Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and

Environmental Effects

ISSN: 1556-7036 (Print) 1556-7230 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ueso20

Proximate analysis of Lakhra coal power plant and

its health and environmental impact

Wahid Bux Jatoi, Cyril Maqsood Khokhar, Vinod Kumar Dewani, Mazhar
Iqbal Khaskheli, Ghulam Qadir Shar, Mushtaque Ali Jakhrani, Muzafar
Hussain Sirohi, Irum Naz Memon & Ashique Hussain Jatoi

To cite this article: Wahid Bux Jatoi, Cyril Maqsood Khokhar, Vinod Kumar Dewani, Mazhar Iqbal
Khaskheli, Ghulam Qadir Shar, Mushtaque Ali Jakhrani, Muzafar Hussain Sirohi, Irum Naz Memon
& Ashique Hussain Jatoi (2019): Proximate analysis of Lakhra coal power plant and its health and
environmental impact, Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects,
DOI: 10.1080/15567036.2019.1695980

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Published online: 24 Nov 2019.

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ENERGY SOURCES, PART A: RECOVERY, UTILIZATION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
https://doi.org/10.1080/15567036.2019.1695980

Proximate analysis of Lakhra coal power plant and its health and
environmental impact
Wahid Bux Jatoi a, Cyril Maqsood Khokharb, Vinod Kumar Dewania,
Mazhar Iqbal Khaskhelic, Ghulam Qadir Shara, Mushtaque Ali Jakhrania,
Muzafar Hussain Sirohid, Irum Naz Memona, and Ashique Hussain Jatoie
a
Institute of Chemistry, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Pakistan; bLakhra Power Plant, Jamshoro, Pakistan;
c
M. A. Kazi Institute of Chemistry, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan; dDepartment of Botany, Shah Abdul Latif
University, Khairpur, Pakistan; eDepartment of Chemistry, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Shaheed Benazirabad,
Pakistan

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Pakistan is one of the coal rich countries but only adds 10% of electricity to Received 24 February 2019
the national grid from coal fired power plants while major sources are, Revised 19 October 2019
Hydel, LNG, Furnace oil, and natural gas. Prior to the discovery of Thar coal Accepted 18 November 2019
reservoirs, Lakhra was the largest coal field of Brown Lignite coal with high KEYWORDS
ash and sulfur contents, i.e. 30% and 7%, respectively. The power genera- Lakhra; power plant; coal;
tion capacity of the plant is 150 MW. Study conducted revealed that all the health; environment
existing values of un-washed coal found (High Ash, Low Moisture, Low
Fixed Carbon, High Sulfur, and Low Calorific value) while the washed coal
values found (Low Ash, Low Moisture, High Fixed Carbon, Low Sulfur, and
High Heating value). The emission of hazardous gases and particles by
using unwashed coal adversely affect the environment and human health
whereas washed coal exhibited relatively low level emissions of these
pollutants. It was observed that the washed coal of Lakhra is more feasible
to save the environment as well as Cost Benefit for production of electricity.

Introduction
The demand of electricity increases with increase in population and industrialization. Various
natural sources are utilized for power generation, such as coal, gas, furnace oil, water, and radioactive
materials.
Developing nations face the crisis of power shortage that affects productivity of every sector
including socioeconomic progress. Since last decade, Pakistan is in severe power crisis (7,000 MW
shortfall) that adversely affected not only the economy of the state but also the life of common
people (Kessides 2013; Valasai et al. 2017). The shortage of Power is giving task to produce more
power with minimum cost that may be affordable for moderate economies like Pakistan. Coal is the
only cheap source and its large reservoirs are explored in the country. Coal is formed under earth
crust back to millions of years from decayed plant materials and is called a fossil fuel (Benetto,
Rousseaux, and Blondin 2004; Finkelman and Gross 1999; Van Krevelen 1993). The major consti-
tuent of coal is carbon along with nitrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and hydrogen. It is used in many
industries in various burning processes but also for electricity production and it contributes about
40% of electric power worldwide. In Pakistan, since 2016, seven new coal fired power plants are
installed generating 4,340 MW (about 10% of total production) and other six projects of 2,610 MW

CONTACT Wahid Bux Jatoi wahid.jatoi@salu.edu.pk Department of Chemistry, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University,
Shaheed Benazirabad, Pakistan
Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be found online at www.tandfonline.com/ueso.
© 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
2 W. B. JATOI ET AL.

