3rd AMIREG International Conference (2009): Assessing the Footprint of 30

Resource Utilization and Hazardous Waste Management, Athens, Greece

Acquisition and assessment of non-intended outputs in the lignite industry

T. Bielig and H.Z. Kuyumcu

Berlin Institute of Technology, Germany

ABSTRACT is introduced and its application on the lignite

industry. From the technological point of view
Land, equipment, material and energy are used
the overall production process in the lignite in-
for the activities of the lignite industry. During
dustry can be divided into mining, power gen-
operation various material and energy flows are
eration in lignite-fired power plants and - future-
released. These material and energy flows are
oriented - in the capture and storage of carbon
nearly always without value for the raw material
dioxide (CO2). The refinement of lignite is not
supply chain and the electric power supply.
considered in the investigations.
They are not production targets. Instead, they
The lignite industry plays an important role
have negative effects on the environment and
in both countries, Greece and Germany. Table 1
the ecology as well as on the economy. There-
gives an overview about the resources, the re-
fore they are referred to as “non-intended”. A
serves and the use of lignite in Greece and Ger-
high degree of transparency of the material and
many. Domestic lignite is the most important
energy flows and especially the knowledge of
indigenous fuel of Greece. Germany and Greece
the quantities and qualities of the non-intended
are the largest lignite producers in the EU. Ex-
outputs are the starting point for technical and
traction of lignite has a very long tradition in
economical measures. The methodology for ac-
both countries (Diercks et al., 2008; Kavouridis,
quisition and assessment of non-intended out-
2008).
puts in the lignite industry bases on a system
Today in Greece and Germany, lignite is ex-
analysis. All relevant material and energy flows
clusively mined in opencast mines and mainly
are assigned to individual processes. Causal re-
used for power generation. Since transport of
lationships, possible interactions, quantities and
lignite is expensive relative to its extraction cost
qualities of the non-intended outputs are exam-
ined as functions of the processes and their pa- Table 1: Lignite and Energy Data, 2007.
rameters. Finally an environmental, technical Information Greece Germany
and economical evaluation follows. Resources [Mt] 6,800 77,200
Reserves [Mt] 3,300 40,800
1. INTRODUCTION Domestic Output [Mt] 65.8 180.4
3,770- 7,800-
At the Chair for Mechanical Process Engineer- Calorific Value [kJ/kg]
9,630 11,500
ing and Solids Processing of the Berlin Institute Ash Content [%] 15.1-19.0 1.5-20.0
of Technology a methodology for the acquisi- Water Content [%] 41.0-57.9 40.0-60.0
tion and assessment of the material and energy Sulphur Content [%] 0.5-1.0 0.15-2.8
flows especially in the mining industry, includ- Primary Energy Con-
11.9 55.0
ing mining and raw material processing, was sumption [Mtce]
developed and already tested in several mines Power Supply [TWh] 31.1 156.0
(Bielig et al., 2005). Power Plant Capacity
5,288 20,385
In the following the developed methodology [MW]
a
Mtce: million tons of coal equivalent
3rd AMIREG International Conference (2009): Assessing the Footprint of
Resource Utilization and Hazardous Waste Management, Athens, Greece
and heating value, lignite can be used economi-
cally only within relatively short distances from
the opencast mines. Therefore all the lignite-
fired power plants are located in close proximity
to the mines. The lignite opencast mines and
nearby power plants are technical production
systems with geographical, geological and tech-
nological boundary conditions. As almost all
geological and most of the geographical restric-
tions are not variable, the feasibility and the
economic success of the mine operation under
given market conditions can only be optimised
by technological parameters. All the technical,
economic and organisational measures which
influence the production of a certain quantity
and a defined product quality from a very well
explored deposit and for electricity production
as well as for CO2 capture and storage are to be
understood as technology.
Even though especially mines appear diffi-
cult to access to “benchmarking”, the acquisi-
tion and assessment of all the material and en-
ergy flows create the potential for comparisons
of mining operation as well as for power gen-
eration from lignite and for comparisons of
similar sites with the option to extend the ex-
amination globally to different areas. Improve-
ment, modification and optimisation can be de-
rived from this knowledge. By means of the
methodology the lignite mining, the power gen-
eration as well as the CO2 capture and storage
can be optimised to contribute to a sustainable
development in the lignite industry.
2. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH
For the acquisition and assessment of the mate-
rial and energy flows not only in the mining in-
dustry, but also in the lignite industry, an inte-
grated approach is necessary. Therefore the ob-
jective of the work presented in this paper has
been the development of a methodology suited
to the comprehensive technical and economic
analysis of all material and energy flows in the
lignite industry and its application to selected
operations.
Figure 1 shows the overall flowchart for the
procedure of acquisition and assessment of the
non-intended outputs. The procedure is dis-
cussed in detail within the next paragraphs.
In the first step the structure of the mine op-
eration and the nearby power generation plant
31
Analysis of system structure
and Modelling
Classification of
the material and energy flows
Implementation
Alteration
Data acquisition and
management
Material and energy balancing
Calculation of the non-intended outputs
Assessment and deduction
of appropriate measures
Figure 1: Flowchart of the procedure of acquisition and
assessment of the non-intended outputs.
including CO2 capture, transport and storage in
an adequate deposit is analysed. Therefore, a hi-
erarchical system definition specific to the re-
quirements in the lignite industry is necessary
that allows to systematically break-down the
overall system into its relevant processes and
associated material and energy flows. For mod-
elling the overall system as well as the individ-
ual processes Umberto is used. Umberto is a
software tool to model, calculate and visualise
material and energy flow systems as material
and energy flow networks.
The material and energy flows or compo-
nents of them are classified as non-intended
outputs according to the definition not to be the
production target. Then operational data (input
and output material and energy flows, cost data,
etc.) has to be gathered for the identified ele-
ments using a set of appropriate questionnaires.
For further analysis, the acquired data is then
stored in the database of Umberto.
Further processing of the data primarily
comprises the data reconciliation of the meas-
ured and estimated values to fit the set of mate-
rial and energy balances. For this purpose proc-
ess models are used. Based on the corrected bal-
ances for all material and energy components
within the overall system the flows containing
the non-intended outputs are identified and used
to calculate several performance indicators as a
decision support in taking appropriate optimisa-
tion measures.
3rd AMIREG International Conference (2009): Assessing the Footprint of 32
Resource Utilization and Hazardous Waste Management, Athens, Greece

