Installation of a stoker-coal preparation plant in Krakow, Poland. Quarterly technical progress report No. 1, May--July, 1994

This report describes the progress made during the first Quarter of a two year project to demonstrate that the air pollution from a traveling grate stoker being used to heat water at a central heating plant in Krakow Poland can be reduced significantly by replacing the unwashed, unsized coal now being used with a mechanically cleaned, double sized stoker fuel and by optimizing the operating parameters of the stoker. It is anticipated that these improvements will prove to be cost effective and hence be adopted in the other central heating plants in Krakow and indeed throughout Eastern European cities where coal is the primary source of heating fuel. EFH Coal Company has formed a partnership with two Polish institutions -- MPEC a central heating company in Krakow and Naftokrak-Naftobudowa, preparation plant designers and fabricators, for this effort. An evaluation of the washability characteristics of five samples of two coals (Piast and Janina) showed that {open_quotes}compliance-quality{close_quotes} stoker coals could be produced which contained less than 640 g of SO{sub 2}/KJ (1.5 lbs SO{sub 2}/MMBtu) at acceptable plant yields by washing in heavy media cyclones. A search for long-term sources of raw coal to feed the proposed new 300 tph stoker coal preparation plant was initiated. As the quantity of stoker coal that will be produced (300 tph) at the new plant will exceed the demand by MPEC, a search for other and additional potential markets was begun. Because the final cost of the stoker coal will be influenced by such factors as the plant`s proximity to both the raw coal supply and the customers, the availability and cost of utilities, and the availability of suitable refuse disposal areas, these concerns were the topic of discussions at the many meetings that were held between EFH Coal and the Polish Partners