LOUISVILLE, KY (April 7, 2008) – Charah®, Inc., a leading ash management provider for the coal-fired electric utility industry, today announced that it has received a United States patent for its method and system for beneficiating gasification slag. This innovative processing system, designed for power plants that use Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) Technology, can separate unburned carbon from the slag material and make it available for reuse, thus addressing the recycling needs of the coal gasification power industry.
Charah’s now patented processing system was put into its first commercial operation at Tampa Electric’s Polk Power Station in 2001 to beneficiate the existing coal combustion products (CCPs). Additionally, Charah marketed the coarse material left behind after carbon recovery.
According to Charles Price, President and CEO of Charah, “With an estimated 26 IGCC plants in operation or under construction around the globe today, coal gasification is the future. But with this new technology comes a new set of ash management and recycling needs now facing utilities. We believe we have come up with a unique solution for slag processing in the years ahead.”
IGCC is a breakthrough process, which uses coal in a clean, economical and environmentally efficient manner to produce power. The process is accomplished by treating domestic coal to remove its sulfur content prior to burning. Polk Power Station is a first-of-its-kind combination of two leading technologies: “coal gasification,” which uses coal to create a clean-burning gas, and “combined-cycle,” which is the most efficient method of producing electricity commercially available today.
Charah is a charter member of the U.S. EPA’s Coal Combustion Products Partnership (C2P2), which encourages beneficial use of coal by-products. In April 2005, Charah was awarded the prestigious C2P2 first-place award for Innovation by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for its outstanding achievements in increasing the amount of CCPs beneficially used. Charah’s award was for its achievements in developing the new, patent-pending concrete mix and packaging sold in select The Home Depot store locations.
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