Slurry pipeline studies on the BHP-BPA 30 tonne per hour demonstration plant

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Hydrotaspat 8, Johanesh 1982

SLURRY PIPELINE STUDIES ON THE

BHP-BPA 30 TONNE PER HOUR

DEMONSTRATION PLANT

G.R. Rigby, C.U. Jones, D.E. Mainwaring BHP-BPA Joint Venture, Australia A.D. Thomas Consultant, Australia

Summary

The background history of the IPTACCS (Integrated Pipeline Transport and given. Coal Cleaning System) 30 to 50 tonnes/hour pilot plant near Newcastle, Australia is Some typical pipeloop results are presented for fine, coarse and stabilised slurries with some discussion on each. Next various features of the IPTACCS process are described and some pipeloop results given for oil agglomerated slurries. Finally, the major parameters affecting the pipeline options for transporting 4 million tonnes per annum over 200 km were studied.

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1. INTRODUCTION

Coal slurry pipelining has attracted considerable interest throughout the world for many years as a result of: - high capital costs associated with the installation of new railways and conveyors - increases in transportation costs brought about by inflation, - saturation of existing transportation options, and - increased environmental pressures associated with conventional modes of transportation. Coal can be conveyed as a slurry in a pipeline in several forms depending on the particular application and product specification. Table 1 summarises types of slurries, the characteristics and present status of development of each type. Current commercial technology essentially relies on the use of a fine coal slurry that used in the Black Mesa pipeline which conveys 4.8Mtpa of coal over. 439 km mine in Arizona to the 1500 MN Mohave Power Station in Southern Nevada (Refs. 1, 2). Whilst the technology is well proven for this particular application,

from such an operation is not generally suitable for coking

coals or for export coals. Following the encouraging results of a research and development programme commenced by the Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited (BHP) in 1975 (Refs. 3, 4) and work by British Petroleum Australia (BPA), a Joint Venture was formed to further evaluate and develop systems capable of handling all types of coals. In particular the joint venture has sought to develop a new system to transport coal as a slurry, to remove refuse mineral matter and to recover the coal in a suitable condition for production and other combustion applications. any use including coking, power generation, coal hydroliquefaction, gasification, COM The system could eliminate conventional coal washeries and produce a much higher yield of clean coal than can otherwise be To enable this work to be undertaken at an industrially significant scale of operation, the Joint Venture has constructed a 30-50 tonne/hour pilot plant facility (Ref. 13, Fig. 1) near Newcastle, New South Wales. a full range of slurries and has for the storage and recovery of various This facility can prepare and test The main test pipeline is 100 mm diameter and is 1.6 km long. A section of 200 mm pipeline has also been installed for scale-up studies. This paper will first of all review results obtained for a number of "conventional" slurries; i.e. examples of the first three types Next the new system developed by the Joint Venture will be discussed and of slurries in pipeline test results presented. Finally, the major parameters pipeline options for transporting 4 million tonnes of coal over 200 km are

2. TYPICAL CONVENTIONAL COAL SLURRY CHARACTERISTICS

results. All concentrations are by weight. Many different conventional slurries have been tested. Following are some typical 2.1 Fine Coal Slurries distribution shown in Fig. 2. A typical example of this type of slurry is given by Coal A having The behaviour of this coal at a concentration of the size 54% in the 100 mm diameter pipe is shown in Fig. 3. The slurry behaviour is seen to parallel the water line indicating pseudo-homogeneous behaviour. is relatively low at 1.05 ms and the slurry was "statically stable", i.e. The critical deposit velocity the coarsest particles did not settle when flow was stopped. These three properties of this slurry make it ideal for long distance pumping (Ref. 14). using a Contraves Rheomat 30 viscometer indicated Bingham plastic type behaviour Viscometer tests with a yield stress of 3.75 Pa and a plastic viscosity Fig. 3 are results for the same slurry at a concentration of 59%. of.013 Pa s. In this case the Also shown in increased consisteney has meant that laminar flow, without deposition, was possible down to velocities as low as 0.16 ms--. Laminar/turbulent transition occurred at