2.1 System definition and system model extraction”, 01.04 “Haulage/transport”, 01.05
“Supporting”, 01.06 “Material supply”, 01.07
In accordance with the system-analytic scope,
“Repair/maintenance”, 01.08 “Personnel trans-
material and energy flows were only considered
port”, 01.09 “Dumping/loading”, 01.10 “Mine
in connection with the active working phase of a
water management”, 01.11 “Mine ventilation”,
lignite mine and a lignite-fired power plant.
01.12 “Storage/disposal”, 01.13 “Immission
Processes and outputs up to the start of regular
control”, 01.14 “Recultivation during mining”,
production and after the close down were not
01.15 “Recultivation after mining” and 01.16
considered. Providing electricity or in the long
“Overall operation of the mine”. The subsys-
term vision the capture and storage of CO2 in an
tems of first order in the partial system 03 “Po-
adequate deposit are other limits of the system
wer generation” are: 03.01 “Processing of fuel”,
for the investigation.
03.02 “Combustion”, 03.03 “Gasification”, 03.
Due to the differences in the balancing pro-
04 “Steam generation”, 03.05 “Energy conver-
cedure, in the system-analytic approach the
sion in turbines”, 03.06 “Condensation”, 03.07
overall system “lignite industry” is divided into
“Flue gas cleaning”, 03.08 “CO2 capture”, 03.09
the partial systems 01 “Mining”, (02 “Process-
“Process water management”, 03.10 “Providing
ing”), 03 “Power generation” and 04 “CO2 se-
electricity”, 03.11 “Loading/unloading”, 03.12
questration”. For all the partial systems not only
“Disposal”, 03.13 “Repair/maintenance” and 03.
subsystems of first and second order, but also
14 “Overall operation of the power plant”. The
the associated elements are defined. By doing so
subsystems of first order in the partial system 04
a process-oriented proceeding is pursued. The
“CO2 sequestration” are: 04.01 “CO2 compres-
main idea is to finally ascertain the material and
sion”, 04.02 “CO2 transport”, 04.03 “CO2 stor-
energy flows in such a way that the reasons,
age”, 04.04 “Repair/maintenance” and 04.05
origins, quantities and qualities of the non-
“Overall operation of the CO2 sequestration”.
intended outputs can be assigned to the individ-
For further subdivision, all the subsystems of
ual processes. The hierarchical structure of the
first order are divided into subsystems of second
system is represented in Figure 2.
order. To the subsystems of second order the
For the better handling of the hierarchical
elements are assigned.
system structure a four-digit coding scheme is
The content of the system is determined by
introduced. The partial systems, the subsystems
the individual elements and their interrelations.
of first and second order as well as the elements
Elements describe processes, which can not fur-
are unambiguously assigned by two-digit num-
ther usefully be subdivided. One or more pieces
bers. So it is possible to match the recorded in-
of equipment can belong to an individual ele-
puts and outputs to the appropriate elements.
ment, for which the material and energy flows
First of all the main, ancillary and auxiliary
are balanced. The flows represent the relations
processes have to be identified and defined as
that link the elements and/or subsystems. An
subsystems of first order. In the partial system
example is shown in Figure 3.
01 “Mining” the following processes are defi-
In accordance with the principle of Petri nets,
ned as subsystems of first order: 01.01 “Deve-
there are three basic types of components to cre-
lopment”, 01.02 “Preparatory”, 01.03 “Mining/
ate material and energy flow networks in Um-
berto. Material and energy transformation proc-
01 Partial system 1
esses are represented in transitions (T). For each
01.01 Subsystem of 1st order
Inputs Element Outputs
01.01.01 Subsystem of 2nd order
Muck Ore
Dust
Energy Motor Device Exhaust gas
01.01.01.01 01.01.01.n 01.01.00.n 01.00.00.n Lubricant Oil loss
Element Element Element Element and material Abrasion
01.03.03.01 „Loading Waste heat
Fresh air with mobile equipment“ Noise

