The paper presents an analysis of hard coal prices offered at the coal depots in Poland. Coal depots are one of the most popular forms of purchasing coal by Polish households. Prices refer to price offers for cobble coal (grain size: 60–120 mm) and their analysis is performed based on the regions rather than on all Polish provinces. From January 2010 to May 2019, there were two regions that were distinguished in terms of price spread: the S-W region and the N-E region. In the case of the S-W region, the difference between the province with the minimum price (Śląskie Province) and with the maximum price (Dolnośląskie Province since September 2017) ranged from PLN 53–83/ton, and in the N-E region the difference ranged PLN 64–130/ton. In the case of the remaining two regions, prices varied from a few to approximately PLN 80/ton for the N-W region, and from a few to about PLN 40 /ton for the S-E region. In order to determine how the origin of the coal affects its prices (domestic coal, imported coal), the analysis also included cobble coal price offers that are part of the Author’s own database created for several years. In the case of cobble coal from domestic producers, price offers varied betwwen PLN 14–33/GJ, and price offers for imported cobble coal stood varied between PLN 12–32/GJ. The N-E region attracted particular attention as the price offers for imported cobble coal reached a level similar to the offers from the S-W region, i.e. the region closest to Silesian coal mines. Price differentials within provinces belonging to a given region were influenced by the geographical rent. The paper also analyses average selling prices offered by domestic producers for various size grades of steam coal as well as selling prices for imported coal (free-at-frontier price).
A significant part of hard coal production (15–19% in the years 2010–2017, i.e. 1.0–1.3 billion
tons per year) is traded on the international market. The majority of coal trade takes place by sea,
accounting for 91–94% of the total coal trade. The article discusses the share of coal in international
seaborne trade and the largest coal ports. Coal is one the five major bulk commodities (in addition
to iron ore, grain, bauxite, alumina, and phosphate rock). In the years 2010–2016, the share of coal
in international seaborne trade and major bulk commodities was 36–41% and 11–12%, respectively.
Based on the analysis of coal throughput in different ports worldwide, the ports with the
largest throughput include the ports of Qinhuangdao (China), Newcastle (Australia), and Richards
Bay (South Africa). For 2013–2017, their throughput amounted to a total of 411–476 million tons
of coal. The largest coal exporting countries were: Australia, Indonesia, Russia, Colombia, South
Africa, and the US (a total of 85% share in global coal exports), while the largest importers are
Asian countries: China, India, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan (a 64% share in global imports). In
Europe, Germany is the largest importer of coal (54 million tons imported in 2016). The article also
discusses the freight costs and the bulk carrier fleet. Taking the price of coal at the recipient’s (i.e.
at the importer’s port) into account, the share of freight costs in the CIF price of steam coal (the
price of a good delivered at the frontier of the importing country) was at the level of 10–14%. In
the years 2010–2016, the share of bulk carriers in the world fleet was in the range of 11–15%. In
terms of tonnage, bulk carriers accounted for 31–35% of the total tonnage of all types of ships in
the world. The share of new (1–4 years) bulk carriers in the total number of ships on a global scale
in the years 2010–2016 was 29–46%.
Households are the most significant group of consumers in the municipal and household sector in
Poland. In 2010-2016, households consumed annually from 8.9 to 10.8 million Mg of coal (77-81%
share in this sector).
As of the beginning of 2018, seven voivodships in Poland have already introduced anti-smog resolutions,
one has its draft, three are considering introduction of such resolutions. In the face of introducing
anti-smog resolutions, the analysis of coal consumption by households was conducted for a situation
where anti-smog resolutions will be introduced in all voivodships in Poland.
A forecast of hard coal consumption by Polish households in 2017-2030 was presented in the article.
Two scenarios differentiated in terms of calorific value of coal were taken into account: (i) concerned coal
with a calorific value of 24 MJ/kg (min. Q for eco-pea coal: grain size 5.0-31.5 mm), (ii) – coals with
a calorific value of 26 MJ/kg (Q recommended for use by producers of class 5 boilers).