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about 2 ms-1. At a typical operating velocity of 1.8 ms-1 this slurry was flowing under laminar conditions. flow operation is generally preferred for long distance pumping so that this higher concentration slurry would be unsuitable. any case, at 1.8 ms-1 requires 40% more pumping pressure than the 54% slurry. This serves to illustrate how concentration limits appear necessary. The above behaviour, although typical, is only representative of that particular coal having 22% ash (d.b.). Other coals with higher or lower

ash levels and different types of clays present will require different concentrations for the same particle size distribution to achieve the optimum pumping characteristics. Alternatively for a similar concentration coarser or finer size distributions may be required to obtain the desired behaviour. To this end we have characterised a wide range of coal and mineral matter types. Coarse Coal Heterogeneous Slurries

A particularly coarse one having virtually no fines is represented by coal B of Fig.2. The behaviour of this coal at 32% concentration in a 100 mm pipe is shown in Fig. 4. Typical heterogeneous behaviour is evident. with Coal C of Fig. 2. slurry was of a settling nature. Two sets of results are shown for this slurry on can have a profound effect on the result as shown by the following results obtained of volume 200 m3 connected to 400 m of 100 mm pipe. stabilised slurry experiments. A number of coal slurries having a top size of around 15mm have been tested. This is a mixture of fine and coarse coal used in some FORTE One set is when operating with a tank of volume 200 m3 and the other with a tank of volume 2m3. In both cases the slurry was tested in the 400 m long 100 mm diameter test 1oop having a volume of some 3 m3. With the large tank connected to such a relatively small volume of pipework the behaviour would be expected to closely simulate a once-through system as was evidenced by the fact that the delivered concentration remained constant at 34% for all velocities. In contrast, when using the small tank, since the total solids inventory is relatively small, the delivered concentration would be expected to drop as the velocity is decreased. This was found to be the case with the delivered concentration dropping to 27% at the lowest velocity. observed pressure gradient is seen to be considerably different in the two cases with the greatest difference being as much as 100%. Exactly the same slurry was tested in both cases the only difference being the size of the tank used. research loops employ relatively small tanks similar in volume to the connected pipework. The present results indicate that results from these loops may seriously underestimate the required pressure gradients. Of course if the delivered concentration is monitored at all velocities some correction for this effect could be applied. For mono-sized particles this correction would be relatively easy to determine but for a wide size distribution slurry such as this one it would be quite

Stabilised Coal Slurries There has been considerable interest recently in the concept of stabilised slurries whereby a proportion of fines is mixed with coarse coal to form a stable, nonsettling mixture able to be pumped under laminar flow conditions. One such slurry tested (Coal D) had a top size of 12 mm with the size distribution shown in Fig. 2. Its behaviour in two pipe sizes is shown in Fig. 5. In the 100 mm pipe at a concentration of 52% it exhibited laminar flow behaviour with deposition below 0.8 ms-1. Under static conditions it was completely stable. At a higher of 69% it showed no signs of deposition even at extremely low velocities. Both of these slurries were then tested in the 200mm pipe with the results indicated with a diagonal slash. this pipe was 1.05 ms-1 Due to pump limitations the maximum velocity attainable in

• At both concentrations at this velocity the 200 mm pipe

was half filled with a stationary bed with only the top half flowing. spite of the stable, homogeneous behaviour observed in the 100 mm pipe, especially at the 69% concentration, such behaviour was not possible for this slurry

stabilised flow, to be economically attractive, assumes slurry will behave homogeneously sizes with the pressure gradient at any particular velocity varying approximately inversely with pipe diameter. the above slurry such an assumption not met. However it needs to be emphasized

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that this particular coal was a very high ash coal with much of the mineral matter occurring as discrete lumps. of the coarse lumps 2.0 kg/litre. This is a rather unusual case and other coals may be more favourable to stabilised operation.

