secondary resources
TRANSCRIPT
BROWN COAL – A FORTUNE IN CHANCERY
The discovery and use of coal has been one of the major factors in helping mankind develop today’s highly industrialised society. Coal made it possible to make iron and steel, power the steam engines of the industrial revolution, and today provides most of the steam for electricity generation. Most of these changes have happened in the past 200 years, but the coal which made them possible first started forming between 20 and 300 million years ago. Essentially, all coals have been produced by the transformation of decaying vegetable matter by geological and chemical processes acting together over long periods of time. Generally speaking, the older the coal, the better its quality. Black coal has a lower moisture content and is easier to burn than the younger brown coals. Victoria has little usable black coal, and has had to turn to the brown coal deposits in the Latrobe Valley as one of its main sources of fossil fuel. Here, the poorer quality is partly compensated for by its very thick seams close to the surface, which make it easy and comparatively cheap to dig in large volume. Today, about 75 per cent of the State’s electricity generation relies on the ‘brown power’ of the Gippsland fields. Latrobe Valley brown coal has a very complicated make up with many fossilised remains mixed in with the decomposed material. The recognisable remains are mainly fossil woods (trunks, branches and stems), fossil leave, bark, fruit, seeds, spores and pollen grains, and resign. Some of the fossils are so well preserved that scientists have been able to learn from them a lot about the early history of Australia. Some of the trees identified in the coal have not grown in Victoria for millions of years. Among the trees identified are Kauri, Celery Top Pine, King Billy Pine, Brown Pine, Sheoak and Banksia. The first records of the use of brown coal in Victoria date back to 1857 but the deposits were not explored in detail until the early 1900s, when Dr H Herman, the State Director of Geological Survey, began a broad survey of brown coal resources. The great Morwell Coal Mining Company did produce coal from the bank of the Latrobe River in the 1890s, and made about 2000 tonnes of briquettes. But in those days the new fuel could not compete with black coal, and the company was wound up in 1899. Other coal was mined at Lal Lal, near Ballarat, but it also could not compete with other fuels. Later investigations have shown that there are economical deposits of brown coal in Victoria at Anglesea, Bacchus Marsh and in the Latrobe Valley. The Latrobe Valley deposits are best suited to large scale mining. Latrobe Valley brown coal is young (20 to 50 million years old) and relatively soft. From Yallourn eastwards the coal belt is practically continuous for 50 kilometres, and for much of the distance is between 8 and 16 kilometres wide. Of the proved and estimated reserves of 112,000 million tonnes, some 35,000 million tonnes can be won at present day costs by the open cut method. In the most favourable areas coal seams ranging in thickness from 60 to 140 metres are covered by an easily removed layer of sand and clay averaging about 15 metres deep. Boring at one point has shown the coal bed, only 27 metres below the surface, to be 250 metres thick.
In its raw state the brown coal is a low-grade fuel comprising two-thirds water. But by using special burning techniques it can be used efficiently in power stations near the coal fields. Victoria’s generators are the biggest single coal winners in Australia. The Latrobe Valley coal fields produce most of Victoria’s electricity, as well as about a million tonnes of briquettes each year for use in homes and industry. In February 1921, under the eyes of the Electricity Commissioners, horsedrawn ploughs turned the first sod on the site of the first Yallourn power station. Nearby, the following April, teams of men and horses and drays and later steam shovels began clearing the soil to uncover the coal. Three years and two months later, on June 24, 1924, power began flowing down the transmission lines to Melbourne. Horsedrawn rail trucks were first used in the open cut to carry the coal to the power station bunkers. Today, giant bucket wheel and bucket chain dredgers win the coal in large quantities and it is carried by conveyor belts to the power station. Bucket wheel dredgers up to 12 storeys high and bucket chain dredgers 28 metres long dig up to 60,000 tonnes each of coal a day. Conveyors carry the coal out of the cut to bunkers at the power station. Other conveyors then take it into the power station boilers as it is required. On the way it is crushed and partly dried before being blown into the boilers as a fine powder. The two main open cuts, Yallourn and Morwell, yield more than 35 million tonnes of coal a year. The Latrobe Valley field is one of the largest single brown coal fields in the world. Because the coal seams are so thick, it has been able to develop large open cuts with high capacity dredgers and conveyor systems. Brown coal boilers need three to four times as much fuel to produce the same amount of electricity as black coal boilers. This is because of the high moisture content and low fuel value of brown coal. So the boiler plants where the coal is burnt are much larger than black coal boilers, with hundreds of kilometres of water and steam tubing. The chemical and moisture content vary throughout the coal field. This makes it necessary to design each boiler and operating technique differently for power stations based on different parts of the coal field.
1
Clean Coal Victoria and its vision for Victoria’s Coal Sector
Charlie SpeirsDirector, Clean Coal Victoria
Strategic Planning
Government Programs & Policy
Community Education
2
Clean Coal Victoria
Established in 2009 ($12.2M)
Latrobe Valley based
Part of DPI - 7 Staff
Technical team
Role of Clean Coal Victoria
Confirming resource
Developing strategic plan
Community Engagement/Consultation
Rehabilitation strategies
Managing water resources associated with mining
3
4
Strip Ratio Vs Mining Cost (BWE's only - 30Mt product)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
Strip Ratio (coal:waste)
Min
ing
Co
st (
$/p
rod
uct
to
nn
e)
Strip Ratio of 3:1
Strip Ratio of 1:3
Brown Coal Mines in the World
1 : 2250 m25Afsin (Turkey)
1 : 6350 m (plan 500 m)40Hambach(Germany)
2 : 1350 m +30New Project in Latrobe Valley
3 : 1300 m (plan 350 m)40New project in Latrobe Valley
4 : 1220 m (plan 250 m)30Loy Yang Mine
Strip Ratio
(coal : waste)
DepthProduction
(Mtpa)
Mine
5
(Approx 13 billion tonnes)
6
Energy and Climate Change Policies
GHG Emissions to reduce by 60% on 2000 levels by 2050
CCS Legislation- State Government (Greenhouse Gas Geological Sequestration Act 2008 and Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse GasStorage Act 2010)
CCS Legislation under development – Federal Government
Government support for Clean Coal Technologies- ETIS (~A$475M)- Otway Basin CCS project - Clean Coal Victoria
Brown Coal will be a part of the future energy mix.
What Does This Mean in 20501% Energy Growth = Extra 3000MW
To get 60% Reduction in Power SectorStn 1 ( 1.4) replaced by IDGCC plant or cleaner coal
plant (0.8) or Gas ( 0.7 )
Stn 2 and 3 ( 1.3 )– Replace with IDGCC or better ( 0.8 ) or CCGT Clean Gas ( 0.35 )
Replace remaining Stns by IDGCC with CCS or Clean Coal Plant ( 0.2 to 0.4)
Energy Growth catered for by Renewables which have no carbon emissions (0)
7
Gasification
IDGCC
HRL Plant – Morwell
Image courtesy of HRL
Range of Products from Coal
/M-fuel
8
Conceptual View of theVictorian CCS Network
9
ETIS RDD&D Continuum
DemonstrationDemonstration DeploymentDeployment
PilotPilot Market
Supported
Market
Supported
Research & DevelopmentResearch & Development
CommercialCommercialLarge ScaleLarge ScaleAppliedAppliedStrategicStrategic
• ETIS Facilitates a coordinated approach to the advancement of pre-commercial low-emissions energy technologies (LETs) across Brown Coal & Sustainable Energy Technologies .
• ETIS does not operate in areas that have no technical risk (commercial projects)
10
ETIS1A$180 million
Victorian Government Financial Support
ETIS 2CCS - A$110 million – over six years
Sustainable Energy - A$72 million – over six years
Brown Coal Innovation Australia
$A16 million over 4 years
Large Scale SolarUp to A$100 million
Brown Coal Use into the Future
Power Generation
Alternative uses
Potential for growth in brown coal consumption
180km - Latrobe Valley to geosequestration sites
11
Brown Coal will be part of our sustainable future –ensuring that its value is realised and its many uses are adequately explored. We
are on a journey to sustain our community and enviornmental standards - the task is ahead
of us all.
reducing carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere www.co2crc.com.au
CO2CRC FACT SHEET 1
What is geosequestration?
The fossil fuels, coal, oil and natural gas, currently supply around 85 per cent of the world’s energy needs.
The International Energy Agency predicts that fossil fuels will continue to be heavily used for many years to come.
The burning of fossil fuels is a major source of excess CO2, the most common greenhouse gas after water vapour, and the gas most likely to contribute to potential global warming.
The urgent need to reduce the atmospheric concentrations of CO2 requires a portfolio of solutions including energy efficiency; using less carbon-intensive fuels; enhancing natural carbon sinks (vegetation); and harnessing renewable energy from the wind, sun and tides. Geosequestration is an important part of this portfolio.
Geosequestration represents perhaps the only option for decreasing greenhouse gas emissions while using fossil fuels and retaining our existing energy-distribution infrastructure.
Geosequestration is the deep geological storage of carbon dioxide from major industrial sources such as: fossil fuel-fired power stations, oil and natural gas processing, cement manufacture, iron and steel manufacture and the petrochemical industry.
The CO2CRC research effort focuses developing efficient, economic and safe methods of capturing carbon dioxide and geologically storing or geosequestering it in the deep subsurface.
reducing carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere www.co2crc.com.au
CO2CRC FACT SHEET 2
Capturing CO2
The capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) from a stationary source, such as a power plant, involves trapping, or capturing, the CO2 rather than allowing it to be released to the atmosphere.
The main sources potentially suitable for CO2 capture are: industrial processes; electricity generation; and, possibly in the future, hydrogen production.
Industrial processes that may lend themselves to CO2 capture now include natural-gas processing; ammonia production; and cement manufacture, but the total quantity of CO2 produced by these processes is limited. A far larger source of CO2, accounting for approximately half of all CO2 emissions in Australia, is fossil-fuelled electricity generation, whether that be from coal, oil or natural gas. While the basic building block technologies exist for capture from these sources, and such a plant could be built today, more research is required on these capture technologies to reduce the power cost increases to the community resulting from emissions reductions.
Technologies for capturing CO2 from electricity generation fall into three categories: post-combustion, pre-combustion and oxyfuel.
In post-combustion capture CO2 is separated from the flue gas after fuel is burnt from conventional power stations, either coal or natural gas.
During pre-combustion capture the fossil fuel is brought into contact with steam and oxygen, producing a synthetic gas (syngas), largely comprising carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide and hydrogen (H2).
This syngas can then be combusted in power gas turbines to produce electricity – such plants exist today. However, for maximum CO2 removal an additional reaction (water gas shift) is used to convert the residual CO to CO2 and additional hydrogen with water.
The CO2 is then removed from the syngas before combustion in the power turbines. This process can be applied to all fossil fuels, but in the case of coal, the solid fuel is gasified in either an oxygen or air-blown gasifier. Examples of these are Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) or Integrated Drying Gasification Combined Cycle (IDGCC) – an Australian developed technology.
Oxy-fuel combustion capture is where fuel is combusted in pure oxygen. The process produces about 75 per cent less flue gas than air-fueled combustion and the exhaust consists of between 80 and 90 per cent CO2. The remaining gas is water vapour, which simplifies the CO2 separation step. An air separation plant is required to produce pure oxygen for the process from air.
CO2 capture practised commercially for many years
While the capture of CO2 for geosequestration is a relatively new concept, CO2 capture for commercial markets has been practised in Australia and overseas for many years.
CO2 is captured from natural gas wells in South-East South Australia, near Mt Gambier and in Southern Victoria, near Port Campbell. The CO2 is then used for various commercial processes including carbonation of beverages and dry-ice production.
reducing carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere www.co2crc.com.au
CO2CRC FACT SHEET 2
Capturing CO2
In the United States, CO2 capture at power plants using chemical absorption based on the monoethanolamine solvent has been practised since the late 1970s, with the captured CO2 being used for enhanced oil recovery as well as smaller scale CO2 beverage manufacture.
There are plans in the United States to build the world’s first integrated gasification combined cycle plant, known as FutureGen, that will not only produce electricity but also hydrogen fuel, with the CO2 generated in the process being captured and sequestered. Plans have been announced for similar plants here in Australia, including that of Stanwell Power in Queensland (ZeroGen project) and BP and Rio Tinto Kwinana Hydrogen Project in Western Australia.
CO2 Capture and Geosequestration
Following capture, CO2 is usually transported from a source, such as a power station, to the geological storage site in a compressed form via a pipeline (though other forms of transportation such as road, rail or ship are feasible and may well be economic in certain situations).
CO2 is then injected deep underground into porous and permeable rocks within geological reservoirs between one and three kilometres beneath the surface. (See fact sheet 1, What is Geosequestration, and fact sheet 5, Storing CO2, for further information.)
Further CO2 capture fact sheets include: CO2 Capture Costs (fact sheet 3), CO2CRC Capture Research (fact sheet 4).
reducing carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere www.co2crc.com.au
CO2CRC FACT SHEET 3
CO2 Capture Costs
The cost of capturing CO2 from a stationary industrial source today would range between $30 and $35/MWh for IGCC and between $35 and $45/MWh for post combustion depending on whether black or brown coal is used and where the geological storage location is sited.
Given the base power generation costs from these different technologies this would result in overall increases in the cost of generation from a geosequestration-enabled power plant today of between $35-45/MWh.*
Current research at CO2CRC, and other groups around the world, is aiming to reduce this cost increase to between $15 and $20/MWh*.
* The cost of power generation in Australian has traditionally been approximately $30-35/MWh while domestic users have paid $120-150/MWh. It should be recognised that there are emerging factors that will put pressure on the base power cost, unrelated to the needs for low emission power. Issues such as global material and skills shortages, and local factors, such as water availability, are beginning to manifest in higher base power costs. These will eventually affect the cost of all forms of both conventional and low/no emission power in the future. Confidence in the cost of any new power facility will only be gained through the next round of demonstration and/or commercial power installations.
Further CO2 capture fact sheets include: Capturing CO2 (fact sheet 3), CO2CRC Capture Research (fact sheet 4).
reducing carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere www.co2crc.com.au
CO2CRC FACT SHEET 4
CO2CRC Capture Research
CO2 capture represents up to 80 per cent of the cost of geosequestration. The CO2CRC Capture Program researches, develops and demonstrates technologies that can reduce capture costs by 75 to 80 per cent.
These reductions are being achieved by focusing on a number of themes including:
selecting the best separation medium and/or process;
designing for optimal heat integration within the power plant; and
selecting equipment that is fit-for-purpose for this new CO2 removal application.
We have over 40 lead researchers, post doctoral fellows and doctoral students working at six universities around the country on a range of cost effective CO2 separation techniques, such as:
gas separation and capture technologies for the full range of CO2-producing applications. (These include post-combustion, pre-combustion and oxyfuels power production and natural gas production);
gas absorption processes;
gas separation and gas absorption membranes;
solid adsorption products and processes;
cryogenic and hydrate gas separation processes; and
other hybrid applications.
Over the past three years this work has resulted in innovative techniques to reduce costs and resulted in several world wide patents. An important aspect of commercialising technologies is to demonstrate them at ever increasing scale, thus moving from laboratory and desk based studies to plant based installations.
Consequently, the CO2CRC is involved in some major capture demonstration projects. They are:
a world-first carbon dioxide CO2 capture technology project to trial technologies capable of making significant cost savings in the removal of CO2 from brown coal power generation. This is being conducted in association with the Victorian-based energy technology company HRL Developments. The project has received $2.06 million from the Victorian Government’s Energy Technology Innovation Strategy (ETIS) Brown Coal R&D Grants program; and
a $5.6 million research project that focuses on the reduction of emissions from brown coal power stations. Loy Yang Power, International Power and CSIRO have joined CO2CRC to work on the Latrobe Valley Post Combustion Capture Project, which has also received $2.5 million from the ETIS program. This will allow development and demonstration of CO2 cost reduction at two power plants in the Latrobe Valley.
Each of these projects (among other we are developing) will provide data and experience to reduce emissions and capture costs for any, and all, fossil fuel fired power stations and support our vision of a low emission future.
reducing carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere www.co2crc.com.au
CO2CRC FACT SHEET 5
Storing CO2
The storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) secures the gas deep underground in a geological rock formation.
Geological reservoirs into which CO2 can be injected include depleted oil and natural gas fields; and deep saline formations.
Since the stored CO2 will be less dense than the water in and around the reservoir rocks, it needs to be geologically trapped to ensure that it does not reach the surface. The exact trapping mechanism depends on the geology.
In depleted oil and gas reservoirs geological traps contain the CO2. In some cases these are anticlines, or folds; in other cases fault traps.
In the case of deep saline formations, an impermeable caprock, above the formation is not needed as the CO2 is contained by the groundwater flow. This is known as hydrodynamic trapping.
Solubility and mineral trapping are two other important mechanisms. Solubility trapping involves the dissolution of CO2 into the saline water in the reservoir. Mineral trapping results from the CO2 reacting with minerals in the rocks to form stable carbonate minerals.
CO2CRC collaborates with leading research institutions and industry to investigate the storage potential of Australia’s sedimentary basins (See fact sheet 6, Geosequestration Storage Sites in Australia, for further information.)
Recent geosequestration research includes:
a desktop study of SE Queensland storage sites;
possible CO2 storage sites in China and SE Asia;
a regional study on potential CO2 Geosequestration in the Collie Basin and the Perth Basin of Western Australia; and
an assessment of the storage potential of the Latrobe Valley.
Current studies include:
Storage assessment on the Gunnedah Basin, NSW;
A storage assessment of the Sydney Basin, NSW;
A regional geology study of the Galilee Basin, Qld; and
CO2 enhanced oil recovery potential in Australia
CO2 storage in coal systems.
reducing carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere www.co2crc.com.au
CO2CRC FACT SHEET 6
CO2CRC Otway Project
Australia’s first demonstration of geosequestration
Global warming is a cause of great community concern both in Australia and overseas.
The CO2CRC Otway Project is developing a leading-edge geosequestration research project that will demonstrate technologies that can make deep cuts into our CO2 emissions and help prevent potential climate change.
During the project, which is situated in south-western Victoria, researchers will extract naturally occurring CO2 and methane from a gas well (Buttress).
The gases will be compressed then piped to a depleted natural-gas field (Naylor). Here, the CO2 and a small amount of methane will be safely injected and stored at least two kilometres below the Earth’s surface.
At a later stage of the project a small gas plant may be built to separate the CO2 and methane before the CO2 is injected.
Purified CO2 would be transported and injected into the existing reservoir.
Scientists would then have two sets of important data: the pure CO2 and CO2 containing a small amount of methane, from which they could forecast the behaviour of CO2 in an underground storage site.
CO2CRC will monitor the CO2 in the air, groundwater, soil and subsurface for the life of the project. (See fact sheet 7, CO2CRC Otway Project Monitoring Program, for further information.)
CO2CRC will keep the community and stakeholders regularly informed about the progress of the project though meetings, newsletters, email and our website.
reducing carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere www.co2crc.com.au
CO2CRC FACT SHEET 7
CO2CRC Otway Project Monitoring Program
Showing the community, government regulators and industry that the geosequestration project is running according to plan is a high priority for CO2CRC.
In order to do this we have put in place a monitoring program that involves the regular testing of the soil, groundwater, and air and subsurface for changes in the carbon dioxide (CO2) content. These monitoring activities are outlined below.
Monitoring the Soil
Soil gas sampling aims to evaluate the gases associated with natural gas deposits including naturally occurring CO2, hydrocarbons such as methane, and oxygen and nitrogen.
