Beneficiation is a term used to describe the treatment
of a raw material like coal to improve physical or
chemical properties so it can be used for new applications.
In an effort that could ultimately help create new jobs and markets
for coal, NETL researchers have developed a low-cost, coal-derived
cement additive that could lead to the construction of stronger and
more durable roads and buildings.
As America’s energy landscape evolves, NETL is advancing
emerging technologies that offer new economic opportunities
for the nation’s most abundant domestic resource — coal.
NETL experts are advancing ideas through a dynamic new collaborative effort with universities and sister national laboratories known as the Consortium on Coal-based Carbon Materials Manufacturing.
Coal is a domestic resource that has contributed to U.S. economic growth for over a century. However, under a shifting energy generation paradigm, innovation is needed to extract the full economic value from coal and to remediate legacy impacts associated with coal extraction and utilization. The Carbon Ore Processing Program at NETL delivers solutions to this challenge with novel technologies for producing valuable products from coal and coal wastes. Laboratory and pilot-scale research and development (R&D) supported by the program aims to elevate the value of our nation’s coal resources and transform its use for the future. The program focuses on developing a range of coal-derived products, spanning the entire value spectrum from high volume through high value, as shown below.
Coal’s unique structure and composition makes it well suited as a feedstock for high value carbon products such as carbon fibers, graphite for batteries, additive manufacturing filaments and resins, and carbon nanomaterials for advanced electronic and metal alloy applications. Coal is also abundant and low-cost, making it an attractive feedstock for high-volume applications such as building materials, as a concrete additive, and polymer composites. These markets, which are outside of coal’s traditional thermal and metallurgical roles, expand the U.S. coal value chain and sustains jobs within a critical sector of the US economy.
Examples of products pursued by R&D within the Carbon Ore Processing Program include:
For more information on potential new markets for coal and the emerging technologies being developed by the Carbon Ore Processing Program, click on the links under Explore the Site.
Technology area contact:
Joseph Stoffa
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