Improving efficiency of thermal power plants through mine coal quality planning and control

The main goal of coal quality control in lignite mines is to supply coal to power plants within certain quality constraints. Coal properties can affect the efficiency, reliability, and availability of both the boiler and the emission control units. This paper presents a new based integrated mine process simulation approach to investigate the variability of the calorific value in exploitation a complex lignite deposits. Results provide valuable insight into the performance of a continuous mining system in terms of controlling coal quality variability.