Coal and
Steam Power
Plants
PhDr. Tomáš Vlček, Ph.D.
International Relations and Energy Security
Department of International Relations and European Studies
Faculty of Social Studies MU
Content
 What is Coal
 World Key Players
 World Market and Price Mechanism
 Coal Fuel Cycle
 Coal Mining
 Steam Power Plants
Caustobioliths of the coal series
Peat Lignite Brown coal Bituminous
coal
Anthracite
Water
Content
>75 % 19-33 % 10-19 % 2-10 % <2 %
Carbon
Content
50-60 % <65 % 65-69 % 69-92 % 86-98 %
Calorific
Value
6-15 MJ/kg <17 MJ/kg 17-24
MJ/kg
24-33
MJ/kg
>33 MJ/kg
Coal Quality and Coal Use
World Coal Industry
 Coal provides 30.3% of global primary energy needs and
generates 42% of the world‘s electricity.
 In 2011 coal was the fastest growing form of energy
outside renewables.
 Total Global Coal Production in 2011 was 7,678 Mt.
(Czech Republic 58 Mt/2011)
 Total world resources are 1,004,000 Mt (according to
BGR/IEA), or 861,000 Mt (according to WEC/BP)
World Coal Mining
World Coal Mining
2016 Top Ten Hard Coal / 2012 Brown Coal Producers
(source: World Coal Association, 2017)
 China 3243 Mt / Germany 176 Mt
 India 708 Mt / PR China 136 Mt
 USA 672 Mt / Russia 78 Mt
 Australia 503 Mt / Turkey 74 Mt
 Indonesia 461 Mt / USA 74 Mt
 Russia 366 Mt / Australia 69 Mt
 South Africa 257 Mt / Poland 63 Mt
 Germany 176 Mt / Greece 59 Mt
 Poland 131 Mt / Czech Republic 43 Mt
 Kazakhstan 98 Mt / India 41 Mt
Over 7269 Mt of hard coal are currently produced worldwide and
787 Mt of lignite.
World Coal Mining
2009 Top Twelve Countries Heavily Dependent on Coal in
Electricity Production (source: World Coal Association, 2012)
 South Africa 93 %
 Poland 90 %
 PR China 79 %
 Australia 76 %
 Kazakhstan 70 %
 India 69 %
 Israel 63 %
 Czech Rep 56 %
 Morocco 55 %
 Greece 55 %
 USA 45 %
 Germany 44 %
World Key Players
Production Consumption Export Import
China 2 721 China 2 721 Australia 261 Japan 165
USA 907 USA 904 Indonesia 233 China 112
India 556 India 611 Russia 108 South Korea 99
Australia 411 Germany 224 Colombia 67 India 75
Russia 311 Russia 220 USA 54 Taiwan 58
Indonesia 291 South Africa 191 South
Africa
52 Germany 41
South Africa 249 Japan 164 China 23 UK 38
World 6 350 World 6 350 World 907 World 907
World Key Producers
World Key Producers
Commodity specifics
 Main use of coal: production of heat and electricity
by combustion; production of metallurgical coke by
carbonization of coal
 1 kWh of electricity = combustion of 0.00049 tons
of coal on average
 1 MWh of elelctricity = 0.49 tons of coal
 1,000 MW power plant´s 1 hour production =
combustion of 490 tons of coal
 24-hour-production = 11,760 tons
 1-month-production = 352,800 tons
 Coal is traded all over the world, with coal shipped huge
distances by sea to reach markets.
 Ships are commonly used for international transportation, in
sizes ranging from:
◦ Handysize - 40-45,000 DWT
◦ Panamax - about 60-80,000 DWT
◦ Capesize vessels - about 80,000 DWT
 Overall international trade in coal reached 1142Mt in 2011;
while this is a significant amount of coal it still only accounts for
about 16% of total coal consumed. Most coal is used in the
country in which it is produced.
World Market and Price Mechanism
World Market and Price Mechanism
 Transportation costs account for a large share of the total
delivered price of coal, therefore international trade in
steam coal is effectively divided into two regional markets
 the Atlantic market, made up of importing countries in
Western Europe, notably the UK, Germany and Spain.
 the Pacific market, which consists of developing and
OECD Asian importers, notably Japan, Korea and Chinese
Taipei. The Pacific market currently accounts for about
57% of world seaborne steam coal trade.
