Beneficiation is a term used to describe the treatment
of a raw material like coal to improve physical or
chemical properties so it can be used for new applications.
In an effort that could ultimately help create new jobs and markets
for coal, NETL researchers have developed a low-cost, coal-derived
cement additive that could lead to the construction of stronger and
more durable roads and buildings.
As America’s energy landscape evolves, NETL is advancing
emerging technologies that offer new economic opportunities
for the nation’s most abundant domestic resource — coal.
NETL experts are advancing ideas through a dynamic new collaborative effort with universities and sister national laboratories known as the Consortium on Coal-based Carbon Materials Manufacturing.
Coal is a critical domestic resource that has contributed to U.S. economic growth for over a century. However, in a shifting energy generation paradigm, innovation is needed to extract the full economic value from coal. The Advanced Coal Processing (ACP) Program at NETL delivers solutions to this challenge with novel technologies for producing valuable products from coal-derived sources. Laboratory- and pilot-scale research and development (R&D) within the program promises to elevate the value of our nation’s coal resources and transform its use for the future. The program focuses on developing a range of coal-derived products, ranging from high-volume market products to high-value market products, as shown below.
Coal’s unique structure and composition makes it well suited as a feedstock for high value carbon products such as computer memory devices, carbon composites, and carbon-containing anodes for batteries. Coal’s abundance and low-cost also makes it an attractive feedstock for high-volume applications such as building materials. Disruptive new technologies that enable these diverse products from coal expand the U.S. coal value chain, sustaining jobs within a critical sector of the US economy as consumption for power generation decreases.
Examples of products pursued by R&D within the ACP program include:
The Advanced Coal Processing Technology area has three primary R&D areas:
For more information on potential new markets for coal and the emerging technologies being developed by the Advanced Coal Processing Program, click on the links under Explore the Site.
Technology area contact:
Joseph Stoffa