In the perspective of 2030, the largest decrease in hard coal consumption can be expected (jointly)
in the voivodships of Śląskie, Dolnośląskie, Opolskie and Lubuskie. Under the assumptions made, in
relation to 2016, it may be reduced by half and fall from 2.8 to the level of 1.4-1.5 million Mg. The
smallest decreases in consumption may occur (jointly) in the Małopolskie, Lubelskie, Podkarpackie and
Świętokrzyskie voivodships – decrease by 16-22% and fall from 2.6 to approximately 1.9-2.0 million Mg.
On a national scale, coal consumption may decrease from the current 10.4 (2016) to around 6.3-6.8 million
Mg (a decrease of 30-35%).
Despite the decrease in hard coal consumption in the 2030 perspective, one should expect an increase
in demand for high quality coal dedicated to modern boilers (usually pea assortments) as well as qualified
coal fuels (mainly eco-pea coal).
This paper deals with issues related to tribological processes occurring as a result of excessive wear of the surface of scraper conveyor components caused by the impact of the mined material created during drilling of development or exploitation galleries. One of the most common types of tribological wear is abrasive wear. W ear tests were carried out for hard coal – based abrasive using dry carbon abrasive and a hydrated mixture with 76 and 58% hard coal. Based on the conducted research, it was established that the effects of wear processes are associated with damage typical of wear mechanisms: micro-scratching and micro-fatigue. For the wear variant in the presence of dry coal abrasive, individual scratches caused by the abrasive grains were observed on the surface of the samples. The main reason for this type of damage was the aggregation of quartz, which is one of the basic components of the mineral substance present in the tested hard coal. When hydrated carbon mixtures were used as an abrasive, the surface of the samples also displayed scratches characteristic of the aggregate quartz. A small part of the carbon abrasive was pressed into the scratches. Under the influence of the wear caused by friction, small depressions were also formed, where coal penetrated. The effect of coal pressing into micro-scratches is related to its plastic properties. T ests of the abrasive conducted after the conclusion of wear tests have shown that under the influence of the local increase in temperature and pressure, the hard coal contained in the abrasive can undergo transformations. In the abrasive transformed under friction, small, but measurable changes in the content of the C element in relation to the initial hard coal sample were exhibited.
Running a business entails various risks which can significantly impact the economic and production results achieved by a given enterprise. One way of hedging certain risks is to use appropriately designed derivatives. This article presents the newest group of these contracts, i.e. swaps, and focuses on how these contracts can be used by Polish mining companies from the hard coal mining sector selling a part of their output on the global market. This article briefly characterises and presents types of swaps as well as the Polish swap market, pioneered by Polski Bank Rozwoju S.A. with the first FX swap of 1992. Since then, other types of transactions have also been included in the offering of domestic banks (assets swaps, cross-currency interest rate swaps). Mining companies producing hard coal have not been active on the swap market yet because of their poor activity on derivative markets. This article proposes a swap as an derivative hedging the hard coal price for a mining company exporting a part of its production to the global market. In the presented example, a mining company, by concluding a forward and an appropriately structured commodity swap, was able to both protect it self from a fall in the price and use additional gains due to prices rising in the global market. Apart from commodity swaps, mining companies can use FX swaps, IRS and other swaps described in the literature and commonly applied in practice by various economic entities, depending on the type of risk that needs hedging. A significant advantage of this kind of contract is that there is no need to freeze funds in security deposits, nor are there fees of other kinds (premiums) like those payable for other derivatives (futures, options).
