Low Water Consumption: A New Goal for Coal

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There are, according to estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey and other organizations, some 980 billion metric tons of coal buried worldwide. Taken at face value, that coal could supply the energy needs of the world for many years. But while coal is plentiful, burning it to generate power places a tremendous burden on the global water supply. At present, although coal plants are subject to a variety of regulations to reduce emissions of pollutants including mercury, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and particulate matter, there is no technology in place to recover water, one of the world's most valuable resources.

Now, with the impetus of a $930,000 contract from the Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and a $470,000 buy-in from industry giant Siemens Westinghouse, the University of North: Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) has begun a two-year pilot program to study the use of commercial desiccant technology as a way to remove, treat, and use water from Coal power plant flue gas--water that originates within the coal itself. Using de desiccant technology may prove to be one way that coal-fired power plants can reduce their draw on local fresh water supplies.

Coal, the fruit of the earth, can actually have a significant percentage of water in its makeup, says EERC director Gerald H. Groenewold. North Dakota lignite, the type that the EERC researchers are currently working with, can be 30% watch he says, and he and his colleagues have even worked with some coal from Australia that is 67% water. "At that point, it's hard to …