SIUC coal scientists will use a state grant to develop technology that will help Illinois’ high-sulfur coal suppliers in a struggle to control a market dominated by cleaner Western coal.

The $790,643 grant to continue research projects by SIUC’s Department of Mining Engineering and the Coal Research Center is aimed at making Illinois’ coal a viable choice in a competitive industry. The grant was awarded to the center last month.

The philosophy behind the programs is that by helping develop new technologies in the field, industries and electrical utilities will use Illinois coal or at least consider it an option, said John S. Mead, director of SIU’s Coal Research Center. The projects the state selects are submitted and looked at competitively.

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The projects are aimed at making Illinois’ high-sulfur coal a more cost-efficient fuel choice for power plants and industries.

There is a struggle for the lowest possible cost, said Ricky Q. Honaker, assistant professor of mining engineering. In order to maintain competitiveness in the coal industry, we need to see that coal is the lowest-costing energy source.

In 1994, 54 million tons of coal were produced in Illinois.

In 1995, when the Clean Air Act standards came into effect, 49.5 million tons of coal were produced in Illinois.

In 1996, 45.8 million tons of coal were produced in Illinois.

The grants, made available this fall by the Illinois Clean Coal Institute in Carterville, will be split between seven teams of SIUC coal researchers. The institute is overseen by the Illinois Coal Development Board.

Phase I of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 took effect Jan. 1, 1995, requiring reductions in sulfur emissions from coal combustion. As a result of an increased demand for low-sulfur coal, many utilities switched to Western low-sulfur coal, primarily from Wyoming, as a more cost-effective way to meet federal emission standards.

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The rising demand for low-sulfur coal resulted in uneven performance and an accelerated shift in regional coal production. Coal output in Illinois has steadily declined in recent years as a result.

The decreased demand for high-sulfur Illinois Basin coal resulted in the loss of several utility contracts causing several mines to close during 1995, Mead said.

Phase II of the Clean Air Act will go into effect in 2005 and will pose more rigorous regulations upon coal consumers and producers.

There will be a further reduction in sulfur-dioxide emissions, and they will be rather significant reductions, Honaker said. Seventy-two percent of the coal in the United States will not meet the new standards.

Honaker said that, whereas the first phase of the Clean Air Act hurt Southern Illinois coal, this second phase may help it.

Other coal industries will have to begin work to meet the guidelines, Honaker said. Southern Illinois will be ahead of them because of the extensive research already underway.

One of the projects is working toward a zero-discharge system in the production of energy. This entails byproducts utilization in which the waste material from the production and combustion of coal is used in the mines to retrieve more coal from the reserves.

The projects are attacking the environmentally friendly issue as well as economic and competitive issues, Honaker said.

Honaker also said the zero-discharge system will reduce subsidence and increase production rates in the industry.

Because of the proximity of the coal to the surface, subsidence has also been a problem in Southern Illinois, Honaker said. With the new technology being developed, cheaper systems can be utilized in meeting federal emissions guidelines.

Coal cleaning is an important area Mead said is being studied. Researchers at the school are looking for more effective and more cost-efficient ways to remove the contaminants from the coal.

There are a variety of techniques used to clean coal. One process uses mechanical separation, which separates non-coal materials such as rocks from coal, by crushing the coal.

A more advanced technique involves removing the non-inert minerals, those which do not contribute to the energy value of coal, from the pieces of coal brought to the surface. These materials can contribute to the environmental problems caused by burning the coal. Techniques are available to grind the coal and separate these minerals from the coal on the basis of different relative weights, chemicals and physical processes.

We are looking at ways to improve these processes, Mead said. Thanks to the expertise of the faculty and our advanced facilities, we have the ability to provide a higher value product.

Mead said the coal industry is going through a transitional period.

Older, less productive mines are closing and being replaced with newer, more productive ones, Mead said. These projects strive to lower the costs involved with complying to standards set by the Clean Air Act and other environmental standards, so that Southern Illinois can remain competitive in the coal industry.

Honaker said the coal industry is cyclic business with its up and downs, but Southern Illinois is competitive and should fare well.

You have to be able to make yourself competitive in this business, Honaker said. Even though Southern Illinois coal production is down, things on the horizon indicate an uprising, and in the long run Southern Illinois’ coal industry should be OK.