Coal reserves in the Czech Republic are estimated to be 10 billion tons – hard coal about 37%, brown coal about 60% and lignite 3%. Hard coal is produced in Northern Moravia. In 2017 the production of hard coal was 5.5 million tons. Brown coal is mined in North-Western Bohemia − the production of brown coal in 2017 was 38.1 million tons. Significant quantities of hard coal are exported to: Slovakia, Austria, Germany and Hungary. In accordance with the National Energy Policy, coal will remain the main source of energy in the country in the future, despite the increased use of nuclear energy and natural gas. The government expects that in 2030 energy from coal will account for 30.5% of energy produced. There are five coal companies in the Czech Republic: OKD, a.s., the only hard coal producer and four brown coal mining companies: Severočeské Doly a.s., owned by ČEZ, the largest producer of brown coal, Vršanská uhelná a.s., with coal resources until 2055, Severní energetická a.s. with the largest brown coal reserves in the Czech Republic and Sokolovska uhelná a.s., the smallest mining company extracting lignite. OKD operates coal in two mines Kopalnia Důlní závod 1 – (consists of three mines: ČSA Mine, Lazy Mine, Darkov Mine) and Mine Důlní závod 2 (ttwo mines Sever, Jih). The article also presents a pro-ecological solution for the management of waste heaps after coal enrichment – a plant for the enrichment of coal waste from the Hermanice heap.
Coal combustion processes are the main source of mercury emission to the environment in Poland. Mercury is emitted by both power and heating plants using hard and brown coals as well as in households. With an annual mercury emission in Poland at the level of 10 Mg, the households emit 0.6 Mg. In the paper, studies on the mercury release in the coal and biomass combustion process in household boilers were conducted. The mercury release factors were determined for that purpose. For the analyzed samples the mercury release factors ranged from 98.3 to 99.1% for hard coal and from 99.5% to 99.9% for biomass, respectively. Due to the high values of the determined factors, the amount of mercury released into the environment mainly depends on the mercury content in the combusted fuel. In light of the obtained results, the mercury content in the examined hard coals was 6 times higher than in the biomass (dry basis). Taking the calorific value of fuels into account, the difference in mercury content between coal and biomass decreased, but its content in coal was still 4 times higher. The mercury content determined in that way ranged from 0.7 to 1.7 μg/MJ for hard coal and from 0.1 to 0.5 μg/MJ for biomass, respectively. The main opportunity to decrease the mercury emissions from households is offered by the use of fuels with a mercury content that is as low as possible, as well as by a reduction of fuel consumption. The latter could be obtained by the use of modern boilers as well as by the thermo-modernization of buildings. It is also possible to partially reduce mercury emissions by using dust removal devices.
In this study, a new laser flash system was proposed for the determination of the thermal conductivity of brown coal, hard coal and anthracite. The main objective of the investigation was to determine the effect of coal rank, composition, physical structure and temperature on thermal conductivity. The solid fuels tested were medium conductors of heat whose determined thermal conductivities were in the range of 0.09 to 0.23 W/(m K) at room temperature. The thermal conductivity of the solid fuels tested typically increased with the rank of coal and the measurement temperature. The results of this study show that the physical structure of solid fuels and temperature have a dominant effect on the fuels' thermal conductivity.
The aim of the study is to determine the mercury content in hard coal, randomly taken from the USCB and in by-products of hard coal mining (fresh mining waste), i.e. aggregates (gangue) and hard coal sludge and mining waste from the Siersza dump (weathered waste). The 34 samples were intended for analysis. The total mercury content and the amount of mercury leaching from solid samples was determined. The percentage of the leaching form in the total element content, i.e. the level of mercury release from the material (leaching level), was also calculated. The amount of mercury leaching was determined by a static method using a batch test 1:10. The highest possibility of leaching mercury is characterized by weathered waste from the Siersza dump and slightly lower analyzed hard coal from the U pper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB). For hard coal samples, the total mercury content is between 0.0275–0.1236 mg/kg. However, the amount of mercury leaching from coal samples is 0.0008–0.0077 mg/kg. The aggregate is characterized by a higher total mercury content in the finest fraction 0–6 mm, within 0.1377–0.6107 mg/kg and much lower in the 80-120 mm fraction, within 0.0508–0.1274 mg/kg. The amount of elution is comparable in both fractions and amounts to 0.0008–0.0057 mg/kg. Coal sludge has a total mercury content of 0.0937–0.2047 mg/kg. L ow leaching values of 0.0014–0.0074 mg/ kg are also observed. Weathered mining waste has a total mercury content of 0.0622–0.2987 mg/kg. However, leaching values from weathered waste are much higher than from fresh mining waste. This value is 0.0058–0.0165 mg/kg. In the hard coal extracted from U SCB, the leaching level is 4.7% on average. Mining waste is characterized by a large variation in the proportion of mercury leaching form and the differences result from the seasoning time of the samples. Waste or by-products of hard coal production, such as aggregates and coal sludge, show a mercury washout form at an average level of 1.7%. The proportion of leachable form in weathered waste increased strongly to 7.3%. Elution characteristics vary for different groups of materials tested. Factors such as the type and origin of samples, their granulometric composition and the seasoning time of the material are of fundamental importance and demonstrated in the work.
