GTL Energy commissioned its first coal-upgrading plant

GTL Energy Ltd has announced the commissioning of its proprietary ‘first-of-a-kind’, low rank coal upgrading plant, located near South Heart, North Dakota, USA has been completed. The plant is intended to provide a scale model of GTLE’s concept and allow producers to test their coal.

GTL Energy CEO, Robert French, said, “Our low temperature drying process has now been proven to be effective in preserving lignite coal characteristics. We produce high energy, mechanically strong briquettes without binders and without creation of environmentally hazardous waste streams.”

“GTL Energy’s technology provides significant opportunities to utilise low rank coal in an environmentally responsible way. It will enable stranded resources to be monetised and help to meet the world’s ever growing demand for energy.”

GTL Energy’s unique coal upgrading process (coal drying / beneficiation) removes moisture from low rank coals to produce low moisture, high energy briquettes. The technology improves the efficiency of low rank coals ensuring a reduction in emissions including CO₂, as well as increasing the market value of low rank fuels. The process also has applications for biomass facilities where drying the biomass can greatly increase its energy output. With coal likely to remain a large part of the global energy balance for some years, clean coal technology is key to a lower carbon future and keeping the world’s economies ticking over.

The first large scale production of North Dakota lignite at the GTLE Dakota Plant reduced the moisture by an average of 65%, providing an uplift in energy content of approximately 40%.  Mr French said, “These achievements are significant milestones for GTL Energy. We believe that our technology has resoundingly addressed the challenges often associated with coal drying, and we are pleased to have advanced to this stage of development which now provides a very strong platform for growth.”

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/coal/15072010/gtl_energy_commissioned_its_first_coal_upgrading_plant/