LR&D L E E U B I C E J Y L E D E R G E F F B N I C R N E I O N E A A N T T M S I D N O A I R A N A T D I W O 1 6 O 7 N 0 T N 0 O 2 I N V S R E O I O E M B 9 0 U T B E 0 1 I N S T I T E M R 1 OV 946 - 16 N DIAMOND JUBILEE CELEBRATION 17TH NOVEMBER 1946 - 16 TH NOVEMBER 2006 CENTRAL FUEL RESEARCH INSTITUTE, DHANBAD ATMA MANTHAN PAST ACHIEVEMENTS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS OF COA © Central Fuel Research Institute, Dhanbad, 2006 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED From the memories of past... Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru,Dr. R. L. Bhattnagar & Sir C. V. Raman (from L to R) during the address of Founder Director Dr. J. W. Whitteker Dr. Rajendra Prasad addressing at CFRI, Dhanbad Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru addressing at the present Adinath Lahiri Hall Mission “Enhance the position of the Institute as a premier R & D centre for technology development and transfer by forging strategic alliance with other agencies and continuously strive for excellence in the areas of potential expertise for generation of basic knowledge, innovation and advanced concepts in science and technology for economic, efficient and environmentally safe energy management” Preamble Research and Development is essential in the framework of planned development of a country. It is in this perspective, just after independence a chain of National Laboratories was set up under the aegis of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, the Central Fuel Research Institute, CFRI being one of the first amongst such group of laboratories. It was inaugurated by Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first President of the Republic of India. The ceremony was also solemnised in the presence of the first Prime Minister and a great national leader, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and top Scientists of the time, namely Sir C. V. Raman, Prof. Meghnath Saha, Sir J. C. Bose and many others. Very soon, the Institute became nationally and internationally acclaimed for its pioneering work on coal science and technology under the able guidance of founder Director Dr. J. W. Whitteker and Dr. Adinath Lahiri who later became the Director. One of the earliest and most valuable contributions of this Institute has been the systematic survey of Indian coals in all the coalfields eventually leading to the compilation and publication of eight monographs on Indian coals. The Institute made significant contributions towards the development and expansion of the major coal based industries like Steel, Power, Cement, Fertilizers by providing meaningful scientific and technical inputs in the form of basic information and database on geology, occurrence and quality of Indian coals including the best mode of its utilization for different ranks, grades and types of coals (classifications). More than anything else, the Institute since its inception has been continuously seized with the development of a sound fundamental base for coal science – its Chemistry, Physics and Constitution, for which the Institute’s contribution as a whole, have already been acclaimed throughout the world as the Indian School of thought. Keeping pace with the current global trends the Institute has made a significant impact on the industrial scenario of the country with major applied research activities carried out to cope up with the ambitious industrial development programmes based on coal. Technology awards in the year 2002 and 2003, and ISO 9001 accreditation in 1995 received by the Institute conforms the relevance and importance as the premier energy research institute in India. On 16th Nov’2006 CFRI is completing its Six decades of glorious existence and this august occasion is being celebrated by “ATMA MANTHAN” - “Self Introspection” on the subject ‘Past Achievements and Future Prospect of Coal R & D’. Contents From the Memories of Past Mission Preamble Content Resource Quality Assessment Division……………………………………….1-22 Fuel Science Division………………………………………………………23-26 Coal Preparation Division…………………………………………………..27-82 Power Coal Division……………………………………………………….83-111 Coal Gasification Division…………………………………………………112-128 Coal Carbonization Division……………………………………………….129-176 Coal Chemicals Division……………………………………………………177-202 Coal Liquefaction Division…………………………………………………203-237 Environmental Management Division……………………………………….238-265 Key Facilities Available Resource Quality Assessment Division Resource Quality Assessment: An Account of Six Decades Physico-Chemical Evaluation of Coal Resources Since inception of CFRI, a wing also came into existence as Jharia Coal Survey Station. Later on other coal surveys were open in different coal fields situated in various part of the country. The wings were situated at Jharia, Jorhat, Jammu, Ranchi, Raniganj, Bilaspur and Nagpur as respective coal survey laboratories. 1. The major aim of these wings was to assess the quality of coal existing in the then virgin area of respective coal fields based on bore hole coal cores drilled by GSI,NCDC etc. A thorough characterization study was made for all the coal fields to find out the suitability of coal existing in the area for different industrial purposes. The work of all these laboratories was coordinated at RQA Division. 