During the survey, researchers will evaluate naturally occurring CO2, methane, oxygen and nitrogen, which are the usual gases found near CO2 sources. This work will provide CO2CRC with a baseline against which researchers can compare the soil tests that will be undertaken throughout the CO2CRC Otway Project and identify any changes to the soil gas chemistry that may take place.
There could be a number of reasons for changes to the soil gas levels. The baseline surveys undertaken by CO2CRC would enable us to identify the reason for those changes. Nirranda has a variable geology that includes limestone, sand dune, swamp/lake and river sedimentary deposits. Each geological variation results in the production of different soil and soil gas chemistry, which in turn affect the biology and productivity of the area.
Soil gases will also differ depending on climatic conditions; for example warmer conditions lead to enhanced biological production and in time increased concentrations of CO2 in the soil. The application of fertiliser to a paddock will have a similar effect. The survey will also detect any gases from deeper natural gas sources including natural hydrocarbons and CO2.
The baseline soil sampling will cover the immediate area where the CO2 will be injected and areas where CO2 has naturally accumulated in the past and is currently stored. The soil gas surveys will continue throughout the life of the project.
Monitoring the Water
As part of the monitoring program, CO2CRC researchers will sample and analyse the groundwater in wells, both public and private in and around the pilot project area, throughout the life of the project.
The groundwater tests have the same objective to that of the soil gas surveys: to identify the baseline or current levels of CO2 in the water and monitor those levels for the life of the project.
As with the soil gas surveys, CO2CRC will investigate the cause of any changes to the composition of the groundwater. Reasons for such changes include seasonal variation, climate, drought or high rainfall, landuse and geology.
reducing carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere www.co2crc.com.au
CO2CRC FACT SHEET 7
CO2CRC Otway Project Monitoring Program
CO2CRC will provide the results of the tests to landowners. They are being carried out in cooperation with the Warrnambool office of Southern Rural Water.
Monitoring the Air
CO2CRC has set up atmospheric or air monitoring program that, like the soil gas surveys and the groundwater sampling, will record baseline or current levels of CO2 in the air.
The monitoring is planned to start well before operations begin and will continue through the life of the project. It will take place at the CO2 source well (Buttress) and storage reservoir site at the Naylor-1 well.
Funded by the Australian Government through the Australian Greenhouse Office in the Department of Environment and Water Resources, the atmospheric monitoring program is one of the most advanced of its kind in the world.
As with the other monitoring activities, CO2CRC will investigate the cause of any changes to the composition of the air. The atmospheric CO2 levels will be used to confirm monitoring that will take place below the surface, scheduled to begin later in the project.
Monitoring the Storage Site
The subsurface monitoring will complement the air, soil and groundwater monitoring program.
CO2CRC will drill an additional well at the storage site, close to the existing depleted natural gas well, Naylor 1. This means there will be one well for injecting the CO2 and another (Naylor 1) to monitor the movement of the CO2 when it is underground.
CO2CRC will use both chemical and physical methods to monitor the CO2 in its geological storage site.
The chemical (also known as geochemical) make-up of the water in the monitoring well (Naylor 1) will tell researchers when the CO2 arrives in this depleted natural gas well.
It is through the underground, soil and groundwater monitoring that the researchers will be able to tell whether the storage site is secure and not leaking.
The other subsurface monitoring technique is geophysical. It primarily consists of seismic surveys. This technique uses a vibrating, truck-mounted weight and sensors that produce a three-dimensional picture of the CO2 and the rocks that contain it in the subsurface.
Seismic activities are expected to occur in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
As CO2 moves through the subsurface, researchers will obtain an accurate picture using physical and chemical methods to predict its behaviour for the life of the project.
reducing carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere www.co2crc.com.au
CO2CRC FACT SHEET 8
Geosequestration Sites in Australia
An Australia-wide study of sedimentary basins conducted by CO2CRC and previously the Australian Petroleum CRC over the past nine years has assessed 100 sites for the suitability for the safe, long-term storage of CO2.
The majority of these sites were found to be potentially suitable. Ideally, these areas have rocks such as permeable sandstone that are overlain by a seal of non-permeable rocks.
CO2CRC is undertaking a more detailed look at these and other sites to determine the most suitable areas for geosequestration.
Areas being evaluated are:
Storage assessment on the Gunnedah Basin, NSW;
A storage assessment of the Sydney Basin, NSW;
A regional geology study of the Galilee Basin, Qld; and
the Otway Basin in Victoria, which is the site of Australia’s first geosequestration project, the CO2CRC Otway Project. (See fact sheet No 4, CO2CRC Otway Project, for further information.)
Geosequestration sites must have simple geology. This means they should have no active faults and permeable and porous rock, such as sandstone, to absorb the CO2. The sandstone must be overlain by a mudstone or caprock that will trap the CO2 in the deep subsurface. (See fact sheet No 1, What is Geosequestration, for further information.)
reducing carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere www.co2crc.com.au
CO2CRC FACT SHEET 9Offshore Geological and Ocean Storage of CO2
Offshore geological and ocean storage of CO2 both involve capturing the gas from a stationary emissions source such as a power plant or other industrial facility and then transporting the highly compressed CO2 offshore via a sub-sea pipeline or ocean tanker.
There is, however, a major difference between offshore geological sequestration and ocean sequestration in the way in which the CO2 is stored.
Offshore geological storage involves the CO2 being injected into a geological formation deep beneath the seabed where it will be stored for thousands of years, isolated from the ocean water.
In the case of ocean storage, the CO2 is injected directly into the water column either at mid-depth (1500 to 3000 metres), where it dissolves in the ocean waters, or at greater depths (below 3000 metres), where it forms a deep CO2 lake.
Offshore geological storage has been successfully demonstrated at Statoil’s Sleipner field in the North Sea (about 250 km off the coast of Norway) since 1996. At Sleipner, CO2 is separated from produced natural gas and stored in a deep saline formation about 1000 metres beneath the seabed.
No ocean sequestration demonstration projects as yet exist.
reducing carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere www.co2crc.com.au
CO2CRC FACT SHEET 10
The Lake Nyos Gas Burst
In August 1986 at Lake Nyos, in Cameroon, West Africa, a volcanic crater lake released a large volume of CO2. This was not a volcanic eruption, but a gas burst.
Being denser than air, the CO2 failed to disperse and flowed down into nearby populated valleys resulting in the deaths of about 1700 people.
What happened at Lake Nyos?
Cameroon is situated on the Cameroon Volcanic Line, an area of volcanic activity that makes it susceptible to the release of volcanic CO2.
After degassing from the hot magma, the CO2 gas is trapped underground or escapes to the surface. In the case of Lake Nyos, the CO2 slowly moved into natural pathways feeding into the lake and directly into the lake. CO2 is soluble in water and so dissolved into Lake Nyos.
The lake is very deep and contained a very large volume of stratified or layered water. When these layers become unstable through seasonal turnover, the CO2 is circulated to upper layers where it is released from the water in non-catastrophic events.
However, Lake Nyos existed in long-term physical and chemical equilibrium resulting in stratified lake waters with very high CO2 concentrations. Either the addition of simply too much CO2 (the water was supersaturated in CO2) or external mechanical forces (underwater land slip or earthquake) caused the equilibrium of the lake to be disturbed.
This disturbance caused the stratified lake layers to mix and the CO2-rich waters were suddenly exposed to lower pressures and became unstable. This sudden destabilisation caused large amounts of the CO2 to be released out of the lake as gas burst.
This event is not the only sudden release of CO2 from a lake that has been documented. Lake Monoun, Cameroon, only 100km away from Lake Nyos erupted in 1984, releasing a large volume of gas, this time, into largely unpopulated areas.
Does Lake Nyos Suggest that Geosequestration is Unsafe?
The answer is no. In Australia a site selected for CO2 geosequestration would lack any of the readily identifiable natural pathways or the volcanic activity that is present in Cameroon.
The potential storage sites currently being explored by CO2CRC have:
simple geology to avoid movement and leakage of CO2;
the capacity to store the CO2 deep beneath the Earth’s surface (at least 800m);
the right sort of permeable rocks to absorb the CO2; and
the necessary rocks to trap or seal in the CO2.
Our research to date strongly suggests that in many of Australia’s sedimentary basins CO2 emissions could be safely stored in the subsurface for thousands of years and longer.
GEOLOGICAL OUTLINE OF THE LATROBE VALLEY COAL DEPOSITS
1. GENERAL The Latrobe Valley Coal Deposits lie within the Latrobe Valley Depression, an on-shore extension of the Gippsland Basin. Of Tertiary age, the brown coals of the Latrobe Valley are considered around 15 to 40 million years old and comprise the major deposits of brown coal in Australia. The coal bearing sequences range up to about 770 metres in thickness in the Latrobe Valley Area and consist for the most part of various clays, brown coals and semi-consolidated to unconsolidated silts, sands and gravels. The seams of coal are often extremely thick and although possessing a high moisture content are normally low in ash. Individual coal seams up to 255 metres thick have been recorded, with even greater thicknesses of coal containing minor interseam layers existing in a few areas. Some flows of basalt are interbedded with the coal seams, most commonly around the western and southern margins of the Latrobe Valley Depression. 2. STRUCTURE The Latrobe Valley Depression comprises an elongate, asymmetric syncline which plunges to the east and north-east. This structure is down faulted between Palaeozoic sediments of the Eastern Highlands to the north and Mesozoic sediments, which now form the South Gippsland Highlands, to the south. The Mesozoic sequences comprise much of the “basement” rock underlying the coal measures and consist mainly of sandstones and mudstones which in places contain thin seams of black coal. To the west, the Latrobe Valley Depression is separated structurally from the neighbouring Moe Swamp Basin by the Haunted Hill black, an upfaulted zone through which the coal seams become relatively thin and discontinuous. To the east the Tertiary sediment pile thickens with older units of the coal measures extending off shore and the younger units giving way to marine sediments. The major structural elements of the Latrobe Valley Depression tend to align in a north east to south west direction. Dominant structures which control the geology and disposition of the coal fields are the Yallourn, Morwell and Rosedale Monoclines, the Baragwanath Anticline, the Loy Yang Dome and the Traralgon and Gormandale Synclines. For the most part, these features are related to fault displacements within the basement rock and are considered to be subdued reflections of such movements. They have generally been truncated by erosion and the major open cut developments are located where thick coal seams now lie close to the surface. Between the major structures, the development of very broad open folding has resulted in a series of gentle synclines and anticlines. Although substantial fault displacement of coal seams appears to have taken place adjacent to some of the more pronounced structures, faulting within the relatively flat lying coal seams exposed by mining is either absent or of a minor nature. Jointing within the coal is, however, strongly developed and consists mainly of smooth walled near vertical fractures, many of which can be traced throughout the entire depth of the seam. This jointing is considered to have propagated in response to approximately NNW-SSE relational compressive stresses active during Upper Tertiary to Recent times and is a major consideration in the maintenance of open cut stability.
3. STRATIGRAPHY The Latrobe Valley Group range in age from Eocene to Miocene and are subdivided into the Traralgon, Morwell and Yallourn Formations in order of decreasing age. A net westerly shift of the main coal forming environments during the Tertiary is apparent, resulting in the younger coal seams generally being located towards the western end of the Latrobe Valley Depression, with the older seams occurring further east. Unconformably overlying the Latrobe Valley Group is the Haunted Hill Formation, which essentially forms the overburden in existing open cut areas. The Haunted Hill Formation comprises a widespread, blanketing deposit of sand, clays and gravels of greatly variable thickness, ranging from less than 9 metres in some areas to over 90 metres in the major synclines. The most favourable overburden to coal ratios are naturally encountered where thick coal seams are overlain by only a thin veneer of Haunted Hill Formation, such as in the non-synclinal areas at Yallourn, Morwell and Loy Yang. 4. GEOLOGICAL HISTORY Commencing during the early Cretaceous, a thick pile of largely terrestrial sediments, mainly felspathic sandstone, greywacke and conglomerate, accumulated rapidly within the Strzelecki Basin. These sediments are known collectively as the Strzelecki Group, and are thought to achieve an onshore thickness of up to 6000 metres. Deposition of the Latrobe Valley Group commenced during the middle to late Cretaceous in the now offshore eastern and central areas of the Gippsland Basin. The westerly migration of coal accumulation depocentres which subsequently took place is attributed to a declining rate of subsidence within the basin coupled with an increasing rate of sediment supply. Geological evidence suggests that this westerly trend was punctuated by a local reverse and return migration of coal depocentres during formation of the Morwell and Yallourn seam sequences. This is attributed to the effects of more rapid compaction of the coal relative to surrounding sediments, causing thick layers of pear or coal to become sediment stinks while adjacent areas containing little or no organic sediment in turn became new coal depositional environments. The subsidence, which generally persisted until Miocene times, is postulated to have been the result of crustal movements and associated fault black adjustments which continued subsequent to the opening of the Tasman Sea. This was accompanied by periodic outpouring of basalts (Thorpdale Volcanics) which, as mentioned previously, are interbedded in places with the coal measures. A marine transgression evidenced by the presence of the Seaspray Group (e.g. the Gippsland Limestone) peaked during the middle Miocene at the eastern end of the Latrobe Valley Depression. Sediments of this transgression are known to overlie sediments of the Traralgon Formation, but are considered to be time equivalents of the Yallourn and Morwell Formations. Following deposition of the Yallourn Formation, further accumulation of the Latrobe Valley Group was terminated by a phase of uplift. This was accompanied by extensive faulting in the basement rock with consequent formation of the major structural elements within the Latrobe Valley Depression.
Widespread erosion in the late Miocene and early Pliocene followed, during which a substantial thickness of the coal measures was removed and many of the major structures were truncated and exposed. Subsequently, the Haunted Hill Formation was deposited disconformably across the eroded surface of the folded Latrobe Valley Group in association with the Kosciusko Uplift of Pliocene age. 5. COAL PROPERTIES 5.1 Composition In general terms, the brown coals are comprised of a finely divided groundmass of plant detritus impregnated to varying degrees by humic substances and containing a large range of partially preserved plant tissues. Such tissue inclusions range from microscopic in size to massive tree trunks, branches and stumps. The larger woody inclusions tend to be concentrated in layers and horizons corresponding to various coal lithotypes. 5.2 Ash Yield The ash yield of brown coals currently being mined in the Latrobe Valley is characteristically low, mostly within the range of 1% to 4% be weight on a dry coal basis (see Table 1 overleaf). Even so, the presence of certain inorganic constituents or, in some cases, ratios and particular combinations of inorganic constituents, can be strongly detrimental to the burning properties of the coal and its tendency to slag or otherwise foul boiler surfaces. The discharge of combustion by-products from power stations is also affected, as levels of certain particulate and gaseous emissions are influenced by the nature of the inorganic constituents within the coal. Inherent contamination by mineral matter in particulate form is rare. 5.3 Moisture Content Average moisture contents for Latrobe Valley brown coal seams range from around 50% to about 67% (Table 1). Bed moisture content is in part a reflection of the degree of consolidation which has taken place and therefore, tends to decrease with depth, both within seams and from one seam to another. This trend is not uniform, however, and many localised aberrations related to structure, degree of compression, coal lithotype and other undetermined effects have been recorded.
TABLE 1: LATROBE VALLEY BROWN COALS : COAL QUALITY : AVERAGE VALUES
Coalfield
Yallourn Morwell Yallourn North Ext
Loy Yang
Gormandale Goolungoolun
Yallourn Seam
M1 Seam Latrobe Seam
M1B Seam
Traralgon Seam
Traralgon Seam
Moisture % 66.8 60.9 52.9 62.5 56.0 53.1 Ash (db) % 1.8 3.2 4.8 1.5 2.5 2.6 Volatile Matter (db) % 51.7 49.8 48.8 51.3 52.2 47.4 Carbon (db) % 65.9 67.1 65.7 68.3 66.1 68.2 Hydrogen (db) % 4.6 4.8 4.6 4.8 4.8 4.8 Net Wet Specific Energy (MJ/Kg)
6.5
8.5
10.2
8.1
9.5
11.5
Gross Dry Specific Energy (MJ/Kg ash Free)
25.8
27.3
26.7
27.0
26.4
29.2
(db = on a dry basis), (MJ/Kg = Megajoules per kilogram) (After Gloe, 1975)
5.4 Calorific Value As a corollary to their low rank and high moisture content, Latrobe Valley brown coals possess a low net wet specific energy relative to black coals (Table 1). In spite of this, the brown coals are used primarily to fuel large thermal power stations supplying the greater part of the State of Victoria’s electricity requirements. 6. BROWN COAL LITHOTYPES Field examination of brown coal open cut faces which have been exposed to the atmosphere for upwards of a month or so reveals that the coal mass is not homogenous, as it typically appears to be in the moist, freshly mined state, but is clearly stratified. This stratification is visible as layers or bands distinguished mainly through variations in the colour and surface shrinkage cracking pattern of the coal, although corresponding changes in texture and palaeobotanical associations can also often be recognised. Known as lithotype banding, this layering is a function of coal type and bears little relation to coal rank or conventional measures of coal quality. The various shades of brown which characterise coal lithotype develop as the surface of the coal dries on exposure to the atmosphere. In open cut faces, this is generally confined to a depth of only a few centimetres, unless the face has been allowed to stand untouched for a very long time. The dry state colour of brown coal ranges from a very dark brown, almost black, through to a pale brown to yellowish colour, the relevant descriptive lithotypes being DARK, MEDIUM DARK, MEDIUM LIGHT, LIGHT and PALE in the five category classification adopted by the Commission. It is generally accepted that terrestrial coal forming environments can cover a wide range, from open swamps through to damp forests. This range of possible environments is primarily related to the level of groundwater, which may vary as a result of such factors as climatic cycles, seasonal fluctuations, swamp migration, subsidence and uplift, tilting and changes in drainage. As Latrobe Valley brown coals accumulated in situ, lithotype banding is considered to represent such changes in the depositional environment and, consequently, in the plant communities from which the coal was formed. Although lithotype exerts only a marginal influence on the combustion properties of the coal, it is known to be an important consideration in assessing the suitability of coal for upgrading to such products as briquettes and char and for conversion processes such as coal liquifaction. 7. RESERVES Reserves of brown coal are listed both on a geological basis, which incorporates the total resources, and as mining reserves using a basis of realistic accessibility. Within the Latrobe Valley area, measured resources have been calculated at around 65,000 million tonnes with a further 43,000 million tonnes indicated. Mining reserves stand at around 36,000 million tonnes of coal with less than 30 metres of overburden above the uppermost seam, of which about 12,000 million tonnes is considered to be economically accessible at present day costs. 8. GROUNDWATER
The Latrobe Valley Depression contains numerous deep confined and semi confined aquifers of sand and other permeable strata, many of which are interconnected within the Morwell, and Traralgon Formations. Some of these aquifers contain water under high pressure, although this is gradually reducing as dewatering activities at Morwell and Loy Yang continue to influence piezometric levels over a wide area. As a result, it is now less common for bores penetrating deep aquifers in the central Latrobe Valley area to flow at the surface. 9. PALAEOBOTANY Coniferous plant remains constitute most of the plant tissue recognisable in the coal. Softwood species which have been identified include Arucaria, Agathis, Podocarpus, Dacrydium and Phyllocladus. Angiosperm remains are not as abundant but include various Banksia, Casuarina and Myrtacea. In addition, packed masses of mummified leaves and pollen of a now extinct member of the family Oleaceae are found in some horizons. Palynological investigations have identified Nothofagus as the dominant pollen group in Latrobe Valley brown coals, although other plant remains of Nothofagus are quite rare, suggesting that this tree grew on surrounding higher land rather than within the coal forming environment itself. 10. FURTHER READING For a more detailed and comprehensive account of the geology of the Latrobe Valley coal deposits, two recent publications are suggested : GLOE C S, 1984 – The Geology, Discovery and Assessment of Brown Coals
of Victoria, Auys IMM, Mongraph Series No.11 – Victoria’s Brown Coal – A Huge fortune in Chancery, Chapter 4, pp 77-109, Ed J T Woodcock, Pub Aus IMM 1984.
