Coal Mining

Summary of Coal Mining Task Force Action Plan

Coal is the world’s most abundant and widely distributed fossil fuel. Although coal deposits are widely dispersed, over 59% of the world’s recoverable reserves are located in five Asia-Pacific countries: Australia, China, India, United States, and Canada. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), by 2030, coal-based power generation is projected to more than triple while providing roughly one third of global electricity generation. The Task Force’s goal is to promote sustainable mining practices through improved coal preparation (beneficiation), methane capture from active and abandoned coal mines, underground coal gasification, and improved mine health and safety. To meet this goal the Task Force has developed 16 initial projects and activities.

U.S. Task Force Members
Coal Mining Task Force Summary of Action Plan and Projects  PDF version  10/31/06
Coal Mining Task Force Summary of Action Plans and Projects

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Sharing Best Practices in Cleaner Coal Mining

Coal beneficiation prepares coal for the intended end use by removing or reducing impurities that interfere with clean combustion. This process reduces the ash content of coal, thereby improving power plant efficiency and reducing air emissions, coal transportation costs, power plant maintenance costs, and ash disposal. This process can potentially remove between 40-50% of the total sulfur, leading to a 20-25% reduction in emissions of sulfur dioxide. The United States is leading the Coal Mining Task Force in facilitating technology transfer through workshops, demonstrations, and site visits among Partner countries to improve coal quality, increase recovery, and reduce costs.

Australia is compiling a “Leading Practice Sustainable Development Program for the Mining Industry” project with information provided by Partner countries. This project will provide an essential compendium of coal mining best practices and most efficient coal mining technologies.

Australia will facilitate the demonstration of coal drying technology to Partner countries as a way of sharing best practices and possibly transferring this technology to Indian coal beneficiation plants.

Transforming Markets for Coal Mining Technologies

The Coal Mining Task Force seeks to accelerate the deployment of appropriate technologies and practices that can improve Partner countries’ market access to better and more efficient coal mining technologies.

Methane has become a valuable resource in both active and abandoned coal mines and is being captured and sold to natural gas providers. The United States leads the world in coal mine methane capture and utilization at active mines and is exchanging leading practices on their experiences with Partner countries. This technology has the potential to transform markets by providing an opportunity that not only reduces greenhouse gas emissions, but also is an economically viable venture for coal mining companies.

In addition, the Task Force is exploring Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) as an appropriate economically sound technology to access the energy resources in deep or unminable coal seams through the production of syngas for power generation; or through the production of synthetic liquid fuels, natural gas or other chemicals. UCG, when combined with CO₂ sequestration, offers important economic and environmental benefits. A first workshop is planned for Kolkata, India, in November 2007  that will bring together decision makers in government, industry, research institutions, and academia from the Partner countries. The goals of the workshop will be to accelerate the implementation of UCG projects in India and to use the lessons learned from the experience in other Partner countries. The Task Force plans to identify current mining and reclamation activities in each country and to exchange shared practices on maximizing resource recovery and reclamation of surface mined lands.

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Summary of U.S. Led Coal Mining Projects

Dry Beneficiation of Thermal Coals in India

Participating Organizations: U.S. Department of State, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

This project is currently constructing a pilot-scale deshaling unit to be installed at a coal site in India which is serving as a research unit to permit engineers to design a full-scale proof-of-concept deshaling plant in India. This project is improving energy utilization in coal mining and reducing emissions of fly ash. By creating and testing this pilot-scale deshaling unit, Indian and US engineers are able to develop a full-scale unit for commercial use. This technology is improving energy utilization due to reduced requirements for transporting, processing and burning high-ash rock, it is reducing emissions of fly ash and air pollutant precursors of environmental concern such as arsenic, selenium, chromium and mercury, and it is mitigating the overuse of the railways and power stations in India.

Acceleration of Underground Coal Gasification in India

Participating Organizations: U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Energy – Office of Fossil Energy

Under this project, the U.S. Department of Energy is supporting the Coal Mining Task Force’s program on underground coal gasification (UCG) by collecting and evaluating current status and best practices for UCG, and convening a workshop that accelerates the implementation of UCG in India. This project has improved the economics and efficiency of coal mining and processing, while also reducing environmental impacts and improving safety.

Coal Task Force Coal Beneficiation in India

Participating Organizations: U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of the Interior – International Technical Assistance Program (ITAP)

The Coal Beneficiation Project supported a larger Coal Mining Task Force program addressing pre-combustion cleaning of coal and integrated use of clean coal technology in the Asia-Pacific region. The Project reviewed existing regulations and practices for coal processing and developed recommendations for optimum ash and sulfur reduction in washed coal in India, in part by hosting a technical workshop in India. (Project Complete) 

Increasing Recovery and Use of Coal Mine Methane

Participating Organizations: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

The United States Environmental Protection Agency is conducting a coal mine methane feasibility study at the Hebi mine in Henan, China. The $400,000 study includes analysis of methane resource data, market assessment for the produced methane, evaluation of degas and utilization technologies, preliminary engineering design, estimates of project capital and operating costs, and economic & financial analysis with cash flow projections. Benefits of utilizing methane, a potent greenhouse gas, at this mine include improved air quality and mine safety, a new source of clean, local energy, an additional revenue stream for the coal mine, increased mine productivity, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

Overburden Slope Stability

Participating Organizations: U.S. Department of Interior

Opencast coal mining will continue to remain a dominant mining technology for Coal India Limited (CIL), India?s leading coal producer, for at least the next two decades. Overburden, or material removed from such opencast mines, which are often quite deep, must be placed elsewhere in a manner that is safe and minimizes ground space.ÿ While low and flat overburden dumps would be ideal from a stability point of view, this expensive approach occupies more ground space, so a balance must be struck between minimizing ground space used and ensuring that the dumped overburden does not slide and cause accidents and operational shutdowns. The stability of overburden dumps, already an acute problem in some mines, will continue to pose a problem for current and future opencast mines. with the depths of opencast mines projected to increase in the future.ÿ This project will help design and develop engineered mine planning that integrates proper removal and placement of overburden, installation of complex pumping systems, monitoring of overburden piles and successful drilling of deep overburden piles for the deployment of sensors to detect slope failures at selected CIL mines.

Coal Mine Health and Safety

Participating Organizations: U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

By promoting leading health and safety practices to significantly reduce the number of yearly accidents, this project supports the Task Force objective of accelerating the deployment of technologies and practices that can improve the economics and efficiencies of coal mining while improving mine safety and reducing environmental impacts. For example, fires and explosions in coal mines are often triggered by methane gas and coal dust. Removing methane from the mine not only improves worker safety but also has an environmental benefit if the methane is captured and used as an energy source, thus reducing greenhouse emissions from coal mining. This project will promote opportunities to capture and utilize coal mine methane, in particular from ventilation air which would otherwise be expelled, but also through using coal seam gas in advance of mining commencing.ÿ It will also assist in the detection and management of dust, reducing both the potential for spontaneous combustion and the incidence of health related diseases for coal mine workers.