Environmental Site Model: Physical Coal Cleaning Land Use and Facilities Management


United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
June
1978
Research and Development
Environmental
Site
Model

Physical Coal
Cleaning

Land Use and
Facilities
Management

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                                                       »,. . •
INTRODUCTION
PROCESS  DESCRIPTION
The above model depicts a physical coal cleaning facility
capable of processing 1000 tons per  hour of raw  coal. A
physical coal cleaning facility of this size will provide enough
clean ccal to a fossil electric generating plant to generate
2700 MW of electricity or enough power for 1,000,000 homes.
The purpose of environmental site models is to vividly
depict the air, water and solid waste discharges of industrial
facilities and the interaction of these multimedia streams
with the surrounding environment. Total land use required for
a specific  technology is easily and rapidly visualized,
including both the plant site and other affected areas.
This model is the first in a planned series which will
include, among others, coal gasification, coal liquefaction,
and fluidized-bed combustion facilities. With the completion
of this series of models, comparisons between different
energy technologies will be readily envisioned.
The raw coal is transported from the mine (1) to a rotary
breaker where pieces of rock larger than 6 inches in diameter
are separated and sent directly to the refuse area (2). The
raw coal is crushed and transported to the raw coal pile (3).
Raw coal is then transported from the raw coal pile to the
process building (4) where the coal is cleaned by
density difference. Although the amount of ash and sulfur
removed depends upon the type of washing process and
specific coal characteristics, about 50% of the ash and 15%
of the sulfur in a typical Appalachian coal is removed by
physical coal cleaning. The clean coal is then transported by
conveyor to the thermal dryers (5) where excess moisture
is removed. After drying, the clean coal is sent to the clean
coal pile (6) and subsequently loaded onto railroad coal
cars for shipment to the power plant. The refuse is
transported from the process building by conveyor (10) to
the active  refuse area (8).

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ENVIRONMENTAL  DISCHARGES/

TREATMENT

The waste disposal area for this model is sized for a
30-year mine life and a coal with an average refuse content of
15%. The waste area shows three different stages of use:
reclaimed (7), active (8) and future (9) refuse areas. The
reclaimed refuse area depicts  an area  which  has been
completely filled, compacted, chemically fixed, graded and
sown with grass and shrubs to prevent erosion. The active
refuse area depicts an area  currently being filled with  refuse.
The  future refuse area  depicts an  area which will be cleared
and  prepared for disposal when other areas are filled. Proper
filling and compaction  techniques can make the reclaimed
refuse area useful for farming, as  a future recreation area or
as a construction site for small buildings. As an example,
a reclaimed coal refuse area in Kentucky is being
used very productively to grow  grapes.
Other data concerning the design and operation of the
facility is as follows:

  Total Land Required        14.2 km: (3508 acres)
  Refuse Area Land Use      2.5 km: (614 acres)
  Plant Area Land Use       0.8 knf (200 acres)
  Coal on Raw Coal Pile      3,400.000 tonnes
  Coal on Clean Coal Pile     270,000 tonnes
  Refuse Generated          850,000 tonnes/year
  Consumptive  Water Use    Negligible

The preceding discussion of refuse and other solid
waste-related impact'; (surface runoff, leachates, and fugitive
air  emissions) are the primary environmental impacts.
Other waste discharges are negligible in comparison. The
manner of depiction  of all discharges and their interaction
with the environs are described in the next section.
Environmental interactions  associated with the  mining operation
have not been depicted. Over the 30 year mine  life,  about
10'm' of raw coal is removed  from the underground mine.
 ENVIRONMENTAL  INTERACTIONS
 DEPICTED

 Flags have been color coded to clearly depict where
 some of the more  significant environmental interactions of
 a physical coal cleaning facility occur. The blue flags are air
 emissions, the blue-green flags are waterborne effluents,
 and the brown flags represent solid wastes. A legend describing
 each numbered flag or pin is given in the next section. A
 similar legend is given at the base of the facility model.

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                       LEGEND
Plant and  Environs
 1 — Mine
 2 — Refuse Area
 3 — Raw Coal Pile and Fugitive Dust Emissions
 4 — Process Building
 5 — Thermal Dryer and Stack Emissions
       (Water Vapor and Particulates)
 6 — Clean Coal Pile and Fugitive Dust
       Emissions
 7 — Reclaimed Refuse Area
 8 — Active Refuse Area
 9 — Future Refuse Area
10 — Refuse Conveyors (Fugitive Dust Source)
11 — Fugitive  Dust from Dumping Operations
12 — Particulates from Possible Refuse Fires
13 — Leachate from Raw Coal Pile
14 — Storm Run-Off from Raw Coal Pile
15 — Process  and Run-Off Water Discharge
16 — Outfall from Excess Storm Water Run-Off
17 — Sludge Pond
18 — Red Dog and Yellow Boy from Sludge Pond
       Leachate
       "Red  dog" is a rust colored cinder-like  residue
       resulting trom  coal retuse combustion.  "Yellow
       boy"  is  the  turbid run-off containing iron and
       other  mineral components.
19 —Storm Run-Off
20 — Leachate into Groundwater
21 — Leachate into Surface Water
22 — Leachate into Drinking Water
23 — Possible Refuse Disposal into Mined Out
       Areas
Geology

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For further information contact:

U.S. EPA
Industrial Environmental  Research Laboratory
Fuel Process Branch
Research Triangle Park,  NC 27711
(919) 541-2851
Office of Energy, Minerals and Industry
Washington, DC 20460

Lockheed Research & Engineering Center
Huntsville, AL 35807

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