M A I N   N E W S

GNDTP gets substandard coal
From Chander Parkash
Tribune News Service

BATHINDA, Dec 28 — The management of the local Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant (GNDTP) is finding it difficult to run the plant smoothly as it is not getting washed coal despite its entitlement.

The management, which has been getting B-grade washed coal termed as washed/middling and raw coal, has been suffering financial loss and generation loss due to frequent shutdowns of all four units of 110 MW capacity each of the plant.

Official sources said between April 2000 and June 2000, the plant received 69 per cent raw coal and 31 per cent washed/middling coal of the total receipt, the percentage during July 2000 to September 2000 was 47 and 53, respectively, and it was 43 and 57, respectively, between October 2000 and December 19, 2000.

The sources added that the thermal plant authorities was not getting A-grade washed coal so far as the Coal India limited (CIL) which was the main supplier of the coal, had no arrangement for the same.

They said the B-grade coal which the plant was getting was not better than raw coal. In a raw coal, the ash content varied between 40 per cent and 44 per cent while in the B-grade washed coal, the ash content varied between 38 per cent and 40 per cent.

Due to high ash content, the coal being used by the plant had been causing damage to the tubes in boilers resulting into frequent shutdowns. The frequent shutdowns had been causing financial loss and generation loss to the plant which had been nearing the completion of its life span.

Due to the high ash content, the efficiency of the boilers and electrostatic precipitators had also been affected. The ESP installed in the plant were designed to handle smoke with ash content at the temperature of 145°C but at present the temperature of emission was 175°C.

To reduce the emission of ash content from the chimneys, the GNDTP authorities had been cleaning the collecting and charging electrodes of the ESPs at regular intervals with water after shutting the unit for a day or two.

The sources said that the Ministry of Environment and Forests, in a notification issued on September 19, 1997, had made it mandatory for the coal-based thermal plant to use beneficiated coal with ash content not exceeding 34 per cent which were located beyond 1000 km from the pit head of coal mine. This provision would come into force on June 1, 2001.

The sources said on the other hand, the authorities concerned had failed to make arrangements of beneficiated coal. Coal India Limited (CIL) had also failed to set up washeries for supplying washed coal to thermal plants even.

Mr U.S. Lucky, Chief Engineer, GNDTP, when contacted said a plan had been drawn up to change the designs of boilers of all four units of the plant at the cost of Rs 300 crore. This amount would be arranged from the Power Finance Corporation (PFC) as loan and out of it 25 per cent would be grant.

The process of changing the design of boiler of the first unit would start in September 2001 and it would be over by the end of May 2001. After that one boiler would be changed every year and within four years, all four units would be renovated. This process would also reduce the emission of ash content from the chimneys.