The water quality characteristics of a coal slurry were found to vary widely, depending upon the coal used and the use of a corrosion inhibitor. The coal-water interactions were evaluated in a pilot-plant closed-loop coal slurry pipeline. Pulverized coal from eastern Kentucky and tap water were slurred and pumped through a 40 foot (12.2 m) pipe loop for ten days. Slurry samples were collected at 3 hours, 7 hours, 1 day, 2 days, 4 days, 7 days and 10 days from the start of a run. The samples were filtered and analyzed for 29 water quality parameters, including 15 metals. Two runs were performed without adding a corrosion inhibitor and two runs were performed with the addition of a corrosion inhibitor. The coal slurry filtrate contained high levels of sulfates, total dissolved solids, conductivity, acidity, iron, magnesium, manganese, lead and aluminum. The pH dropped initially, depending upon the percent sulfur in the dry coal and the alkalinity in the slurry, but returned to 6-7 after 10 days in the pipeline. Metal concentrations were a function of the pH, which affected solubility. Organics in the filtrate were at low levels. The addition of a corrosion inhibitor increased the concentrations of most parameters.

A complete wastewater characterization study was performed on an eastern Kentucky coal slurry after a 10-day circulation period in a 40 foot (12.2 m) pilot-scale pipeline. The resulting wastewater was settled and decanted for additional lime and alum treatability studies. Easter coal slurries were characterized by high TDS, conductivity, sulfates and iron. Significant concentrations of a number of trace metals were also found; however, organics were very low. Wastewater quality varied considerably among several experiments and was presumed to be influenced by different properties of the coal and the addition of a corrosion inhibitor. The major treatment concern was removal of high concentrations of iron, manganese, and trace metals if wastewaters were to be discharged. Lime treatment was found to effectively remove iron, magnesium, manganese and many other trace metals from coal slurry wastewaters. Alum treatment methods were considerably less effective for metals removal; however, alum was more effective in removing organics, color and turbidity. The addition of a corrosion inhibitor was found to reduce treatment removals for both lime and alum treatment. Several alternative uses were proposed for slurry wastewaters based on predicted water quality and volumes.

The object of this thesis is to design, build, and calibrate a coal-air flowmeter to operate in a pipe line through which a mixture of powdered coal and air are being blown; and to investigate the accuracy of the meter while operating at different air-fuel ratios. It is the authors intention to test the coal-air flowmeter in a pipe line in which conditions exist that closely simulate actual conditions that exist in power plants burning pulverized coal. The flow characteristics of the meter will, as near as possible, be the same as may be found in a typical industrial application. For this reason, a large size pipe line will be used and the air pressure in the pipe lin will be relatively low. It is believed that a coal-air flowmeter has not before this time been investigated in a large pipe and utilizing low pressures. Because of conditions over which the authors had no control, flyash had to be substituted for coal for the testing of the coal-air flowmeter. The authors are mainly interested in the measurement of the flow of coal and therefore have referred to the meter as a coal flowmeter throughout this thesis. The authors believe the use of flyash as the test medium will demonstrate the usefulness of the meter to measure the flow of any type of finely divided particle being carried by an air stream. / M.S.

Concerning the physical availability of water in southwestern Virginia for a prospective coal slurry pipeline, a preliminary investigation was undertaken to determine the capacity requirements for offstream-type reservoirs dedicated to pipeline use only. Offstream-type reservoirs were considered in view of their several apparent advantages, such as minimum interaction with the normal environment of the stream, and that its operation would probably be left entirely to the pipeline management. Five local streams in the vicinity of the probable pipeline origins were considered in this study. The calculations were made according to several different scenarios conceived for future application to diversion from the stream. Each scenario assumes a series of different diversion rates from the stream when the stream discharge is within different fractional ranges of the mean discharge. Also considered as constrains in these calculations is a series of alternatives for the maximum diversion rates allowed from the stream at any time, to account for the capacity of the diversion or intake structure, as well as that of the conveyance line between the intake and the reservoir, as the latter would not probably be located directly next to the intake structure. These capacity alternatives were based on the predicted continuous demands of the pipeline with various annual throughputs. Mass curve analysis was used in the determination of a reservoir that will guarantee the continuous supply of water for the coal slurry pipeline during the whole period considered. The study was further complemented by determining the reliability characteristics of smaller-size reservoirs in terms of their recurrence intervals based on a partial duration low-flow series analysis. / M. S.