Super-heated Steam Drying: an Innovation of Clean Coal Technology for Lignite

A comprehensive overview of the status of lignite pre-drying technology is given in this study. The practical problems of high energy consumption, high investment and poor safety exist in the lignite drying using the traditional thermal drying, for the reason that the super-heated steam drying technology for lignite is put forward. The mechanism experiment research and pilot-scale test research of the super-heated steam drying technology for lignite were carried out, and the results show that the drying efficiency of the super-heated steam is better than the hot air at given conditions, the lignite drying can be accomplished stably and continuously and the drying product can meet the requirement of the industrial application of the lignite fired power plant. A more innovative approach as a new lignite Super-heated steam low-rank Coal Upgrading (SCU) is proposed by Energy Conservation Research Center of Shandong Academy of Sciences. The technical advancement in terms of energy-saving and safety among the applied technologies are compared and analyzed, and the results show this technology has the advantages of low energy consumption, high safety and energy saving. To sum up, the exploitation of the super-heated steam drying technology for lignite fired power plant can promote the development of the energy and power industry, and the technology has wide application prospect.