GLOE C S and HOLDGATE G R, 1987 – Geology and Resources Monograph
– The Science of Victorian Brown Coal, Ed B Durie, Coal Corporation of Victoria, 1987.
11. FOOTNOTE This outline was compiled in 1987 by Mr R Gaulton, of the former SECV, Regional Geologist, Latrobe Valley. It is intended to a brief overview of geological factors pertinent to mining of the brown coal. Much of the information needed was obtained from records, reports and publications produced by the SECV’s Coal Resources Division and its precursor, the Exploration and Geological Division.
VICTORIAN COAL AND ENERGY 2010
Victorian Coal and Energy 2010March 2010
Environmental Clean Technologies
VICTORIAN COAL AND ENERGY 2010
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Company Overview
Coldry
Snapshot
The Compelling Case
The BCE Product
Development Milestones
Our Focus on Victoria
Benefits for Victoria
Our International Focus
Current Global Projects
Matmor
The Matmor Process
Advancing Matmor
Environmental Clean TechnologiesVictorian Coal and Energy 2010
VICTORIAN COAL AND ENERGY 2010
Corporate Overview
Commercialising and selling disruptive technologies in the energy and resources sector.
Focused on delivering significant environmental and commercial outcomes.
Coldry Matmor
Unique Coal Drying and Water Recovery Technology Unique Iron Making Technology
An economic method for dewatering lignite and sub-bituminous coals, creating an energy rich Black Coal
Equivalent for local consumption or transport to remote markets.
A one-step method for producing low-carbon iron from abundant and low economic value brown and sub-bituminous
coals and metal bearing media.
COMMERCIAL SCALE DESIGN COMPLETE
ACTIVE SALES AND MARKETING FOCUS
PRE-COMMERCIAL
MARKET INFORMED DEVELOPMENT
CURRENT TECHNOLOGY PORTFOLIO
VICTORIAN COAL AND ENERGY 2010
Strategy and Team to Realise Growth
Strategic Partnerships
Technology Portfolio
Finance
Strategic Markets
Governance
Shared Services
Sales and Marketing
Board and Executives
Dave Woodall Chairman
John Hutchinson Non‐Executive Director Deputy Chairman
Dennis Brockenshire Non‐Executive Director
Stephen Carter Non‐Executive Director
Strategic Partners
Kos Galtos Chief Executive
Ashley Moore Business Manager – Coldry
Adam Giles Manager – Technology Development
Arup Engineering
MacDow Construction
Norton Rose Legal
PKF Auditing
RSM Bird Cameron Accounting
Phillip Capital Financial Advisory
Fortrend Standby Subscription Agreement
Radar Group Relations – Investor
Monsoon Communication Relations – Media
Markstone Group Political Advisory
VICTORIAN COAL AND ENERGY 2010
Benefits of MatmorCompared to traditional blast furnace iron making, Matmor has the following benefits:•Low cost lignite replaces expensive metallurgical coal•Recirculation of waste gases minimises emissions•Reduces iron bearing waste such as mill scale and nickel tailings•Small plant, small carbon foot print•Ideal product for foundries and steelmaking plants in domestic, regional and global markets
Matmor: The Matmor Process
The Matmor ProcessA unique method for producing high quality iron from cheap, abundant brown and sub-bituminous coals and metal bearing media such as high and low grade iron ore, mill scale and nickel tailings.
VICTORIAN COAL AND ENERGY 2010
The Case for Development – Raw Material Cost Advantage
Matmor: Advancing Matmor
Traditional Iron and Steel Making Combined costs of Iron Ore and Coking Coal per tonne of iron produced (USD)
Mid 2008 316
Mid 2009 202
Current Spot 356
Combined costs of Unconventional Iron Ore and Lignite per tonne of Matmor estimated between USD 50 to 200.
Advancing Matmor•Review and assess current state of development (complete)•Undertake market analysis and create commercialisation strategy (in progress)•Identify strategic partner(s) to advance scale up•Scale up through incremental steps:
• Pilot Plant• Commercial Plant• Reassess scalability of individual plant versus modular expansion based on target market
Game-changing iron and steel technology that beneficially utilises lignite and, hence, creates a significant opportunity for Victoria.
��
VICTORIAN COAL AND ENERGY 2010
Coldry: Snapshot
Coldry: Unique Coal Drying and Water Recovery Technology
*Black Coal Equivalent (BCE): Energy Rich Fuel from Lignite or Sub-bituminous Coals
The Coldry ProcessHigh GainsMechanicalLow Temperature Low PressureWater Recovery optionsSensitive to the Environment
The Coldry Plant DesignImmediately DeployableFlexibleScalableCost EffectivePower Station Integration Synergies
Coldry Black Coal Equivalent*StableValuableVersatile
VICTORIAN COAL AND ENERGY 2010
Coldry: The Compelling Case
Proposition for Power Generators
•Reduce fuel cost in power generation•Gain long-term fuel security and reduce exposure to coal price volatility•Adopt cleaner coal technology to reduce pollution and carbon emissions•Access new water for power generation•Lower Ash deposits, driving cost savings and asset utilisation improvements
Proposition for Lignite and Sub-Bituminous Coal Miners
•Increased markets by accessing higher-value and larger thermal coal markets•Extend reserves through efficient resource utilisation
Proposition for the Coal Trader
•Opportunity to secure new sources of BCE for trade under long-term contracts to thermal coal users•Opportunity to backward integrate into low cost sources of supply, i.e. buy lower cost deposits and beneficiate the output via Coldry implementation•Opportunity to secure competitive advantage in tight markets
Coldry will fuel emerging markets – it supports the growing demand for energy at lower CO2 emissions than would be otherwise possible.
*Typical figures. Economics will vary with input feedstock, Coldry offtake moisture level and local conditions.
Indicative Investment Case – Emerging Markets
• Over 30% ROI and 3-4 year simple payback.*
• Coldry BCE produced at sub USD 45/tonne.*
• Power generation on Coldry BCE superior to Lignite.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
2007 M1
2007 M4
2007 M7
2007 M10
2008 M1
2008 M4
2008 M7
2008 M10
2009 M1
2009 M4
2009 M7
2009 M10
( USD
/tonne)
International Thermal Coal Pricing vs Coldry BCE Production Cost
International Thermal Coal (USD/tonne) Coldry (USD/tonne)
VICTORIAN COAL AND ENERGY 2010
FeatureLignite(VIC)
Coldry(VIC)
Black Coal(QLD)
Black Coal(NSW)
Moisture 59.3% wb 12% adb 15.5% adb 3.3% adb
Volatile matter 20% wb 48.9% wb 22.5% wb 26.5% wb
Fixed carbon 19.9% wb 49.1% wb 44.1% wb 46% wb
Ash 0.9% wb 2.4% wb 17.9% wb 24.2% wb
NWSE2006 kcal/kg ar
8.4 MJ/kg ar3611 BTU/lb
5874 kcal/kg adb24.6 MJ/kg adb10576 BTU/lb
4800 kcal/kg adb20.1 MJ/kg adb
8641 BTU/lb
5681 kcal/kg adb23.8 MJ/kg adb10232 BTU/lb
Proximate Analysis of Coldry produced in Victoria, Australia compared to other Australian coals
Note: NWSE – Net Wet Specific Energy, wb - wet basis, adb - air dried basis, ar – as received basis.
Source: Black coal (QLD – Callide, NSW – Eraring) accessed from CSIRO Biomass Database.
Coldry: The BCE Product
Coldry drives value creation
• Significant increases in net energy content
• Retention of the valuable volatile fractions, ideal feed for gasification processes
• Low ash levels derived from the raw Lignite (similarly with Sulphur)
• Transportation effectiveness – Non-pyrophoric, Low moisture
VICTORIAN COAL AND ENERGY 2010
Pilot Plant•Established batch production in 2004•Underwent modification in 2007 to achieve continuous production and integration of water recovery system
Strategic Relationships for Commercialisation•Entered into strategic relationships with leading organisations to advance Coldry technology:
Coldry: Development Milestones
Commercial-scale Design•Pilot Plant has informed design of commercial-scale Coldry modules that underpin commercial plants•Modular design with Containerisable componentry•Up to 80% prefabricated offsite before assembly
Ownership of Intellectual Property Rights•100% ownership of Coldry intellectual property•Covered by patents in all major markets with significant lignitedeposits•Engagement with potential partners and customers covered by standard legal agreements
Strategic relationships underpin commercialisation in global markets.
ArupColdry Core Design Partner (Global)Coldry Design Engineer (Global)
McConnell Dowell Coldry Construction (Australia)
Transfield Services Coldry O&M (Australia)
Deloitte Coldry Financial Modelling (Australia)
VICTORIAN COAL AND ENERGY 2010
Victoria Coldry Pty Ltd: The Project Structure
Lignite Mine(Loy Yang)
Victorian Export Infrastructure
Environmental Clean
Technologies
Power Plant(Loy Yang)
Global Thermal Coal Markets
Coldry Plant(Victoria Coldry P/L)
Waste Heat
RecoveredWater
Coldry Technology
License
Lignite Feedstock
Coldry BCEOfftake
The Project SPVColdry BCE production phased from 2 MTPA to 20 MTPA over 10 years.
Memorandum of Understanding withGreat Energy Alliance Corporation (GEAC) to participate in upcoming feasibility study at GEAC’s Loy Yang Power.
Licensing Royalty
Coldry BCE Offtaker andColdry Plant Financier
VICTORIAN COAL AND ENERGY 2010
Victoria Coldry: Status and Timetable
Near Term– Licence agreements finalised
– Detailed agreements on Feasibility Study scope to include components and detailed design, as well as Tender package preparation
– Commencement of Feasibility study and detailed design works, with expected completion before year end 2010
Medium Term– Phase 1 operations at 2 mtpa by ~2013
– Phase 2 expansion to 5 mtpa
– Phase 3 expansion to 10 mtpa
– Phase 4 expansion to 20 mtpa
VICTORIAN COAL AND ENERGY 2010
Victoria Coldry: Benefits for Victoria
Unlocking Export Opportunities• Employ Victoria’s extensive lignite reserves to create a new
substantial BCE export market, helping meet growing global coal demand
• Victoria is home to 430 billion tonnes of brown coal (28% of the world’s brown coal reserves), with 40 billion tonnes believed to be minable
Gateway technologyCombined with Gasification, Coldry opens the door to• Advanced Technology Power generation• Coal to SNG or Liquids• Coal chemical industries e.g. Urea
Estimated Export Value20 MTPA of Coldry creates close to AUD2 billion annual export value for Victoria
Australia is a significant energy exporter through coal, gas and uranium.
Currently there are 126 MTPA of thermal coal exports (AUD14.4 billion).
Significant new black coal projects are underway.
Current regional distribution of coal exports:•60% QLD•40% NSW•0% VIC
Infrastructure Development and Job Creation• Enhanced infrastructure development
• From 4 million tonnes export freight capacity, expanded to support phase 2 and beyond
• Employment creation and skills development• Phase 1 construction >50 jobs, plus 25 direct / 60
indirect position upon operation• More as the facility grows
VICTORIAN COAL AND ENERGY 2010
Victoria Coldry: Benefits for Victoria
Clean(er) Coal: Reduced Emissions & Enhanced Efficiency• Reduced emissions in comparison to brown coal powered stations, from the use of a low moisture, high efficiency, high
carbon black coal equivalent• Efficiency enhancement through cooling improvements / reduced evaporative loss• Integrating Coldry with a black coal power station is a compelling alternative to lignite based power generation options
currently available
The Coldry process integrates with the most efficient coal technologies currently available – and is likely to integrate with many future black coal technologies in development.
Through reducing emissions produced in combustion in Victoria, Coldry could enhance the commercial viability of CCS.
Utilising Coldry BCE enables deployment of more efficient proven technologies
VICTORIAN COAL AND ENERGY 2010
Coldry: Benefits for Victoria
Coldry BCE
Gasification and emerging options
Traditional resource utilisation options
Gas Products
Liquid Fuels
Methanol &Industrial Chemicals
Ammonia / Urea / Fertiliser
Power Generation
Matmor Iron and Steel
Power Generation
Establishing Victoria as a Global energy and resource leader• Development of a local Coldry project enhances Victoria as a leader in emerging cleaner energy technology
development and commercialisation.• The properties of the Coldry BCE make it ideal in coal gasification and other emerging resource utilisation options
Victoria Coldry Pty Ltd
ECTColdry Composite
VICTORIAN COAL AND ENERGY 2010
Coldry: Our International Focus
1. Export Biased 2. Export and Domestic
3. Domestic Biased
4. Import and Domestic
5. Import Biased
Australia
New Zealand
Indonesia
Pakistan
Poland
Germany
United States
China
India
Vietnam
Korea
Japan
Coldry BCE is a Critical Fuel for Emerging Markets
• Anticipated growth in coal-based power exceeding 1300 GW by 2030, led by demand growth from Asia.
• China and India underpin growth in demand for coal.
• Emerging economies of Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam also have significant growth rates in coal based power (8-10%).
• Uneven geographic supply and demand to drive further global trade in black coal and Black Coal Equivalents.
• Coal importers face both volatile FOB prices and the extreme fluctuation of freight markets.
Markets for Coldry BCE
VICTORIAN COAL AND ENERGY 2010
GLOBAL COLDRY PROJECTSPoland (PGE Belchatow)•Joint Business Case development MoU signed Jan 2010.•Project will run through 2010 to define the path forward for lignite drying at the largest Lignite Power Station in the world.
Coldry East Kalimantan (SPV Established)•Heads of Agreement with Alexis Minerals International to produceColdry BCE – production of 10 MTPA.•Information Memorandum to be developed to attract funding for feasibility study in 2010.
GLOBAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTNew Opportunities•Working vigorously with a number of qualified parties to build Business Cases to underpin feasibility investment in India, China, Indonesia and E&W Europe•Commercialisation underpinned by Coldry Project Localisations
Coldry Growth Targets•Targeting at least 5 Coldry BCE Plants (3 MTPA) to be in operation by 2015 across key growth markets (China, India and Indonesia).•Significant growth potential beyond targets through project expansions and additional projects.
Coldry: Current Global Projects
Key Organisations in the National Electricity Market The national electricity market (NEM) is the market for the wholesale supply and purchase of electricity in five Australian states and territories. Those participating include the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, and Victoria. Tasmania intends joining the market following completion of Basslink. The NEM commenced operation on 13 December, 1998. The rules for the conduct and operation of the NEM were established by the respective Governments noted above and these are now embodies in the National Electricity Code. For information about the NEM – visit the web-sites of the following market organisations. The National Electricity Code Administrator (NECA – www.neca.com.au) NECA has been established by the participating jurisdictions to supervise and administer the Code. It also has responsibilities to;
administer the ongoing development of, and changes to, the Code to achieve the market objectives,
monitor and report on Code compliance, enforce the Code; provide a dispute resolution process concerning the provisions of the Code;
NECA is a company incorporated under the Corporations Law. Its mission is to:
promote the effectiveness, efficiency and equity of the national electricity market; and lead the development of the market towards more competitive, market-oriented outcomes
in order to deliver a viable market that benefits end-use customers.
The National Electricity Market Management Company (NEMMCO – www.nemmco.com.au) NEMMCO is the company responsible for the administration and operation of the NEM in accordance with the National Electricity Code. It is the independent market and system operator. As such it has the dual role of providing an effective infrastructure for the efficient operation of the market and to ensure that the electricity system is operated in a safe, secure and reliable manner. This market operation and system control is managed from either or two duplicated centres in Brisbane and Sydney. In balancing the supply and demand for electricity, NEMMCO provides the power exchange function and determines the spot market price for electrical energy in each half-hour settlement period and which generators and demand-side participants will be dispatched. If you wish to view the market prices in real time, you can visit the NEMMCO website and look under Market Data or if you have a television set with Teletext – you can view the spot prices from page 268. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC – www.accc.gov.au) Whilst the role of ACCC is much broader than the electricity market, the ACCC has a significant role in ensuring that the operation of the market and changes to the Code are compliant with the trade practice requirements. This is to ensure that competitive outcomes are maintained in the NEM. An independent statutory authority, the Commission administers the Trade Practices Act 1974 and the Prices Surveillance Act 1983 and has additional responsibilities under other legislation. In broad terms, these laws cover anti-competitive and unfair market practices, mergers or acquisitions of companies, product safety/liability, and third party access to facilities of national significance. The ACCC has a specific information relating to the NEM on its website. Victorian Regulation (www.doi.vic.gov.au) The responsible minister for electricity in the Victorian Government is the Minister for Energy Industries and Resources – the Hon Theo Theophanous. The Energy portfolio is responsible for ensuring the delivery of secure, affordable and safe energy to Victorian consumers and businesses in a sustainable manner. It also has a role in continuing to develop energy markets and regulatory arrangements that deliver competitive prices and service levels. Whilst the electricity industry is privatised within Victoria, there are a number of regulated monopolies involved (such as transmission and distribution companies) and retailers and generators must be licensed. These issues are managed for the Government by the Essential Services Commission. Essential Services Commission (www.reggen.vic.gov.au)
The Essential Services Commission, is the independent economic regulator established by the State Government of Victoria, to regulate prescribed essential utility services supplied by the electricity, gas, water, ports, grain handling, rail freight industries and aspects of the insurance industry. It commenced operations on 1 January 2002, subsuming the Office of the Regulator-General Victoria. The Victorian Energy Networks Corporation (VENCORP – www.vencorp.com.au) VENCORP is a Victorian Government owned entity which has the role of providing planning services for electricity and gas. It has operational and communication services during gas and electricity emergencies and also is the independent system operator for the Victorian gas transmission network and manager and developer of the Victorian wholesale gas market. The Privatisation of the Victorian Electricity Industry In recent decades, the provision of electricity was undertaken by large State-owned vertically integrated monopolies. In Victoria, the State electricity Commission of Victoria (SECV) owned the generation, transmission and most of the distribution and retail functions; a number of municipal councils also undertook these latter functions – buying bulk electricity from the SECV. Apart from a few small power stations owned by, and dedicated to, industries such as aluminium and other metals production (Alcoa, BHP), all segments of the electricity supply industry were publicly owned. A process of change began at a Special Premier’s Conference in 1990, which commissioned studies into the feasibility of a national electricity grid that would remove barriers to electricity trading across the interconnected eastern states. In 1990/91 the Industry Commission highlighted the significant benefits to the national economy that would result from: restructuring of the electricity supply industry, with segments of it exposed to more commercial
disciplines, the introduction of competition in both generation and retail supply sectors of the electricity supply
industry, and the enhancement and extension of the existing three-state interconnected system (NSW, Victoria and
South Australia) to eventually include Queensland and Tasmania. This resulted in the reform of the industry being implemented in the mid-1990’s through the dis-aggregation and corporatisation of the publicly owned entities, the establishment of the National Electricity Market and the evolving development of the national electricity grid. This lead to competition in the generation and retailing of electricity and to regulated monopolies for transmission and distribution sectors. In Victoria, the Government of the day also decided it would privatise its electricity supply corporations that had been created from the reform process. This resulted in a range of private investors taking on the roles of participating in the industry. Similar privatisation also occurred in South Australia, while electricity entities in NSW and Queensland remain in public ownership.
