USSR DEVELOPS NEW METHODS OF GASIFYING AND BRIQUETTING COAL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700150292-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 13, 2011
• Sequence Number: 292
• Publication Date: December 10, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

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REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
SUBJECT Economic -Coal gasification, briquetting INFORMATION 1g2~ _ 1953
CLASSIFICATIOSN~~ Czo~NyFiIDpB~NpTRIp[,TIp
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE A~NCIJr REPORT
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
COUNTRY USSR '
DATE OF
How
PUBLISHED Monthly periodicals DATE DIST. ~0 Dec 1953
WHERE
PUBLISHED Moscow NO. OF PAGES 5
USSR DEYEIAPS NEW METHODS OF GASIFYING AND BRIQUETTINC COAL
METHODS OF UNDERGROUND GASIFICATION OF COAL Ib1PROVE -_ Moscow, Master Uglys,
xo 8, Aug 53
As early as 1925, B. I. Bokiy, one of LY,e leading representatives of the
USSR mining industry, proposed a scheme for the underground gasification of?
coal, and, during the First Five-Year Plan, Soviet scientists developed several
designs for underground gas generators. From 1930 to 1936, five experimental
mines were constructed in the Donbass, the Kuzbass, and the Moscow basin, and
experiments in gasification of coal were conducted in these mines under differ-
ent mining and geological conditions, in slightly dipping and steeply dipping
coal seams, with different types of coal, from lignite to anthracite.
In the first period of research and experimentation, the engineers turned
their attention to gas generators in which the gasification process was carried
out under plant conditions, where air was blown through a layer of crushed coal
in the gas generators. To create similar conditions underground, the engineers
developed a process by which the coal was also crushed for use in underground
gas generators.
The first experimental station for underground gasification of coal was
constructed in Lisichansk. The coal seam at this station was uncovered by or-
dinary mine workings, and charges of explosives were inserted in several spots
of the panel prepared foi? gasification. After this the seam was set on fire.
Air and steam were conveyed by pipes to the panel being gasified, and the gas
formed was drawn off by a special suction fan. As the coal burned, the charges
of explosives exploded and crushed the coal.
The experiments indicated, however, that the underground process cannot be
carried out in exactly the same way as in a plant gss generator. The explosives
did not crush the coal evenly but produced a combination of coal dust, fines,
and large lumps. The air being injected to the panel also failed to circulate
unii'ormly about the entire layer of coal. Control of the gasification process
was not achieved by this method.
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The Moscow basic modified somewhat the above method of the underground
gasification of coal by employing forced blasting from the surface in addition
to automatic blasting of charges inserted in the gasification panel: This change, '
hoxever, did not result in an effective method.
The Shakhty Experimental Station tried cut a method of underground gasifi-
cation which involved preliminary storage of coal. Here, too, the coal seam was
uncovered by ordinary mine workings. Special storage chambers were cut in the
section to be gasified; they were filled with previously broken up coal and
served as underground generators. This method proved impractical because of tha
numerous, laborious mining operations required in preparing for it.
All these experiments, based on the principles of operation of plant gas
generators, led to the conclusion that the specific conditions of the underground
gasification of coal require a specific solution. Such a solution was found in
1934 by Engineers V. A. Matveyev, P. V. Skafa, and D. I. Filipov, who proposed
gasifying the coal seam under the actual conditions of its occurrence, that is,
in the block, dispensing with preliminary crushing.
The proposed scheme was as follows: Two sloping workings, several hundred
meters in length, were cut along the dip of the coal seam, a section of which
was to be gasified. These two workings were connected below by a horizontal
working, the so-called combustion drift. Jn this combustion drift, wood and
fiber soaked in oil were piled up. Then a draft was turned on and, with the
help of electric spiral heating units, the wood was set on fire. The coal con-
tlnuously exposed to the current of air warmed up, and gasification started at
the exposed s.u~face of the coal.
Air, steam, or gas, depending on the type of gas desired, was transmitted
through one working to the gasification panel. The gas, as it was formed, was
conveyed to the surface through the other working. The gas was formed in the
combustion area, which moved upward along the rise of the seam as the coal
burned. The area under the combustion urea was filled with slag and crumbling
rock from the roof of the seam.
