Project Abstract

<p> </p><p>In the quest for search of suitable coal deposits for power generation, the qualities of<br>four Nigerian coal samples from Kurumu (Gombe State), Garin-maiganga (Bauchi<br>State), Gindi-akwati (Plateau State) and Ogboyoba (Kogi State) deposits were analysed<br>to assess their suitability for power generation. The coal samples were subjected to<br>proximate analysis, ultimate analysis, calorific value determination, thermogravimetric<br>analysis, ash fusion temperature analysis, ash composition analysis and auto-ignition<br>temperature determination. Tests were carried out in Nigerian Geological Survey<br>Agency, Kaduna and Beijing University of Technology (BUT), China. From the results<br>of these analyses, Kurumu coal deposit was found to be a sub-bituminous, low ash and<br>low sulphur coal. Garin-maiganga coal deposit was found to be a sub-bituminous,<br>medium ash and low sulphur coal. Gindi-akwati coal deposit was found to be a lignitic,<br>high ash and low sulphur coal while Ogboyoba coal deposit was found to be a subbituminous,<br>low ash and low sulphur coal. Kurumu, Garin-maiganga and Ogboyoba coal<br>deposits with calorific values of 25.71MJ/kg, 23.37MJ/kg and 24.78MJ/kg respectively,<br>can be used for power generation using the integrated gasifier combustion cycle clean<br>coal technology. However, Gindi-akwati coal deposit with a calorific value of<br>11.56MJ/kg can be used for power generation using circulating fluidised bed combustion<br>technology due to its tolerance of a wide variety of coals. The self-ignition temperature<br>and ease of combustion of the coal samples in decreasing order of their volatile ratio is<br>Gindi-akwati (0.58), Garin-maiganga (0.49), Ogboyoba (0.48) and Kurumu (0.47).</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p> <br><p></p>

