Fuel

Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner Hydrocarbons are the most common source of fuel used by humans The first use of fuel was the combustion of wood or sticks by Homo erectus near 2 million years ago Coal was first used as a fuel around 1000 BCE in China

Indian Energy Sources

About 70% of India's energy generation capacity is from fossil fuels The country has ambitious plans to expand its renewable and nuclear power industries Major Sources of Energy in India are Fossil Fuels Coal, Lignite, Petroleum, Natural Gas Nuclear Uranium, Thorium (future) Renewable Solar, Wind, Biomass, HydroPower

Energy source

Costs of electricity production in euros per megawatt hour 107.0 124.0 88.0 97.0

Nuclear Energy Brown Coal Black Coal Domestic Gas Wind Energy Onshore Wind Energy Offshore Hydropower Biomass Solar Electricity

104.0 107.0 106.0 118.0 49.7 96.1

35.0 150.0 34.7 126.7 77.1 115.5 284.3 391.4

Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock normally occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams Coal is composed primarily of carbon along with variable quantities of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, with smaller quantities of sulfur, oxygen and nitrogen Most important energy source of India Accounts for 55% of energy needs of India

Coal Reserves in India

India has World s Third Largest Coal Reserves India has a hard coal reserves around 255 billion tonnes, of which 92 billion tonnes are proven Hard coal deposit spread over 27 major coalfields, located mainly in Eastern and South- Central parts The lignite reserves stand at a level around 36 billion tonnes, concentrated mainly in Tamil Nadu The total geological resources of Indian coal up to a depth of 1200 m (metres) in seams of 0.9 m or more in thickness

State Proved

Geological Resources of Coal Indicated Inferred Total

Andhra Pradesh

9194

6748

2985

18927

Arunachal Pradesh

31

40

19

90

348 0 Chhattisgarh Jharkhand Madhya Pradesh 10910 39480 8041

36 0 29192 30894 10295

3 160 4381 6338 2645

387 160 44483 76712 20981

5255 Meghalaya Nagaland Orissa 89 9 19944 0 Uttar Pradesh 866 11653 Total 105820

2907 17 0 31484 58 196 11603 123470

1992 471 13 13799 43 0 5071 37920

10154 577 22 65227 101 1062 28327 267210

(in million tonnes)

Coal Mining
Surface Mining - used when a coal seam is relatively close to the surface, usually within 200 feet Underground (or deep) mining- used when the coal seam is buried several hundred feet below the surface. In underground mining, workers and machinery go down a vertical shaft or a slanted tunnel called a slope to remove the coal

Surface Mining

Under Ground mining

Coal Mining in India

Coal Mining started in 1774 by M/s Sumner and Heatly of East India Company in the Raniganj Coalfield The nationalisation was done in two phases, the first with the coking coal mines in 1971-72 and then with the non-coking coal mines in 1973 The production of coal increased from a level of about 70 million tonnes at the time of nationalization to 492.95 million tonnes in 2008-09. Coal India Limited is major Coal mining company of India

Classification of Coal
Peat,-precursor of coal. In its dehydrated form, peat is a highly effective absorbent for fuel and oil spills on land and water. Lignite referred to as brown coal, is the lowest rank of coal and used almost exclusively as fuel for electric power generation. Additionally, it is an important source of light aromatic hydrocarbons for the chemical synthesis industry. Bituminous coal -dense sedimentary rock, black but sometimes dark brown, often with well-defined bands of bright and dull material, used primarily as fuel in steamelectric power generation, with substantial quantities also used for heat and power applications in manufacturing and to make coke Anthracite -the highest rank; a harder, glossy, black coal.

Classification of Coal
Mostly E and F grade coal used in India. Blending Is Done To get Average D Grade.
Grade C.V. ( K Cal / Kg. ) > 6200 5601-6200 4941-5600 4201-5940 3361-4200 2401-3360 % Ash + Moisture

A B C D E F

19.57 19.57 - 23.97 23.92 - 28.69 28.69 - 34.05 34.06 - 40.14 40.14 - 47.10

Coking Coal
Coke is a solid carbonaceous residue derived from lowash, low-sulfur bituminous coal from which the volatile constituents are driven off by baking in an oven without oxygen at temperatures as high as 1,000 C The Coking Coal reserves in India is Low ( 33 BT) Metallurgical coke is used as a fuel and as a reducing agent in smelting iron ore in a blast furnace Coke from coal is grey, hard, and porous and has a heating value of 24.8 million Btu/ton (29.6 MJ/kg)

Advantages of Coal
Easily combustible, and produces high energy upon combustion Widely and easily distributed all over the world; Comparatively inexpensive due to large reserves and easy accessibility Good availability Inexpensive Very large amounts of electricity can be generated in one place using coal, fairly cheaply. A fossil-fuelled power station can be built almost anywhere, so long as you can get large quantities of fuel to it.