3. INTEGRATED PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION AND COAL CLEANING SYSTEM (IPTACCS)

In this system, reduced to a size distribution suitable for the specific application and mixed with water and oil to produce a fine coal slurry (Figure This yields a different stable slurry which can have attractive pumping characteristics. and so separating freely from the hydrophilic minerals. This operation relies on the oil and comminuted coal particles being hydrophobic individual coal particles form small agglomerates with the oil. transportation of this slurry through the pipeline the small agglomerates change into larger relatively strong

to 3-4 mm in diameter. Storage and blending of

pipeline slurries is best handled in slurry ponds (Figure 7). Neither dust pollution nor oxidation which can occur with dry stockpiles can eventuate with pond storage systems. Moreover, the water above the coal is free of coal and oil. The coal is simply recovered from the ponds by pumping dewatering screen (Figure 8). The underflow from the screen carries the reject mineral matter. It can be pumped to tailings ponds where matter readily settles to give a clear layer of water. The water can be used as process water or recycled to the slurry preparation area if necessary. Alternatively, the reject mineral matter can be separated from the water in a solid bowl centrifuge or other suitable equipment. Pilot tests using a solid bowl centrifuge have shown that in excess of 95% of the water contained in the refuse slurry can be removed whilst producing a readily handleable solid cake. virtually no coal matter. In contrast to conventional coal preparation operations, the refuse contains As an example, one raw coal that contained 50% mineral matter (45% ash), yielded a product containing 8 to 10% mineral matter (7 to 9% ash) and a moisture of 8 to 10% after dewatering. Less than 1% of the original coal matter was lost in the refuse whereas conventional washing of this coal could result in losses of 15-20% of the coal matter. Different coals naturally will yield different results as the minerals and their distributions through the raw coal differ. For all cases that have been tested so far, significant increases in yield over conventional operations have resulted. A variety of products can be made by the IPTACCS process. Most often the products from trials have been small, near spherical agglomerates of fine coal particles. The average diameter has been controlled from }½ mm upto 5mm and the characteristics of the agglomerates have been varied from wet and oiled to dry and deoiled. Other products can also be made. Such IPTACCS products typically contain 10 to 15% (by weight of coal) oil. Product in this form can be used directly where the value of the oil can be recouped, for example as a feed for the preparation of coal-oil mixtures, as a feed to coal hydroliquefaction plants or in applications where the improved specific energy of the product (compared to that of the raw coal) and the increased coal yield can compensate for the cost of the oil. Wet, oiled product that was made at the pilot plant has been coked charging practices in an at No. 5 Battery of the Newcastle Steelworks. quality of coke from this pipeline product was be achieved with the same coal when prepared and coked under conventional conditions.

In cases where it is uneconomical to leave the oil in the product, this oil can

recycled. Several alternative oil recovery systems have been system used in the long term will depend on the type of product required as well as tested at the smaller pilot plant levels of operation. the type of coal and the quality of the product the type of oil it is possible to reduce the residual oil level than 0.2 to 0.5% (by weight of coal). A 12-15 tonne/hour demonstration oil recovery unit is currently being commissioned and tested at the pilot/demonstration plant. unit can be treated in such a manner to retain the agglomerate structure, or Material produced from the oil recovery alternatively a powdered material equivalent to typical pulverised coal can be produced.

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The latter product is of particular interest in the power generation industry, where boiler tube erosion and electrostatic precipitator or baghouse problems arise from the high proportion of mineral matter present in many of the coals currently in use. The IPTACCS process is now being developed in conjunction with a power generation authority. A 30 tonne/ hour demonstration plant is currently under construction to treat a relatively high When the product from the hydrocarbon recovery unit is retained in the form of agglomerates it can be handled using conventional operations or reslurried with water and stored in ponds in a similar manner to the pipeline product shown in Figure 7. For export applications the use of ponds close to the port store coal in this form under water coupled with reslurrying and pumping vessels via a submerged pipeline and single point mooring buoy attractive. The coal would be separated water returned to the shore. As the cost of fuel increases, the economies of using larger bulk cargo ships will become more attractive. For example typical freight charges of $16/tonne from Sydney to Rotterdam in a 75 000 DWT ship could be reduced to around $10/tonne for a 200 000 DWT ship. The use of off-shore loading and unloading using slurries would make the use of these larger ships feasible. loading and unloading rates of up to 12 000 tonnes per hour will be possible using high capacity slurry pumps, thereby minimising turnaround

