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2. Upgraded Brown Coal

Feature: Tapping the Potential of Underutilized Resources

The earth has a wealth of resources that have yet to be fully utilized. Recognizing this, the Kobe Steel Group has embarked on two projects designed to effectively use these resources, as well as contribute to protecting the global environment. In this feature we introduce the two projects based on cutting-edge technologies, which we are sharing with the world in hopes of contributing to society.

“Tempura Method” Converts Underutilized Coal into Value-Added Product

UBC Reduces Environmental Impact

Coal is an important natural resource that provides approximately 30% of the world's primary energy. However, almost half of the world's coal reserves are made up of low-grade coal. Brown coal, one type of low-grade coal, has higher moisture content than bituminous coal and thus a lower heat value. Prone to spontaneous combustion, brown coal is hardly ever used. On the other hand, because brown coal is noted for its low ash and sulfur, it has the advantage of being environment-friendly when burned.

By removing the moisture, Kobe Steel's UBC Process raises the heat value, thereby converting brown coal into a high-grade energy resource. When UBC is used in thermal power generation, ash content and sulfur oxide emissions can be reduced even more than with bituminous coal, and CO₂ emissions can be more easily curbed than with brown coal. UBC technology is attracting attention not only for its effective utilization of an untapped resource, but also for its contribution to protecting the earth's environment.

Started in a Home Kitchen - the Challenge for UBC

Kobe Steel began to take notice of brown coal's possibilities during the development of coal liquefaction technology in the 1980s. Then, in 1993 we started researching UBC technology to further develop its potential. Our primary goal was to find a way to efficiently remove the high moisture content in brown coal. Thanks to a flash of inspiration from a researcher, the problem was solved.

Said Takuo Shigehisa, Senior General Manager of the Technical Development Group: "I had taken the day off and had poured tempura oil into a pot at home to conduct an experiment involving the heating of brown coal. When the water in the brown coal was removed, the coal fried much faster than I had expected. However, the coal component hardly dissolved at all in the oil."

Shigehisa then took on the challenge of frying coal in a variety of oils, searching for the ideal oil to reduce the moisture content. The UBC Process took its first step toward commercialization in a researcher's kitchen.

The method created from Shigehisa's experiments was named the "Tempura Method." The project was moved to a lab and a benchscale unit. In the next phase, we continued development with the construction of a small pilot plant in Indonesia in 2001.

The Tempura Method for creating UBC is as follows: 1) Take pulverized brown coal several millimeters in size and mix it with oil containing asphalt to make a slurry. 2) Heat the slurry until the moisture in the coal evaporates. Fill the crevices of the brown coal with asphalt to prevent spontaneous combustion. 3) Separate the oil from the UBC and form the UBC into briquettes.

The UBC created out of this process possesses a heat value of 6,350kcal/kg, the same as bituminous coal, but with approximately one-third the ash content. This process transforms brown coal into a high-grade, high heat-value, clean energy resource.

UBC Process Flow Diagram

UBC briquettes (actual size)

Demonstration Plant in Kalimantan, Indonesia

With the support of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Kobe Steel built a large UBC demonstration plant in Kalimantan, Indonesia. Kobe Steel then formed a partnership with PT Bumi Resources Tbk, a natural resource investment company, and its coal subsidiary, PT Arutmin Indonesia, and began operating the demonstration plant at Arutmin's Satui coal mine in South Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Kalimantan has enormous brown coal deposits located near the surface. The brown coal produced by Arutmin had been sold at low prices, but was not well received in the market because of its low heat value.

However, creating high heat-value UBC turns the entire world into a potential market. Exporting UBC to bring in foreign currency would advance the domestic industry. That was the idea of the Indonesian government when the project was started.

A ceremony marking the demonstration plant's inauguration was held in December 2008. Attending the ceremony were Kobe Steel's former President Yasuo Inubushi and other officials as well as Prof. Dr. Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Indonesian Minister of Energy & Mineral Resources. The contributions made by the Indonesian government to UBC demonstrate their high expectations.

The pilot plant will be operated on a trial basis until the end of fiscal 2009, with bulk UBC samples being supplied for trial use mainly to Japanese electric power companies. Commercial marketing is slated to begin from fiscal 2010.

Indonesian Minister Prof. Dr. Purnomo Yusgiantoro (right) and former Kobe Steel President Yasuo Inubushi

Meeting in the Central Control Room

Japanese Technology Unearths Underutilized Global Resource

Japan, a resource-poor nation, needs to hedge its risks by securing a supply of a wide range of natural resources. Providing UBC technology to brown coal-producing nations spanning the globe will invigorate natural-resource nations and help safeguard the supply of resources to Japan.

Kobe Steel's technology will transform brown coal, an underutilized resource found throughout the world, into a high added-value energy product. That day is now close at hand.

UBC demonstration plant in Satui

	Remarks from the Key Technologist

"Tempura Method" Opens Way to Recycle Diverse Resources
Takuo Shigehisa, Senior General Manager, Technical Development Group

The "Tempura Method," which removes the moisture content from brown coal, can be applied to a wide range of other resources. For instance, by removing the moisture content from coffee dregs and biomass, a fuel with a certain heat value is created. If we add these to coal and use them for thermal power generation, we can curb CO₂ emissions. The UBC Process is a technology for a new era that can effectively utilize an untapped resource and lessens our environmental impact. Eventually, we would like to see electric power plants throughout the world using our UBC technology.