Disadvantages of Coal
It is Nonrenewable and fast depleting fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide, contributing to global warming. It leaves behind harmful byproducts upon combustion, thereby causing a lot of pollution; Mining of coal leads to irreversible damage to the adjoining A coal plant generates about 3,700,000 tons of carbon dioxide every year. A 500-megawatt coal- fired plant draws about 2.2 billion gallons of water from nearby bodies of water. This is enough water to support approximately 250,000 people.

 The cost factor is not appearing as constraint from the following projects that appear on the anvil .The companies, which signed MoUs , were Astaranga Power Company Ltd (2,640MW), Sahara India Power Corporation (1,320MW), Ind-Barat Energy Utkal Limited (700MW), Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (1,320MW), Visaka Thermal Power Pvt Ltd (1,100MW), Kalinga Energy & Power Limited (1,000MW), Arati Steel (500MW) and Chambal Infrastructures and Ventures Ltd (1,200MW).While Astaranga Power Company intended to establish 2,640MW thermal power plants in two phases at Astaranga in Puri district with an investment of Rs 11,200 crore, Sahara India Power Corporation proposed to set up 1,320MW thermal power plant at Turla village in Bolangir district at an estimated cost of Rs 5,604 crore.Similarly, Ind-Barat Energy Utkal planned to set up 700MW thermal power plant at Sahajbahal near Banharpali in Jharsuguda district with a

Clean Coal Technology

Clean coal technology is a collection of technologies being developed to reduce the environmental impact of coal energy generation Clean coal technologies remove sulfur and nitrogen oxides before, during, and after coal is burned, or convert coal to a gas or liquid fuel. Clean coal technologies are also more efficient, using less coal to produce the same amount of electricity. The world's first "clean coal" power plant went on-line in September 2008 in Spremberg, German

Coal Gasification
Coal gasification is the process of producing coal gas, a type of syngas a mixture of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2), carbon dioxide(CO2) and water vapour (H2O) from coal The coal is blown through with oxygen and steam (water vapor) while also being heated Oxygen and water molecules oxidize the coal and produce a gaseous mixture of carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), water vapour (H2O), and molecular hydrogen (H2)

Fluidised Bed Combustion

FBC is a combustion technology used in power plants In this combustor, crushed coal is mixed with limestone and suspended on jets of air inside a boiler The limestone acts like a sponge by capturing 90 percent of the organic sulfur that is released when the coal is burned Combustion temperatures can be held to 1,500 degrees F, about half that of a conventional boiler, which is below the threshold where nitrogen pollutants

Wind Energy
Definition - Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships.

Wind Power in India

The development of wind power in India began in the 1990 India has the fifth largest installed wind power capacity in the world. The total estimated capacity is 45000 MW As of 31 Dec 2010 the installed capacity of wind power in India was 14158 MW

1 Tamil Nadu (4906.74 MW) 2 Maharashtra (2077.70 MW) 3 Gujarat (1863.64 MW) 4 Karnataka (1472.75 MW) 5 Rajasthan (1088.37 MW) 6 Madhya Pradesh (229.39 MW) 7 Kerala (27.75 MW) 8 West Bengal (1.10MW)

Barriers
Initial cost for wind turbines is greater Noise is produced by rotors Issue in the locations chosen

Future Plans
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has fixed a target of 10,500 MW between 2007 12, but an additional generation capacity of only about 6,000 MW might be available for commercial use by 2012.

Biomass
Biomass(Forest residues, animal matter, municipal solid waste, a waste product from processes of the pulp )is biological material derived from living, or recently living. Estimates have indicated that 15% - 50% of the world s primary energy use could come from biomass by the year 2050. Currently, about 11% of the world s primary energy is estimated to be met with biomass. In India, over 500 million tones /Year of agricultural and agro-industrial residue alone is generated, is equivalent to about 175 million tonnes of oil. 150-200 million tonnes of this biomass material is sufficient to generate 15 000-25 000 MW of electrical power at typically prevalent plant.

Biomass gasification
It is the process through which solid biomass material is subjected to partial combustion in the presence of a limited supply of air in gasifier and producer gas formed. The calorific value of this gas is about 10001200 kcal.Nm3. Biomass can be converted to other usable forms of energy like methane gas or transportation fuels like ethanol and biodiesel.

Technology to convert Biomass into energy source

Thermal conversion- These are processes in which heat is the dominant mechanism to convert the biomass into another chemical form. pplications of thermal conversion are combined heat and power (CHP) and co-firing. In a typical biomass power plant, efficiencies range from 2027% Chemical conversion- chemical processes may be used to convert biomass into ethanol and biodiesel. Biochemical conversion- (anaerobic digestion, fermentation and composting )to break down(makes use of the enzymes of bacteria and other micro-organisms) the molecules of which biomass is composed,

Biomass gasifier based systems:- applications of a producer gas produced from a biomass gasifier

Mechanical shaft power applications, i.e., water pumping for irrigation/drinking and grinding, where the gas is used as fuel for internal combustion engine. Direct heat applications where it is burnt directly in a boiler, furnace or klin, burner for institutional cooking, etc., to provide heat. Electricity generation through shaft power application viz., (engine coupled to an alternator/generator set).