Coal preparation in India: New business opportunities & need for dry separation technology

Abstract

Coal is the prime fuel for generation of commercial energy in India. Coal India Limited (CIL) and Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) are the two government controlled public sector companies, accounting for over 85 percent of the total coal production in the country. The coal resource available within the geographical boundary is characterized by high percentage of inert mineral contents and difficult washing amenability, mainly because of its drift origin, wherein the extraneous impurities were intimately mixed in the coal matrix during the formation stage itself, causing high ash content in the run-of-mine coal. The country has undertaken a massive programme of setting up new power plants. Nearly 90% of the additional power generation capacity is planned through coal. As a result, the requirement of coal is expected to increase manifold in the years to come. Non-availability of low ash coal is a deterrent for efficient technological application at the end of power producers, whereas incremental coal production will be from the sources mostly producing high ash coal in general. To address concerns on environmental issues for which stringent regulations is already in place, use of high ash coal has been permitted only to the fewer power plants such as those located near pit-head. This has resulted into spurt in demand for washed coal. Coal India Limited is setting up as many as 15 coal washeries with 112 Million tonne annual throughput capacity. Such a large venture has faced challenges of managing the associated resource requirements, especially water. Dry Beneficiation technology may be a viable alternative. Some of the dry beneficiation technologies have been considered for development in India with lab-scale design, modelling and testing, along with simultaneous demonstration of available technology at plant level. Coal India Limited is further looking for an established and efficient dry beneficiation technology provided there is significant potential in Indian scenario.