4. TYPICAL PIPELINE BEHAVIOUR OF OIL-AGGLOMERATED SLURRIES

One of the main aims of the pilot plant is to investigate the concept of oil agglomeration for transporting, cleaning and de-watering of coal. of the pipeline research effort has been involved with agglomerated slurry Agglomerated slurries essentially consist of near spherical particles of density 1.2 to 1.25 kg/litre immersed in a "vehicle" portion containing the matter and water. This vehicle will generally possess non-Newtonian propert- A complicating factor is the deformable nature of the agglomerates. Fig. 10 shows typical behaviour of fully formed 1 to 2 mm agglomerates in a 100 mm pipe. Agglomerates were produced from a high ash coal. concentration of mineral matter in the vehicle portion resulted in pseudohomogeneous flow behaviour paralleling the water line for this particular overall slurry density of

stable but laminar flow was not possible,

deposition occurring at 1.4 ms-1 (Slurry 1). Agglomerated slurry 2 is the same slurry as above but at a higher density of This slurry was completely stable and laminar flow without deposition was possible down to zero velocity. Comparison with Fig. 3 shows that the turbulent pressure gradient is some 40% less than the fine coal slurry. The third slurry of Fig. i0, agglomerates 3, is from a lower ash coal and the low concentration of mineral matter in the vehicle portion provides little support for the agglomerates. Thus heterogeneous behaviour is evident. The three slurries of Fig. 10 cover the full spectrum of behaviour from completely homogeneous non-settling to heterogeneous. Slurries 1 and 2 were seen to in fact give a lower pressure gradient than the fine coal slurry. of any particular coal can now be predicted form the major parameters of oil agglomeration and pipelining that have been researched over the wide range of coal types studied.

5. COMPARISON OF COAL PIPELINE OPTIONS

5.1 Relevant Parameters As a basis for comparison, the cleaning and transportation of a 30% ash (d.b.) ROM coal over 200 km to a captive power station was considered. per annum of 15% ash (d.b.) coal was to be delivered to the power station burners as -300 micron pulverised fuel. It was assumed that the conventional coal, coarse and stabilised) would operate in conjunction with a conventional coal washery.

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5.2 Scale-up_of Pressure Gradient For the present purposes it was assumed that the behaviour of the different slurry types could be from Figures 3, 4 and 5. In particular the 54% concentration of Fig. 3, the coal B results of Fig. 4 and the 69% results of Fig. 5 were used for the fine coal, the stabilised slurries respectively. In the case of the IPTACCS option the slurry characterisation for a -300 micron, 50% slurry were used. With IPTACCS, the whole of the mined coal would be pumped since the mineral matter screening was to occur at the end of the pipeline. This means that with the IPTACCS option 4.85 million tonnes per annum would have to be pumped. Table 2 summarises the scale-up results. Given that the desired final coal product is as a finely ground powder, the of Table 2 suggest that fine grinding prior to slurry pipelining yields considerable benefits in terms of substantially reduced pumping power requirements in comparison to transport of the coal in a largely unground state. Clearly, these pumping power data suggest the fine coal and IPTACCS type slurries as being most favoured for the application in the case study. In addition, the coarse coal options could be further discounted by dangers of pipe blockage and extreme pipe wear rates. IPTACCS and Fine Coal Options stages: In the IPTACCS mode the processing route would be comprised of the following (i) Coal preparation in which the 4.85 Mta ROM coal would be ground to -300 micron and an approximately 50% coal slurry prepared. (ii) Pipeline transportation comprising the 200 km pipeline and two pumping stations. (iii) Agglomeration and storage including slurry storage and dewatering facilities effecting the recovery of the low ash coal fraction from the water and dispersed minerals.

