COAL BRIQUETTES FROM COAL

All of the primary energy resources of today Oil, Coal, Wood & Cattle dung are the most important fuels which are available for common man use. Oil is not found in India to full-fill its demand. In fact large amount of it is being imported. The oil reserves of world are believed to last for only 50 years. Solar energy cannot be used economically largely due to very expensive equipments which makes its use possible. Wood & Cattle dung are still treated as primary fuel in rural areas. However in industries and urban area coal is used. As regards power generation, it is largely dependent on coal. Railways and power plants are the second largest consumers after steel plants; Coal is available in India in abundance. The most important coal fields are Jharia & Bokaro in Bihar and Raniganj in West Bengal. The best cooking coal comes from Giridh, Jharia and Raniganj. Other States in which coal is found are Madya Pradesh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Assam, Rajasthan and Kashmir. The pulverized coal is being used by power plant effectively. But large amount of coal which is available from coal depot and industrial stores, which do not have burning equipment for pulverized coal, is being wasted. Today, world is passing through a bad state of energy crisis and under these circumstance, the coal briquetting has found the wide spread uses as domestic fuel as well as industrial fuel as a substitute. Coal briquette is used in domestic and in various industries. It finds the following uses. 1. It is used as a fuel in the industries for boiler, furnaces and other purposes. 2. It is also used in the homes as a substitute of coal. 3. It is also used in the restaurants and hotels for Bhatties. 4. It finds uses in other fields too as a fuel. Coal, a combustible, sedimentary rock, has been used for centuries as a reliable energy source. Today, coal provides 30% of global energy demand, and in 2013, coal production reached record highs; it’s no secret that coal is the backbone of our energy grid, providing the electricity we need to turn on lights, heat our homes, and cook our meals. While coal provides a dependable, cost-effective energy source, it is not without its problems. Coal is an incredibly dusty material, presenting all sorts of problems, not only during processing, but throughout transport as well. In addition to presenting difficult handling issues, coal dust: • Is a health hazard when breathed in, • Is capable of spontaneous combustion, which unfortunately, has seen the result of numerous processing facilities meeting their demise, • Results in significant product loss due to dust being carried away, • Can form problematic build-up in mechanical components. Despite these problems, coal is still a valuable, abundant source of energy, and fortunately, there are many methods for effectively dealing with coal dust in order to alleviate all of the problems listed above. The most effective way to deal with coal dust is to stop it at the source. Coal dust is generated most during mining and crushing, and if suppressed immediately, there is a minimized need to collect and further process fugitive dust. There are a variety of spray systems available to suppress dust as it’s made. Since coal is a hydrophobic material, meaning it is not attracted to water, various chemicals are often used to aid in suppression techniques. Coal dust is suppressed as it’s made, and then often again throughout processing, typically at transfer points where dust may again be generated, such as when transferring from one conveyor to another. This is a cost-effective and efficient way to stop coal dust at the source, minimizing the need for further processing techniques. Coal briquettes have long been produced as a means of using up ‘small coal’, the finely broken coal inevitably produced during the mining process. Otherwise this is difficult to burn as it is both hard to arrange adequate airflow through a fire of these small pieces, also it tended to be drawn up and out of the chimney by the draught, giving visible black smoke. The first briquettes were known as culm and were hand-moulded with a little wet clay as a binder. These could be difficult to burn efficiently, as the unburned clay produced a large ash content, blocking airflow through a grate. With Victorian developments in engineering, particularly the hydraulic press, it became possible to produce machine-made briquettes with minimal binder content. A tar or pitch binder was used, obtained first from gas making and later from petrochemical sources. These binders burned away completely, making it a low-ash fuel. A proprietary brand of briquettes from the South Wales coalfield was Phurnacite, developed by Powell Duffryn. These were intended to emulate a high-quality anthracite coal, such as that from the Cynheidre measures. This involved blending a mixture of coals from different grades and colliery sources.
Early briquettes were large and brick-shaped. They could be stacked, or even built into walls. The Antarctic expeditions of both Shackleton and Scott took large quantities of these briquettes with them and used them to build pony stables. As the ponies were eaten, as planned, for food, the stables could be dismantled and used for fuel. Phurnacite briquettes later adopted a squared oval shape. This regular shape packed well as a good firebed, with plentiful airflow. They are also easy to mechanically feed, allowing the development of automatically controlled heating boilers that could run for days without human intervention.