In addition to such a panel, which looks like an inverted Russian 7T-, more
complicate3 typr_s of panels were also developed with three, five, or even more
sloping workings.
The new meths. has been designated the continuous method. The Gorlovka
Underground Gasification Station, put into industrial operation i.n 1937, operated
by this method and, in February 1938, gas obtained from the underground gasifi-
cation of coal was, for the first time, made available as fuel for boilers of
a coke plant. The Gorlovka Station continued to operate for 15 months, after
which time the fire in the gasification panel was extinguished for panel.inspec-
tion. During that time about 12 mill:lon cubic meters of fuel and technological
gas had been obtained.
At the same time, the continuous method of underground gasification was
tried successfully in other coal panels of the Donbass and Kuzbass. On the eve
of World War II, several experimental and industrial stations in the Donbass and
Moscow basin were subjecting blocks of coal to underground gasification:
These stations still. used mining methods in preparotng for underground gasi-
fication, and many workers and much hard labor were required in the construction
of regular mine workings of various types. Soviet scientists and engineers
therefore directed their attention toward finding a nonmining method of gasifying
coal which would completely exclude underground operations.
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Even before World War II, vertical holes had been drilled in preparing coal
for underground gasiflcation. In present-day underground gasification stations,
these vertical holes have completely replaced regular mine workings. Some slop-
ing holes have also been drilled from the surface along the coal seam. Both
vertical and sloping holes drilled from the surface should be connected, but by
nonmining methods, that is, not by a regularly constructed mine working.
The rapid and extensive industrial development of the underground gasifica-
tion of coal depends on further perfecting of the entire technological process
of obtaining gas by a non^'ning method. I^ this connection, the compet.tion for
improved scientific and planned development of the technological process of the
gasification of coal announced during 1953 by the Ministry of the Coal Industry
and the Academy of Sciences USSR acquires great significance.
Soviet scientists and engineers are developing new methods of underground
gasification and processing of coal and other types of fuel to obtain high-
calorie gas. The Power Engineering Institute of the Acadea{v of Sciences USSR
has worked out a flameless method of burning gas. Powerful new gas turbines,
,just being completed, will open up excellent possibilities for the utilization
of gas obtained through underground bas ification.
The greater the development of methods and technological means of under-
ground gasification, the more obvious their advantsges appear as compared with
usual methods of mining and utilizing coal. Present methods of underground
gasification have already resulted in a sharp increase in labor productivity.
Production costs of gas obtained by underground gasification of coal are con-
siderably less than production costs of coal extracted by usual mining methods.
Working conditions are far less arduous at LmdergroLmd gasiflcation stations
than in coal mines.
IOW BINDER FOR COAL BRIQUETTES -- Moscow, Ugol', No d, AuE 53
In sorting anthracite and noncahing bituminous coal, up to 40-45 percent
of fines, 6 millimeters and below in sizr_, are obtained. These fines can be
burned to good advantage in certain types of fireboxes which are available to
only some enterprises. ftowever anthracite calm and bituminous coal fines can
be transformed into n high-grade fuel through briquetting. Coal tar pitch, a
residue in the distillation of tar, obtained during the coY.ing process, is used
as a binder in the coal-briquetting process, and the briquettgs themselves have
been used quite extensively as fuel in railroad and water transport.
The technology of obtaining briquettes includes the following operations:
The pitch is subjected to two-stage crushing to reduce it to one millimeter in
size and then it is mixed with the coal fines. The mixture then goes to a mix-
ing tank for iri.tisl heating. Superheated steam under a pressure of 3-4 atmos-
pheres and at a temperature of 300-350 degrees is fed to the tank. On leaving
the mixing tank, the mixture has a temperature of 8C-90 degrees; it cools to
70-80 degrees in transit from the mixing tan}: to the roller press. After the
briquettes have been pressed, they are moved by belt conveyer to the ramp. one
temperature of the briquettes is 55-b5 degrees, which is close to the softening
point for pitch (65-75 degreesj. As a result, the briquettes stick together in
n single block, the breaking down of which is accompanied by the formation of
small particles.
