CLEAN COAL
In his presentation to the Colorado Mining Association, KFx President and CEO Mark Sexton declared that despite the fact that higher-priced eastern coal is still cheaper than oil and gas, "anti-development forces do not want to see coal use encouraged." He also believes that environmentalists will increasingly raise mercury content as an coal-related issue.
Nevertheless, because of higher oil and natural gas prices, "everyone who can use coal will use coal," Sexton insisted. Power plants already try to blend eastern and western coals. Power generation facilities with no sulfur controls "are going to be, in a word, hurt," he suggested. Therefore, Sexton said there is a growing need to beneficiate, gasify, and liquidity coal.
Sexton said strong incentives exist to take higher moisture coals and convert them into more energy efficient, lower-emission fuel. KFx has developed a process using heat and pressure to physically and chemically transform high moisture, low BTU-coals, including sub-bituminous coal and lignite. K-fuel coal can also be blended with eastern coal. The process also removes mercury, and reduces sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions.
Instead of batch treatment, Kfx is a semi-continuous process that, essentially, resembles a large pressure cooker, that chemically and physically restructures coal. Sexton added that the coal produces "a remarkable lack of dust during handling."
The first plant was constructed in a year and is now being commissioned. KFx completed two fuel productions run at its 750,000 tons per year plant in Gillette, Wyoming, at the of December. On January 26, 2006, KFx entered into a non-binding letter of intent to acquire (for $37.5 million in cash and stock) Buckeye Industrial Mining, which mines, processes and sells coal to power facilities and industrial users.
Sexton said the process can be inserted between the coal mine and the shipment. KFx hopes to market the process to power plants, who can beneficiate onsite, at coal mines in the Powder River Basin, and at locations outside of the basin.
mineweb.net |