2. Correlation and identification of coal seams leading to exploration and development of mines in various coal fields. 3. Another important work of physical chemical survey was carried out at Jharia Coal Survey Laboratory and other units. This was specifically meant for detailed study of individual seams occurring in the coal field. The study was presented in the form of technical reports. 4. The Jharia coal survey laboratory helped many user industries in providing basic information regarding utilization aspect of coal suitable for their use. The major user industries were RAILWAYS, COALBOARDS, CEMENT, STEEL, POWER, FERTILIZER, and COKE OVEN. 5. Apart from above Jharia coal survey took up many projects some of which are a) The washability and carbonization characteristics of B and C Category of coals of JHARIA COAL FIELD. b) Washability and carbonization characteristics on NLW coals. c) Washabality and characterization study of Botswana coal. d) Washability and characterization study of Jagganath colliery,Chirimiri colliery. etc. e) Study of slurry at discharge point of four washeries, sponsored by Pierce Lessly. f) Identification of direct feed prime coking coal in jharia coal field g) Compilation of data for publication of Indian Coal volumes. Resource Quality Assessment Division Jharia Coal Survey Laboratory which was later named as Coal Characterization Section, participated actively in many important projects taken up at CFRI. 1) Sampling and analysis of washed coal of washeries situated in Jahria coal field. 2) Washability and characterization studies of boreholes coal cores drilled coal cores, sponsored by Videocon. 3) Identification and evaluation study of coals in BCCL mines. 4) Development of equivalency charts for conversion from UHV to GCV. Present Activities 1) Study of bore hole coal cores of Raniganj CF, Talcher CF, Birbhum CF, Brahmani CF and Rajmahal CF. 2) Technical aid to industries by characterization of coal ,coke lignite etc for proper industrial utilization. 3) Participation in various ongoing projects taken up at the institute 4) Participation in various inhouse, collaborating and taskforce projects. Future Activities 1) Studies of borehole coal cores in virgin as well as working areas of various coal fields of our country. 2) Technical aid to industry by characterization of coals for proper industrial utilization. The work carried out in the laboratory has directly contributed in increasing the ECF of the Institute. 2 16th Nov’06 CFRI Diamond Jubilee Resource Quality Assessment Division Coal Geology & Coal Petrology: A Note on Six Decades’ of Research innovation The present coal petrology section, earlier known as Geology Section had been actively engaged with the Resource Quality Assessment activity since inception of CFRI. Initially the section was engaged in detailed geological investigation for exploration of new coal measures in the country in association with Geological Survey of India along with characterization of the coal for specific end uses. Coal quality assessment or characterisation of coal is a major area that is the controlling factor for all coal utilisation activities. Both before and after nationalisation of Indian coal mines, authentic information has been generated on the quality of Indian coals (coking and noncoking/caking/thermal) by way of physical, geological chemical survey of coals from different collieries as well as from the study of borehole cores drilled by various organisations. The data bank thus developed, helped the coal industry in general and steel and power sector in particular. This prolific work has found its application in the estimation of coal reserve/resources of the country by Geological Survey of India (GSI), standardisation of coal and products by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), mine planning by Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited (CMPDIL), grading of coal by Coal Controller and all areas of coal utilisation. A network of highly capable survey units, generating extensive and intensive information on resource quality with their utilisation pattern, has been continuously catering to the user needs. Large numbers of data of Indian coals of different coalfields were thus compiled in ‘Indian Coal’ volumes (eight) and in CD’s. Following the world trend in coal research, coal petrographic studies were also started in the Geology Section of CFRI during the early fifties of the last century where substantial work has been carried out since then. The R & D on coal petrological studies have covered original contributions to the status of knowledge in both fundamental and applied areas of earth science with special reference to coal geology and coal petrology. 3 16th Nov’06 CFRI Diamond Jubilee Resource Quality Assessment Division Studies on the petrological properties of coal have contributed significantly to the different R&D activities related to basic coal science, coal preparation, coal carbonization, coal liquefaction and coal combustion.