Efficient Handling of Coal for Power Plants: Development of a Coal Handleability Index

Abstract

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) sponsored research on coal handleability to assist its member utilities when purchasing coal for power plants. This research evaluated a wide variety of coals and their properties, and it resulted in the development of an index, a simplified tester, and a classification system for coal buyers to use in developing coal specifications. Investigators selected the ratio of the unconfined yield strength to the bulk density of a coal sample as the coal handleability index, and a simplified tester was developed to determine the handleability index of coals at power station locations. The classification system included a combination of the amount of fines (−0.5 mm) present in the coal and the moisture content, the most important parameters influencing a coal's handling properties.

Notes

The author gratefully acknowledges the Electric Power Research Institute for funding this research and for permission to publish this article. Also acknowledged are the guidance and financial contributions of Iowa State Mining and Mineral Resources Research Institute, New England Power Service Company, New York State Electric & Gas Corporation, Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation, Ohio Edison, Pennsylvania Power & Light Company, and PSI Energy.