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March 30, 2010 1
Victorian Coal & EnergyConference
Roland Davies March 30, 2010
Future for the Latrobe Valley Coal IndustryFuture for the Latrobe Valley Coal Industry((AnAn Electricity Generator perspectiveElectricity Generator perspective))
March 30, 2010 2
FUTURE BROWN COALFUTURE BROWN COAL
ENERGY SECURITY
COST OF ENERGY
COMMUNITY & ENVIRONMENT
THE RIGHT BALANCETHE RIGHT BALANCE
RELIABILITY OF SUPPLY
TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS
PRODUCT DIVERSITY
Other options unable to match the total balance
2
March 30, 2010 3
ENERGY RESOURCES & PORTSENERGY RESOURCES & PORTS
Data Source: ABARE - Energy in Australia (2009)
Energ
y Res
erve
s:
91%
of G
as (8
5% O
il)
Energy Reserves: 95% of Black Coal
Energy Reserves: 24% of total Coal and Gas
March 30, 2010 4
BROWN COAL (LIGNITE)BROWN COAL (LIGNITE)
Australia’s Economic Demonstrated Resources, Jan 2007
Australia World ShareResource
Life
Black Coal (Gt) 39 5.4% >100Brown Coal (Gt) 37 24.1% >500
Crude Oil (GL) 173 0.3% 8Condensate (GL) 258 n/a 36LPG (GL) 214 n/a 45
Natural Gas (PJ) 98,264 1.4% 57CBM Gas (PJ) 12,833 n/a 101
Uranium (kt) 1,163 38.0% 138
Source: ABARE 2009
3
March 30, 2010 5
AUSTRALIAN ENERGY FLOWS (PJ)AUSTRALIAN ENERGY FLOWS (PJ)
Data Source: ABARE - Energy in Australia (2009)
March 30, 2010 6
INDICATIVE RESOURCE VALUEINDICATIVE RESOURCE VALUE
• Revenue potential per tonne of raw brown coal ranges from $10/t for raw brown coal to $110/t for Ammonia Urea.
• A realistic scenario could deliver ~$5.0B annually (GSP)
• Energy content of 1,000Mt of Brown Coal (~10,000 PJ), exceeds Victoria’s natural gas reserves
$60/t$2.7B45 MtCoal Value-Add
$10/t$1.0B100 MtRaw Coal
$85/BBL$6.0B70M BBLSOil (CTL)
$300/t$11.0B36 MtUrea Fertilizer
AssumptionRevenueProductionForm
$45/MWh$4.4B100 TWhElectricity
100 Million Tonnes of Raw Brown Coal ~ 1,000 PJ (1EJ)
4
March 30, 2010 7
BROWN COAL BROWN COAL -- GROWTH POTENTIALGROWTH POTENTIAL
• Significant energy resource
• Resource boom increased brown coal’s attractiveness (re-boom)
• Clear prospective benefits for Industry and Region:
– Employment Outcomes
– Revenue diversification
– Improved operating margins
– New technology advancement
• Some regional coal projects still advancing
March 30, 2010 8
FUTURE PRODUCTION OPTIONS
5
March 30, 2010 9
COAL-LIQUIDS OVERVIEW
KEY COMPONENTS
Coal Drying
Gasification technology
Gas-to-Liquids technology
Water Recovery
Carbon Capture
Courtesy of
March 30, 2010 10
COAL – LIQUIDS PROCESS
Range of Hydrocarbon Products possible:
• Synthetic Diesel
• Hydrogen
• Ammonia Urea
• Synthetic Natural Gas
Co-generation of electricity possible:• Peaking, Baseload and Market Arbitrage potential
Well suited for Carbon Capture / Sequestration:
• Oxygen Blown technology => pure CO2 => CCS Ready
• Elemental Sulphur recovery also possible
• Methanol• DME• Petroleum• LPG
6
March 30, 2010 11
COAL VALUE ADD
• Dry coal, char, activated carbon, & coke.
• Mechanical, thermal & chemical processes
• Domestic use and Export potential
• Timing: 2012 onwards
• Generally less complex technology
• Brown coal (Briquettes) exported for 50 years
• Transport and port infrastructure development required for export sales
Proposed projects to upgrade raw brown coal by drying and refining for export sales.
March 30, 2010 12
EMISSION REDUCTION OUTCOMESEMISSION REDUCTION OUTCOMES
Stage 1: Efficiency Improvements & Coal Drying (CO2 5-20% )
Stage 2: Advanced technologies & Coal Drying (CO2 ~30% )
Stage 3: Stage 2 plus Carbon Capture (CCS) (CO2 ~90% )
Yallourn100MW Units~19% HHV so
Loy Yang500MW Units
~28% HHV so
Niederaussem K1,000MW Units~35% HHV so*
1940’s 1980’s 2000’s 2020’s
??Future Technology400MW - 750MW ~40% HHV so*
* On Loy Yang Coal
7
March 30, 2010 13
CLEAN COAL TECHNOLOGIESCLEAN COAL TECHNOLOGIESCOAL DRYING / DEWATERING POST COMBUSTION CAPTURE
March 30, 2010 14
LOY LOY YANGYANG POWER OVERVIEWPOWER OVERVIEW
Electricity GenerationCoal Mining
~50%30 MtpaCoal Electricity
~32%15-16 TWhElectricity
GHG Emissions
Contribution
~15-23%18-19 Mtpa CO2e
VictoriaLoy Yang Power
8
March 30, 2010 15
Energy content of 2.5 Bt of brown coal ~ 25,000 PJ,
~50% committed to existing electricity generation
GEAC
~1.6%
2.5 Bt
Australia*
24.1%
37 Bt
World*
100%
150 Bt
Global Lignite Reserves
(* ABARE 08/09)
BROWN COAL RESERVES
March 30, 2010 16
MAP LEGEND
Exploration Licence Area Coal: 1,000Mt (1,670 Ha)
Mining Licence Area Coal: 1,500Mt (4,500 Ha)
Future Mining Blocks
Business Development Areas (~600Ha)
TRARALGON
9
March 30, 2010 17
DEVELOPMENT DRIVERS DEVELOPMENT DRIVERS
Loy Yang Power is highly motivated to improve long-term sustainability and profitability through revenue growth and diversification:
• Working with developers to advance projects with synergies to existing operations and resources
• Leveraging available assets and energy resources (coal, electricity, land and infrastructure)
• Diversifying Revenue Base
• Securing necessary Coal Resources to meet these objectives
March 30, 2010 18
DEVELOPMENT FOCUSDEVELOPMENT FOCUS
FUTURE
ELECTRICITY GENERATION
EXISTING
BY-PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
ASH CO2CHAR
ENERGY / ELECTRICITY
GEOTHERMALBIOMASS
•Equity Potential•Support Growth
HYDROCARBON PRODUCTS
SYNTHETIC FUELS
FERTILISERS CHEMICALS
BROWN COAL
INCREASED SALES
EMISSIONS REDUCTION
IMPROVED TECHNOLOGY
OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY
EXPORT
CARBON VALUE-ADD
DOMESTIC
RESOURCE UTILISATION
10
March 30, 2010 19
LOY YANG MINE EXPANSION*LOY YANG MINE EXPANSION*• Feasibility studies undertaken to confirm capability to
expand Mine production from 31 - 52Mtpa.
• Coal Quality of expanded supply:
- ~60% Power generation “Run of Mine” (12.5Mt)
- ~40% Unsuitable for PF Boiler (8.5Mt)
• Additional mining equipment and stockpiling required to increase capacity by more than ~10%.
• Indicative mining costs: ~$1/GJ (GWSE), plus contribution to new capital infrastructure.
• Processes able to maximise total available resouces are of great interest.
* Based on available resources (ML/EL)
March 30, 2010 20
MINE DEVELOPMENT - 2011
11
March 30, 2010 21
Growth Development - 2017MINE DEVELOPMENT - 2017
March 30, 2010 22
Growth Development - 2040MINE DEVELOPMENT - 2040
12
March 30, 2010 23
Growth Development - 2070MINE DEVELOPMENT - 2070
March 30, 2010 24
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATIONPROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
• High Community Expectations
• Delivery of Major Projects in region has proven challenging
• Tough Business Environment
• Some innovative developments driven by smaller entities
• Constraints as supporter and facilitator, not project developer
• Open ended options problematic
S O M E O B S E R V A T I O N S
13
March 30, 2010 25
DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGESDEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES• Existing Electricity Customers will
remain priority customers
• Abundant, not infinite resources
• Developing JV Partnerships to support long-term development
• Major Infrastructure development required for export (ports/rail)
• Developer Expectations:– Timing mismatch between projects
– Firm optionality in early project phases problematic - Infrastructure, Coal, Electricity, Sites, Water
– Matching developer resourcing
Rock ‘n’ Hard Place
March 30, 2010 26
Initial Concept - Match
Pre-Feasibility - Testing
Full Feasibility
FEED - Permitting
FID
BUILDING THE OPPORTUNITY BUILDING THE OPPORTUNITY
70%
30%
50%
10%
20%
I N D I C A T I V E C O N F I D E N C E L E V E L
Commissioning 90%
14
March 30, 2010 27
BROWN COAL FUTURE BROWN COAL FUTURE -- SUMMARYSUMMARY
• Energy resource of national significance
• Can provide ongoing energy security for Victoria
• Export Potential - Coal / Fuels / Chemicals / Fertiliser
• Product Market Value: $10 - $100+ / tonne of brown coal
• GSP Annual Potential: ~$5.0 Billion (100Mt Scenario)
• Technology Solutions and Coal Supply Options evolving
• Major Infrastructure Development needed for Export
March 30, 2010 28
THANK-YOU
Petroleum Exploration SocietyPetroleum Exploration Societyof Australia Ltdof Australia Ltd
Coal-bearing basins in Queensland and location of coal seam methane production
and major developments
Source:J.J. Draper andC.J. Boreham,APPEA Journal2006
Source: Geoscience Australia Palaegeographic atlas
Cold but wet climate, low lying coastaland alluvial plains in a tectonic setting
conducive to basin formation
Bowen
Gunnedah
Sydney
Australia has come full circle in the past one hundred years.
• At the start of the century it was self-sufficient in sources of energy
• By 1950 the age of oil was here, but Australia produced no oil
• Black coal was still vital but Australia, through poor industrial relations, failed to make the best use of it
• By 1975, however, the nation was returning to self-sufficiency:
– Oil and natural gas were found in large quantities
– hydro-electric schemes had multiplied
– brown coal was exploited massively
– black coal mining revitalised through export market(coking coal to East Asia)
• By 2000, natural gas on NW Shelf in W.A. moved Australiato a gas exporter
Source: Geoffrey Blainey, 2006. Riding Australia’s big dipper in Griffith Review, Edition 12 – Hot Air: How nigh’s the end? ©
Why is there so much coal in the PermianBowen-Gunnedah-Sydney basin system?
Australia’s Energy Needs
Drilling for coal seam gas – Tilbrook 1 well, Qld
Source: www.sunshinegas.com.au
Cleats are orthogonal fracture sets in the coal. Cleats control permeability, or the ability for fluid to flow through a pore space.Up to 10% of coal seam gas is stored in the cleats. They may also contain minerals, oil or bitumen.
Source: C. Ward
Source: J. Esterle
Extraction of gas from coal
Resulting peat– function of decompositionand plant type
Source: J. Esterle
Blair Athol coal seam, Bowen Basin, QldThis seam is so thick because wet swamp conditions were ideal for coal formation, and persisted for a long
period in this basin during the Permian.
source: http://www.lakepowell.net/sciencecenter/paleoclimate.htm
Permian
Carboniferous
Too arid in Euramericaat this time
Glaciated in Australia at this time
Perfect cold but wetclimate in Australia
Distribution of ancient coals through time
Source: J. Esterle
Outcrop Scale
Goonyella Mine,Bowen Basin, Qld
The coal face
Source: J. Esterle
Coal Coal Seam Gas
Aerial photoof a bog-lake complex in western Siberia.
The spatial variability in vegetation is retained in the peat.
Coal is a rock formed from organic plant matter that has been chemically altered by heat and pressure through burial in the subsurface over time.Coal is the alteration product from peat.Peat forms in swamps and bogs though processes similar to a compost heap.Peat needs wet, soggy, oxygen-poor environments to accumulate.
What happens when your lettuce is left in the refrigerator for too long?
From Peat To Coal
Shrubsand
moss
Source: J. Kassan & S. Lang, Australian School of Petroleum - SA
Trees
Water
Photo of tree decomposition in
modern peats, Baram River,
Sarawak, Malaysia
Visit websiteswww.pesa.com.au • www.appea.com.auwww.aip.com.au • www.myfuture.edu.au
Source: www.dpmc.gov.au/energy_future/
Australia’s Fossil Fuel Energy
Source: Department of Primary Industry
Yallourn coal mine – Gippsland Basin Victoria
I know what you did last summer…
sourrce: www.ipart.nsw.gov.au/pdf/DNSP_EnergyAustralia.pdf
Composition of Australian stationary energy
Australia 2001
Coal
Oil
GeothermalWind
Biomass Solar
Tidal/WaveHydro
Nuclear
Natural gas
Source: www.ccsd.biz
World 2000Geothermal
Wind
Biomass
Solar
Tidal/Wave
Coal
Hydro
Oil
Nuclear
Natural gas
Source: J. Esterle
Source: J. Esterle
Source: www.sunshinegas.com.au Drill bit
Source: J. Esterle
Coal mining issues:– gases escape into underground mine workings
during mining– coal dust explosions may result form gas ignition– asphyxiation of miners may result– need for pre-mining gas drainage to ensure
safe working conditions
Co-development of commercial coal extractionand mine gas drainage
The moisture and gas storage capacity of the coal, for a given depth, will be determined by its rank (maturity).Did you know? There is a greater pore surface area (for gas to adsorb) in low grade brown coal and in very high grade anthracite, compared to medium-grade bituminous coal.
vitrinite inertinite Source: J. Esterle
Gas in coal is heldin the coal due to pressure.
Did you know? The coal seam gas is not actually a gas until the pressure is released.
It is stored in 3 ways:- adsorbed (held by
molecular attraction) ~85%
- within pore spaces, cleats & fractures ~10%
- dissolved in water within the coal ~5%
Brown Coal Bituminous
Coal
Anthracite
Source: Gurdal et al, 2001
1.601.401.201.000.800.600.400.200.00
Rank (% Ro)
Sp
ecif
ic S
urf
ace
Are
a (m
2/g
, d
af)
0
50
100
150
200
250
Image: Kentucky Geological Survey
Did you know that demand for energy in Australia is projected
to increase by50% by 2020?
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference
CO2 Reduction Initiatives
at International Power Hazelwood
Tony Innocenzi30 March, 201030 March, 2010
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power2
International Power - International Portfolio
� Global power and desalination business
� 45 power plants in 20 countries
� FTSE 50 company
� Actively trades CO2 in Europe
� Net capacity 20,671MW & Gross capacity 32,358MW (4,567MW under construction)
Total
Net capacity by geography
6,707 MW Australia
Middle East
Asia
3,221 MW
Europe
US6,499 MW2,454 MW
1,790 MW
20,671 MW
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power3
International Power – Fuel Mix
� Majority of IPR assets are gas-fired.
� A blend of different fuel types and technologies.
� Produces 1.8 million Tonnes of desalinated water per day in the Middle East.
61%Gas
CoalOil 3%
Pumpedstorage
Hydro 0.5%Wind 3%
21.5%
8%
Capacity by fuel type
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power4
1. Canunda2. Pelican Point3. Synergen4. Hazelwood5. Loy Yang B6. SEA Gas7. Kwinana8. Simply Energy
46487371
1,6751,026
n/a118n/a
3,723
46487371
1,541718n/a58
n/a3,221
South AustraliaSouth AustraliaSouth AustraliaVictoria Victoria Victoria Western AustraliaVictoria / South Australia
Plant name State
WindGas
Gas & fuel oilCoalCoal
PipelineGas
Retail
GrossMW
Fueltype
NetMW
PPA 2015MerchantMerchantMerchantPPA 2016n/aPPA 2021n/a
Status
100%100%100%92%70%33%49%
100%
IPRown %
International Power - Australia overview
� Diverse fuel and technology across three states.
� Balanced portfolio from renewables to brown coal.
� Power and gas retailer.
� Presence since 1996.
7
548 61
32
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power5
International Power Hazelwood’s Performance
� Nominally 8 x 200 MW capacity
� Commissioned 1964 – 71
� Mine mouth station
� Sufficient coal reserves to run power station to 2030 or well beyond
� $500m plus spent upgrading plant after privatisation in 1996 resulting in approximately:
– 20% reduction in towns water use– 20% improvement in production
from previous highest generation (significantly more when compared with 1995 level)
– 60% reduction in particulate emissions
– > 10% reduction in greenhouse emission intensity.
� Generates circa 25% of Victoria’s electricity requirements
� 525 employees – plant and mine
� Maintenance predominantly outsourced
� 17 million tonnes per annum of coal provided to the power plant.
IPR ownership Sep 1996
Annual Hazelwood Generation
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005
GWh generated
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power6
Hazelwood’s Carbon Reduction Strategy
� Efficiency improvements via:– Minimising process losses.
– Reducing energy used “in-house” (works-power).
– Replace existing plant with new, higher efficiency equipment.
� Change properties of fuel:– Remove moisture from coal prior to combustion (coal drying).
– Co-firing trials with other fuels (e.g.: biomass – availability & cost being important considerations).
� Remove CO2 from process (Hazelwood 2030 Project - Post Combustion Capture (PCC)).
� Other greenhouse reduction initiatives:– Energy Technology Innovation Strategy (ETIS) R&D:
- Post combustion capture, Oxyfuel, Dried brown coal, Boiler optimisation, Advanced gasification, Advanced materials & Phasedarray flaw detection.
– Carbon capture via Bio algae.
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power7
Hazelwood’s Efficiency Improvements
� In excess of $500M has been spent since 1996 (privatisation).
� Reduction in Greenhouse Intensity of greater than 10% achieved.
� Resulting in an abatement of approximately 17Mt of CO2.– HP and IP turbine refurbishments (7 of the 8 Units completed to
date).– Improving Air Heater Performance – additional air heater packs
(Units 3-8) & air heater re-tubing (Units 1&2).– Boiler air sealing improvements - reduction in excess air used for
combustion (Units 1-8).– Condenser & CW improvements (Units 1-8).– HV motor upgrades (Units 1-8).– Boiler on-line cleaning equipment upgrades (Units 1-8). – EDP works power reduction (Units 1-8).– General works power reduction initiatives (Units 1-8).
� Future Technology:– Flue gas waste heat recovery system via a “Boiler Feed Heater” to
be installed after the EDPs.
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power8
Brown Coal Characteristics
12
Lignite (Brown Coal) Comparison
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power9
Coal Drying Technologies
� Many coal drying methods being investigated – all currently experimental.
� RWE’s WTA fluidised bed drying (Hazelwood 2030 Project).
� Issues with burning dried fuel– Fuel <55% moisture will require significant boiler modification.
