How Chemistry Makes Coal Cleaner: Reviving the Coal Industry
Coal is the dirtiest form of power production here in the US. With the increasing regulations targeting the coal industry, the industry must clean up or close shop. Developments are being made to cut the CO2 produced by coal. Developments like hybrid coal, fuel cells and chemical reactions to strip the oxygen out of the carbon dioxide. The same ethanol put into cars can turn those filthy power plants into something cleaner and less hungry for those black rocks. Those dull black rocks also have ways of being cleaner by themselves using nothing but their own gasses and a little encouragement. Hybrid coal is a twist on sugar used as fuel. Sugar cane juice or Molasses is mixed with low grade pulverized coal and dried to improve the quality of coal. Power plants can burn 50% less of this improved coal over the lower grade coal to produce the same power output (Lee 1709). SOCR (Shievee Ovoo raw coal) and ICR (Indonesian Raw Coal) where mix combined and dried to form HCK (Hybrid Coal by Korea) (Lee 1705). SOCR is the lowest grade coal of the two with 21.43% carbon content to ICR 33.16% carbon (Lee 1706). When the two where combined with molasses and cured the carbon content increased by 58.33% for the SOCR and 73.07% for ICR (Lee 1706). The temperature at which the HCK was cured at played a large role in the amount of carbon content per wt because if the temperature was too low moisture would not be pull out of the low grade coal as the biomass was mix in. Low grade coal is very porous and various matter and moisture fills the porous structure which leads to lower amounts of energy being produced. As the liquid in the coal when heated turns to water vapor and the carbon gases mix with the water to produce CO2 to create large amounts of pollution. Removing this excesses moisture and inserting burnable biomass