Project Overview

<p> </p><p>INTRODUCTION<br>1.1 Background of the study<br>Adequate power supply is an unavoidable prerequisite to any nation’s<br>development. Electricity plays a very important role in the socio-economic and<br>technological development of every nation. The electricity demand in Nigeria far<br>outstrips the supply and the little supply is epileptic in nature. The country is<br>faced with acute electricity problems which is hindering its development<br>notwithstanding availability of vast energy resources in the country. It is widely<br>accepted that there is a strong correlation between socioeconomic development<br>and the availability of electricity in a given country. The energy woes today had<br>14<br>continued unabated over the years since 60 percent of Nigeria’s electricity –<br>generating capacity broke down due to decades of neglect by the government.<br>The remainder serves only 40% of her citizens<br>(Essien et al., 2013; Sambo et al., 2010) at different degrees of black-outs,<br>rolling black-outs and brown-outs. Another side to these woes is the fact that for<br>more than three decades, Nigeria went for gas – fired power stations, in the days<br>when there was still abundant cheap gas. With the present skyrocket price of gas,<br>it has become expensive to run those plants when compared to coal – fired and<br>nuclear plants ( Oodo and Zou, 2009).<br>In Nigeria presently, 93% of electric power generation is provided by gas, the<br>remainder is from hydro sources. There are over 8.6GW of installed capacity of<br>generating plant made of government owned and independent power plant across<br>Nigeria. Despite the large number of installed power generation capacity, Nigeria<br>could still not meet the electricity demand of its populace which is estimated at<br>10GW because of old age of the power plants and lack of new generation plants<br>addition. Actual electricity generation is only between 2.5 – 3.6GW (Ujam and<br>Diyoke, 2013).<br>Even if new power plants addition were to be made, the overdependence of<br>Nigeria’s electrical system on gas which cannot guarantee longer term<br>sustainability should be a major concern. The frequent agitation for resource<br>control from areas with fossil fuel reserves and incessant vandalization of power<br>plant gas supply infrastructure are threats to the continuous sustainability of the<br>Nigeria’s power system of today.<br>Moreover, there is an urgent need for a good energy mix in the nation’s energy<br>generation infrastructure due to the combined benefits derivable from it.<br>Globally, the energy industry is driving towards sustainable low carbon emitting,<br>renewable energy sources.<br>However, renewable as at now are still in their infant stage of commercialization<br>and cannot help to meet Nigeria’s base load electricity demand deficit. It is also<br>15<br>worthy of mention that even in the most envisioned grid of the 21st century<br>otherwise called the smart grid, traditional large central power plants still form<br>the ‘nucleus’ of this concept both in Europe and America<br>( Essien et al., 2013).<br>Coal is an important energy resource across the world, principally for electricity<br>generation. It is the world’s most abundant and widely distributed fossil fuel,<br>with global proven reserves totaling nearly 1 trillion tonnes (Ujam and Diyoke,<br>2013).<br>Coal which is spread across Nigerian states with an estimated reserve of 2.734<br>billion tones<br>(Sambo et al., 2010; Ujam and Diyoke, 2013) holds the key to Nigeria’s<br>present and even future energy security. On the average, 40% of the world’s<br>electricity is generated from coal with a rather higher percentage as you move<br>from one country to another. For instance, electricity generation in South Africa<br>derivable from coal fuels is placed at about 93%, it is 92% in Poland, 79% in<br>china, 69% in India, 49% in the USA (Olayande et al., 2012) etc as shown in<br>Table 1.1, but most unfortunately it is 0% in Nigeria. Most developed and<br>developing countries that has coal deposits meet their energy demands through<br>coal based generation. Nigeria can bridge its energy demand and supply deficit<br>by leveraging on its abundant coal deposit resources.<br>Nigeria cannot continue to be in the dark when there is approximately 3 billion<br>tonnes of coal deposits spread across 22 locations in Nigeria (Kibiya, 2012) that<br>has not been harnessed. The growing energy needs of the developing world are<br>likely to ensure that coal remains a key component of the power generation mix<br>in the foreseeable future, regardless of the climate change policy.<br>Table 1.1 Top 12 Countries that use Coal for Electricity Generation<br>S/No. Country Percentages (%)<br>1 South Africa 93<br>2 Poland 92<br>3 China 79<br>4 Australia 77<br>16<br>5 Kazakhstan 70<br>6 India 69<br>7 Israel 63<br>8 Czech republic 60<br>9 Morocco 55<br>10 Greece 52<br>11 USA 49<br>12 Germany 46<br>Source: Olayande et al., 2012<br>Developing economies have a particularly strong dependency on coal for power<br>production, and the rate of growth in coal’s contribution to electricity supply in<br>these countries will be greatest, as shown in Table 1.2:<br>Source<br>Year 2004 2015 2030<br>Total<br>Generation<br>TWh % share TWh % share TWh % share<br>5, 754 100 10, 749 100 17, 001 100<br>Coal 2753 47.8 5659 52.6 8979 52.8<br>Oil 580 10.1 670 6.2 616 3.6<br>Gas 983 17.1 1955 18.2 3389 19.9<br>Nuclear 142 2.5 322 3.0 523 3.1<br>Hydro 1239 21.5 1928 17.9 2827 16.6<br>Renewables 56 1.0 215 2.0 668 3.9<br>17<br>Table 1.2: Developing Countries Electricity Generation from Major Fuels, IEA<br>Reference Scenario<br>Source: International Energy Agency, 2007<br>1.2 Benefits of coal as a source of power generation to the nation<br>The exploitation of coal for electricity generation and the production of coal<br>briquettes for domestic and industrial heating will bring a number of benefits<br>including;<br>i) Increased and more reliable electricity supply<br>ii) Lower cost electrical energy<br>iii) Expanded industrialization of the economy<br>iv) Increased employment and human resource development<br>v) Increased capacity utilization of existing industries<br>vi) Increased national income through taxes and<br>vii) Reduced deforestation and prevention of desert encroachment in the<br>northern parts of the Country<br>Despite these benefits, the use of coal for electricity generation also have some<br>short comings most of which are centered on environmental pollution. However<br>the development of clean coal technology has considerably reduced these green<br>house emission effects.<br>1.3 Statement of research problem<br>Since the discovery of petroleum in Nigeria, the use of coal for electricity<br>generation, cooking, heating up houses in the cold period to create warmth, e.t.c,<br>has been neglected in spite of its abundance in the country. This results to<br>constant failure in power supplies, political and economical instability due to<br>insufficiency and increase in price of petroleum product. Therefore, against the<br>backdrop of abundant proven reserves of coal, analyses of coal properties for<br>their suitability in power generation can significantly contribute to Nigeria’s<br>energy mix. The generation of electricity in Nigeria has suffered a major setback<br>(excluding hydro)<br>18<br>due to unavailability of data on Nigerian coal for investors. To readily attract<br>prospective investors, it is pertinent to readily make available the properties of<br>Nigerian coals that are critical for electricity generation.<br>1.4 Aim and Objectives<br>The aim of this research is to determine the properties of coal from four deposits<br>in Nigeria which include Kurumu (Gombe State), Garin-maiganga (Bauchi<br>State), Gindi-akwati (Plateau State) and Ogboyoba (Kogi State) thereby<br>enriching the repository of existing data on properties of Nigerian coals in power<br>generation.<br>The specific objectives of the research are:<br>i) To carry out proximate and ultimate analyses of the coal samples<br>ii) To determine the calorific values of the coal samples<br>iii) To carry out thermogravimetric analysis of the coal samples<br>iv) To determine the ash fusion temperature, auto-ignition temperatures of<br>coal samples and carry out ash analysis of the coal samples<br>v) To characterize the coal samples and To compare the results with existing<br>standards and make recommendations on the use of the coal from each<br>deposit for power generation<br>1.5 Significance of the Research<br>With the world’s industrial giants such as the United States of America, China,<br>Germany etc, heavily depending on coal for electricity generation, Nigeria<br>cannot exclude herself from benefitting from this resource which she has in<br>abundance. This research therefore has helped to determine the suitability of<br>some of the Nigerian coals for use in coal-fired power plants not only in Nigeria,<br>but as an export product to other coal-consuming countries around the world.<br>This will assist potential investors in Nigerian power sector to make a decision<br>on the profitability of using each deposit as a source for power generation.<br>19<br>1.6 Scope of research<br>This research covers analyses of coal samples from four deposits in Nigeria<br>which include Kurumu (Gombe State), Garin-maiganga (Bauchi State), Gindiakwati<br>(Plateau State) and Ogboyoba (Kogi State). Analyses carried out were<br>proximate analysis, ultimate analysis, determination of calorific value,<br>thermogravimetric analysis, ash composition analysis, ash fusion temperature<br>and auto-ignition temperature to assess their suitability for electric power<br>generation. From the analyses carried out, the coal samples were characterized<br>and the appropriate clean coal technology was recommended.</p><p>&nbsp;</p> <br><p></p>