Figure 2: Numbering convention for the hierarchical sys- Figure 3: Inputs and outputs of the element 01.03.03.01
tem definition. “Loading with mobile equipment“.
3rd AMIREG International Conference (2009): Assessing the Footprint of 33
Resource Utilization and Hazardous Waste Management, Athens, Greece

transition the relation between the input and Material

Material flow
flow

output flows of material and energy has to be Solid

Solid phase
phase
specified by coefficients, functions or a subnet Overburden/waste
Overburden/waste rock
rock Component 11
as process model. Places (P) are the components Run-of-mine
Run-of-mine Component
Component m
in the network that can be stores of materials Back-filling material
material
and energy, input or output places connecting Tailings
Tailings

the material flow network with the environment, Dust

Dust

or places where the output stream of one proc- Solid

Solid material
material

ess becomes the input of another. Arrows link Abrasion

Abrasion
Waste
places and transitions, and thus create the actual
network structure (ifu and ifeu, 2005). liquid
liquid phase
phase

Mine water
water Groundwater
2.2 Material and energy flows
Meteoric
Meteoric water
water
Besides the process-oriented description of the Process
Process water
water

system and its elements, also the relevant mate- Percolating

rial characteristics are registered in a structured
way for the evaluation of the material and en-
ergy flows. For that purpose, a flow vector defi-
nition is introduced. In addition to the mass or
volume flow of the material or energy compo-
nents and the linkage of the elements among
themselves or with the environment they can
contain the further material composition (chemi-
cal or mineral), particle-size distribution, state
variables (in particular pressure and tempera-
ture).
The vector is subdivided into the three phases
solid, liquid and gaseous. To characterise the
solids, liquids and gases, material systems of
complex composition were defined. Such mate-
rial systems can be made up of other material
systems or of several components. Concentra-
tions, contents etc. can be calculated if neces-
sary. Figure 4 shows the structure of the mate-
rial flow vector with the most important mate-
rial systems in mine operation.
As energy flows thermal energy has to be
considered primarily. The heat transport is
mainly coupled to air and water (and steam)
flows. The most important heat sources in a
mine, which affect the temperature of the mine
water and in particular the temperature of the
mine air underground, are the geothermal heat
underground, the self compression of the air on
its way through the mine and the waste heat of
drives and equipment. In an opencast mine the
climatic conditions have to be considered.
2.3 Data acquisition
For the data acquisition, questionnaires, data
sheets and forms are prepared. With the help of
the questionnaires, data sheets and forms, re-
Percolating water
Liquid
Liquid materials Component 11
Component
Component m
Gas
Gas phase
Mine air
air Component 11
Pressure
Pressure air
air Component
Component m
Mine gas
Exhaust
Exhaust gases
Figure 4: Structure of the material flow vector.
search programmes can be set up. The important
objective is to ensure a most comprehensive
data acquisition. Besides general information
about the mine and the power plant, like mode
of operation, location, infrastructure of the re-
gion, climate, mining and generation company,
employees and regulations for safety and envi-
ronmental protection, all important data about
processes and machinery, as well as material
and energy flows with their specifications, can
be recorded systematically. Additionally cost
data are inevitable for the economic evaluation
of the material and energy flows. For that reason
a process related acquisition of cost data is pro-
vided.
2.4 Determination of the non-intended outputs
The non-intended outputs are determined based
on the material and energy flows of the system.
In the operation often not all the necessary in-
formation about the flows is available or the
measurements are incorrect. For this reason, in-
consistent data have to be corrected or com-
pleted. Umberto offers the possibility to make
up a correct balance and to compensate or calcu-
