Potential and technical basis for utilising coal beneficiation discards in power generation by applying circulating fluidised bed boilers

Coal continues to remain South Africa’s prime energy source with coal fired power generation by ESKOM (62 %) and gasification by SASOL (23 %) leading local coal consumption. Beneficiated coal is also exported (70 million tonnes) while raw sized coal is also consumed for cooking and heating in South Africa’s townships. Discard coal is currently being produced at annual rates in excess of 60 million tonne per annum. This is estimated to have already accumulated to more than 1-billion tonnes. Discard coal is a major concern to the department of mineral and energy regarding the potential environmental impact in the future. It should also be seen as a major resource that could provide economic opportunity. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the production and reservoir volumes of SA coal discards and their technical and economic potential application in large scale power generation through CFB combustion. It was found that whilst discard is a poor material, its varying range in heating value and current production rate makes it a potentially viable material for beneficiation towards electricity generation. It’s been found that beneficiating discard coal could come with some challenges e.g initial costs, but on the other hand it could present techno economic opportunities e.g harnessing new technologies to create employment..