• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.281-292
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• 2024

North Korea relies heavily on coal as the primary energy source, playing an important role in all energy demand sectors except for the transportation sector. Approximately half of the total electricity is generated through coal-fired power plants, and coal is used to produce heat and power for all industrial facilities. Furthermore, coal has been a significant contributor to earning foreign currency through long-term exports to China. Nevertheless, since the 1980s, indiscriminate mining activities have led to rapid depletion of coal production in most coal mines. Aging mine facilities, lack of investment in new equipment, shortages of fuel and electricity, difficulties in material supply, and frequent damage from flooding have collectively contributed to a noticeable decline in coal production since the late 1980s. North Korea's coal deposits are distributed in various geological formations from the Proterozoic to the Cenozoic, but the most critical coal-bearing formations are Ripsok and Sadong formations distributed in the Pyeongnam Basin of the Late Paleozoic from Carboniferous to Permian, which are called as Pyeongnam North and South Coal Fields. Over 90% of North Korea's coal is produced in these coal fields. The classification of coal in North Korea differs from the international classification based on coalification (peat, lignite, sub-bituminous coal, bituminous coal, and anthracite). North Korean classification based on industrial aspect is classified into bituminous coal, anthracite, and low-grade coal (Chomuyeontan). Based on the energy factor, it is classified into high-calorie coal, medium calorie coal, and low-calorie coal. In North Korea, the term "Chomuyeontan" refers to a type of coal that is not classified globally and is unique to North Korea. It is a low-grade coal exclusively used in North Korea and is not found or used in any other country worldwide. This article compares North Korea's coal classification and the international coal classification of coal and provides insights into the geological characteristics, reserves, utilization, and research trends of North Korean coal resources. This study could serve as a guide for preparing scientific and industrial agendas related to coal collaboration between North Korea and South Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.147-152
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• 2010

In this study, the artificial coarse aggregate was manufactured by using coal ash and low grade clay. The characteristics of a coal ash-clay system were investigated using XRD, XRF, TG-DTA, SEM and Dilatometer with various coal ash contents. The chemical compositions are the fly ash, bottom ash and clay, $Al_2O_3$ are 28.5 wt%, 32.4 wt% and 18.1 wt%, and $SiO_2$ are 33.0 wt%, 53.7 wt% and 68.4 wt% in weight ratio, respectively. The shrinkage of specimens started at around $850^{\circ}C$ and changed little up to $1100^{\circ}C$, but increased markedly at above $1100^{\circ}C$. The shrinkage rate is strongly related to the decarbonization amount of coal ash. At the sintering temperature $1150^{\circ}C$, it was found that quartz, mullite, anorthite and albite phase exist in all specimens. It was found that bottom-clay system specimen sintered at $1150^{\circ}C$ had a good compressive strength of 87.5 kg/$cm^2$, and the compressive strength of bottom-clay specimen was higher than that of fly-clay system specimen. The reusability of coal ash as a raw material in the process of shotcrete resources such as artifical coarse aggregate is highly expected.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.631-640
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• 2018

The application of an oxy-combustion circulating fluidized bed combustor (Oxy-CFBC) for low grade coals has recently developed in the world to meet the continuous increase of energy demand and to achieve the reduction of greenhouse gases. Since demo plants for Oxy-CFBC have been developed, the combustion properties of Oxy-CFBC in various operation conditions, such as gas flow rates, combustion temperature, fuel, and so on, should be investigated to develop design criteria for a commercial Oxy-CFBC. In this study, a computational simulation tool for Oxy-CFBC was developed on the basis of the IEA-CFBC (International Energy Agency Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustor) model. Simulation was performed under various conditions such as reaction temperature ($800^{\circ}C{\sim}900^{\circ}C$), oxygen contents (21%~41%), coal feeding rate, Ca/S mole ratio (1.5~4.0), and so on. Simulation results show that the combustion furnace temperature is higher in oxy 1 than air fired. However, the temperature gradient tended to decrease with increasing oxy mixing percent. In case of $SO_x$, the higher the Ca/S mole ratio and oxy mixing percent, the higher the desulfurization efficiency.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.62-69
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• 2023

The use of low-grade coal is continuously increasing with the development of combustion technology and cost reduction for coal used in thermal power plants . During combustion, the latent heat of evaporation due to moisture is large, and there is a risk of spontaneous combustion and dust explosion during the process of storing and pulverizing coal. This study compared and evaluated the minimum explosive concentration and explosive strength of four types of coal dust-fine, coal dust-coarse, wood pallet+organic dust, and wood chip with coal powder collected from domestic power plant D. The minimum explosive concentration of coal dust was measured according to JIS Z 8818:2002, and the explosion strength was tested according to ASTM E1226 using a Siwek 20 L Chamber Apparatus. As a result of the minimum explosive concentration test, it was found that coal dust-fine has a risk of dust explosion, and since an explosion occurs at a dust concentration of 130 g/m³ of wood chips, it was found that there is a risk of explosion at the lowest dust concentration. According to the dust explosion class standard, Kst is less than 200 bar m/s, and all samples fall under the explosion class St 1, and the dust has a low risk of explosion.

