Coal Drying Technology Application Opportunities in Indonesia

 

Indonesia has a large amount of low rank coal (lignite) resources, therefore, the new coal-fired Power Plant to be built is designed to use lignite with a calorific value of +4,200 kcal/kg (GAR). However, some lignite resources in Indonesia have a calorific value of less than 4,200 kcal/kg (GAR) so the lignite must be mixed/blended with coal with a higher calorific value or dried to meet the specifications of existing Steam Power Plants.

Coal drying technology is an alternative that should be considered to increase the calorific value of coal so that it meets the specifications of the Steam Power Plant. Coal drying requires lower costs than blending coal and drying technology integrated with a combined heat and power plant can reduce the total CO2 emissions in a Steam Power Plant. Coal drying also produces coal with better physical properties.

Coal drying technology with a co-generation or combined heat and power (CHP) system can reduce CO2 emissions from Steam Power Plants. CHP technology has also been proven and is commonly applied in the food processing, pulp & paper, chemical and metal and oil refining industries.

Although CHP technology has been proven and viewed from an environmental and economic perspective, it is very attractive, but the application of this technology is still receiving less attention. This is partly due to the fact that in the CHP system, the distance between the Steam Power Plant and the steam users should not be too far even though the current location of the Steam Power Plant is far from industrial areas.

In European countries, steam from the CHP system is used for space heating in housing, but this is not possible for coal-fired Steam Power Plants because the location of the coal-fired Steam Power Plant is generally away from residential areas. Considering the advantages and disadvantages of the CHP system, the potential application of CHP in Indonesia is for coal drying for the following reasons:

• Indonesia has a lot of low rank coal reserves, coal drying is economically profitable and coal drying plants can be integrated with Steam Power Plants.
• The CHP system is a cheaper solution compared to other solutions such as supercritical steam technology to reduce CO2 emissions from burning coal in Steam Power Plants.

The opportunity for the application of coal drying technology in Indonesia from an economic and environmental point of view is very beneficial because:

1. Application of coal drying technology integrated with Steam Power Plant in co-generation or combined heat and power (CHP) systems such as Sojitz-TSK technology requires lower total costs (process costs and coal purchase costs).
2. Coal drying requires lower costs because coal feed for the drying process has a lower energy price (US$/giga calorie). Furthermore, the cost of transporting coal to be dried can be cheaper because local coal is used.
3. Coal drying with a co-generation or CHP system is suitable to be applied in Indonesia and is one of the cheap solutions to reduce CO2 emissions by burning low rank coal in Steam Power Plants.