World Market and Price Mechanism
Source: Euracoal
World Market and Price Mechanism
Source: Euracoal
World Market and Price Mechanism
 The price of coal is influenced by:
◦ Supply (production capacity; technology; inland
transport capacity; naval transport capacity) and
Demand (structure and condition of economy;
regulations – environmental, price; competition of
resources)
◦ Price of Oil (production costs – fuel in mining
operations; commodity substitutes)
◦ Cost of Equipment
◦ Price of Naval Transportation
◦ Exchange Rates
◦ Speculations
World Market and Price Mechanism
Coal Fuel Cycle
Mining
Processing
Burning
(use)
Coal ash and CO2
emissions
Electricity and heat
(product)
Coal mining
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Energetický determinismus
 Středověké a raně-moderní pokroky
◦ dominance organických zdrojů energie
◦ postupné pokroky v efektivitě konverze (šlapací kola, kladky, podkovy,
chomouty, krmiva, pěstění zvířat) – až 50% nárůst oproti antice
◦ ne-organické zdroje hnací síly:
 vodní mlýny v JV Anglii (4 kW) 11. století
 větrná energie: zdokonalení plachet (+kompas, těžká děla a kormidlo na zádi =
zámořské objevy)
◦ 15. století: první tavící pece v údolí Rýna
 nedostatek paliva (poptávka průměrné pece v Anglii začátku 18. století je 12 000
tun dřeva ročně)
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Energetický determinismus
27
Coal Mining – underground
Coal Mining – underground
Coal mining
Coal Processing
37
Coal transport
Další..
38
Další..
39
Další..
40
Další..
41
 Prámy:
◦ až 10 x 1 500 t
◦ 10 km/h
◦ 400 – 1 000 Btu/t/m
 Nákladní auta:
◦ 15 – 30 tun do 100 km (2 500 Btu/t/m)
◦ offroady: až 200 tun do 25 km (1 900 Btu/t/m)
 Běžící pásy
◦ do 15 (25) km, 20 – 50 000 Btu/t/m.
 Potrubí (slurry)
◦ 1-2 m/s, směs uhlí a vody (1:1), případně etanolu a vody
42
Coal transport
43
Coal transport
 Prámy:
◦ až 10 x 1 500 t
◦ 10 km/h
◦ 400 – 1 000 Btu/t/m
 Nákladní auta:
◦ 15 – 30 tun do 100 km (2 500 Btu/t/m)
◦ offroady: až 320 tun do 25 km (1 900 Btu/t/m)
 Běžící pásy
◦ do 15 (25) km, 20 – 50 000 Btu/t/m.
 Potrubí (slurry)
◦ 1-2 m/s, směs uhlí a vody (1:1), případně etanolu a vody
44
Coal transport
Capesize
(80 – 175 kDWT)
Panamax
(65 – 80 kDWT)
Handymax
(35 – 65 kDWT)
Handysize
(10 – 35 kDWT)
45
Coal transport
46
Coal transport
47
Coal transport
48
Coal transport
 Prámy:
◦ až 10 x 1 500 t
◦ 10 km/h
◦ 400 – 1 000 Btu/t/m
 Nákladní auta:
◦ 15 – 30 tun do 100 km (2 500 Btu/t/m)
◦ offroady: až 200 tun do 25 km (1 900 Btu/t/m)
 Běžící pásy
◦ do 15 (25) km, 20 – 50 000 Btu/t/m.
 Potrubí (slurry)
◦ 1-2 m/s, směs uhlí a vody (1:1), případně etanolu a vody
49
Coal transport
50
Coal transport
Steam Power Plants
Steam Power Plants
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Coal ash and CO2 emmissions
 Burning of coal produces large amounts of waste,
especially coal ash and scrubber sludge
Coal ash and CO2 emmissions
 This material is generally uncleanable, unavoidable and
only partially remediatable
Coal ash and CO2 emmissions
 Along with oil, coal combustion produces
the largest amounts of carbon dioxide as the
key polutant
 820 kg CO2 per 1 MWh
 1000 MWe power plant operating for one
hour produces 820 tons of CO2
Solutions (?)
 Switch to natural gas
 Switch to renewables or nuclear energy
 Install CCS
 Install IGCC
CCS
 Process of capturing waste
carbon dioxide (CO2) from large
point sources, transporting it to
a storage site, and depositing it where it will not enter the
atmosphere, normally an underground geological
formation.
 Up to 85 % effectivity (ie. 220-250 kg CO2/1MWh)
 Transformation effectivity reduction by 8-14 %
 Fuel consumption raised by 25 %
 Plus investment costs
IGCC
 Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle
 Gasification of coal
 Gas turbine + steam generator
 Investment costs
http://www.eurosolar.cz/phprs/view.php?ci
sloclanku=2007021301
Downstream Industries
 Generaly very environmental unfriendly
 Steal production
 Metallurgical coke
 Chemical industry
 Pharmacy
 Dyes
 etc.
Summary
 Key energy source in the world
 The greatest pollutant
 Worldwide solution number one if you want
cheap and stable electricity production
 Low investment costs
 High fuel costs
 Extremely dependent on stable fuel supply
and stable fuel prices (50-66 % of total costs)