The Polish power generation system is based mostly on coal-fired power plants. Therefore, the coal mining sector is strongly sensitive to changes in the energy sector, of which decarbonization is the crucial one. The EU Emission Trading System (EU ETS) requires power generating companies to purchase European Emission Allowances (EUAs), whose prices have recently soared. They have a direct impact on the cost efficiency of hard coal-fired power generation, hence influence the consumption of hard coal on the power sector. In this context, the objective of this paper is to estimate the hard coal consumption in various regions of Poland under selected forecasts of the EUA price. To investigate this question, two models are employed:
- the PolPower_LR model that simulates the Polish power generation system,
- the FSM _LR model that optimizes hard coal supplies.
Three scenarios differentiated by the EUA price are designed for this study. In the first one, the average EUA price from 2014–2017 is assumed. In the second and third, the EUA prices are assumed accordingly to the NPS and the SDS scenario of the World Energy Outlook. In this study we consider only existing, modernized, under construction and announced coal-fired power generation units. The results of the study indicate that regardless of the scenario, a drop in hard coal consumption by power generation units is observed in the entire period of analysis. However, the dynamics of these changes differ. The results of this analysis prove that the volume of hard coal consumption may differ by even 136 million Mg (in total) depending on the EUA prices development scenario. The highest cumulated volume of hard coal consumption is observed in the Opolski, Radomski and Sosnowiecki region, regardless of the considered scenario.
The new legislative provisions, regulating the solid fuel trade in Poland, and the resolutions of
provincial assemblies assume, inter alia, a ban on the household use of lignite fuels and solid fuels
produced with its use; this also applies to coal sludge, coal flotation concentrates, and mixtures
produced with their use. These changes will force the producers of these materials to find new
ways and methods of their development, including their modification (mixing with other products
or waste) in order to increase their attractiveness for the commercial power industry. The presented
paper focuses on the analysis of coal sludge, classified as waste (codes 01 04 12 and 01 04 81)
or as a by-product in the production of coals of different types. A preliminary analysis aimed at
presenting changes in quality parameters and based on the mixtures of hard coal sludge (PG SILESIA)
with coal dusts from lignite (pulverized lignite) (LEAG) has been carried out. The analysis
of quality parameters of the discussed mixtures included the determination of the calorific value,
ash content, volatile matter content, moisture content, heavy metal content (Cd, Tl, Hg, Sb, As, Pb,
Cr, Co, Cu, Mn, Ni, and W), and sulfur content. The preliminary analysis has shown that mixing
coal sludge with coal dust from lignite and their granulation allows a product with the desired quality
and physical parameters to be obtained, which is attractive to the commercial power industry.
