Great River Energy awarded DOE grant to further study coal-drying
Elk River, MN (January 15, 2003) - Today, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded Great River Energy an $11 million grant to help fund a large-scale coal-drying study at its Coal Creek Station power plant located in Underwood, North Dakota.
“We’re very excited to receive the grant,” said Charlie Bullinger, engineering leader at Coal Creek Station. “It will enable us to fund the second phase of the project designed to determine if it’s feasible to dry the quantities of lignite required for sustained operation.”
The first phase of the project found that the plant’s efficiency improved when low-moisture lignite was burned. North Dakota lignite averages 38 percent moisture content, which requires a drying process within the pulverizer system before entering the boiler. High moisture reduces boiler efficiency and increases corrosion on crucial equipment. The drying process developed for this research project was able to reduce the moisture content by 25 percent.
With increased efficiency, less fuel is consumed and fewer emissions are produced while the same amount of electricity is generated.
“We were very pleased with these results and the potential for the lignite industry as a whole,” Bullinger said. “There could be substantial new uses for North Dakota lignite in out of state markets, because drying lignite in this manner makes the coal more competitive.”
The second phase grant request had to show a high potential for transitioning the new technology from research to commercial operation. The funding will support building a large-scale, prototype dryer on one coal pulverizer. If successful, additional dryers will be built on the other pulverizers.
Great River Energy’s request was among 36 proposals totaling more than $1 billion in the first round of DOE’s Clean Coal Power Initiative.
