. This little rock is what keeps 39% of our nation running. 10% of that coal comes from stripping the Appalachian mountain range of her beautiful peaks in a process called strip mining- or, more popularly, Mountaintop Removal. Coal is considered a non-renewable energy resource, meaning once it’s depleted, it will not return for millions of years. Once it's gone, it's gone. These non-renewable sources are found deep underground. Coal needs to be mined out, either by machine or by manual labor. The use of and the process in which we procure coal is a detriment to both the environment and the people in said environment. It is dangerous to the workers within the mines, the flora and fauna around the sites, and the surrounding communities.

After it is brought out of the ground, the coal is then transported by either a train or a barge to refineries. Upon arriving at the refineries, the coal is either washed by water, or put through a chemical bath to remove some impurities. At the power plant, the coal is then pulverized to a powder just before being burned. The coal powder is then pushed into a furnace where it ignites while still airborne. This fuels the fire which heats up pipes with water running through them. The water begins to boil, and under pressure, the water evaporates and becomes steam, this steam rises and goes through turbines which rotates a generator, and creates electricity. Part or the water is then condensed and put back into the pipes to repeat the process, although much water is lost in the process. During the burning process, the coal powder under goes a chemical reaction that releases its chemical properties into the air. Some of these elements that can be released are sulfur, nitrogen, carbon, arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury, and some traces of uranium. After the coal has been burned, the emissions are then pumped through filters and scrubbers. Scrubbers use limestone to catch and filter out as much sulfur as possible. After the power has been made in the power plant and the coal has been used, it is then

Many people believe that coal is a bad resource because it pollutes the air and it leads to global warming, but do those people really know what coal is used for? Some people believe that coal is used for electricity and that's all you hear about it is its use for electricity, but coal is used for other things which I'll talk about later. The government is trying to use renewable resources over coal but do you know the disadvantages of that happening, well if you don't you'll find out later on as well. Without coal the lives of the US citizens would not be the same, and I'm gonna tell you why that is true and why we should stick to electricity that is generated from coal.

Any technology that reduces the environmental impact of burning coal falls under the clean coal technologies umbrella (Halber, 2008, para. 1). The two most common categories of these technologies deal with the removal and storage, most commonly in subterrestrial caverns, of carbon dioxide before or after the burning of coal or the removal of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, the cause of acid rain (Seeker, 2016, 1.36), from coal before it is burned. Clean coal technologies that focus on the former category have one main advantage over the traditional methods of burning coal; the amount of pollution released is greatly decreased. If all coal was burned using these technologies CO2 output could be reduced by up to 85% (Monbiot, 2009, p. 84). However, according to Mary Anne Hitt, director of the Beyond Coal campaign, the coal industry primarily employs technologies that fall into the latter technology category as the removal of CO2 is currently too costly (Cho, 2013, para. 4). The United States Department of Energy claims that the current cost for the removal of CO2 from coal is $60 per ton while the target price is $40 per ton (United States Department of Energy, n.d., para. 3). Furthermore, many environmentalists cite concerns that the CO2 may leak from

Clean coals main objective is to capture and store carbon. According to the World Coal Institute (WCI) clean coal technologies are defined as “technologies designed to enhance both the efficiency and the

The preparation plant processes and cleans the coal, to eliminate any ash, sulfur, dirt, and any unwelcome materials that could be found in the

When burnt, coal release greenhouse gases which results in a significant rise in temperature over time. For instance the need article said “Carbon Dioxide is released when coal is burned and this is causing a major concern for human activist which have seen the recent major changes in greenhouse gas levels in the Earth's atmosphere that are responsible for the Earths climate change”. Additionally, according to greenpeace.org “coal is responsibe for ⅓ of Carbon dioxide pollution in the air”. In this case there's no reason to even consider the word sustainable as the burning of coal is affecting the earth's climate. This is all also known as Global warming which doesn’t just increase the temperature of the Earth, but it creates wild weather conditions like droughts, storms, wildfires and melting

Finding an energy source that is abundant, affordable, and easy to utilize unlike any other energy source on the market sounds like an open and shut case for the mining of coal. There are always two sides to every story and the opposition to coal mining offers solid evidence why the mining of coal is not as perfect as it seems. Upon further investigation information is available stating coal mining is responsible for deforestation contributing to the destruction of habitats that support our wildlife. The techniques utilized to gain access to coal include the removal of soil, plants, and trees. This technique leaves behind the demolition of land, home to wildlife habitats. (Mining Impacts, 2010). In addition, the chemical impurity of waters