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power10
Reduction of Air In-Leakage
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power11
New Tubular Air Heater Tubes
Air Heater Re-tubing
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power12
Air Heater Pack
Additional Air Heater Packs
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power13
Higher Efficiency Mill Motors
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power14
Installation of New Boiler On-Line Cleaning Systems
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power15
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power16
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power17
Carbon Capture & Sequestering Process
� “Pilot” CO2 Capture Plant: – Separate 25 tpd CO2 (upgradable to 50 tpd) using amino
acid based technology from a slip stream of flue gas from Unit 8
– Captured CO2 used in refurbished carbonation plant to treat ash water, chemically sequestering CO2 as an inert substance (namely calcium carbonate).
CoolingWater
FlueGas
CalciumCarbonate
Ash WaterEffluent
TreatedEffluent
Vent
To Water Drain
Clarifier
InjectionNozzle
Scrubber
Absorber
Regenerator
RefluxAccumulator
CO2 liquefaction &export package
(future)
CO2 product
Solvent
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power18
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power19
Post Combustion Capture (PCC) - Solvent Plant
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power20
Chemical Sequestering (Calcium Carbonate) of CO2
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power21
Latrobe Valley Post CombustionCarbon Capture Project – ETIS R&D, etc.
� New Solvent Development Research– Laboratory research on next generation solvents at CSIRO and
University of Melbourne(CO2CRC).
� Membrane Research– Laboratory and field research on gas separation and gas absorption
technologies by the University of Melbourne(CO2CRC) using existing and new test rigs.
� Adsorbent Research– Laboratory and field research on solid adsorbents and adsorption
technologies at Monash University(CO2CRC) using existing and newtest rigs (CO2 adsorbed to Zeolites & activated carbons).
� Solvent Testing in 1,000 tpa Test Facility– Testing of a range of commercially available and new solvents at Loy
Yang Power site to obtain operating data and operating experience with brown coal flue gas.
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power22
Latrobe Valley Post CombustionCarbon Capture Project – ETIS R&D, etc.
� Solvent Testing in 25 tpd Demonstration Plant (funded separately – LETDF & ETIS)– Testing of selected commercially available and new solvents at
International Power Hazelwood site to obtain operating data and operating experience with brown coal flue gas (PuraTreat F & Potassium Carbonate).
� Process and Energy Integration Studies– Assessment of PCC process and energy integration options for
Loy Yang A Power station (CSIRO and Loy Yang Power) and for Hazelwood Power Station (CO2CRC and International Power Hazelwood).
� Technical and Economic Assessment Studies– Review of technical and economic viability of commercial use of
PCC for existing and new Victorian brown coal power stations.
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power23
PCC Plants @ Hazelwood
CO2CRCMembrane Plant
CO2CRC Adsorbent Plant
IPR PCC Amino Acid Solvent Plant
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power24
Bio-Algae Pilot Plant Trials
� Bio Fuels Pty Ltd, a Victor Smorgon Group business, are conducting trials in sequestering CO2 from flue gas to grow micro algae using Hazelwood’s facilities.
� The current pilot plant consists of 3 closed reactors to grow the algae. Each of these reactors have a growth area of 50m2.
� Micro algae have much faster growth-rates than other food crops (i.e. 7 to 30 times greater than the next best crop).
� Potential uses for algae – co-firing, biodiesel, ethanol and protein meal (animal feed).
� Current investigations:– Microalgae selection.– Testing of flue gas on different algae species - freshwater & seawater algae.– Testing suitability of water resources.– Measuring productivity of algal growth.– Investigating options for water removal and lipids (oil) extraction from algae.
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power25
Flue Gases
Patented Algal Biotechnology
CleanedGases
Algae have Multiple Potential Uses
Sunlight
Co-Firing
Fermentation
Esterification
Drying
Green Power
Bio-Diesel
Ethanol
Protein Meal
Bio-Algae Process
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power26
Other Environmental Improvements
� Installation of new upgraded Electrostatic Dust Precipitators.
� Ash Thickener (avoiding annual ash pond dredging).
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power27
New Electrostatic Dust Precipitators
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power28
Ash Thickener
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power29
Summary
� Coal will continue to be used for electricity production for theforeseeable future.
� Reducing emissions from existing and new coal based electricity production is important.
� Renewables and other technologies also have a place, but will not displace the need for low emission coal technologies any time soon.
� In addition to the Hazelwood 2030 Project, International Power continues to progress other greenhouse initiatives:– Other coal drying technologies.
– ETIS R&D Program: Post combustion capture, Oxyfuel, Dried brown coal, Boiler optimisation, Advanced gasification, Advanced materials & Phased array flaw detection.
– Carbon capture via Bio micro algae.
Victorian Coal & Energy Conference, 30 & 31 March 2010page International Power30
Thank you – Any Questions?
UNIT 1: THE WONDER OF ELECTRICITY Student Sheet Level 5&6 Name:________________________ Read the following information then correctly label and colour in the turbine generator. Using the basic principles of electricity generation by Michael Faraday, power stations have been able to generate electricity from various fuel sources. Latrobe Valley power stations use brown coal as their main source fuel. This is known as thermal power. When a magnet revolves inside a coil of wire, this energy is transformed into electric energy, and an electric current will flow through the wire. In power stations, a powerful electromagnet (rotor) is mounted on a shaft supported between bearings. This rotates inside a cylindrical iron shell (stator) containing slots through which the conductors are wound. Steam from the boiler is injected onto the turbine blades which then turn the rotor inside the stator and produces electricity.
1. Steam turns turbine blades 3. Turbine blades 2. Steam exits turbine 4. Rotor 5. Stator
GENERATING ELECTRICITY
UNIT 1: THE WONDER OF ELECTRICITY Student sheet Name: VELS: SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY Level 5 and 6 Label the type of circuits and the components from the list in the box below. Experiment creating circuits with different numbers of globes and batteries.
What do you find? Draw the various circuits you created with an explanation of what happened. Complete the questions at the end of this sheet.
circuit circuit
1. Current is the rate of flow of ____________ charge or electrons.
2. A c must be complete for a current to flow .
3. Globes connected in _______ and _______ circuits display differences in voltage and current.
4. In a ________ circuit, there is only one path for the current to flow.
5. Globes connected in ______ circuits have the same brightness, this does not depend on the number of globes in the circuit.
ELECTRIFYNG CONNECTIONS Parallel and Series Circuits
Parallel batteries globes are parallel Series Globes insulated wire battery holder
UNIT 1: THE WONDER OF ELECTRICITY Student sheet Name: CSF KLA: SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY Level 5 and 6 Label the type of circuits and the components from the list in the box below. Experiment creating circuits with different numbers of globes and batteries.
What do you find? Draw the various circuits you created with an explanation of what happened. Complete the questions at the end of this sheet.
circuit circuit
1. Current is the rate of flow of ____________ charge or electrons.
2. A c must be complete for a current to flow .
3. Globes connected in _______ and _______ circuits display differences in voltage and current.
4. In a ________ circuit, there is only one path for the current to flow.
5. Globes connected in ______ circuits have the same brightness, this does not depend on the number of globes in the circuit.
ELECTRIFYNG CONNECTIONS Parallel and Series Circuits
Parallel batteries globes are parallel Series Globes insulated wire battery holder
UNIT 1: THE WONDER OF ELECTRICITY Student Sheet Level 5&6 Name:________________________
ELECTRIFYING CONNECTIONS
Challenge How many different ways can you get the globe to light up? Draw four different ways you made the globe light up.
Draw one way that did not work
Put a tick next to the globes you would expect to light up
To make the globe light up you need to make sure that:
Finish this sentence:
UNIT 1: THE WONDER OF ELECTRICITY VCE PHYSICS 1. Name the three main components of an atom. ___________________ ________________________ ________________________ 2. Complete the following: The ____________ _____ charge of the electron is equal to the magnitude of the positive charge of the proton. These elements are arranged the same generally in all atoms. The protons and the _________________ always form a closely packed group called the nucleus, which has a positive charge due to the protons. Outside the nucleus and a relatively large distance away from it, are the electrons, whose number is ___________ to the number of protons in the nucleus. If the atom is undisturbed and no electrons are removed from the space around the nucleus, the atom remains electrically neutral. If, on the other hand, one or more electrons have been removed, the remaining positively charged structure is called a positive ________. A negative ion is an atom that has gained one or more extra electrons. 3. On the circles below, draw the components of an atom with the neutron, electron and proton in their correct positions.
What is Electricity?
Name:
UNIT 1: THE WONDER OF ELECTRICITY VELS SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY Level VCE What are Amps, Volts and Ohms? (Courtesy How Stuff Works) The three most basic units in electricity are voltage (V), current (I) and resistance (r). Voltage is measured in volts, current is measured in amps and resistance is measured in ohms. A neat analogy to help understand these terms is a system of plumbing pipes. The voltage is equivalent to the water pressure, the current is equivalent to the flow rate, and the resistance is like the pipe size. There is a basic equation in electrical engineering that states how the three terms relate. It says that the current is equal to the voltage divided by the resistance. I = V/r Let's see how this relation applies to the plumbing system. Let's say you have a tank of pressurized water connected to a hose that you are using to water the garden. What happens if you increase the pressure in the tank? You probably can guess that this makes more water come out of the hose. The same is true of an electrical system: Increasing the voltage will make more current flow. Let's say you increase the diameter of the hose and all of the fittings to the tank. You probably guessed that this also makes more water come out of the hose. This is like decreasing the resistance in an electrical system, which increases the current flow. Electrical power is measured in watts. In an electrical system power (P) is equal to the voltage multiplied by the current.
P = VI The water analogy still applies. Take a hose and point it at a waterwheel like the ones that were used to turn grinding stones in watermills. You can increase the power generated by the waterwheel in two ways. If you increase the pressure of the water coming out of the hose, it hits the waterwheel with a lot more force and the wheel turns faster, generating more power. If you increase the flow rate, the waterwheel turns faster because of the weight of the extra water hitting it. In an electrical system, increasing either the current or the voltage will result in higher power. Let's say you have a system with a 6-volt light bulb hooked up to a 6-volt battery. The power output of the light bulb is 100 watts. Using the equation above, we can calculate how much current in amps would be required to get 100 watts out of this 6-volt bulb. You know that P = 100 W, and V = 6 V. So you can rearrange the equation to solve for I and substitute in the numbers.
I = P/V = 100 W / 6 V = 16.66 amps What would happen if you use a 12-volt battery and a 12-volt light bulb to get 100 watts of power?
100 W / 12 V = 8.33 amps So this system produces the same power, but with half the current. There is an advantage that comes from using less current to make the same amount of power. The resistance in electrical wires consumes power, and the power consumed increases as the current going through the wires increases. You can see how this happens by doing a little rearranging of the two equations. What you need is an equation for power in terms of resistance and current. Let's rearrange the first equation:
ELECTRIFYNG CONNECTIONS
UNIT 1: THE WONDER OF ELECTRICITY VELS SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY Level VCE
I = V / R can be restated as V = I R Now you can substitute the equation for V into the other equation:
P = V I substituting for V we get P = IR I, or P = I2R What this equation tells you is that the power consumed by the wires increases if the resistance of the wires increases (for instance, if the wires get smaller or are made of a less conductive material). But it increases dramatically if the current going through the wires increases. So using a higher voltage to reduce the current can make electrical systems more efficient. The efficiency of electric motors also improves at higher voltages. This improvement in efficiency is what is driving the automobile industry to adopt a higher voltage standard. Carmakers are moving toward a 42-volt electrical system from the current 12-volt electrical systems. The electrical demand on cars has been steadily increasing since the first cars were made. The first cars didn't even have electrical headlights; they used oil lanterns. Today cars have thousands of electrical circuits, and future cars will demand even more power. The change to 42 volts will help cars meet the greater electrical demand placed on them without having to increase the size of wires and generators to handle the greater current.
ELECTRIFYNG CONNECTIONS
UNIT 1: THE WONDER OF ELECTRICITY VElS: SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY Level 5 and 6 Aim: Describe the effect of electronic and electrical components in the operation of electronic and electromagnetic devices.
Learning outcomes: 1. Identify a range of common electronic components. 2. Correctly write and interpret circuit symbols for electronic components. 3. Describe the functioning of circuits and simple electronic systems. 4. Connect components into a functioning electrical circuit following a circuit diagram. 5. Describe the operation of an electromagnet and simple electromagnetic devices.
Background information A circuit is a complete pathway for the flow of charge. Voltage is the amount of electric energy available to move charge around the circuit. Current is the flow of charge around a circuit. Resistance is opposition to the flow of charge through a circuit.
Have a variety of circuits and individual components available for students to examine and use to label with the component labelling activity sheet.
Students can place the individual components onto the correct term on the master
electronic symbols sheet. Student activities Revise the names of circuit components and complete the component labelling student
sheet Students can construct a given series circuit, for example:
Students should name the components from the circuit diagram and describe their
function. Alternatively, students are given a made-up circuit (or picture of one) and are required
to draw the circuit diagram. Can they name the symbols used?
CLEVER CIRCUITS
Power supply
Electronic Symbols 2 Student sheet
Correctly label the components
Name:
Electronic Symbols 2
Motor Operational amplifier Loudspeaker Buzzer Semiconductor diode
PNP transistor NPN transistor Photodiode Light emitting diode Light dependent resistor
UNIT 1: THE WONDER OF ELECTRICITY Student sheet VCE Physics
Build your own electric motor!
MAGNETIC FIELDS
Name
1. Sharpen both ends of a 12cm pencil. 2. Drill a hole through the pencil from one flat side
to the other near the centre. 3. Screw in the two screws, one from each side
symmetrically. 4. Snip about 3mm off the points of 4 staples and
tack them in pairs part way into the pencil, two on each side (Fig. A)
5. Punch a small hole near one end of the aluminium strips (A) and tap a small dimple into the other end (Fig.B). Bend each strip at a right angle at about 1cm from the end with a hole.
6. Tack the strips 12cm apart so that the pencil spins freely between the 2 dimples. Adjust the balance by turning the screws in or out (Fig.C)
7. From 350 cm of wire, wrap about 100 turns onto each screw always winding in the same direction. Leave about 4cm leads on each end.
8. Pass the cleaned ends of the leads under the corresponding staples. (Solder wires to staples).
9. Bend the 2 large nails at right angles, about 2cm from their heads. Tap them into previously made holes in the block positioning them so the screws will just miss them. (Fig.D).
10. Cut 200cm lengths of wire and wind about 120 turns onto the horizontal segment of each nail leaving about 10cm leads.
11. Scape and solder one lead from one nail to the lead from the other, in such a way that the direction of the current is the same around both coils. (Fig.E)
12. Bend each of the aluminium strips (B) in a right angle, about 1cm from the end. Mount them on the block so that the vertical portions brush against the staples as the pencil rotates (Fig.F).
13. Clean and solder the remaining leads to each of the “brushes”.Conveniently place the 2 small nails on the block as terminal posts to connect to the battery. Solder a short piece of wire from each brush to the nearest terminal (Fig.G).
14. Install the pencil rotor between the aluminium supports and connect the battery!
Materials: wooden block (2cm x 15cm x20cm) 2 strips of aluminium (can) A (1.5cm x 5cm) 2 strips of aluminium (can) B (4mm x 6cm ) 1 cm round head 6-32 machine screws 7.5m enamel-coated wire (No: 26-30) 2 9cm nails 2 5cm nails staples 4 tacks 6V battery
UNIT 1: THE WONDER OF ELECTRICITY Student sheet Magnetic flux lines of magnetism Label each example:
MAGNETIC FIELDS
Name
UNIT 1: THE WONDER OF ELECTRICITY Student sheet VCE Physics Review questions 1.Define the terms: (a) Magnetic field (b) Line of magnetic flux 2. Sketch the field lines around the arrangements of magnets below 3. Three different matchboxes contain a piece of iron, a magnet and a piece of copper. How could you determine which is which using a bar magnet and without opening the boxes?
MAGNETIC FIELDS Name
UNIT 1: THE WONDER OF ELECTRICITY VCE PHYSICS Learning outcomes: Describe, using diagrams, the magnetic field in various magnetic configurations. Background information Magnets have a very strong effect on ferromagnetic materials placed in the space
around them. Magnets repel or attract each other without actually touching. This area of effect
surrounding a magnet is called a magnetic field. A magnetic field can be represented diagrammatically by lines called called lines
of magnetic flux. These lines represent the magnetic field around the magnetic object. The stronger the magnetic field the closer the lines are together.
They are drawn with arrows on them showing the direction of the force a north pole would experience if placed at that point. This means that the arrows always point away from north poles and towards south poles.
Student activities 1. Obtain two bar magnets, a sheet of paper and some gladwrap. 2. Wrap both bar magnets separately in the gladwrap (to prevent iron filings getting
onto the magnets) 3. Place one magnet in the centre of the sheet of paper and carefully sprinkle the
iron filings around the magnet. If at first you don’t see anything gently tap the edge of the piece of paper. You should see a pattern emerge. Sketch the pattern.
4. Place both magnets north pole to north pole (with a gap of about 1cm between them) and repeat the sprinkling of the iron filings. Sketch the pattern that emerges.
5. Repeat again, this time with a north pole facing a south pole. Once again sketch the pattern.
Questions: 1. What does the pattern around the single bar magnet suggest? 2. Do the patterns that emerge tell us anything about whether there is an attraction
or repulsion between the poles?
MAGNETIC FIELDS
UNIT 1: THE WONDER OF ELECTRICITY Magnetic flux lines of magnetism
MAGNETIC FIELDS
UNIT 2: COOL COAL VELS: Earth Sciences Level 5 & 6 Learning outcomes: Describe the formation, composition and cycling of rocks Relate the properties of rocks to the ways in which they are used Background information Our story of thermal power generation from brown coal starts around 50 million
years ago (on the geological time scale the Early Tertiary Period) in the hot and humid forests that covered the floor of the Latrobe Valley. Huge trees grew in this flat, swampy land. Leaves, seeds and branches fell into the swamp and began to decay. When the plants died they too sank into the swamp.
Clays, sands and gravels were washed in from the surrounding hills to cover the
layer of decaying plants. The forests grew again, the plants died, decayed and were covered. Over millions of years, this cycle repeated and thick layers of decaying plant remains were built up.
The weight of overlying material pressed down and compressed the layers of
decaying vegetation (plant remains) squeezing out some of the water and making the material harder. Over time, these layers of plant material have formed into layers of brown coal.
Time, temperature and pressure conditions convert the water-logged plant
remains (or peat) into brown coal. (Higher temperatures and pressures, and a longer time are required to convert the material into black coal.)
It is estimated that to form a one metre thick layer of brown coal it may have
taken from one thousand (1000) to four and a half thousand (4500) years. Brown coal is like a soft rock that was formed from once living things. Another
name for brown coal is lignite. Coal is called a fossil fuel because it is made of the remains of plant material. Energy from the sun was converted by the plants into chemical energy and this energy is now stored in the brown coal.
The Latrobe Valley is world famous. Here the seams of coal are very thick, from
60-170 metres, and total up to 770 metres deep. The large area of coal extends for 60 kilometres in length and apprixmately 20 kilometres in width. This is the largest single deposit of brown coal in the world.
FORMATION OF COAL Websites: www.powerworks.com.au (Education – Coal) www.vicmins.com.au www.agso.gov.au/renewable/ (On-line mapping
Student activities: Discuss how coal is formed and students can collect various plants from around
the schoolyard and place them in layers with a heavy weight on top to simulate the coalification process. Check the layers in a few weeks time to note any changes.
Students can colour fine sand black, brown and white then pour into a jar in layers with the black sand on the bottom then varying layers of brown and white to signify the ageing process and formation of black and brown coal. The white layers represent sediment deposits.