capacity are under construction. Thar coal power plant is a mega project in Pakistan that recently
added 660 MW electricity in national grid.
Coal is classified as Lignite (lowest rank), bituminous (moderate rank), and anthracite (highest rank)
depending upon the degree of coalification (Sastry et al. 2000; Timothy, Sarofim, and Beér 1982). The
Lakhra coal reservoirs were estimated about 1.328 Billion tones and was the best choice of time to install
a coal fired power plant (Raza, Raza, and Ahmed 1994).
Due to its age (about 5 million years), this coal is immature and also contains high sulfur contents
and is therefore, lime stone is being used to neutralize it with a ratio of 2:1 but even then
a considerable amount of sulfur dioxide was noted in fuel gases.
Coal with high carbon density contributes 20% emission of greenhouse gases which are respon-
sible for climate change and other environmental problems (Ahmed and Gupta 2013). Burning of
coal also poses serious threats to human health and increased morbidity and mortality are challenges
for populations as it evolves many pollutants in air like CO, CO2, SOx, NOx, particulate matter,
organic pollutants as well as release radioactive and heavy metals which adversely affect the
environment and human health.
The pollutants released by coal combustion create chronic and irreversible loss to human health
and cause mortality of humans every year along with economic strain due to these fatal diseases. The
major disease groups associated to harmful emissions are cardiovascular, respiratory, and central
nervous system.
Keeping the environmental and cost impact in consideration, recently a coal washing plant was
installed by Pak-Energy Limited near Lakhra Power Plant, with a capacity of Washing 50 ~ 100 Mt/Hour.

Scope of the study

Coal is one of the polluting agents for environment which emit toxic gases and particles on
combustion. The aim of the study was to analyze the production of ash and emissions of volatile
matter (VM), ash content, fixed carbon and heat value (HV), in order to evaluate the emission and
its environmental and health effects as well as its comparison with washed coal. This research work
will be helpful for technocrats and policy makers to take initiatives to control the emissions to
minimize the environmental and health hazards.

Methodology
Study area
The study was carried out at Lakhra Coal Fired Power Plant Jamshoro (Figure 1), Pakistan in the
months of July–August 2016 and January–March 2017. The Power Station comprises of three units.
Each of 50 MW having total capacity of 150 MW. All three units are driven by Coal, which is
obtained from Lakhra coalmines located about 25 km away from the Lakhra Power Station

Sampling
The samples of un-washed coal were obtained from the coal mines (Figure 1) near Lakhra power
plant where as the washed coal samples from coal washing plant of Pak-Energy Limited, Jamshoro,
Pakistan. The samples were prepared according to method ASTM D-2013 for proximate analysis.

Coal washing
The Pak-Energy Coal Washing Plant is installed nearby (about a Kilometer away) the Lakhra Coal
Power Plant. This coal washing plant has capacity of 50 ~ 100 Mt/Hour. It is one of its own design
and medium technology with Float-Sink method.
 ENERGY SOURCES, PART A: RECOVERY, UTILIZATION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS 3

Figure 1. (a)Lakhra Coal Power Plant; (b) Pak-Energy Coal Washing Plant; (c) Map of Pakistan.

Results and discussion

The physical and chemical parameters of Lakhra coal and its environmental and health impact are
discussed below.

Moisture content
The amount of water present in the coal either in the free form or in hydroscopic form (inherent) is
said to be Moisture. This was measured according to standard procedure of American Standard and
Testing Materials (ASTM Method # D-3173) (Wei-ping et al. 2010) applying the following equation:
Moisture % ¼ ðM1  M2Þ=ðM1  100Þ
Where M1 = initial mass, M2 = moisture mass
Lignite coal has higher water contents and same was found that the moisture content of un-
washed Lakhra coal was higher than washed coal (Tables 1 and 2), which deteriorates the quality of
coal. Higher moisture content decreases the HV of coal. Several thermal and mechanical methods are
employed for dewatering of coal as it improves the performance and operation of plant with reduced
emissions.
It is evident in Tables 1 and 2 that washing of coal improves the overall quality of coal with
reduction of ash and toxic gases and increased the carbon content.

Table 1. Monthly average values un-washed coal sample results.

