Category: General

Fluidized bed combustion systems use a heated bed of sand-like material suspended (fluidized) within a rising column of air to burn many types and classes of fuel.  This technique results in a vast improvement in combustion efficiency of high moisture content fuels, and is adaptable to a variety of waste type fuels.  The scrubbing action of the bed material on the fuel particle enhances the combustion process by stripping away the carbon dioxide and char layers that normally form around the fuel particle.  This allows oxygen to reach the combustible material much more readily and increases the rate and efficiency of the combustion process

Underground mining carried when the rock or mineral is on the side of a mountain

First introduced in the late 1940’s, continuous miners provided a quantum leap in the speed and efficiency of extracting coal. Modern versions operate on basically the same principal as their predecessors using a large rotating steel drum equipped with tungsten carbide steel teeth or cutting bits to cut the coal. Continuous mining currently accounts for about 49% of total U.S. underground coal production each year. Standard continuous miners can extract coal at a rate of up to 38 tons a minute depending upon the seam thickness. In underground mining, first and foremost in the modernization process are the machines that extract coal: primarily the continuous and longwall miners.