What is Coal?
Coal is fossilised plant life, created over millions of years. The properties of the coal are influenced by its formation and its location, but for the most part can be “ranked” by its water content and its energy content. Low rank coals are the youngest geologically and have higher proportions of hydrogen and oxygen (in addition to more water). Even though high rank coals have higher energy densities, they lack the volatile compounds that make lower rank coals easier to ignite (either in a power station or in a spontaneous combustion). By removing the moisture alone, a low rank coal is dried, but it becomes dangerous due to its potential to auto ignite.
The value of River Basin Energy’s upgrading process is that it not only dries the coal, but it also produces a passive, stable product with no auto-ignition problems. The heat content and density are very similar to high rank coals, but other lower boiling point impurities such as mercury and sulfur are separated by the upgrading process.