Great River Energy announces commercialization of DryFiningTM technology
Coal beneficiation process will increase plant efficiency & reduce emissionsJanuary 29, 2010 – Underwood, N.D. – Great River Energy is pleased to announce the commercialization of DryFiningTM, its world class technology designed to refine or beneficiate the value of lignite coal through a drying and segregation process.
The DryFiningTM system was placed into commercial service in December 2009 – following a major retrofit at its Coal Creek Station in Underwood, N.D.
U.S. Department of Energy partnershipGreat River Energy developed the technology in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The Lignite Fuel Enhancement System – as DryFiningTM was originally called – was selected in round one of DOE’s Clean Coal Power Initiative in 2003. The initiative focused on commercial-scale technology demonstrations to continue and expand the use of coal as a fuel source. The project at Coal Creek Station was administered by the DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and managed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory.
The DOE project included the testing of a 115-ton prototype dryer that supplied up to one-sixth of the coal for Coal Creek Station’s unit 2, a 546-megawatt unit. The prototype unit dried and segregated the lignite before it entered one of eight pulverizers that feed lignite to the boiler. The project was successful in increasing boiler efficiency and decreasing stack flow, thus reducing emissions.
Based on those results, DOE and Great River Energy announced a full scale commercial demonstration of the coal refining project in late fall 2006. The project included the final design and construction of a complete set of four modules for unit 2. Due to the success of the initial prototype results, Great River Energy expanded beyond the scope of the DOE project by building four additional modules for unit 1, also a 546-megawatt unit.
“This unique coal refining system, a successful product of the DOE’s Clean Coal Power Initiative program, enables the nation to tap into vast resources of high-moisture coal while simultaneously providing environmental benefits,” said Thomas Sarkus, deputy director, Office of Major Demonstrations, National Energy Technology Laboratory.
Benefits of DryFiningTMCoal Creek Station, like many power plants throughout the world, uses lignite to generate electricity. Lignite is considered a low-rank coal, due in part to its moisture content of 39.5 percent. The coal drying component of DryFiningTM reduces the moisture content to about 29.5 percent. As of December 2009, the DryFiningTM system was placed in service to supply refined lignite coal – called DryFineTM – to Coal Creek Station.
“Through research, we also learned that our process separates particles by density. That means that a significant amount of higher density compounds containing sulfur and mercury can be sorted out and returned to the mine, rather than oxidized in the boiler,” said Charlie Bullinger, senior principal engineer at Great River Energy’s Coal Creek Station.
This dried and segregated coal has a significant impact on improving power plant operations at Coal Creek Station. Through the system, the energy content of the lignite is being increased from 6,200 to 7,100 Btus per pound. This will reduce fuel input into the boilers in both units by about 14 percent by weight. In turn, this will increase overall power plant efficiency by 2 to 4 percent, and also reduce stack emissions significantly – sulfur dioxide and mercury by more than 40 percent, nitrogen oxide by more than 20 percent and carbon dioxide by 4 percent.
Use of technology worldwideGreat River Energy has partnered with WorleyParsons to make this technology available to the global marketplace. As part of that partnership, WorleyParsons manages technology licensing for DryFiningTM and will work with utilities interested in using the patented process to realize the dramatic efficiency improvements and emissions reductions observed at Coal Creek Station. DryFiningTM will reduce the moisture content of and may beneficiate impurities contained in any low rank, high-moisture solid fuel. Thus, this innovative technology, developed in North Dakota, will be contributing to cleaner and more efficient power plants worldwide.
The DryFiningTM system offers significant operating benefits for Coal Creek Station, which immediately translates into benefits for Great River Energy’s cooperative members. “The project is part of a larger, long-term strategy designed to lower costs and improve our environmental performance, while developing new technology and innovation to benefit the fossil fuels industry,” said David Saggau, president and CEO, Great River Energy.
Great American Energy, a 50/50 joint venture of Great River Energy and The North American Coal Corporation, will also market DryFineTM that will be processed at Coal Creek Station. The first user of DryFineTM will be Great River Energy’s Spiritwood Station, now under construction near Jamestown, N.D. The refined lignite will provide the same benefits to other potential users – as are being realized at Coal Creek Station.
Great River Energy is a not-for-profit cooperative which provides wholesale electricity to more than 1.7 million people through 28 member distribution cooperatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin. With more than $2.8 billion in assets, Great River Energy is the second largest electric power supplier in Minnesota and one of the largest generation and transmission (G&T) cooperatives in the United States. Great River Energy’s member cooperatives range from those in the outer-ring suburbs of the Twin Cities to the Arrowhead region of Minnesota to the farmland of southwestern Minnesota. Great River Energy’s largest distribution cooperative serves more than 120,000 member-consumers; the smallest serves about 2,400. For more information, visit www.GreatRiverEnergy.com.
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Media Contact:Lyndon Anderson
Great River Energy
Phone: 701-391-0759
Email: landerson1@grenergy.com