Students can complete the following “Formation of Coal”, “What is Available?”-(Geologists’ Dilemma Game) “Mapping Victoria’s Power Producers activity sheets.
UNIT 2: COOL COAL VELS: Earth Sciences Level: 3 & 4 Fill in the following table. Use an atlas to locate each of the power generators
listed in the table. Mark each of the power generators on the map. Circle the main thermal power generators in the Latrobe Valley
Power station Location Energy Source
Loy Yang Power 165 km east of Melbourne Brown Coal Kiewa Near Falls Creek
International Power Loy Yang B 165 km east of Melbourne Eildon North east of Melbourne Hydro
Jeeralang 16 km south of Morwell International Power-Hazelwood 135 km east of Melbourne
Newport 6 km south west of Melbourne Energy Brix 135 km east of Melbourne
Rubicon 100 km north east of Melbourne Anglesea (Alcoa) 95 km south west of Melbourne
Cairn Curran 120 km north west of Melbourne Dartmouth 260 km north east of Melbourne
TRUenergy Yallourn 130 km east of Melbourne
LOCATING VICTORIA’S POWER PRODUCERS
Student sheet Name:____________________
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au www.vicmins.com.au www.agso.gov.au
Background information:
In Victoria, coal was deposited 15 to 50 million years ago during the Tertiary Period. In the waterlogged environment of this period, plants and tree debris accumulated. As the layer of debris increased in thickness, the floors of these vast swamps subsided slowly and fungi and bacteria decomposed the plant material. This is the first stage in the "coalification" process and is characterised by extensive biochemical reactions.
During degradation of dead plant material, proteins, starches and cellulose
undergo more rapid decomposition than the woody material (lignin) and the waxy parts of the plants (the leaf cuticles and the spore and pollen walls). Thus the remains of many types of vegetation, including tree stumps, leaves, spores, seedpods, and resin are found in Victoria's brown coal. Some of the material is similar to existing vegetation but, in general, most of the plants have not grown in Victoria for millions of years.
To varying degrees, and depending upon climatic conditions, plant
constituents are decomposed under aerobic conditions to carbon dioxide, water and ammonia. This process is called "humification" and results in the formation of peat. This peat becomes covered with layers of sediment, which excludes air, and hence the second stage of coalification occurs under anaerobic conditions. In this second stage of the process the combined effects of time, temperature and pressure convert the peat firstly into brown coal (lignite) and then into sub-bituminous coal, bituminous coal and finally to anthracite. These three latter coals are usually called black coals.
It is estimated that the formation of one metre thickness of coal may have
taken from 1000 to 4500 years to occur. Thus a seam 200 metres thick could have taken up to one million years to accumulate and form. Variations in the botanical community, in the depth and nature of the swamp water and in the conditions of decomposition of plant material during this period result in the formation of coals with different characteristics. These lithotypes can often be seen as distinct bands of different colour and texture on exposed faces of the LaTrobe Valley open cuts.
UNIT 2: COOL COAL VCE SCIENCE
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au (Education - Chemistry www.ciw.edu/akir/seminar/tectonics
COAL FORMATION CHEMISTRY OF COAL
Coalification: From this coalification sequence comes the concept
of coal "rank" which is the measure of the degree of coalification or maturation. Under mildest conditions the lowest rank coal, brown coal, would be formed. At higher temperatures and pressures, given sufficient time, bituminous coal and eventually anthracite would be formed.
This transition from peat to anthracite is
characterised by a number of chemical changes: The disappearance of cellulose. Decreasing proportions of hydrogen and oxygen. Increasing proportion of carbon and greater
proportion of carbon atoms bonded into benzene ring structure (aromatic carbon).
Decreasing proportion of volatile matter. (This is the
material removed when the coal is heated at a temperature >700°C in an inert atmosphere. It includes hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.)
Peat Brown Coal
Sub-bituminous Coal
Bituminous Coal
Anthracite
% H2O
75-80
50-70
25-30
5-10
2-5
Dry Basis
%C
50-60
60-75
75-80
80-90
90-95
%H 5-6 5-6 5-6 4-5 2-3
%O 35-40 20-30 15-20 10-15 2-3
% Volatile Matter
60-65 45-55 40-45 20-40 4-7
UNIT 2: COOL COAL VCE SCIENCE
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au (Education - Chemistry www.ciw.edu/akir/seminar/tectonics
COAL FORMATION CHEMISTRY OF COAL
Name: ________ Name: Questions: 1. During which Period was coal deposited? How long ago did this Period exist? 2. During degradation of dead plant material, which chemical structures undergo
more rapid decomposition than the woody material (lignin)? 3. Describe the process of humification and its’ end product. 4. Which three conditions must be present for brown coal to form from peat? 5. Complete the following table:
Peat Brown Coal
Sub-bituminous Coal
Bituminous Coal
Anthracite
% H2O
75-80
50-70
25-30
Dry Basis
%C
60-75
80-90
%H 5-6 5-6 4-5
%O 20-30 15-20 2-3
% Volatile Matter
40-45 4-7
UNIT 2: COOL COAL VCE SCIENCE
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au (Education - Chemistry www.ciw.edu/akir/seminar/tectonics
COAL FORMATION CHEMISTRY OF COAL
Student sheet
Background information:
In Victoria, coal was deposited 15 to 50 million years ago during the Tertiary Period. In the waterlogged environment of this period, plants and tree debris accumulated. As the layer of debris increased in thickness, the floors of these vast swamps subsided slowly and fungi and bacteria decomposed the plant material. This is the first stage in the "coalification" process and is characterised by extensive biochemical reactions.
During degradation of dead plant material, proteins, starches and cellulose
undergo more rapid decomposition than the woody material (lignin) and the waxy parts of the plants (the leaf cuticles and the spore and pollen walls). Thus the remains of many types of vegetation, including tree stumps, leaves, spores, seedpods, and resin are found in Victoria's brown coal. Some of the material is similar to existing vegetation but, in general, most of the plants have not grown in Victoria for millions of years.
To varying degrees, and depending upon climatic conditions, plant
constituents are decomposed under aerobic conditions to carbon dioxide, water and ammonia. This process is called "humification" and results in the formation of peat. This peat becomes covered with layers of sediment, which excludes air, and hence the second stage of coalification occurs under anaerobic conditions. In this second stage of the process the combined effects of time, temperature and pressure convert the peat firstly into brown coal (lignite) and then into sub-bituminous coal, bituminous coal and finally to anthracite. These three latter coals are usually called black coals.
UNIT 2: COOL COAL VCE SCIENCE
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au (Education - Chemistry www.ciw.edu/akir/seminar/tectonics
COAL FORMATION CHEMISTRY OF COAL
Coalification: From this coalification sequence comes the concept
of coal "rank" which is the measure of the degree of coalification or maturation. Under mildest conditions the lowest rank coal, brown coal, would be formed. At higher temperatures and pressures, given sufficient time, bituminous coal and eventually anthracite would be formed.
This transition from peat to anthracite is
characterised by a number of chemical changes: The disappearance of cellulose. Decreasing proportions of hydrogen and oxygen. Increasing proportion of carbon and greater
proportion of carbon atoms bonded into benzene ring structure (aromatic carbon).
Decreasing proportion of volatile matter. (This is the
material removed when the coal is heated at a temperature >700°C in an inert atmosphere. It includes hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.)
Peat Brown
Coal Sub-bituminous Coal
Bituminous Coal
Anthracite
% H2O
75-80
50-70
25-30
5-10
2-5
Dry Basis
%C
50-60
60-75
75-80
80-90
90-95
%H 5-6 5-6 5-6 4-5 2-3
%O 35-40 20-30 15-20 10-15 2-3
% Volatile Matter
60-65 45-55 40-45 20-40 4-7
UNIT 2: COOL COAL VCE SCIENCE
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au (Education - Chemistry www.ciw.edu/akir/seminar/tectonics
COAL FORMATION CHEMISTRY OF COAL
Background information: Coal is a fossil fuel formed by the decomposition of land plant remains that have
accumulated in swampy areas. Land plants first appeared in the Silurian Period 4000 million years ago but it was
not until the Carboniferous Period of 300 million years ago that these plants developed sufficiently to form the forests which produced the major coal deposits of the Northern Hemisphere.
In Australia, which was then part of a great land mass called Gondwana
(picture,below ), coal formation occurred much later, in the Permian Period, 250 million years ago. This applies to the large deposits in Queensland and New South Wales.
In Victoria, the coals are much younger; being deposited 15 to 50 million years
ago during the Tertiary Period.
COAL FORMATION
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au (Education - Chemistry www.ciw.edu/akir/seminar/tectonics
UNIT 2: COOL COAL VCE GEOGRAPHY
10 Background information: There are eight large continental plates on the Earth: the African, Antarctic, Eurasian, Indian-Australian, Nazca, North American, Pacific, and South American plates. The plates are rigid and deformation occurs at plate boundaries only. The plates move about 5-10 cm per year and have moved all over the surface of the Earth ever since their formation. Below is a figure showing the positions of the continents over the last 225 million years.
PRESENT DAY
CRETACEOUS 65 million years ago
JURASSIC 135 million years ago
PERMIAN 225 million years ago
TRIASSIC 200million years ago
UNIT 2: COOL COAL VCE GEOGRAPHY
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au(Education – Chemistry-Formationof Coal)www.ciw.edu/akir/seminar/tectonics
TECTONIC CONTINENTS FORMATION
Student activities: Name each of the continents with their current names Colour in with different colours Cut out the individual continents and rearrange them as they occur today
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au (Education - Chemistry www.ciw.edu/akir/seminar/tectonics
PRESENT DAY
There are eight large continental plates on the Earth: the African, Antarctic, Eurasian, Indian-Australian, Nazca, North American, Pacific, and South American plates. The plates are rigid and deformation occurs at plate boundaries only. The plates move about 5-10 cm per year and have moved all over the surface of the Earth ever since their formation. Below is a figure showing the positions of the continents over the last 225 million years.
UNIT 2: COOL COAL VCE Earth Sciences
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au(Education – Chemistry-Formationof Coal)www.ciw.edu/akir/seminar/tectonics
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au (Education - Geology www.ciw.edu/akir/seminar/tectonics TECTONIC CONTINENTS FORMATION
UNIT 2: COOL COAL VCE : GEOLOGY OF COAL Background information: Coal is a "fossil fuel" formed by the decomposition of land plants' that have accumulated in swampy or low-lying areas. Land plants first appeared over 4000 million years ago during the Silurian Period. Although it was not until the Carboniferous Period of 300 million years ago, when plants developed sufficiently to produce major forests, that the continual build-up of decaying plants had begun the first step towards becoming coal. In swampy areas the plant and tree debris gathered, as each new layer of dead and dying plants increased in thickness, these vast swamps slowly sank. "Humification" or the rapid decaying of the plant material results in the formation of "peat". The peat becomes covered with new sediment layers, the lack of air reaching the peat starts the second step of the "coalification" process, the combined effects of time, temperature and pressure convert the peat into brown coal, then sub-bituminous coal, bituminous coal and finally anthracite. The last three coals in the process are usually called black coal.
Our coalfields are much younger than the first coal fields of the Northern Hemisphere. The coal mined for power generation in Victoria is brown coal, in which the process of coalification began 45 million years ago.
FORMATION OF COAL
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au (Education – Coal) www.vicmins.com.au
500 million years ago the LaTrobe Valley was covered by a deep sea. The seabed was covered by slimy mud, the mud was compacted to become slate and mudstone, this process took 100 million years.
UNIT 2: COOL COAL VCE : GEOLOGY Background information: 350 million years ago the area was lifted and molten rock rose from deep in the Earth's crust. When it cooled the molten rock became an Intrusive Igneous rock called Granodiorite. Glaciers swept across the LaTrobe Valley around 230 million years ago, flattening and eroding the landscape. The much harder rock Granodiorite was exposed at the surface. Weather easily eroded the softer rocks, shale and mudstone, while the Granodiorite remained intact and is now known as the Baw Baw Plateau. 60 million years ago cracks called faults formed in the Earth's crust. The LaTrobe Valley was formed by rock settling between the faults. The LaTrobe Valley naturally became a swampy place, because the streams from the surrounding hills flowed into the area. This was an excellent area for vegetation, which began the first step of the coalification process. But not all of the coal in the LaTrobe Valley is the same age. The faults allowed blocks of land to drop a long way and the swamps became lakes with sand and mud accumulating on the bottom. Different areas of the swamp grew different vegetation this eventually produced various types of coal, all within the same coal seam. This process continued over a period of 45 million years.
FORMATION OF COAL Websites: www.powerworks.com.au (Education – Coal) www.vicmins.com.au
Age of Coal Seams Driving past the mines in the LaTrobe Valley, you will notice the different depths of each individual mine. The depth of the open cuts gives a good indication of the coal age being mined. The coal seam ages: The Yallourn seam is approximately 7 million years old The Morwell 1 seam is approximately 10 million years old The Morwell 2 seam is approximately 25 million years old The Traralgon South / /Loy Yang seam is approximately 45 million years old
UNIT 3: MINES and POWER STATIONS
VELS: TECHNOLOGY Level 5&6 Aim: For students to gain an understanding of how transmission lines operate Learning outcomes: Explain the relationship between the inputs, processes and outputs of simple
systems Plan, construct and modify simple systems and report on their performance Background information: Around the Latrobe Valley and all the way to Melbourne are a series of large pylons and transmission lines. The transmission lines carry electricity to every part of Victoria. When it gets to cities where people live it is then sent out in different cables to our homes so that we can use it to cook our food, heat our homes, watch TV, play video games and do all those things that we need electricity for. These transmission lines also connect together the electricity supply of the states of South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and The Australian Capital Territory. This allows these states to share their electricity with each other so that if one state has too much electricity, a state that does not have enough does not have to waste money building a new power station but can buy the electricity it needs from the other state. This electricity connection of the states is called the National Grid. This National Grid will soon connect Tasmania and Queensland to all the other states. The transmission line to connect Victoria and Tasmania is called “Basslink” and will be a cable buried beneath the sea of Bass Strait. Western Australia is not part of this grid because it is too far away and it would cost too much to build the transmission line. To send the electricity along these transmission lines we need a lot of electrical pressure. This is called voltage. After the electricity is generated it is sent to a transformer, which changes the voltage to five hundred thousand volts. It is then sent along the lines at this voltage to the cities. By doing this we do not lose much electricity on the way. In the cities other transformers change it to two hundred and forty volts, which we can use in our homes. The cables, or conductors, used in the transmission lines used to be made of copper. Copper is heavy and also expensive so now these cables are made of aluminium. Electricity flows easily in aluminium. Another way of saying this is to say Aluminium is a good conductor of electricity. Because these cables are not buried in the ground we do not have to worry about putting insulation around them to stop the electricity flowing into other things such as water in the ground or the ground itself. But because we are hanging them from the pylons we have to have a way of attaching them to the pylon so that the electricity does not flow into the pylon and down to the ground. If this happened we would have no electricity in our homes. We use large things called insulators made out of porcelain which is the same material your bathroom basin is made of. An insulator is something that electricity cannot pass through.
POWERFUL STATIONS TRANSMISSION CABLES
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au www.vicmins.com.au
UNIT 3: MINES and POWER STATIONS
CSF KLA: TECHNOLOGY Level 3&4 One very important factor in sending electricity along a transmission line is the electrical resistance of the cable. Resistance is a measure of how much the cable will try to stop the electricity. If a cable has a high resistance we will lose a lot of our electricity as it is changed to heat inside the cable. You can see how this happens in a bar radiator. The heating coil has a high resistance and as the electricity passes through it the coil gets red hot and gives off the electrical energy that has been changed to heat inside the coil We use special meters to measure resistance. The unit of measurement is the “ohm” (spelt o..h..m) The more ohms, the greater the resistance. Student activities: Students can answer the questions on the student sheet then construct their own
working model of transmission cables and pylons using batteries, globes and wires to light a globe some distance from the “power station” ( the battery)
Students can enlarge upon this theme by constructing a model power station and mine within a city and connecting the houses via “power lines”. Houses and streets could be lit with small globes using a transformer connected to a mains supply. A model train transformer would be ideal.
POWERFUL STATIONS TRANSMISSION CABLES
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au www.vicmins.com.au
Student sheet Level 5&6 UNIT 3: MINES and POWER STATIONS
Answer the following questions then build your own model of a dredger! - What is the length and height of a large dredger? - Name the famous sporting ground which the dredgers cannot fit in to. - How much electricity is required to power the dredgers? - To build a small dredger costs roughly 100 million dollars while the larger dredgers
cost about 180 million dollars. A mine has one small and three large dredgers operating in it. What is the total cost of the four dredgers combined?
- If a dredger digs approximately 3,700 cubic metres of coal per hour, how long does it
take to dig 1 cubic metre? Work out how many cubic metres are excavated in a 24 hour period.
- A dredger has between ___ and ___ buckets on the bucketwheel. - Why does every second bucket have no bottom? - The bucketwheel on a dredger is approximately __ metres high - How many hours per day do the dredgers operate? - Describe in several sentences how a dredger operates
THE MINING PROCESS DREDGERS
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au www.vicmins.com.au
Name:_________________________
UNIT 3: MINES and POWER STATIONS VELS: TECHNOLOGY Level 5&6 Aim: For students to gain an understanding of how transformers operate Learning outcomes: Explain the relationship between the inputs, processes and outputs of simple
systems Plan, construct and modify simple systems and report on their performance Background information: In switch yards near the power stations, the electricity produced by the generators passes through a series of transformers which produce the very high voltages required for long distance transmission from the Latrobe Valley to the major load centres. High voltages (with low current) are used to reduce energy loss, mainly in the form of heat, that occurs in the transmission lines. Transformers can change the voltage of an alternating current. In 1831 Faraday designed the first transformer. A transformer consists of two linked electromagnets. The incoming current travels through the wire turns of the first coil. This passage of current in the first coil induces a current in the second coil. The voltage is altered according to the number of turns in the two coils. A transformer that increases voltage is known as a step-up transformer. For example, if the second coil has twice as many turns as the first coil, the voltage is doubled. The generators at Edison Mission Energy produce 20,000 volts or 20 kV (kilo meaning 1 thousand ). The generators feed current into the first coil of a series of transformers. The voltage is increased by each of the transformers until it has been stepped up to the transmission voltage. For example, for transmission at 500kV the voltage has been increased to 25 times the generated voltage. A transformer that decreases voltage is known as a step-down transformer. For example, if the second coil of a transformer has half as many turns as the first coil, then the voltage is halved. Before electrical power is used in the city it passes through a series of step-down transformers so that the output voltage is lowered. The voltage is reduced in steps to a level where it can be used in industries requiring 10 000 volts and further reduced, in local substations, to 240 volts for use in our homes. Student activities: Students can answer the questions on the student sheet and then construct their
own working model using a transformer taken from a small appliance eg . a radio, model car etc.
