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8/6/2019 WhatIsK Fuel
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K-Fuel is a proven, patented pre-combustion process that transforms low-cost, low-grade coal, such as subbituminous
coal and lignite, into a clean, economical, efficient energy source. The U.S. has abundant reserves of low-grade coals
that, when upgraded by reducing moisture and polluting impurities, provide a high-quality, solid fuel, called K-Fuel
This commercial pre-combustion process creates a cleaner-burning beneficiated coal, essentially an "unleaded gasoline"equivalent for the coal-fired industry, helping facilities to comply with environmental standards while ensuring production
efficiency. The K-Fuel beneficiation process improves all three aspects of coal usage:
Energy: Increases the Btus per pound by approximately 30-40% by reducing moisture on average 80%.
Environment: Reduces mercury content on average 70% and can reduce SO 2 and NOx emissions up to 30% as a
co-benefit.
Economics: Increases system efficiency and maintains or improves generating capacity. K-Fuel can be an en
hancement of or alternative to post-combustion control systems.
The K-Fuel process is capable of upgrading nearly any coal, although some are more cost effective than others. Eco
nomics drive the use of low-grade feedstocks (such as subbituminous coal and lignite) because of the cost differentiabetween the raw coal value and ultimate product value. K-Fuel is superior to raw subbituminous coal and lignite be
cause of the quality and cost benefits that it offers the coal-fired industry.
K-Fuel Results
Average Change fr om
Sample to K-Fuel TM *
R 2
Btu/lb +35% 96%
Moisture% -79% 97%
Ash% Variable NA
Volatile% +32% 90%
Sulfur (lb/MMBtu) Variable NA
Mercury (lb/TBtu) -70% 92%
* Percentage change is average of 16 unique samples of primarily subbituminous feedstock and resulting K-FuelTM
autoclave product.
R2 is the measure of overall predictive ability of the model.
The K-Fuel pre-combustion process applies heat and pressure to reduce moisture from approximately 30% in the feed-
stock to 7-12% in the K-Fuel. As a result, the heat value is boosted by 30-40%, from 8,000-8,800 Btu/lb in the feed
stock to 10,500-11,500 Btu/lb in the K-Fuel. Because the various subbituminous and lignite feedstocks for the K-Fuel
process have a range of moisture content, heat value, and emissions upon combustion, so too the resulting K-Fuel will
have a range of Btu, moisture, and chemical properties. However, the common features of all K-Fuel can be well de
fined within a limited range of parameters such as increased efficiency and significantly reduced emissions compared to
the parent coal.
What is K-Fuel
KFx Inc. 55 Madison Street, Suite 500, Denver, CO 80206 Telephone: 303-293-2992 email : [email protected] V092905
8/6/2019 WhatIsK Fuel
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Emissions reductions are a co-benefit of the pre-combustion process. K-Fuel provides a pre-combustion mercury re
moval solution, reducing mercury content on average 70%. In addition, by burning K-Fuel, facilities can reduce emis
sions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) up to 30%. Finally, it is estimated that carbon dioxide (CO2) emis
sions will be reduced due to increased efficiency.
KFx experience indicates that K-Fuel should be as stable as the raw feedstock coal. Since KFx screens the raw coa
feed prior to the processor and maintains 7-12% moisture in the product, potential dust issues are minimized. Addition
ally, KFx has added a product rehydration and cooling step to the K-Fuel process after the Lurgi processor to stabilize
the product and will apply a dust inhibitor if necessary. Our intent is to make the product less dusty than the feedstock
coal so that no special handling, transport or storage is required.
Because K-Fuel is at equilibrium moisture it is comparable to the feedstock coal in terms of reactivity. The K-Fuel
process changes the chemical and physical structure of the coal through the heat and pressure process that expels the
moisture. K-Fuel will be at least as stable as the feedstock coal in terms of the potential for spontaneous combustion
By comparison, other coal drying processes that dry coal to or near zero percent moisture may have an increased sus
ceptibility to spontaneous combustion. The removal of moisture and the decarboxyl reaction associated with upgradingcoal renders the upgraded product more reactive. This has been a common problem with other previous coal drying
processes.
In addition to its environmental and Btu enhancing properties, K-Fuel can be custom-blended with other coals to meet
exact customer specifications. This upgrades and increases the marketability of other subbituminous coal and lignite
During handling, transport, and storage, K-Fuel provides higher Btu per ton of fuel shipped compared to the parent coal
produces significantly less dust than other beneficiated coal products, and does not require any special handling or stor-
age requirements. K-Fuel enables coal-fired facilities to potentially avoid capital-intensive retrofits for meeting emis
sions requirements with resulting expensive long shut down periods. K-Fuel can also preclude costly reductions in
generating capacity from burning low-grade subbituminous coal and lignite in boilers designed for higher Btu fuels.
Ash content between the feedstock and resulting K-Fuel can increase or decrease compared to the feedstock depend
ing on specific feedstock characteristics. The fly ash will have similar properties to that derived from the feedstock coal
Due to the pre-combustion removal of mercury, the resulting fly ash should be cleaner in terms of mercury than that o
traditional coals.
What is K-Fuel - continued
KFx Inc. 55 Madison Street, Suite 500, Denver, CO 80206 Telephone: 303-293-2992 email : [email protected] V092905