(iv) Oil recovery in which the residual oil level is reduced to 0.2% on a dry

coal basis and moisture content to approximately 2%. The resultant product is a pulverised fuel with low moisture content suitable for direct use recovery of the carbonaceous material, as achieved in testwork, the overall in the power station burners without further pulverisation. product yield for the IPTACCS route in this scheme is 82.5%. Processing stages considered for the fine coal mode are: (1) Coal washery in which the 30% ash ROM coal is cleaned to 15% ash at some It should be noted that the first yield value is not normally possible in yield value. Yields between 82.5 and 70% were considered for comparison. a conventional washery and that 75% would represent a reasonable value for many Australian coals. (ii) Coal preparation and slurry storage. In this stage the washed coal is wet ground to -3 mm yielding a 50% coal slurry. (iii) Pipeline transportation as in the IPTACCS case except that 4.0 Mta of coal is transported. (iv) Dewatering in which the slurry is centrifuged to yield a cake containing approximately 20% water. Centrates from the centrifuge are further treated in clariflocculators yielding an underflow slurry containing 20% solids. Pulverisation in which the -3 mm coal from the centrifuges is reduced to -300 micron. (vi) Thermal drying of the pulverised coal is achieved by elevation of the primary air temperature through gas burners in the primary air ducts. The configuration of these two processing modes has been chosen to allow comparison of the alternatives where run-of-mine feed and final product form and quality are

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the same. It is within the context of supply of steaming coal to power stations that established coal slurry technology may be compared directly to IPTACCS on this basis.

pulverised fuel products. The results of economic analysis of these two modes of coal slurry processing clear advantage favouring the IPTACCS system even when the washery and IPTACCS

As the conventional washery yield is decreased to more

typical values relative to the IPTACCS yield this advantage increases still further. In terms of capital costs, neither option showed a clear relative advantage. The capital component for both pipeline options over the range of washery yields considered ranged between $8 and $8.50/tonne of product. Although it should be noted that both capital and operating costs are highly dependent on case specific factors such as plant locality and coal characteristics, comparative costs for alternative processing schemes may be used to demonstrate the inherent advantages of the IPTACCS The real advantage of IPTACCS is shown by reduced operating costs in comparison to the fine coal process. operating cost for IPTACCS was Even with the most favourable washery yield for the fine coal option, the approximately $3/t of product lower. reasons for this reduction in operating cost are that the transportation function also accomplishes beneficiation and obviates the need for a separate washery installation with its associated operating costs and that the dewatering occurs within the agglomeration process, avoiding the use of centrifuges and clarifloccul- In the case where a typical washery yield is considered this IPTACCS advantage is further increased, reducing operating costs to approximately $5/t of product below the fine coal option as relatively more mined coal and hence a larger washery is required to deliver the same product tonnage as the IPTACCS system. currently under development for this application. These cost advantages include oil recovery costs based upon the preferred mode Several options exist in the choice of the method of oil recovery some of which would lessen the cost advantages quoted. Since these techniques are still in the development stage there is obviously some risk that the preferred method may not be fully realisable technically. It may not be appropriate in all cases, and particularly in the Australian context to use gas for thermal drying of the pulverised coal in the fine coal process. event the cost of an alternative drying scheme would need to be substituted.

6. CONCLUSIONS

The IPTACCS Joint Venture is actively involved in investigating all types of slurry pipeline options and the 30 to 50 tonnes per hour pilot plant near Newcastle, Australia allows these to be studied at a realistic scale. One of the main aims of the current programme is the development of the oil agglomeration process and pipeloop results have been presented for agglomerated coal slurries. Results have also been given for the more conventional fine coal, coarse coal and stabilised slurries. In some cases agglomerated slurries can have a more favourable hydraulic performance than conventional fine coal slurries. Many of the critical parameters associated with pipeline options have been studied in the context of a 4 million tonnes per annum, delivery of pulverised fuel. This has shown that the IPTACCS process can have 200 km long pipeline for considerable advantages over conventional slurry Much of this advantage is integrated nature of the IPTACCS process whereby necessary operations leading to delivered pulverised fuel largely accomplish beneficiation. In cases where the coal requires no beneficiation the oil agglomeration and recovery process may be attractive in various applications including hybrid systems to de-water and upgrade ultra fine fractions the pipelined coal. Examples would be the centrates from the centrifuges in a fine coal system and the "vehicle" portion of stabilised slurry. situations where the full value of the oil can be recouped the IPTACCS is very attractive. Examples of this the IPTACCS product for coal-oil coal hydroliquefaction feedstock.

