Methane emitted by coal mine ventilation air (MVA) is a significant greenhouse gas. A mitigation strategy is the oxidation of methane to carbon dioxide, which is approximately twenty-one times less effective at global warming than methane on a mass-basis. The low non-combustible methane concentrations at high MVA flow rates call for a catalytic strategy of oxidation. A laboratory-scale coal-pac...

Bottom ashes collected from ESP and baghouse of seven pulverized coal-fired power plants using subbituminous and bituminous coal and a fluidized bed combustor using crushed bituminous coal were examined for their mineralogy and elemental composition. The results presented in this paper are based on the average of three samples collected from each power plant. The mineralogy of each sample was d...

We used Illumina MiSeq technology to sequence the whole genome of Desulfocarbo indianensis SCBM, a new genus of sulfate-reducing bacteria isolated from a coal bed in Indiana, USA. This draft genome represents the first sequenced genome of the genus Desulfocarbo and the second known genome of the order Desulfarculales.

Arsenic and selenium compounds may be emitted to the environment during coal conversion processes, although some compounds are retained in the fly ashes, in different proportions depending on the characteristics of the ashes and process conditions. The possibility of optimizing the conditions to achieve better trace element retention appears to be an attractive, economical option for reducing t...

Multiscale nondestructive characterization of coal microscopic physical structure can provide important information for coal conversion and coal-bed methane extraction. In this study, the physical structure of a coal sample was investigated by synchrotron-based multiple-energy X-ray CT at three beam energies and two different spatial resolutions. A data-constrained modeling (DCM) approach was u...

The fuels used in industry for the last two to three decades have become expensive; furthermore there are large quantities of coal in South Africa not readily burned by the conventional means. The application of the two stage fluid bed combustor and its ability to burn low grade fuels efficiently, are discussed.