This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project addresses the control of S02 emissions to the atmosphere from coal-fired power plants. The majority of utilities use blending of coal from different sources, as the means for the reduction of sulfur emissions. This project will produce an on-line analyzer that will assist coal producers and coal users in assessing the major coal bulk parameters of the blended coal. This analyzer will measure in real time, non-destructively, the sulfur and sodium content of coal along with other important parameters such as caloric value, moisture, density, volatile matter, etc. The main features of the analyzer, which is based on pulsed fast/thermal neutrons, are self-calibration independent of the coal seam, diminished radiation risk, and better accuracy in the determination of elements such as carbon, oxygen, and sodium. The on-line elemental coal analyzer is to be used by coal mines, coal preparation plants, and coal-fired power plants worldwide. In the US, there are nearly 900 of the above facilities, and over 100 on-line analyzers have already been installed. This project addresses the issues that the current generation of elemental analyzers has problems with. In the beginning, it targets approximately 100 coal mines and power plants that, responding to our market survey, have indicated an interest in a second generation elemental analyzer.