Coal Proximate Analysis Parameters
Month Moisture % Ash % V. Matters % F. Carbon % Sulfur % C. V. Btu/lb
July 18.85 26.82 30.76 23.57 6.09 6,123
Aug 18.62 27.28 30.63 23.32 6.19 6,114
Jan 17.47 26.06 32.90 23.61 6.06 6,134
Feb 18.65 27.13 30.84 23.38 6.15 6,143
Mar 18.33 27.28 30.98 23.41 6.15 6,140

Table 2. Monthly average values of washed coal sample results.

Coal Proximate Analysis Parameters
Month Moisture % Ash % V. Matters % F. Carbon % Sulfur % C. V. Btu/lb
July 14.79 12.41 36.08 36.72 2.61 8479
Aug 14.33 12.60 36.24 36.83 2.63 8,536
Jan 14.56 12.80 35.96 36.68 2.69 8,560
Feb 14.04 12.98 35.70 37.28 2.80 8,679
Mar 14.33 12.63 35.69 37.35 2.98 8,692
4 W. B. JATOI ET AL.

Volatile matter
The VM is gaseous product released under specific conditions. Pyrolysis of coal produces the VM
which is inversely proportional to coal grade. It may contain H2, CH4, CO, CO2, NH3, H2O(g), H2S,
etc. (Clemens and Matheson 1996; Nadkarni and Nadkarni 2007). In general, it can be measured as
loss of weight by heating the sample under standard thermal and environmental conditions, using
the formula:
W1  W2
Volatile mater % ¼  100
W3
Where W2 = weight of given coal sample, W1 = weight of coal and crucible before heating,
W3 = weight of coal and crucible after heating.
It was determined by ASTM Method # D-3175 and results are summarized in Tables 1 and 2. The
quantity of VM mostly depends on pyrolysis condition, nature of coal, heat rate, and temperature.
This property of coal makes it easy to burn and increase combustion process with higher flame
stability.

Ash content
Remaining inorganic residue after ignition of combustible substance is called Ash. The ash is
undesired and higher ash content decrease the coal quality. Chemical composition of coal ash may
vary but in general it contains un-burned carbon, heavy metals, nitrogen, sulfur, radioactive
materials, in-organic, and organic compounds like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
Mineral matter or inorganic material (Table 2) is always present in coal and forms a residue of
ash when coal is burned. It also damages the power plant materials as well as causes serious health
problems like cancer (Küçük, Kadıoğlu, and Gülaboğlu 2003; Riley and Marsh 2018). It was
measured by standard methods (ASTM Method # D-3174) using formula:
A ¼ ðW3  W1Þ=ðW2  W1Þ  100
Where, A = Content of ash air dried coal, W1 = weight of empty crucible, W2 = weight of crucible
and sample before burning, W3 = weight of crucible and sample after burning.
The ash content in washed and un-washed coal is given in Figure 2, indicating higher value of ash
in unwashed coal which affect the quality and efficiency of coal and also the furnace and other parts
of power plant.
It is evident in Figure 2 that ash content is higher in unwashed coal (Red line) as compared to
washed coal (Green line).

30
28
26
24
22
20
18
16
14
12
10
11
13
15
17
19
21
23
1
3
5
7
9

Figure 2. Ash Content in washed (green) and unwashed (red) coal. Red line: Unwashed coal Green line: washed coal.
 ENERGY SOURCES, PART A: RECOVERY, UTILIZATION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS 5

Fixed carbon
Fixed carbon is used to measures the energy productivity of coal throughout combustion process and
is an important parameter in gasification analysis. It may contain smaller amounts of H2, O2, N2, and
S. Generally, it is the burnable remainder of coal after evolution of moisture, VM and ash (Ananda
Babu, Lawrence, and Sivashanmugam 2018; Liu et al. 2015). It is calculated as:

Fixed carbon ðFCÞ ¼ 100  %H2 O þ %VM þ %Ash where VM ¼ Volatile Matter

It was measured by using standard method (ASTM Method # D-3172) and results for washed and
unwashed coal are depicted in Figure 3, Tables 1 and 2, showing higher values for washed coal
samples than un-washed coal.
Greater the amount of fixed carbon, more efficient the coal is in terms of energy output. As
shown above, the washing of coal helps to improve the energy capacity of coal, so it is better to use
washed coal instead of unwashed coal in power plants for the maximum efficiency of plant.

