Coal firing power generation technology

A review points out that coal utilization strongly requires addressing global environmental issues caused by green-house gas, and regional environmental issues caused by air pollutants. Today, coal energy accounts for ∼ 40% of power generation in the world, due to its vast reserves, cheap price, and stable supply. To continue using coal in the future, coal firing thermal power plants should have higher thermal efficiency and higher environmental performance to reduce CO2 and other emissions. In Japan, political demand to provide energy security and tightened environmental regulations has sponsored the development of coal utilization technologies. Ultra Super Critical (USC) condition has been applied to commercial pulverized coal firing plants since 1997. Three PFBC (Pressurized Fluidized Bed Combustion) plants are already in commercial operation, and basic process of Advanced-PFBC technology has been verified. The review outlines these three technologies with an emphasis on their commercialization in Japan and overseas.