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7. REFERENCES

1. Levene, H.D., pp1-12. "Peabody puts Arizona on the Coal Map" Coal Min. and Proc., Feb 1971, 2. Montfort, J.G., "Operation of the Black Mesa Pipeline System". 23rd Annual Pipeline Conf., American Institute's Division of Transportation, U.S.A. 3. Rigby, G.R. Coking Coals" and Callcott, T.G., "Prospects for the Transportation of Australian, Sth Aust. Conf. on Chem. Eng., Canberra, Sept. 1977, Pp282-88. 4. Rigby, G.R. 2 Nov., 1977, PP2-7. and Callcott, T.G., "Pipelining Coking Coals". BHP Tech. Bull., 21, Ekber, B. Ya., et al. "Problems Associated with the Development of Pipeline Transport of Friable Material", Skochinskii Mining Inst. 6. Elliott, D.E. and Gliddon, B.J., "Hydraulic Transportation of Coal at High Concentration" Hydrotransport 1, (Coventry, U.K., Sept 1-4, 1970), BHRA, 1970, paper G2 56pp., In: proc. Ist Int. Conference on Slurry Transportation, 7. Lawler, H.L., Pertuit, D., Tennant, J.D. and Cowper, N.I., "Application of Stabilised Slurry Concepts of Pipeline Transportation of Large Particle Size" In: proc. 3rd Int. Tech. Conference on Slurry Transportation (Las Vegas, USA, March 1978), S.T.A., 1978, pp164-76. 8. Slurry Pipeline", 7th Aust. Conf. on Chem. Eng., (Inst. Engrs. Aust., Newcastle, and Callcott, T.G., "Options for the Transportation of Coal by Aust., Aug 1979) 1979, pp189-95. Rigby, G.R., Callcott, Mead, G.H. and Kennett, E.R., "A New System for the Integrated Transportation, Beneficiati on, Storage and Recovery Conference (Aust. Inst. Energy, Newcastle, Aust., Feb. 1979) 1979, pp26-30. 10. Rigby, G.R. and Callcott, T.G., "A System for the Transportation, Cleaning and Recovery of Australian Coking Coals", In: proc. 5th Int. Conference on Slurry Transportation, Hydrotransport, Hannover, May 8-11, 1978) BHRA, 1978, paper E5, 11. Rigby, G.R. and Callcott, I.G., "Coking Coal Slurry Transport: The Use of Oil

Conference on Slurry Transportation, Lag Vegas, March 1978) STA, 1978, pp86-92. Agglomeration Techniques to Overcome Recovery Problems"

12. Kennett, E.R., "The Growing Viability of Continuous Systems in the Transport of Ltd., 1981, pp21/1-21/12. Coal Trans. 81 Conference (London, Sept. 29-Oct. 1, 1981) C.S. Publications 13. Mead, G.H., (IPTACCS) - Pilot Demonstration Plant", "Integrated Pipeline Transportation and Coal Separation System BHP Tech. Bull., 23, Nov. 1979, p48. 14. Thomas, A.D.,. Pipelines", Chemical Engineering in Australia, Trans. Inst. Engrs. Aust., 1977, "A Rational Design Philosophy for Long Distance Slurry pp22-23.