late the missing or incorrect values by means of
a gradual algorithm for calculation. If there are
not enough sampling points for a reliable solu-
tion of the material balances, process models are
3rd AMIREG International Conference (2009): Assessing the Footprint of
Resource Utilization and Hazardous Waste Management, Athens, Greece
used to complete the system model.
2.5 Assessment
The constraints in mine operation and the han-
dling of material and energy flows in the lignite
industry result from technical necessities of the
production, safety-relevant requirements and
regulations for the protection of health and envi-
ronment. For the observance of all regulations
and rules, certain outputs have to be declared in
detail. Their effects on health and environment
have to be explained. Nevertheless this does not
necessarily lead to the monitoring and quantifi-
cation of all non-intended outputs during opera-
tion. Therefore, each procedure for evaluation of
non-intended outputs in the lignite industry has
to take into account the legal and safety rules as
well as the social-cultural aspects relevant for
the location of the respective mine.
Pre-determined parameters of the system can
be assigned to the geology of the site including
the material content of the deposit. Based on the
mine design, the technical and organisational
parameters within mainly economic limits have
to be taken into account for the assessment of
non-intended outputs. Processes can only be
quantitatively described, optimised and com-
pared within certain limits.
Figure 5 shows the flowchart of a possible
procedure for an economic evaluation of non-
intended outputs in the lignite industry, incorpo-
Source of non-intended
Optimisation
outputs: process
Non-intnded output:
material or energy
Measure: Measure: Measure:
Avoidance Acquisition/disposal Collection/utilisation
Costs C2 Costs C1 Revenues R
Δ 1 = R – C1
R > C1 , Δ1 > 0
Δ2 = Δ1 – C2
Δ2 > 0, ΣR >ΣC
Δ2 < 0, ΣR < ΣC
Figure 5: Algorithm for the evaluation of non-intended
outputs based on costs and benefits
34
rated costs (C) and revenues (R).
There are three different cases to be distin-
guished:
- Case 1: Δ2 > 0 The non-intended output
yields a profit.
- Case 2: Δ2 = 0 A profitable use is not directly
possible. However, it can be quantified, e.g.
for preventing follow-up costs.
- Case 3: Δ2 < 0 There is no economic use of
the non-intended output.
The determination of the costs for avoidance,
treatment and/or disposal of outputs and as-
signment of the costs to the individual processes
(as far as possible to the elements) as well as the
balancing of the costs in accordance with the
system structure results in the calculation of per-
formance indicators and possibly in the deduc-
tion of appropriate measures according to prior-
ity.
3. APPLICATION
For the application of the introduced methodol-
ogy to the lignite industry an opencast mine and
lignite power plant in Germany is initially cho-
sen. The raw lignite is extracted by continuous
operation of bucket wheel and bucket chain ex-
cavators. It is transported and dumped by con-
veyor bridges as well as belt conveyors and
spreaders. The raw lignite from the opencast
mines is transported to the nearby power plants
by conveyor belt and/or train.
The system analysis of a lignite opencast
mine with a nearby power plant results in a
complex model which can be arranged into mul-
tiple subsystems and elements. Based on the
available data, the balancing of material and en-
ergy flows for the defined subsystems is per-
formed. Figure 6 shows the material and energy
flow network of the investigated opencast mine.
T1 is specified by a subnet. T2 to T5 are speci-
fied by functions, e.g. based on the stoichiome-
try of chemical reactions or physical laws.
There are still no lignite-fired power plants with
CO2 carbon and capture in work. Nevertheless
the subsystems are included in the material and
energy network for rough calculations of the en-
ergy demand and the effects on the overall sys-
tem.
The following non-intended outputs are iden-
tified as significant: mine water (especially cer-
3rd AMIREG International Conference (2009): Assessing the Footprint of 35
Resource Utilization and Hazardous Waste Management, Athens, Greece

