ABSTRACT
Public utilities are the major users of coal in the United States. Consequently, the efficiency with which the fuel is burned to generate steam is a major determinant of how much coal is consumed for electrical power generation. Virtually all the water required by a coal-fired electric generating plant is used by its condenser cooling system. The coal-fired electric generating plant consists of a series of subsystems which include a furnace, steam generator, and a steam-driven turbine-generator. The development of commercially viable high-Btu coal gasification processes is a major component of the US synthetic fuels program. High Btu gas in this case refers to "pipeline quality" synthetic natural gas, whose caloric content is about 1,000 Btu/standard cubic feet, equivalent to that of natural gas. Direct coal liquefaction uses a hydrogenation/desulfurizing technique, which is a process of adding hydrogen to, and removing sulfur from, coal. This is accomplished with rapid, turbulent hydrogen flow moving a coal slurry through a catalyst bed.