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.211-221
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• 2016

The increase of world's population and economic development are the keys drivers behind growing demand for energy. Especially the demand for electricity would eventually result in an increase of coal usage. Therefore ultra supercritical circulating fluidized bed boiler has been developed as solutions of economic eco-friendly technologies for coal and of increasing supplies of low grade fuels. Ultra supercritical circulating fluidized bed boiler has an once through type of steam cycle different from drum type in subcritical circulating fluidized bed boiler. Also, the duplication of a proven commercial module with 100-300 MWe subcritical circulating fluidized bed might be the key for design of 500~800 MWe ultra supercritical circulating fluidized bed boiler. After 2017, ultra supercritical circulating fluidized bed boiler might become standard model over subcritical circulating fluidized bed boiler. Therefore, this paper will help you to understand ultra super critical circulating fluidized bed (USC-CFB) through describing the background, status and prospect of the CFB technology.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.207-214
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• 2014

With the depletion of high grade coal, it is indispensable to be used co-combustion of low rank coal with bituminous coal in pulverized coal-fired power plants. This study describes the detailed measurements of combustion characteristics of bituminous and subbituminous coal in a 0.7MWth pilot-scale test facility. This experimental works include the measurement of gas temperature, gas concentrations along with the reactor axial and radial distance at the condition of excess air ratio of 1.2. The solid sampling was carried out and analyzed with the combustion of bituminous coal. The main reaction zone of coal flame in a reactor was formed about 1 m from the swirl burner, and at downstream, the fully developed temperature and species distribution was observed. The sampled particles of bituminous coal in a reactor revealed the complete carbon burn-out was achieved just after an main combustion zone.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.28-37
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• 2022

The lignite and bituminous coal are mainly used in thermal power plant. They exhaust green house gas (GHG) such as CO₂, and become deplete, thus require alternative energy resources. To solve the problem, the hydrochar production from biomass is suggested. In this study, both hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) and solvothermal carbonization (STC) were used to produce high quality hydrochar. To improve the reactivity of water solvent process in HTC, STC process was conducted using ethanol solution. The experiments were carried out by varying the solid-liquid ratio (1:4, 1:8, 1:12), reaction temperature (150~300 ℃) and retention time (15~120 min) using kenaf. The characteristic of hydrochar was analyzed by EA, FT-IR, TGA and SEM. The carbon content of hydrochar increased up to 48.11%, while the volatile matter decreased up to 39.34%. Additionally, the fuel characteristic of hydrochar was enhanced by reaction temperature. The results showed that the kenaf converted to a fuel by HTC and STC process, which can be used as an alternative energy source of coal.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.114-119
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• 2011

Thermogravimetric analysis(TGA) was carried out for pyrolysis and char-$CO_2$ gasification of low rank Indonesian ABK coal and China lignite. The pyrolysis rate was successfully described by a two-step model adopting the modified Kissinger method. The shrinking core model, when applied to char-$CO_2$ gasification gave initial activation energy of 189.1 kJ/mol and 260.5 kJ/mol for the ABK coal and China lignite, respectively. Thus, the char-$CO_2$ gasification has been successfully simulated by the shrinking core model. In particular, the activation energy of char-$CO_2$ gasification calculated in this work is similar to the results on the anthracite coal, but considerable difference exists when other models or coal types are used.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.493-499
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• 2013

For the purpose of utilizing fly ash from gasification of low rank coal, we performed the series of experiments such as pyrolysis and char-$CO_2$ gasification on fly ash by using the thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) at non-isothermal heating conditions (10, 20 and $30^{\circ}C/min$). Pyrolysis rate has been analyzed by Kissinger method as a first order, the reliability of the model was lower because of the low content of volatile matter contained in the fly ash. The experimental results for the fly ash char-$CO_2$ gasification were analyzed by the shrinking core model, homogeneous model and random pore model and then were compared with them for the coal char-$CO_2$ gasification. The fly ash char (LG coal) with low-carbon has been successfully simulated by the homogeneous model as an activation energy of 200.8 kJ/mol. In particular, the fly ash char of KPU coal with high-carbon has been successfully described by the random pore model with the activation energy of 198.3 kJ/mol and was similar to the behavior for the $CO_2$ gasification of the coal char. As a result, the activation energy for the $CO_2$ gasification of two fly ash chars don't show a large difference, but we can confirm that the models for their $CO_2$ gasification depend on the amount of fixed carbon.

• Clean Technology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.64-71
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• 2014

We have investigated the effects of various additives on Eco coal gasification under $CO_2$ atmosphere. The temperature ranges from $750{\sim}900^{\circ}C$ and the gasification experimental was carried out with Eco coal adding 7 wt% $K_2CO_3$, $Na_2CO_3$, $CaCO_3$, Dolomite, and non-additive under $N_2$ and $CO_2$ gas mixture. At $850^{\circ}C$, we observed that the reaction rate increased when the concentration of $CO_2$ increased. However, we also observed that the increment of reaction rate was small at more than 70% of the concentration of $CO_2$. The additives activity was ranked as 7 wt% $Na_2CO_3$ > 7 wt% $K_2CO_3$ > non-additive > 7 wt% Dolomite > 7 wt% $CaCO_3$ at $850^{\circ}C$. At the temperatures of $750^{\circ}C$, $800^{\circ}C$, $850^{\circ}C$, and $900^{\circ}C$, when the temperature increased, the gasification rate increased. The gasification was suitably described by the volumetric reaction model. Using volumetric reaction model, the activation energy of Eco coal including 7 wt% $Na_2CO_3$ gasification was 83 kJ/mol, which was the lowest value among all the alkaline additives.