Calorific Value (CV) or Heating Value

Coal is primarily used as fuel for domestic and industrial purpose as well as electricity generation.
The important property of coal is Heat of Combustion commonly known as Calorific value (CV) or
higher heating value (HHV) that is measured by burning unit mass of coal under specific conditions
(Majumder et al. 2008). It is the amount of energy (heat) produced by combustion of certain amount
of fuel (Chandaliya, Biswas, and Dash 2016; Cheng et al. 2016). It is decreased by increase in
moisture and ash content eventually reduces the energy content of coal. The CV ranges in between
9,500 kJ/kg and 27,000 kJ/kg. The CV was determined by ASTM # D-2015 method using the
formula:

CV ¼ Heat produced=Amount of coal

The CV results for washed and un-washed coal are elaborated in Figure 4 and Tables 1–3.
It is noticeable in Figure 4 that calorific or heating value of washed coal is greater than un-washed
coal, suggesting the use of washed coal in power plant due to its greater capacity for power
generation.
The present study reveals that the washed coal is more efficient than unwashed coal in electricity
generation due to its high CV (Table 3). The specific fuel consumption (SFC) of washed coal is also
lower than unwashed coal. This suggests that the use of washed coal is relatively better as it is not
only cost effective and more efficient but also releases less quantity of pollutants in the environment.

Figure 3. Fixed carbon in washed and unwashed coal.

6 W. B. JATOI ET AL.

9000

8500

8000

7500

7000

6500

6000

Figure 4. CV values (kJ/kg) of washed and un-washed coal.

Table 3. Monthly average values of washed sample results.

Jul ‘16 Aug ‘16 Jan ‘17 Feb ‘17 Mar ‘17
Coal Cons. Mt 26,063 11,588 6,910 7,286 20,962
Unit Generated (UWC) (kWh) 22,586,000 11,360,000 6,281,000 7,086,000 19,260,000
Unit Generated (WC) (kWh) 31,277,432 15,753,692 8,765,137 9,739,310 25,015,006
CV of UWC (Btu/lb) 6,123 6,114 6,134 6,143 6,140
CV of W. Coal (Btu/lb) 8,479 8,536 8,560 8,679 8,692
CV of UWC (Btu/kg) 13,487 13,468 13,512 13,938 14,742
CV of W. Coal (Btu/kg) 18,677 18,803 18,856 19,118 19,147
SFC of UWC (kg/kWh) 1.15 1.02 1.1 1.03 1.09
SFC of W. Coal (kg/kWh) 0.84 0.74 0.79 0.75 0.84
Mt = Metric Tons
UWC = Unwashed coal
W. Coal = Washed coal
CV = Calorific value
SFC = Specific Fuel consumption

Conclusion
The coal is cheap mineral that is used for power generation but emissions from its burning produce
potential pollutants causing environmental and health issues. Because of its immature age, the Lakhra
coal produce relatively more toxicants and with less CV, so requires pretreatment like washing before its
use in power plant. The washing of coal demonstrates a significant reduction of pollutant emissions like
SOx and Particulate Matters and decreases the environmental and health risk associated with them. The
production of units (Electricity) comprehensively increased in the same quantity of fuel in washed coal.
The cost on coal washing is found nominal as compared to the unit production. Therefore, the washed
coal is more efficient in terms of electricity production with low waste products and emissions.

Recommendations
Keeping in view the results of this study, it is suggested that;

(1) The plants for washing of coal should be installed at coal fired plants to minimize the
environmental pollution.
(2) The special filters should be used to capture the air pollutants released from the plants and
waste should be properly treated before disposal.
(3) The elevated levels of ash (i.e. > 27%) function as a sand blasting in the furnace during
operation by thickening the boiler tubes and burst them. So, washed coal with low ash
contents (i.e. < 13%) is recommended for safety and durability of boilers.
(4) Modern control technologies should be used to reduce the emission of air toxins from
power plants.
 ENERGY SOURCES, PART A: RECOVERY, UTILIZATION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS 7

Acknowledgments
We are thankful to the administration and technical staff of the power plant for their facilitation and support during
the course of this research work.

ORCID
Wahid Bux Jatoi http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4891-4851

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