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References (1,2) (3,4) 6-8 3,4,8, 9-13 Table 1. Alternative Forms of Coal Slurries for Pipelining Comments and Status of Technology - low pressure gradients stable slurry on shut down proven technology for captive power station - 4.8 Mtpa, 439 km Black Mesa system has successfully for 10 years with >99% availability - not suitable for coking or export coals - dewatered product contains 15-20% water - no significant change in content of minerals gradients & severe pipeline wear - high pressure: say 100 mm; - unstable heterogeneous slurry - limited to short distances - 11 km system operating in USSR - stable slurry, can be pumped under laminar flow conditions - requires treatment or recycle of fine coal settling; and wear rate uncertain - pressure gradients - further development work necessary - provides beneficiation of coal as well as transportation; improved 40-50% by weight coal yields - simple product dewatering by screening gives 6-10% product moisture - amenable to offshore shiploading with single point mooring - 30-50 tph pilot demonstration plant in operation. Coal Size and Conditions 95% passing 1.2 mm; 45-50% by weight solids; slurry velocity ~1.8 m s-l Topsize up to less than: 20% by weight solids; high slurry velocities to say 50 mm; Topsize Coal Sufficient fine coal present prevent coarse particles Up to 65-79% by weight solids chosen to suit particular Size situation normally solids; slurry velocity =1.8 m s-1 Type of Slurry Fine Coal "Conventional" Slurries Coarse Coal Fine/Coarse (Stabilised Slurries) IPTACCS BHP-BPA Joint Venture System for Transportation and Beneficiation

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(28 day Table 2

Type Diameter Outside Pipe (mm) Velocity (ms"-) Gradient Pressure (Pa m-1 Required (MW) Power killere.

Fine Coal 1370 406 1.8 100 3.8 4.75 Coarse 3/5 356 4.5 950 45 Stabilised 320 356 1.8 500 15 j4.S

IPTACCS 417 457 1.8 90 4.3

Fig. 1. Overall View of the Pilot Plant Facility.

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3000

59%

PRESSURE GRADIENT (Pa m-') 800

100 VELOCTY ( ms 1)

Fig. 2. Coal size distributions Fig. 3. Behaviour of Coal A in the 100mm

pipe.

3000

2000 - 3000

2000

COAL B

69%

1000 200mm

PIPE

800 SMALL TANK LARGE COAL: TANK PRESSURE GRADIENT (Pa m-1) 1000 800

600

COAL C

200 200 100 WATER.. 100 mm WATER. 200mm

100 WATER VELOCITY (ms',

VELOCITY ( ms- 1)

Fig. 4. Behaviour of the coarse coal Fig. 5. Behaviour of stabilised slurry D

slurries in the 100 mm pipe. 100 mm and 200 mm pipe.

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WATER

CRUSHING

RAW GRINDING PIPELINE

COA: SLURRY

PREPARATION

STORAGE AND

BLENDING

PONDS

| WATER FOR

RECYCLE + USE LOCAL PRODUCIS

WATER

• EXPORT

MATTER SETTLING DEWATERING - MATURE

_COAL HYDROLIQUEFACTION

OIL REFUSE -POWER GENERATION

OIL RECOVERY -COKE OVENS

RECYCLE OIL

- EXPORT

-APPLICATIONS

- GASIFICATION

Fig. 6. Schematic diagram of the IPTACCS process

Fig. 7. Product storage ponds containing agglomerated coal and refuse mineral matter

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Fig. 8(a) Product being dewatered from Fig. 8(b) Dewatered product being discharged the pipeline slurry over the from the product hopper to a truck screen. for transport to the Newcastle

Steelworks for coking trials.

WATER TO

EXTERNAL USE

OVER-

STORAGE FLOW WATER

TANKS STORAGE

RECLAIM BY

RESLURRYING RETURN

RETURN WATER WATER

SLURRY TO SHIP LOADING

BUOY

DEWATERING UNIT

RETURN WATER ABOVE HOLDS &

PUMP LOCATED LOAD "DRY"

ON SHIP COAL

SHIPPING TERMINAL

Fig. 9. Slurry Storage and offshore loading terminal.

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3000

2000|

1000

800

600

GRADIENT 400

PRESSURE

100 -6 -8 VELOCITY ( ms- 1)

Fig. 10. Behaviour of agglomerated slurries.

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