Prospects of thermal power plants switching from traditional fuels to coal-water slurries containing petrochemicals

Highlights: • The cost of CWSP preparation system is 85% lower than that of coal. • A switch from coal to CWSP will pay off within several years. • CWSP fuels are more promising than coal and fuel oil but inferior to gas. • The fuel oil and coal-fired TPPs with electric output of 1.8 TW can switch to CWSP. -- Abstract: The amount of thermal and electric energy produced by coal combustion increases nonlinearly, because the production capacities and consumption of the corresponding energy are on the rise. The prospects of excluding coal from the picture are slim, because it has been traditionally considered one of the most attractive fuels in terms of cost and heat of combustion. What we need is major changes in the energy industry towards environmentally effective use of coals and their processing wastes. In this research, we show the possibility of coal-fired thermal power plants and steam shops switching to coal-water slurries containing petrochemicals (CWSP). Extra calculations are made for fuel oil and natural gas. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the comprehensive consideration of all the possible technological modifications in the fuel feeding, storage, and preparation system. We focus on potential benefits of thermal power plants and steam shops switching from coal, gas, and fuel oil to coal-water slurries containing petrochemicals, while taking into account all the main and most important environmental, economic, and energy performance indicators. Using CWSP instead of coal is much more environmentally friendly. By varying the content of water and additives in CWSP, we can lower the proportion of sulfur and nitrogen and slow down their oxidation. It is also possible to reduce temperature in the combustion zone and improve oxide retention in the ash without its release in the form of anthropogenic emissions. Throughout the world, tens of thousands of fuel oil and coal-fired TPPs with the annual gross electric output of 1.8 TW can switch to CWSP. The integrated performance indicators of CWSP fuels are only inferior to those of natural gas but these slurries are prepared from numerous industrial wastes.