Compared to coal sludge, granulates made of coal sludge and coal dust from lignite with or without
ground dolomite have a higher sulfur content (in the range of 1–1.4%). However, this is still an
acceptable content for solid fuels in the commercial power industry. Compared to the basic coal
sludge sample, the observed increase in the content of individual toxic components in the mixture
samples is small and it therefore can be concluded that the addition of coal dust from lignite or carbonates
has no significant effect on the total content of the individual elements. The calorific value
is a key parameter determining the usefulness in the power industry. The size of this parameter for
coal sludge in an as received basis is in the range of 9.4–10.6 MJ/kg. In the case of the examined
mixtures of coal sludge with coal dust from lignite, the calorific value significantly increases to
the range of 14.0–14.5 MJ/kg (as received). The obtained values increase the usefulness in the
commercial power industry while, at the same time, the requirements for the combustion of solid
fuels are met to a greater extent. A slight decrease in the calorific value is observed in the case of
granulation with the addition of CaO or carbonates. Taking the analyzed parameters into account,
it can be concluded that the prepared mixtures can be used in the combustion in units with flue gas
desulfurization plants and a nominal thermal power not less than 1 MW. At this stage of work no
cost analysis was carried out.
This article presents the use of a multi-criterion Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method to assess
geological and mining condition nuisance in longwall mining operations in selected coal mines in Poland.
For this purpose, a methodology has been developed which was used to calculate the operational nuisance
indicator (WUe) in relation to the cost of mining coal in individual longwalls. Components of the aggregate
operational nuisance indicator include four sub-indicators: the natural hazards indicator (UZN), an
indicator describing the seam parameters (UPZ), an indicator describing the technical parameters (UT)
and an environmental impact indicator (UŚ). In total, the impact of 28 different criteria, which formed
particular components of the nuisance indicators were analysed. In total 471 longwalls in 11 coal mines
were analysed, including 277 longwalls that were mined in the period of 2011 to 2016 and 194 longwalls
scheduled for exploitation in the years 2017 to 2021.
Correlation analysis was used to evaluate the relationships between nuisance and the operating costs
of longwalls. The analysis revealed a strong correlation between the level of nuisance and the operating
costs of the longwalls under study. The design of the longwall schedule should therefore also take into
account the nuisance arising from the geological and mining conditions of the operations. Selective
operations management allows for the optimization of costs for mining in underground mines using the
longwall system. This knowledge can also be used to reduce the total operating costs of mines as a result
of abandoning the mining operations in entire longwalls or portions of longwalls that may be permanently
unprofitable. Currently, underground mines do not employ this optimization method, which even more
emphasizes the need for popularizing this approach.
The coal fed to gravity enrichment consists of coals coming from different deposits and exploitation fronts. These coals differ in quality parameters, especially the amount of gangue (stone) changing over time. This results in the instability of work, especially jiggers, which have a relatively low accuracy assessed by probable scattering or imperfection rates. This deteriorates the quality of the concentrate obtained, the quality parameters of which change over time. The improvement of jiggers work would be possible by averaging the feed. This process is practically impossible due to the failure to design such a node during plant construction, which are, in most cases, directly related to the shaft. In the article, the authors propose to solve the process of averaging the feed before directing it to the enrichment process in jiggers by introducing its deshaling in vibratory- air separators of the FGX type.
Coal mining is one of the most important sectors of the Polish industry. It can be said that the coal is a national raw material. This results in Poland being a pioneer in the European Union in terms of coal mining as well as its use in the production of electricity and heat. There are many companies in Poland which have been established and developed around the coal mining industry aimed at coal extracting. The operations of those companies depends on the condition of the mining companies and their cooperation with them: commercial, service and advisory, called referred to as “mining supporting companies”. The article focuses on the results of a survey carried out in mining supporting companies, such as mining machinery and equipment manufacturers, mining-related service companies and mining-related research and development institutions. The authors evaluated the relationship and dependence of those companies on the mining industry. It was assumed that the measure of the mining supporting companies condition is the overall quantity of public related payments contributed to the state budget and local budgets. In the article, the authors raised the problem of the size of losses for public finances, as a result of the significant limitations of financial flows from the mining companies. The surveyed companies are those associated with the Polish Mining Chamber of Industry and Commerce. As a result, the authors prepared conclusions regarding the dependence of the mining supporting companies on the situation of the mining subsector.