This technological method is characterized by a number of defects:
1. Although the pitch is supposed to be crushed to pieces one millimeter
in size, about 50 percent of it is above one millimeter.
2. Up to l00 kilograms of superheated steam are consumed per ton of bri-
quettes.
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3? Servicing of the mechanisms 1n the preps department is made difficult
by the presence of steam, particularly in winter, and the period of their serv-
ice is shortened as a result of corrosion.
4? Because of the ielntively low softening paint of pitch and the inade-
quate cooling of the briquettes, the latter stick together in a single block.
Coal tar Ditch is used extensively in several branches of industry. How-
ever, it is in short supply and is an expensive binder.
The search for and introduction of new and inexpensive binders in large
.supply are very important for the national economy. Such a binder should con-
form to the folloving basic requirements:
1. It should not increase the ash content of the briquettes.
2? It should not lessen the combustible F,roperties of the briquettes. .
3? It should not be sensitive to atmospheric conditions.
k. It should be a factor in obtain,:g briquettes of great mechanical
toughness.
5. It should be inexpensive and in plentiful. supply,
A number of extablishments and special:sts have andertake^ the search for
a substitute for pitch and have tried, arrong ether substances, petroleum bitumens
and the organic part of acid gudron. 1~ese hour. not proved satisfactory; Por
example, ti:e gudron has a high sulfur content and a lower softening point than
that of pitch.
Laboratory and indurtrinl experiments have been conducted in briquetting
the fines from lean (T) coal with an additive of "ftu,y" from some plants in the
Ik~nbass and Thiepr region. Fusy is the Russian name fora product of the con-
densation of coke oven gases. It is a thick, viscous, tarry mass, black Ln color,
and containing minute particles of the coal concentrate which have been carried
along by the gas from the coking chamber. Formerly, there was no demand for fusy
and it was sent to the dumps as a xaste prodiac`..
The technology of producing fusy is as fb L ows~ The volatile substances
formed in co]:ing bituminous coal leave Lhe coking chamber at a temperature of
600-700 degrees and are carried off by pipe to the gas collector. Here the
gases are sprinkled uith water and their temperature is lovered to 80-y0 de-
grees. As a result of the sudden cooling of t}:e gas, the chief part of the tar
(60-70 percent) is condensed in the gas collector and then married off by the
crater through the gas pipe to the settling tank. The fusy, as the heaviest part
of the mixture, settles at the bottom of the tank, from which point it is removed
by a scraper conveyer.
The ash content. of fusy is higher than that of pitch. Hoxever, since a rel-
atively high percent (15 percent) of fusy gees into the briquette, the ash con-.
tent oi' the latter is not only not increased but even decreased. The ash con-
tent of the coal is considerably ]:igher than that of either binder
The briquetting is carried out in a hydraulic press with a 60-ton pressure
capacity, and the finished briquette is cylindrical. in form with a diameter of
70 milliireters.
Resistance of the briquette to impact load is determined by dropping it ac-
cording to OOST 5541,_50 and comparing tl:e xeight of the briquette after it has
been dropped with its inP.:al weight. idoisture resistance of the briquette is
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--- -"" " " u~,u uent res_stance by burning
it at a to
mperature of 900 degrees. After 24 hours in eater, the briquette shows
no sign oP saturatior. Its moisture absorption does not exceed 3 percent. The
coefficient of cohesion of the briquette exceeds 95 Fercent, end this is almost
unchanged by the 2b-hour period iz curter. At 900 degrees the briquette ignites
in the second or third minute, burns from 6 to 9 minutes with'a long, smolq?
flame, and after that without a noticeable flume. These qualities of the bri-
quette, otserved during the experimentation period,. differ very slightly from
the qualities of the finished briquette. Comparstive data on composition of
briquettes obtained with the use of pitch and Easy as binders are given in the
followintr table:
Z~+Pe of Analysis .
Ash content (~)
Moisture content (~l
Sulfur content (~,)
Briquettes Briquettes
With 'r'itch With Fusy
Binder Binder
8.65 8.28 Consumption of,
5.5q pitch amounted
5.10 to 896; consump-
tioa of Easy, 15;6
1.35 0.9-1.1
4olatlle matter (~,) 16.02 13.4It
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