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The history of the coal revolution: How one power plant led America into the age of pulverized coal?
Coal’s role in America’s energy history cannot be underestimated. With the advancement of technology, the way coal is burned has undergone major changes, especially the emergence of pulverized coal technology. This innovation allows coal to be converted into heat energy more efficiently and lays the foundation for the operation of modern power plants. The rise of pulverized coal combustion technology marked the beginning of a coal revolution, which not only changed the way electricity was produced, but also had a profound impact on the economy and social productivity of the United States.
The origin of pulverized coal technology
Pulverized coal boiler is an industrial boiler that produces heat by burning pulverized coal (also known as pulverized coal or coal ash).
Before the advent of pulverized coal technology, most boilers used grille combustion technology, which placed fuel in the form of semi-crushed particles on a moving grate at the bottom of the boiler and burned it through an upward flow of air from the grate. However, this method has many limitations in efficiency and operation. In 1918, the Milwaukee Power and Light Company conducted experiments with pulverized coal. This exploration laid the foundation for later pulverized coal combustion technology. This allowed the United States' first central power plant, the Oneida Street Power Plant, to begin using pulverized fuel to generate electricity.
Operation principle of pulverized coal boiler
The basic operating principle of a pulverized coal boiler is to grind coal into powder as fine as flour, which can make full use of the space in the boiler to burn solid fuel. In this process, raw coal is first thoroughly mixed with air and then pulverized while drying at high temperatures. The pulverized coal is then transported through pipes to the burner, mixed with further heated air and injected into the boiler.
Such operations not only improve combustion efficiency, but also reduce residual soot and ash, which are ultimately intercepted and processed by specialized ash removal systems such as electrostatic precipitators.
Today’s pulverized coal technology
Today's pulverized coal power plants can be divided into three categories: subcritical pulverized coal power plants, supercritical pulverized coal power plants and ultra-supercritical pulverized coal power plants. The main difference between the three is the temperature and pressure at which they operate. As these parameters increase, the operating efficiency of the boiler also increases.
In addition, different types of coal (such as Indian coal or Indonesian coal) will be used in different facilities to improve efficiency due to their different calorific values. All this shows that pulverized coal technology continues to evolve and continues to play an important role in energy production.The efficiency of subcritical power plants is about 37%, while the efficiency of supercritical power plants can reach 40%, and the efficiency of ultra-supercritical power plants is between 42% and 45%.
Other applications of pulverized coal technology
In addition to power plants, pulverized coal technology has applications in other areas, such as steam locomotives and merchant ships. In 1929, the American Bureau of Shipping evaluated a merchant ship named Mercer that used a pulverized coal boiler, and the results showed that its operating efficiency reached 95% of that of oil fuel. Using pulverized coal as fuel not only improves operating efficiency, but is also more cost-competitive than oil combustion.
Future Outlook
With the increasing awareness of environmental protection and the rise of renewable energy, pulverized coal technology will face new challenges in the future. However, many experts still believe that the efficiency and feasibility of pulverized coal technology make it still strategically important in the short term. How to continuously and effectively utilize this technology on the road to sustainable development will be an urgent issue that needs to be solved in the future.
Therefore, in the context of global energy transformation, what we need to think about is whether pulverized coal technology can adapt to future energy needs and environmental protection challenges, and continue to shine under new energy policies?