The paper presents selected issues related to the development of international coal markets. World consumption of coal dropped for the second year in a row in 2016, primarily due to lower demand from China and the U S. The share of coal in global primary energy consumption decreased to 28%. World coal production accounted to 3.66 billion toe and it was lower by 6.2% when compared to the previous year. More than 60% of this decline took place in China. The decline in global production was more than four times higher than the decrease in consumption. The sufficiency of world resources of coal are estimated at 153 years – that is three times more than the sufficiency of oil and gas resources. After several years of decline, coal prices increased by 77% in 2016. The current spot prices are at the level of $80/t and are close to the 2014 prices. In the European market, after the first half of the year, coal prices reached the level of around 66% higher than in the same period of the last year. The average price in the first half amounted to PLN 12.6/GJ, which is close to the 2012 prices. The share of spot trade in the total purchase amount accounted to approx. 20%. Prices in futures contracts can be estimated on the basis of the Japan-Australia contracts prices and prices in supplies to power plants located in Germany. On average, the prices in supplies to these power plants were higher by approximately 9% in the years 2010–2016 and prices in Australia – Japan contracts were 12% higher than CIF ARA prices in 2017. Global energy coal trade reached about 1.012 billion tonnes in 2016. In 2019, a decline by 4.8% is expected primarily due to the expected reduction in the demand in major importing countries in Asia.
In the processes of coal mining, preparation and combustion, the rejects and by-products are generated. These are, among others, the rejects from the coal washing and dry deshaling processes as well as the coal combustion by-products (fly ash and slag). Current legal and industry regulations recommend determining the content of mercury in them. The regulations also define the acceptable content of mercury. The aim of the paper was to determine the mercury content in the rejects derived from the coal cleaning processes as well as in the combustion by-products in respect of their utilization. The mercury content in the representative samples of the rejects derived from the coal washing and dry deshaling processes as well as in the coal combustion by products derived from 8 coal-fired boilers was determined. The mercury content in the rejects from the coal washing process varied from 54 to 245 μg/kg, (the average of 98 μg/kg) and in the rejects from the dry deshaling process it varied from 76 to 310 μg/kg (the average of 148 μg/kg). The mercury content in the fly ash varied from 70 to 1420 μg/kg, (the average of 567 μg/kg) and in the slag it varied from 8 to 58 μg/kg (the average of 21 μg/kg). At the moment, in light of the regulations from the point of view of mercury content in the rejects from the coal preparation processes and in the coal combustion by-products, there are no significant barriers determining the way of their utilization. Nevertheless, in the future, regulations limiting the maximum content of mercury as well as the acceptable amount of leachable mercury may be introduced. Therefore, preparing for this situation by developing other alternative methods of using the rejects and by-products is recommended.
There was done an inventarization of 41 coal mining dumping grounds, gathering waste material from 27 mines. Considering the fact, that five mines belong to multi-motion plants the research comprised 32 hard coal deposits. Source data with localization of particular dumps have been obtained from archival materials from the mines and municipalities, in the boundaries where the dumps occur as well as free accessible published materials (books, scientific papers). The data have been verified, in the beginning on the basis of topographical maps, orthophotomaps and aerial photographs and then, after vision done during field works they have been drawn on the topographic base, what resulted in creating the map of post-mining dumping grounds. Valorisation of coal mining waste dumps, using already repeatedly presented method, included defining of: name of the dump, coal mine from where the wastes come from, state of the dump, surface of the dump, type of technical and biological reclamation, accessibility of the object, possibilities of recovery of coal and the results have been drawn on the map. On the basis of collected and elaborated data there was done an attempt of defining of potential possibilities of recovery of coal from the dumps and connecting of coal quality in exploited deposits and coal content in waste material. The results showed that in spite of initial information that the majority of the dumps comprise potential objects of coal recovery of coal from waste material, eventually only in some cases (thirteen objects) the recovery seems to be economically justified.