P6: emissions from P7: mine water P8: emissions from P10: waste heat
opencast mining haulage by train P9: lubricants: air, water,
calcium carbonate
P5: 03.10
P2: lubricants: P3: 01.09.03 "Dumping" T2: 01.04.05.08 "Providing electricity"
fuel and air
"Discontinuous haulage
P14 by train" P4
P13: building
materials
T1: 01 "Mining" T3:03 "Power generation" P15: 01.12.03 "Disposal
in the openc ast mine"
P1: overburden, raw lignite (ash and gypsum)
P11: Electric energy
from the deposit,
groundwater P16
P12: electric energy P20

T5:04.01 "CO2 compression" P19: emissions from

and 04.02 "CO2 transport" P17 power generation

P18: 04.03 "CO2 storage" T4: 03.08 "CO2 capture"

P22: emissions P21: lubricant:
from CO2 c ompression monoethanolamine
Figure 6: Material and energy flow network of a lignite opencast mine in Germany

tain components), scrap metal, rubble, waste

heat, dust, methane, ash, gypsum, CO2 and ex-
haust emissions. REFERENCES
Bielig, T., H.Z. Kuyumcu and W. Hennig, 2005. Devel-
opment of a method for the acquisition and assessment
4. CONCLUSION of non-intended outputs in the mining industry. World
of Mining - Surface and Underground 57 (5): 327 -
The results for the examined mines show that 335.
the methodology for the process based acquisi- Diercks, T., G. Hulik, E.C. Günther, H.-W. Schiffer and
tion and assessment of non-intended outputs in C. Dude (eds.), 2008. Coal Industry across Europe
the mining industry is suitable to the compre- 2008. Brussels: EURACOAL.
hensive ascertainment of non-intended outputs Institut für Umweltinformatik Hamburg GmbH (ifu); In-
stitut für Energie- und Umweltforschung Heidelberg
and their evaluation. The methodology is gener- GmbH (ifeu) (eds.), 2005. Umberto Software für das
ally applicable to different branches of the min- betriebliche Stoffstrommanagement. Hamburg, Hei-
ing and power generation industry. If the neces- delberg.
sary data is available for several systems, indi- Kavouridis, K., 2008. Lignite mining and use in Greece -
vidual processes of the lignite industry or the Energy supply and environment. World of Mining -
Surface and Underground 60 (1): 6 - 15.
complete system from mining to power genera-
tion to CO2 capture and storage can be com-
pared to each other or used as a benchmark.
Appropriate actions can be derived for the
choice of techniques and for operational prac-
tice, e.g. to reduce the costs, control emissions
or save resources (water, land etc.). Further-
more, it is possible to find criteria related to a
specific site in order to optimise the operating
and follow-up costs of mining or to increase the
acceptance of a mine operation or of the lignite
industry in general.