Coal has been one of the main gases to give us energy, but it is polluting our air and destroying our ozone layer leading to warmer climates globally. Coal is not the only fossil fuel, creating these conditions, there are also oil and natural gases (hydrocarbon, nitrogen, helium, etc.) to blame. When looking at these three common air pollutants I want to focus on coal first because it has been around the longest, 1679, and arguably the biggest emission of CO2. For 3,000 years coal has been around and during this time it has become one of our biggest energy sources. “Coal was the second-largest energy source for U.S. electricity generation in 2016—about 30%.” (Quoted from U.S. Energy Information Administration). Since coal is responsible for ⅓ of our energy sources we cannot just simply get rid of it or more realistically cut down its usage easily, because there are countless cities and businesses that still use coal as their main energy source. When coal is burned, CO2, mercury, sulfur and other harming elements are released

Coal is produced in a few different ways. If it is found closest to the surface, it can be removed by large machines. This is called surface mining, and in the 1970’s, this became the most common type of mining. It accounts for 60% of coal in the extracted in the United States, mostly occurring in the western states. When mining, topsoil and subsoil are removed and put aside to be used for reclaiming the land. Machines then go in and remove rock and overburden to expose the coal. Shovels load the coal into large trucks to remove the coal from the pit.

The total United States carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for 2014 were 5,404 million metric tons (Mt). Of this, the electricity sector was responsible for 2,043 Mt (37.8%). Coal fired power plants produced 76% of the electricity sector’s CO2 emissions, with the most of the remaining emissions coming from natural gas-fired power plants. With new clean air standards being signed into law every year, coal-fired power plants are facing a serious push towards clean coal technology. Coal resources are abundant throughout the world, inexpensive, and relatively stable in price compared other energy resources such as natural gas. For this reason, coal is expected continue to play a large role as one of the primary energy sources for the generation of electricity in the United States well in 2040 (EIA, 2012). However, the most critical issue with promoting the utilization of coal is to decrease its environmental load. Today, the generation of electricity via coal is extremely dirty; combustion of coal generates larger amounts of sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particulates compared to oil and natural gas. To make it possible to utilize coal in a manner harmonious with the environment, as required by carbon pollution standards in the United States, and contribute to the energy security of our nation, it is important to develop and expand the use of clean coal technology.

After the coal has been removed form the earth, it is still not ready for use; it must first be refined. Coal must first be separated form foreign materials, for example other minerals, to be considered useful to us. One way of doing this is called coal washing. The coal is first crushed into smaller pieces, and then a liquid is used to separate the coal based on density. Coal that is higher in density harbors more ash, so is left behind, whereas low-density coal has contains little ash and is more desirable. Another process to separate coal from foreign materials is call dry-shaling, which works without the use of liquid. After being separated, coal can be processed into coke, and eventually steel. When coal is transported, it can be by means of truck, train, or ship, and can go nearly anywhere. Truck and train transportation are the cheapest forms, particularly train if you are shipping a great amount, and ships are used for overseas transport.

Climate change is world issue, especially as population increases and is expected to increase by nine billion by 2050. Over thirty-percent of Duke Energy’s energy sources is coal-fired power plants (“Coal Energy”, n.d.) Moreover, power plants or electric generation contribute over thirty percent of greenhouse emissions (“Understanding Global”, n.d.). Extracting and burning of coal release many emissions: carbon dioxide, methane, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and residues like bottom ash. All of which, contribute to climate change and the health of the environment and its biotic factors (“Coal and”, n.d.). Simply discussing that burning coal contributes to climate change will not change anything, therefore action must be taken and this proposal

In order to power the industrial age, humans have burned gigantic amounts of coal to produce any form of power. Coal naturally contains high amounts of sulphur and burning of coal produces huge amounts of heat and the sulphur present in the coal combines with the atmospheric oxygen to produce Sulphur Dioxide. The smoke stacks of a power plant throw out all the waste gases into the atmosphere which contains huge amounts of Sulphur Dioxide. It is said that thermal power plants are the largest contributor of Sulphur Dioxide into the atmosphere. It is estimated that more than half of the total amount of Sulphur Dioxide generated in the atmosphere comes directly from thermal power plants that run on coal.