Abstract
Even with a decade of substantial energy reduction in America's manufacturing plants and a temporary 'oil glut', energy often represents the largest plant expense, higher than labor or raw materials. Energy is not only a major plant expense; it is usually regarded as the most controllable. Fluidized bed combustion technology allows industrial steam users to use low-grade coals that are outside of mainstream coal markets, are abundant, and are very inexpensive, being one-quarter to one-third the price of oil or gas. This paper discusses the economics of low-grade coal, what is fluidized bed technology and its comparison to conventional coal and gas/oil fired systems, and one coal-fired FBC installation in Texas.
Sadowski, R. S.; von Hippel, C. S. (1984). Controlling Energy Costs with Coal Conversion. Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu); Texas A&M University (http://www.tamu.edu). Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /94644.