Engineered Coal Fuel Technologies:

One Tool to Address Environmental Regulations

Jason Hayes, M.E.Des., American Coal Council

Editor’s Note: This article is the full version of an article originally published in the February 2011 issue of POWER Magazine (www.powermag.com). This article is reprinted with permission of POWER.

Arizona Public Service’s (APS) plan to close three older coal-fueled units at the Four Corners Power Plant in New Mexico, and buy out Southern California Edison’s 48 percent share of the two remaining units is a creative means of surviving committed EPA action against coal-fueled generation.

Hamstrung by EPA’s endless stream of regulatory revelations, utilities are searching for reliable and affordable means of producing power while escaping the imposition of billions in regulatory-related upgrade costs. In this case, APS was facing a $1 billion price tag to meet EPA demands for (among other things) an 80 percent reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions. Required upgrades would have tacked an additional 3 to 4 percent on the bills of each APS customer. With their new proposal APS is now looking at a $295 million outlay to buy the stake in units 4 and 5 and a further $290 million to be spent on emissions controls.

APS’ proposal was made possible because Southern California Edison is being forced out of coal-fueled generation by stringent state regulations. So, what will be a loss for the people of California, in terms of utility rates and power supply, could work in favor of APS customers as they save approximately half a billion, reduce emissions, and end up with more generation capacity than when they started.

This type of switch may be effective for one utility and its customers. However, APS’ situation is unique, and as permitting processes and regulations continue to place a bull’s eye on the development of new coal generation, other utilities will likely lack the option to buy out a competitor’s stake in adjacent plants. So, utilities and rate payers will be saddled with the costs of navigating the latest regulatory maze, or forced to close what regulations and unworkable NSR rules are making “marginal plants.”

Recognizing the need to address this situation, the members of one American Coal Council (ACC) committee are offering utilities another option. The Coal 2.0 Alliance is focused on advancing the development and utilization of engineered coal fuel and coal preparation technologies by promoting awareness of their environmental and efficiency performance benefits. Engineered coal fuel technologies produce fuels that result in increased plant efficiency, as well as lower sulfur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxide (NO_X), mercury (Hg) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions at plants that use them.

Engineered fuels provide the opportunity to improve on coal – our most abundant/secure and affordable fossil energy resource.

There are a number of processes in commercial operation and under development that treat coal prior to combustion making it a cleaner, more efficient fuel. Those processes involve coal preparation (cleaning), upgrading (dewatering with heat and/or microwaves), and treatment with additives to alter combustion characteristics. The environmental benefits of these technologies can be further enhanced if other combustion (oxy-coal combustion) or post-combustion technologies (fabric filters, electrostatic precipitation, scrubbers, etc.) are also used.