POWER STATIONS TRANSFORMERS
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au www.vicmins.com.au
Student sheet Level 5&6 UNIT 3: MINES and POWER STATIONS
THE MINING PROCESS DREDGERS
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au www.vicmins.com.au
Name:_________________________
* Use the diagram below to help you build your own model of a dredger
Student sheet Level 5&6 UNIT 3: MINES and POWER STATIONS
Answer the following questions then build your own working model using a
transformer from a small appliance e.g radio, kitchen mixer. 1. Transformers are used to: (a) Change voltage, (b) Change current, (c) Change electricity. 2. Before transmission, the generated voltage is: (a) Stepped down, (b) Stepped up, (c) Left the same. 3. After transmission, before use in homes, the voltage is: (a) Stepped down, (b) Stepped up, (c) Left the same. 4. How is voltage increased in a transformer? (a) By doubling the amount of coils (b) By reducing the amount of coils (c) By increasing the amount of electricity in the transformer 5. Why do we need transformers? (a) To increase the voltage of electricity for transmission over large distances (b) To decrease the voltage of electricity for transmission over large distances (c) To increase the voltage of electricity for transmission over large distances and then
to reduce the voltage so it can be used for industrial and household purposes 6. Describe in several sentences how a transformer operates
POWERFUL STATIONS TRANSFORMERS
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au www.vicmins.com.au
Name:_________________________
UNIT 3: MINES and POWER STATIONS VELS: TECHNOLOGY Level 5&6 Aim: For students to gain an understanding of how bucketwheel dredgers operate Learning outcomes: Explain the relationship between the inputs, processes and outputs of simple
systems Plan, construct and modify simple systems and report on their performance Background information Bucketwheel dredgers are used in the three brown coal open cut mines in the Latrobe Valley. They vary in size with the largest measuring nearly 200 metres in length and 50 metres in height or 12 storeys – too long to fit inside the playing field of Melbourne’s MCG. The dredgers are electrically powered by 22000 volts with a very long “power lead” which unrolls from the rear of the dredger as it moves forward. The large dredgers weigh over 4000 tonnes and dig 3700 tonnes of coal or overburden per hour. This equates to over one tonne of coal per second. The bucketwheel drops the mined coal onto an internal conveyor belt which runs the length of the dredger. At the rear of the dredger, the coal is then dropped onto the main conveyor system which carries the coal from the mine up to the raw coal bunker which is situated next to the power station. The bucketwheel on the larger dredgers is 14 metres high and at Loy Yang, have 12 buckets per wheel. International Power Hazelwood and Yallourn Energy bucketwheels contain 10 buckets. Each bucket can hold approximately 1.3 tonnes of coal or overburden and you could fit a small car nose down in one of them! The replacement cost of a dredger is approximately 180 million dollars and the age of the dredgers used in the mines varies from 20 years to 40 years old. It is estimated that the dredgers in use today have will continue to operate for the life of the mines. At TRU energy Yallourn, several older dredgers have been replaced by bulldozers which push the coal down the coal face onto a wide receiving platform where it is then transported by conveyor belt to the coal bunker. Student activities: Students can answer the questions on the student sheet and then construct their
own dredger model using lego technic or materials of their own choice. Students can use a scale system to simulate the length of a dredger in the school
yard or oval using fishing line or string. They could use a scale of 1 metre equals 1 kilometre to represent the length of a dredger.
THE MINING PROCESS DREDGERS
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au www.vicmins.com.au
UNIT 3: MINES and POWER STATIONS CSF KLA: TECHNOLOGY / MATHS Level 5&6 Aim: For students to gain an understanding of how open cut mine conveyor belt
systems operate Learning outcomes: Explain the relationship between the inputs, processes and outputs of simple
systems Plan, construct and modify simple systems and report on their performance Use written methods to multiply and divide whole numbers
Background information: Endless conveyor belts are used to transport the coal from the mine up to the raw coal bunker. They also transport overburden to the overburden dump. At Loy Yang mine for example, there are over 27 kilometres of conveyor belts. The conveyor belts are made from thick rubber and are 2 metres wide. Large electric motors are used to drive the belts; approximately 4 of these are used to drive a 3km stretch of belt. Idlers support the belting. There are two types: Returners which are used every 8 metres and Troughers which are placed every 1 metre. The conveyor belts travel at a rate of 5 metres per second. When the dredger moves to a new section of the mine, the conveyor belts have to be moved as well. This is done by large bulldozers pushing the belt systems in a line to their new position. Student activities: Students can answer the questions on the student sheet and then construct their
own conveyor system model using lego technic or materials of their own choice. Students can use a scale system to simulate a conveyor belt system in the
school yard or oval using fishing line or string. They could use a scale of 1 metre equals 1 kilometre to represent the length of the conveyor system in the different mines.
THE MINING PROCESS CONVEYOR BELTS
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au www.vicmins.com.au
UNIT 3: MINES and POWER STATIONS VELS: TECHNOLOGY Level 5&6 Complete the following questions in sentences then construct your own
boiler unit using lego, or a shoe box for the outside of the boiler. Cut up drinking straws make ideal water “tubes” to line the inside of your boiler.
Questions 1. Brown coal is dried, crushed and burnt to produce heat to: (a) Produce electricity (b) Produce steam, (c) Produce gas. 2. Power station boilers produce: (a) Low pressure steam, (b) High pressure steam, (c) High pressure superheated steam. 3. Steam in the boilers is heated to: (a) 100 C (b) 540 C (c) 2000 C
POWER STATIONS BOILERS
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au www.vicmins.com.au
Student sheet Name:_______________________
UNIT 3: MINES and POWER STATIONS VELS: TECHNOLOGY Level 5&6 Construct your own turbine model using lego,technic or materials of your own choice Small dowel rod could be used for the rotor shaft with cut up soft drink cans forming the blades A hairdryer could be used to simulate the steam to turn the turbine blades or use an actual jug of boiling water to direct the steam
through a small aperture on to the “blades” of your turbine. Be careful!
POWER STATIONS STEAM TURBINES
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au www.vicmins.com.au
Student sheet Name:____________________
UNIT 3: MINES and POWER STATIONS VELS: TECHNOLOGY Level 5&6 Aim: For students to gain an understanding of how steam turbines operate Learning outcomes: Explain the relationship between the inputs, processes and outputs of simple
systems Plan, construct and modify simple systems and report on their performance Background information: High pressure superheated steam from the boilers is used to drive the turbines. A turbine is a machine in which the energy of the steam is converted into the kinetic (movement) energy of the turbine shaft. A turbine consists of a central shaft, or rotor, set horizontally inside a cylinder. Set around the rotor are a large number of angled blades, like the blades on a fan. High pressure superheated steam, from the boiler, is shot into the cylinder through nozzles. The steam first strikes the blades and causes the shaft to rotate (or spin). Also when the steam enters the cylinder it expands. As the steam expands it is directed over more blades on the turbine shaft and further causes the shaft to rotate. Generators are machines that transform or change the mechanical energy, produced by the spinning turbine shaft, into electrical energy. The movement produced by the turbines is used to spin the powerful electromagnets at high speed inside fixed coils of wire wound inside a large cylinder (called the stator). This movement of a magnetic field inside the stator produces an electrical current in the fixed wire. Thus converting mechanical energy to electrical energy. To produce electricity in commercial quantities, the generator typically runs at a speed of 3000 rpm (revolutions per minute) and produces a current at 50 cycles per second. Basically electricity generation consists of a magnet spinning inside a group of wire coils. A simple analogy is laying a windmill in a horizontal position and comparing the wind pushing the vanes to steam turning the turbine blades as a power source. Also when the steam enters the cylinder it expands. As the steam expands it is directed over more blades on the turbine shaft and further causes the shaft to rotate. In modern thermal power stations the turbines rotate at speeds of 3000 rpm (revolutions per minute). The turning shaft is connected to the generator, and thus spins the generator rotor. Student activities: Students can complete their own turbine generator model using the student sheet as a guide.
POWER STATIONS STEAM TURBINES
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au www.vicmins.com.au
UNIT 4 : OUR ENVIRONMENT Level 5&6 Learning outcomes: Compare how people use environments in Australia Identify ways in which people use a variety of natural and built environments in
Australia Background information What is emissions trading? Emissions trading is a possible solution aimed at reducing industry greenhouse gas emissions throughout the world. The idea started at the Kyoto Conference on climate change held in 1997. How will it work? The government will set the total volume of emission allowances for a given year. Companies that could reduce their emissions could sell the allowance that they had left over. The Australian Greenhouse Office would administer this type of scheme in Australia. It is likely that the local scheme would become part of a global emissions reduction program. Which industries will be affected? The Australian Government’s National Greenhouse Strategy includes standards for power station emissions and vehicle fuel efficiency. The power generation and transport industries will be most directly affected by emissions trading . Industries that are suppliers to, or customers of these sectors will also be affected indirectly. Some examples of these types of industries are: Coal mines and other mineral extractors Oil and gas extraction, transmission and refining Mineral smelters, refiners and metal manufacturers What will be effect? The cost of energy produced by a high emission process will become greater.
This will make power generated from gas and alternative technologies more competitive.
It will be more likely that money will be spent on developing new power generation and vehicle technologies that produce the required output with reduced emissions.
Student activities: Students can research the total volume of emission allowances for a given year
for a number of different countries and map them on the student map sheet. Following this, students can list the differences in total emissions from each
selected country over a five –year period and rank them in order from most to least in emissions.
Gather information on how each country is reducing their total emissions and compare their strategies.
GREENHOUSE EMISSIONS TRADING
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au (Education – Environment) www.greenhouse.gov.au
UNIT 4: ENVIRONMENT Level 5&6 Student Sheet Name:________________________ The earth's atmosphere has several gases which together act like a blanket to keep the earth at a comfortable temperature. If these gases were not there, the earth would be much colder, probably by about 30 degrees Celsius. Because of the fast-growing world population and its needs for more energy-consuming appliances, more cleared land and transport, these gases are increasing in the atmosphere. Scientists around the world are concerned that these increases could warm the earth and change our climate. In Victoria, the warming could mean a warming of temperatures by 2 - 4 degrees Celsius, causing a rise of up to 30 centimetres in sea levels, heavier rainfall, more flash flooding, increased wind speed and more bush fires. These changes could happen gradually by the year 2030, unless we find ways of slowing down the greenhouse effect by controlling the amount of gases released into the atmosphere. What causes the Greenhouse Effect? By burning fossil fuels such as brown coal, black coal, gas and oil in power stations,
industry and transport. The burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide and is to blame for about half of the Greenhouse Effect.
By cutting down too many trees. More trees are needed because they absorb carbon dioxide.
By using aerosol sprays which release chlorofluorocarbons and halons. These two gases also damage the upper ozone layer, causing the ozone hole that appears each Spring over Antartica. Many countries around the world including Australia have banned aerosols that contain chlorofluorocarbons.
By the growing of rice, farming of animals and leakages from natural gas pipes all of which release methane.
WHAT IS THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT?
Websites:www.powerworks.com.au www.greenhouseoffice.gov.au
UNIT 4: OUR ENVIRONMENT VELS: Science Level 5&6 Complete the following table with the correct information
Greenhouse Gas
Source
Present rate of increase
Contribution to the Greenhouse Effect
___________ dioxide
Combustion of __________ fuels – _______, oil and _______ Deforestation : clearing of ______ for farming.
0.5%
___%
Methane
Agricultural activities: release from _______ animals and rotting vegetation in _______ paddies. Releases from _______ mines and Natural _____ leaks.
0.9%
__5%
Chlorofluoro____________
Halons
CFC’s used in r____________ and air conditioning as propellants in aerosol spray ________, in foam products for packaging and in_____________. Halons used in fire ___________________
4%
2__%
_____________ oxide
Fertiliser use. Combustion of ______ fuels Motor ________________ emissions
0.25%
6%
Ozone
Urban smog from ______exhausts, ______ storages and vegetation.
0.3%
GREENHOUSE EFFECT Greenhouse Gases
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au www.greenhouseoffice.gov.au
Student sheet Name:_______________________
UNIT 4: OUR ENVIRONMENT VELS: Science Level 5&6 Most gases that contribute to the Greenhouse effect occur naturally in the Earth’s atmosphere. They are water vapour, carbon
dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone. The levels of carbon dioxide, methane, ozone and nitrous oxide are effected by human activity. In addition. Other greenhouse
gases, chlorofluorocarbons and halons, have been added as a result of their use by humans as refrigerants and propellants
Greenhouse Gas
Source
Present rate of increase
Contribution to the Greenhouse Effect
Carbon dioxide
Combustion of fossil fuels- coal, oil and gas Deforestation- clearing of land for farming
0.5%
55%
Methane
Agricultural activities- release from farm animals and rotting vegetation in rice paddies. Rubbish tips, landfills and wood burning. Releases from coal mines and natural gas leaks
0.9%
15%
Chlorofluorocarbons
Halons
CFC’s used in refrigeration and air conditioning as propellants in aerosol spray cans, in foam products for packaging and in insulation. Halons used in fire extinguishers.
4%
24%
Nitrous oxide
Fertiliser use. Combustion of fossil fuels. Motor vehicle emissions
0.25%
6%
Ozone
Urban smog from car exhausts, oil storages and vegetation.
0.3%
GREENHOUSE EFFECT Greenhouse Gases
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au www.greenhouseoffice.gov.au
Student sheet Name:_______________________
UNIT 4 : OUR ENVIRONMENT VCE Unit 3 – Ecological Issues: Energy and Biodiversity Learning outcomes: Predict the effects of resource development and use on a selected natural and human
environment Describe the likely impact of resource development and use on a natural environment
A Greenhouse Timeline up to Kyoto
1827: French polymath Jean-Baptiste Fourier suggests the existence of an atmospheric effect keeping the Earth warmer than it would otherwise be. He also uses the analogy of a greenhouse 1863: Irish scientist John Tyndall publishes paper describing how water vapour can be a greenhouse gas 1890s: Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius and an American, P.C Chamberlain, independently consider the problems that might be caused by CO2 building up in the atmosphere. Both scientists realise that the burning of fossil fuels could lead to global warming, but neither suspects the process might already have started 1890’s to 1940’s: Average surface temperatures increase by about 0.25C. Some scientists see American dustbowl as a sign of the greenhouse effect at work. 1940 to 1970: Worldwide cooling of 0.2C. Scientific interest in greenhouse effect wanes. Some climatologists predi ct a new ice age 1957: US oceanographer Roger Revelle warns that humans were conducting a “ large-scale geophysical experiment” on the planet by releasing greenhouse gases. Colleague David Keeling sets up first continuous monitoring of CO2 levels in the atmosphere. Immediately Keeling finds regular year-on-year rise 1970s: Series of studies by US Department of energy increase concern about future global warming 1979: First World Climate Conference adopts climate change as a major issue and calls on governments “to foresee and prevent potential man-made changes in climate” 1985: First major international conference on the greenhouse effect, at Villach, Austria, warns that greenhouse gases will “ in the first half of the next century cause a rise of global mean temperature which is greater than in any man’s history”. This could cause sea levels to rise by up to a metre. Conference also warns that gases other than CO2, such as methane, ozone, CFCs and nitrous oxide, will contribute to warming 1987: Warmest year on record. The 1980’s turn out to be the warmest decade, with seven of the eight warmest years up to 1990. The coldest years in the 1980’s were warmer than the warmest years of the 1880’s 1988: Global warming attracts worldwide headlines after scientists at Congressional hearings in Washington DC blame major US drought on its influence. Meeting of climate scientists in Toronto subsequently calls for 20% cuts in global CO2 emissions by year 2005. UN sets up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to analyse and report on scientific findings.
THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT THE KYOTO PROTOCOL
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au (Education – Environment) www.greenhouseoffice.gov.au (Environment Australia) www.unfccc.int/resource (United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change)
UNIT 4 : OUR ENVIRONMENT
A Greenhouse Timeline up to Kyoto
1990: IPCC’s first report finds the planet has warmed by 0.5% in the past century. Warns that only strong measures to halt rising greenhouse gas emissions will prevent serious global warming. Provides scientific clout for UN negotiations for a climate convention. Negotiations begin after December UN General Assembly 1991: Mount Pinatabo erupts in the Philippines throwing debris into the stratosphere that shileds Earth from solar energy and helps interrupt the warming trend. Average temperatures drop for two years before rising again. Scientists point out that this event shows how sensitive global temperatures are to disruption 1992: Climate Change Convention, signed by 155 nations in Rio, agrees to prevent “dangerous” warming from greenhouse gases and sets initial target of pegging emissions from industrial countries to 1990 levels by year 2000 1994: Alliance of Small Island States from all over the world-many of whom fear they will disappear beneath the waves as sea levels – adopt demand for 20% cuts in emissions by the year 2005. This, they say will cap sea-level rise at 20 centimetres 1995: Hottest year yet. In March, first full meeting of convention signatories in Berlin, agrees Berlin Mandate. Industrialised nations agree on the need to negotiate real cuts in their emissions, to be concluded by the end of 1997 In November, the IPCC cast caution to the winds and agrees that current warming is “unlikely to be entirely natural in origin” and that “the balance of evidence suggests a discernable human influence on global climate”. Report predicts that, under a “business as usual” scenario, global warming by the year 2100 will be in the range of 1 degree C to 3.5C 1996: At second meeting of the Climate Change Convention, the US agrees that for the first time to legally binding emissions targets and sides with the IPCC against influential “sceptical” scientists. After four-year pause, global emissions of CO2 resume steep climb. Growing warnings that most industrialised countries will not meet Rio agreement to stabilise emissions at 1990 levels by the year 2000 1997: Republican – dominated US Congress backtracks on Berlin Mandate and states that it will only ratify a new agreement limiting US emissions if developing countries also accept limits. US Administration calls for “flexibility measures” such as emissions trading. Meanwhile European Union agrees to propose 15% cuts for industrialised nations Kyoto Protocol is developed at a conference in Kyoto, Japan in December, 1997. Australia agrees to limit emissions to an 8% increase over 1990 level by 2008 –2012. This is an effective 20% reduction of projected figures at current emissions growth rate. Other developed nations have similar targets. 1998: The Australian government releases its National Greenhouse Strategy in November.
THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT THE KYOTO PROTOCOL
UNIT 4: THE ENVIRONMENT Level 5&6 After completing the tree and plant species table, label the planting locations using arrows, label boxes or map legends of your own
creation. You may like to draw the trees and plants in their different locations using a variety of colours.
REHABILITATION OF SITE MAP
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au www.ea.gov.au (Environment Australia)
Student sheet Name:____________________
Power Station
Mine Area
Overburden Dump
UNIT 4: OUR ENVIRONMENT Level 5&6 Complete the following plant species table then use with the “Rehabilitation of Site Map” student activity Keep in mind the height and width of the trees and plants you list as to where you wish to plant them e.g small plants / shrubs
could be used for screening developing areas where tall trees may be more suitable for providing a cover for disused areas of the mine for instance because of their height
TREE
PLANT
HEIGHT
GROWING CONDITIONS
LOCATION ON SITE
REHABILITATION TREE / PLANT SPECIES LIST
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Student sheet Name:_______________________
UNIT 4: OUR ENVIRONMENT Level 5&6 Select five countries and label each with their total emission allowance
WORLD EMISSIONS TRADING
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au www.greenhouseoffice.gov.au
Student sheet Name:_______________________
UNIT 4 : OUR ENVIRONMENT VCE Unit 3 – Ecological Issues: Energy and Biodiversity Learning outcomes: To identify solutions to the Greenhouse Effect Background Information Possible Solutions: 1. Conserving Energy Burning fossil fuels to produce energy produces carbon dioxide which is a major greenhouse gas. If everyone saves energy by not wasting electricity, gas or fuel for vehicles the amount of greenhouse gases will be reduced. As an example, LaTrobe Valley electricity generators have reduced their carbon dioxide emissions by many millions of tonnes over the past decade. Transport contributes about 15% of Australia’s greenhouse gases. Using more efficient transport such as trams and trains instead of less efficient cars and trucks will save emissions. (Walking or taking a bicycle produces no greenhouse gases.) 2. Alternative electricity technology Victoria already produces some electricity from hydro, solar and wind technology although currently about 85% of its electricity needs come from brown coal generators. These alternative technologies produce less CO’2 than brown coal. Gas fired power generation is more efficient than brown coal fired power generation releasing about half the amount of carbon dioxide for the same power generation. Victoria has two gas fired power plants at Jeeralang in Gippsland and Newport (Melbourne). However brown coal remains the most efficient and cheapest source of electricity.
THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT SOLUTIONS
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au (Education – Environment) www.greenhouseoffice.gov.au (Environment Australia)
UNIT 4 : OUR ENVIRONMENT 3. Tree Planting It is uncertain that this will be a long term solution however the more trees that are planted the better for the environment. Each household would need 350 actively growing trees to absorb the carbon dioxide it produces in a year. To absorb Victoria’s total production of greenhouse gases would require about two billion actively growing trees. 4. Electricity from waste Decaying food produces a lot of methane which is 27 times more damaging to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Methane can be used as a fuel for small power stations built on top of rubbish tips. Victoria has several of these in operation, for example Berwick and Broadmeadows tips. There are many benefits because the methane doesn’t escape to the atmosphere and less fossil fuels need to be burned. Benefits of Waste to Energy Schemes:
The volume of waste that is landfilled can be reduced by up to 90%. Sterilisation of waste is possible. By combining the extraction of energy and useful products from waste with
the recycling of materials, particularly ones that result from energy intensive processes, significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions can be made, particularly carbon dioxide and methane.
Waste which would otherwise have been converted into methane is converted into CO/CO2 instead. A molecule of methane has a global warming potential 21 times that of than carbon dioxide over a 100 year lifetime.
In general, waste products have lower sulphur contents than fossil fuels and therefore produce in less acid rain when used as energy substitutes.
Combustion of organic wastes results in ash which is suitable for use in the agricultural sector as a soil enhancer, reducing the need for phosphate fertilisers and mineral supplements.
Concentration and safe disposal of heavy metals can be achieved. Reduction of dioxin emissions to negligible levels is possible Following combustion or gasification of MSW, less land is required for
landfilling and other disposal methods for the remaining, non-convertible waste.
Use of the waste resource locally reduces the need to purchase fuels for electricity internationally and is therefore not subject to fluctuations in price and currency.
Mineralisation of inorganics in the waste can be converted into inert compounds and production of construction materials
The use of waste materials for the production of energy can alleviate greenhouse emissions from electricity generation, the management of waste and landfill sites and groundwater contamination.
THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT SOLUTIONS
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au (Education – Environment) www.greenhouseoffice.gov.au (Environment Australia)
UNIT 5: Alternative Energy Level 5&6 * Use your discussions to complete this summary table
Energy Source
Advantages
Disadvantages
Hydro
Solar
Gas
Coal
Nuclear
Wind
DIFFERENT ALTERNATIVE ENERGIES
Name:_______________________ Student Card B
UNIT 5: Alternative Energy CSF KLA: SOSE Level 5&6
COAL / GAS
ADVANTAGES Generates large amounts of
electricity Reliable and economical DISADVANTAGES Carbon dioxide emissions Non - renewable
NUCLEAR
ADVANTAGES No greenhouse emissions DISADVANTAGES Non renewable Radioactive wastes Mined in environmentally sensitive
areas
HYDRO ELECTRICITY
ADVANTAGES Clean and renewable DISADVANTAGES Limited locations Flooding of bushland
WIND
ADVANTAGES Clean and renewable DISADVANTAGES Winds are unreliable Visually unappealing May kill or injure birds
SOLAR
ADVANTAGES Clean and renewable DISADVANTAGES Can’t be generated at night Difficult to store Expensive to establish
DIFFERENT ALTERNATIVE ENERGIES
Name:_______________________ Student Card A
UNIT 5: Alternative Energy VELS: SCIENCE Level 5&6 Learning outcomes: Identify and describe the history of solar energy and how it is used to meet particular
needs Explain how people’s use of natural and human environments changes over time Background information Early civilisations used the sun to dry clothes and animal skins, preserve meat, dry crops and to evaporate sea water to produce salt. Around 500 B.C. a firewood shortage led the ancient Greeks to use the winter sun to heat their homes. By facing openings towards the equator, winter sun could be allowed to penetrate into the building while the summer sun, which moved high in the sky, could be kept out by simple shading. The sun’s energy was stored in heavy building materials and window shutters were closed at night to trap the heat. This was the first known example of solar or energy efficient building design. In the 18th century, the Swiss scientist de Sassure built the first solar oven. It was simply a wooden box with a glass top and a black base. This collector reached temperatures of 88 degrees Celsius! The French scientist Lavoisier used a glass lens to melt metals late in the 18th century. By 1866, the Frenchman Augustin Mouchot had developed a solar powered steam engine. At about the same time, in Chile, a solar distillation plant was producing over 20000 litres of drinking water daily in summer. Just before World War One, the US engineer Frank Shuman, with British physicist C.V Boys built a solar powered steam engine to run an irrigation pump near Cairo in Egypt. The plant was cost effective but was shut down because of the war. Development continued through the first half of the 20th century. High temperature concentrating collectors were perfected as were solar water heaters. Tens of thousands of solar water heaters were sold in California and Florida until the mid 1950s. In Australia, CSIRO carried out extensive research on solar water heating, solar water distillation and other uses of solar energy from the 1960s on, helping establish Australia as a leader in the field. CSIRO also pursued research in energy efficient building design. However, solar technologies struggled to compete with the low cost fossil fuels of the post World War Two era. Solar energy was seen largely as a curiosity. It took the oil crisis of the early 1970s to reawaken interest in solar energy.
SOLAR ENERGY HISTORY
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au (Education – Environment) www.energyvic.gov.au (Sustainable Energy Authority Victoria)
UNIT 5: Alternative Energy VELS: SCIENCE Level 5&6 Learning outcomes: Identify and describe the benefits of solar heating Describe the characteristics and applications of the transmission and reflection of
energy in the form of heat, light and sound Relate the behaviours of light, such as reflection, refraction, absorption and polarisation
to uses in technology Background information The benefits of improvements in efficiency must be weighed against their extra cost, so they are not necessarily used in commercial products. In many cases, it is cheaper to fit an electric or gas booster to raise the water temperature when there is not enough solar energy available.
SOLAR ENERGY SOLAR HEAT EFFICIENCY
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au (Education – Environment) www.energyvic.gov.au (Sustainable Energy Authority Victoria)
Flate plate collector
The next stage in improving collector efficiency is to concentrate the sun’s energy, so that a given area of collector receives more energy. Reflectors or lenses can do this. However, reflectors The next stage in improving collector efficiency is to concentrate the sun’s energy so that a given area of collector recieves more energy. Reflectors or lenses can do this. However, reflectors can only concentrate the suns direct rays, so they must follow the sun’s movement if they are to continuously focus its energy onto the small collector. Concentrating collectors can produce temperatures from several hundred degrees Celsius to several thousand degrees depending on the extent to which the sun’s energy is concentrated. Concentrating collectors can be used to produce industrial process heat, electricity or for cooking.
Flat plate collectors can also heat air for home heating, crop drying or other uses. Further efficiency improvements can be gained by enclosing the flat plate collector in a vacuum, which is a very good insulator ( for example, thermos flasks use a vacuum as insulation). Evacuated tube collectors can reach temperatures of 150 degrees Celsius. This temperature is suitable for many industrial applications.
Focus collector
Point focus collector
UNIT 5: Alternative Energy VELS: SCIENCE Level 5&6 Learning outcomes: Identify and describe solar heat and how it is used to meet particular needs Describe the characteristics and applications of the transmission and reflection of
energy in the form of heat, light and sound Relate the behaviours of light, such as reflection, refraction, absorption and polarisation
to uses in technology Background information Much of the energy we use simply provides low temperature heat: we heat our homes to around 20 degrees Celsius. Our domestic hot water is heated to around 60 degrees Celsius. These temperatures can be easily achieved by simple solar collectors. The simplest solar collector is a north facing dark coloured surface, which heats up in the sun. A common example of this kind of collector is the swimming pool heater. A solar pool heater is simply a large area of black plastic or rubber with tubes through which the pool water circulates and collects heat.
SOLAR ENERGY SOLAR HEAT
Websites: www.powerworks.com.au (Education – Environment) www.energyvic.gov.au (Sustainable Energy Authority Victoria)
Solar pool heating can improve swimming comfort and extend the swimming season by several months. Improved solar collectors are needed if higher temperatures are to be achieved. As the temperature of a solar pool collector rises, it begins to lose increasing amounts of heat to the air around it. A point is soon reached where the heat being lost equals the heat being gained from the sun. The collectors simply cannot heat water beyond this temperature. In winter, the collector may still raise the water temperature by several degrees, but it is still not warm enough for swimming. To achieve the higher temperatures needed for domestic water heating, a more efficient solar collector is needed. By enclosing the dark coloured collector panel in an insulated box with a glass lid, the heat loss from the collector is dramatically reduced. The heat is trapped by the insulation and the glass cover. Now, water can be heated to higher temperatures. This basic solar collector is called a flat plate collector, as it makes use of a flat surface to collect solar energy. It can be refined to provide even higher temperatures and efficiencies. Special “ selective surface coatings”can be applied to the collector surface. These reduce the amount of energy lost. Double glazing, or special coatings applied to the glass can also reduce losses.
UNIT 5: Alternative Energy VELS: SCIENCE Level 5&6 Learning outcomes: Identify several different alternative energies Describe how solar energy is used to meet particular needs Background information Solar technologies use the sun's energy and light to provide heat, light, hot water, electricity, and even cooling, for homes, businesses, and industry. Different types of soalr technology are listed below. Photovoltaics (PV) Photovoltaic solar cells, which directly convert sunlight into electricity, are made of semiconducting materials. The simplest cells power watches and calculators and the like, while more complex systems can light houses and provide power to the electric grid Buildings designed for passive solar and daylighting incorporate design features such as large south-facing windows and building materials that absorb and slowly release the sun’s heat. No mechanical means are employed in passive solar heating. Incorporating passive solar designs can reduce heating bills as much as 50 percent. Passive solar designs can also include natural ventilation for cooling. Concentrating Solar Power Concentrating solar power technologies use reflective materials such as mirrors to concentrate the sun’s energy. This concentrated heat energy is then converted into electricity. Solar Hot Water and Space Heating and Cooling Solar hot water heaters use the sun to heat either water or a heat-transfer fluid in collectors. A typical system will reduce the need for conventional water heating by about two-thirds. High-temperature solar water heaters can provide energy-efficient hot water and hot water heat for large commercial and industrial facilities. Solar Access The availability or access to unobstructed sunlight for use both in passive solar designs and active systems is protected by zoning laws and ordinances in many communities.
SOLAR ENERGY Websites: www.powerworks.com.au (Education – Environment) www.energyvic.gov.au (Sustainable Energy Authority Victoria)
UNIT 5: Alternative Energy Student activities: Students can design their own “ Solar House” incorporating as many uses of solar
energy as possible. They may use the student sheet house template or design their own. Another option is to draw their own home from memory and incorporate solar enrgy
as the main source of power, heating etc.
SOLAR ENERGY Websites: www.powerworks.com.au (Education – Environment) www.energyvic.gov.au (Sustainable Energy Authority Victoria)
UNIT 1: THE WONDER OF ELECTRICITY VCE Physics Answers to review questions 1. (a) Magnetic field – a region in which a magnetic force can be detected.
(b) Line of magnetic flux – indicates direction of force in a magnetic field.
2. Field lines around arrangements of magnets.
MAGNETIC FIELDS
3. Matchbox substances activity Pass bar magnet over each box to see which contain magnetic substances. This will
eliminate the copper. Use alternate ends of the magnet to feel if one end tends to repel or turn the contents.
This would happen with the magnet.
R.Mether
Yallourn Mine History and Facts 1 2010/10/22
YALLOURN MINE - FACT AND FIGURES 1. Area under Licence ~ Yallourn has 3 Mining Licences Min 5003 – 5000 ha Min 5216 – 83 ha Min 5304 – 151 ha Total mine area under licence = 5595 ha 99% of all land under licence is owned by TRUenergy 2. Boundaries Impacting future Mine Development Latrobe River – Along the North and East sides Princes Freeway – West side Latrobe Road – South side 3. History Mining started 1921 as the SECV in Yallourn North then in 1924 in Yallourn Open Cut. Since then over 240 Mm3 of overburden and 834 M tonne of coal have been mined at Yallourn
(upto December 2004). Current annual production is 17 ~ 18Mt to two customers Yallourn Township was removed by 1978 1992 first overburden removed in Eastfield Coal production transition into Eastfield Extension 2006-7 Transition into Maryvale 2011-12 500 million tonnes of coal in future Yallourn Mine Plan
4. Coal quality. Energy Value (NWSE) – 6.5 - 8.5 MJ/kg High moisture 64-67% Low ash 1.5-2.5% Sulphur < 0.3% Sodium 0.1% Iron 0.5-0.9% Iron, sodium and Silica are principal fouling constituents. Age is about 7-20 million years (300 million years for Bowen Basin and Hunter valley black coals).
Brown coal is relatively immature or low rank , originating from forest and swampy environments.
5. Geotechnical: Deep aquifers below the Yallourn Seam which exert uplift and have to be depressurised or have
backfill material to stabilise. Currently we are experiencing an imbalance of about 20m in water pressure, and rely on the beam strength of the interseam clays to prevent heave.
Ground movement monitoring using piezos and wire extensometers into the top of coal, and to the clay interseam beneath the coal.
Ground movement surveys using pin lines and measured with GPS. Batter drainage with slightly uphill holes drilled and surveyed for dip and azimuth
at midway and at the end. ~200m depth.
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Yallourn Mine History and Facts 2 2010/10/22
6. Geology Haunted Hills Fault on the Yallourn Monocline at the Western Batters of Township Field
- Coal floor rises here and as mining progressed, support was taken away Western Batter Surcharge Dump created - since Dec 86 placed ~ 4.3 Mm3 O/B dumping from TS3 now against this to allow a stable batter for final flooding of the mine.
Yallourn syncline along Morwell River and through Maryvale and Eastfield - Coal seam thickness ranges from 65m to 90m.
Overburden material. - Sands, gravels and clays - Thickness of overburden ranges up to 45m in Maryvale. - Saturated sands and gravels in Eastfield. - Average overburden thickness 17m YEF.
7. Environment Over 450 ha of the mine has been rehabilitated Wet lands have been created on the Morwell side of mine to link up with Hazelwood’s. Master Rehabilitation Plan for mine is sloped rehabilitated faces down to a lake. Conservation Management Plan exists for the management of the environment Plant around 10,000 trees per year Acid Mine drainage from overburden face and dump contained within mine (from Iron Pyrite) 34,000 Ml/year intake from Latrobe River to Power Station Water management – 18,000 Ml / year discharge to Morwell River treated for suspended solids
only Evaporation from cooling towers – 10,000 Ml/year 8. Coal Mining Dozers and feeder breakers on coal with Dredger 12 as backup 55,000 tonnes of coal per day to YWPS – 2300-2400 tonnes/hour Each of the 4 boilers at the Power Station burns about 600 tonnes per hour. Mine Conveyors, 1450mmwide ~ 5.8 m/sec, steel cord belt Coal systems
- FB001 + D11dozer + hopper in service 2002 $5m – Owned by RTL - FB002 + D11dozer+ hopper in service 2002 $5m – Owned by RTL - FB003 + D11dozer+ hopper in service 2003 $5m – Owned by RTL - FB004 + D11 dozer + hopper in service 2003 $5m – Owned by RTL - D11R Cary Dozers 750kw, 130 litres of fuel per hour, 8m wide x3.5m high blade - GPS and computers on dozers - Dredger 12 in service 1974 $5.8m currently used for top cut coal
Coal systems –OLD
- Dredger 8 (ladder chain) in service 1960 - 2002 scrapped - Dredger 6 (Bucketwheel) in service 1956 – 2002 ($1.6m) scrapped - Dredger 7 (Bucketwheel) in service 1956 – 2002 ($1.6m) scrapped
9. Raw Coal Bunker Capacity 30,000 tonnes (Max 35,000t auto bunkering) 12 hour capacity max
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Yallourn Mine History and Facts 3 2010/10/22
10. Overburden Dredger 13 in service 1978 ($7.1m) Tripper Stacker TS3 in service 1978 ($2.8m) Overburden by Dredger 13 - transported by about 6km of conveyor to dump Average since 1973 = 4.2 Mm3/year Initially by spreaders on the midfield dump and currently by TS3 on the southern dump. 20m bottomside and 8-10m topside possible Material at times sloppy and flowing Eastfield overburden saturated with water. Dump stability a continual issue. Overburden dump to transfer into Eastfield around 2009
12. Auxiliary plant All owned by contractor RTL 40 and 50t off highway dump trucks FEL Cat 988, excavators Graders D6, D8 & D9 dozers
13. Survey – 2 - 3 full time on-site World class technology – dozer software etc All GPS – single man operations Base station on Victorian network 13. Ash Ponds 2 plastic lined ponds North Pond 150,000 m3, South Pond 177,000 m3 Ponds take b/w 6-8 months to fill 3 months to drain and excavate Historically 200,000 to 300,000 excavated each year Monitored by piezometric bores bi-monthly checking ground pressure Pin Surveys Saline waste disposal nom 2000 Ml/year via SWOP line 13. Contract Mining Mobile Plant outsourced in 1993 Maintenance Contracted to Silcar on 4 June 2002 Mine Operations Contracted to RTL on 5 September 2002 under Mine Alliance Maintenance Contract novated to RTL on 5 September 2002 13. Morwell River Diversion New Diversion through mine commenced in 2001 - completed on 27 May 2005 ( on time and on
budget) Total cost around $120 million 13 million cubic metres of clays and sand using overburden material in structure 3.5 km clay lined channel through mine Designed for 1:10,000 year flood event in flood channel Low flow river bed designed for 1 in 2 year flood events Low flow channel lined with non dispersive clays
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Yallourn Mine History and Facts 4 2010/10/22
Settlement designed for up to 2 metres 70m wide trapezoidal channel 10m deep Woody debris for fish, bugs and slugs habitat Rock riffles and bank protection in low flow channel Channel grassed for erosion control Instrumentation to monitor pressures and movements Around 50,000 plants placed in river verge, stream margins, ephemeral wetlands and levee screens 1.2 km of concrete conveyor tunnels Original diversion around Eastfield done in the early 1980’s 16. W Power Station 2 x 360 mw and 2 x 380 mw units (30 MW re rating 2003) to produce 22% of Victoria’s energy
Latrobe Valley Coal Power Stations generate about 85% of the state’s requirements balance is from gas and hydro
Coal quality influences performance, Moisture directly effects output and fouling due to cations in the coal - influences temperature conductivity and boiler efficiency.
Greenhouse gases (CO2) are the businesses long term threat but with an active mitigation program including plant improvements to improve efficiency, tree planting and the future use of new technologies the Coy is confident it will be able to meet reasonable emission targets.
1300 Kg CO2/MWh compared with 800 Kg CO2/MWh for black coal, but NO Methane. 22-23 Mj/Kg about 50% of the energy of black coal.
15. Energy Brix - Briquette Production Currently being supplied by Loy Yang Mine Markets – Char plant, domestic and international Prefer Light Lithotype without wood When from Yallourn - Delivery via the RCB, transfer house T15 & T16 conveyors Lease land to EBAC and EBAC own T16 and loading station Road transport via “B” double trucks – current contractor RTL Transport.