SCCL plans 1 mn tonne coal washery plant

Invited bidders to set up plant at Manuguru on BOO basis

For the first time in the country, the state-owned Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) has decided to set up a coal washery plant for its own requirement at Manuguru in Khammam district in Andhra Pradesh.

Until now only coal consumers such as state electricity boards have entered into arrangements with private parties to set up coal washeries across coal fields in the country.

The decision to set up a one-million tonne capacity coal beneficiation plant at a cost of between Rs 12 crore and Rs 14 crore on a build-operate-and-own (BOO) basis at Manuguru has been taken in a recent meeting by the board of directors of SCCL.

A tender notification inviting bids from private parties with reasonable experience in coal benificiation has also been issued by SCCL.

"Apart from ensuring the supply of coal with a consistent quality to our customers such as APGenco for its Kothagudem Thermal Power Station (KTPS), the coal beneficiation will actually give us a good cost benefit because the inferior quality coal will be transformed into a higher grade coal," T R K Rao, executive director of the company, told Business Standard.

The idea to set up a captive coal washery came about after SCCL took into consideration the availability of coal with contrasting qualities in the Kothagudem Region.

"The bad quality coal is interspersed with the good quality coal in this area as we have been extracting coal from upper seams in the open cast mine located above the exhausted underground mines", Rao said.

A study conducted by SCCL indicated that a similar situation would last for another 10 years, which prompted the company to look at the option of coal beneficiation.

In fact, the Government of India had issued orders in 1997 not to allow the use of high ash content coal (beyond 34 per cent) either in the sensitive zones or their being transported long distances, beyond 1,000 km, for the purpose of power generation mainly due to environmental concerns.

Going by the guidelines issued, APGenco has already tied up with a private firm for washed coal supply from Mahanadi Coal Fields (MCL) in Orissa for the Vijayawada Thermal Power Station (VTPS) besides identifying another firm for coal beneficiation at MCL to supply washed coal to the Rayalaseema Thermal Power Project (RTPP) in Muddanur in Cuddapah district.

One private coal washery is functioning in the Ramagundam region which supplies washed coal to the Raichur Thermal Station in Karnataka from Singareni Collieries.

A major portion of the coal consists of carbon, ash, volatile matter and moisture. The carbon content of the coal, which is combustible, is inversely proportionate to the quantum of ash/impurities in the coal.

This means the heat energy in the coal depends on the carbon content. Though inherent ash cannot be removed, the impurities like shale, stones and clay among others can be removed through coal benefication or washing.

Thermal power stations are expected to be benefited by increased fuel efficiency in terms of the per kwh requirement of coal due to removal of impurities. The efficiency and durability of the boilers in the thermal plant is also expected to go up.

"With the establishment of a coal washery we can even avoid chances of malpractices such as wrong grading among others, if any," T R K Rao said. According to him, the company will pay a charge to the coal washery and take back the washed coal along with the rejected portion.

The company, which has mines spread across the four districts of Karimnagar, Adilabad, Warangal and Khammam, produces coal with grades ranging between A and G with E grade coal alone accounting for close to 35 per cent of the total production.