From the mine to the markets, prepared coal can be transported in a number of ways. A sizable portion of the overall cost to the customer may be attributed to transportation expenses.
Trains
The most popular method for transporting coal over large distances is via far rail. Rail transport requires a significant fixed investment in railcars, as well as requirements for the roadbed and track. However, some of the factors that make rail transport the most appealing for long-term, long-distance, high-volume coal movements are the long life of the permanent assets, relatively trouble-free operation with minimal maintenance, the ability to ship large volumes, the high mechanical efficiencies obtained with low rolling resistances, and the dedicated nature of the origin and destination of the runs.
Unit trains, consisting of 100 or more cars with a capacity ranging from 100 to 110 tonnes each, transport approximately half of the coal moved by rail in the United States. Ten to fifteen thousand tonnes of coal are often shipped in a single cargo by unit trains. A “dedicated unit train” is specifically designed to transport cargo between a single point of origin and a single destination. Carefully matched loading and unloading terminals are required to achieve maximum efficiency. For instance, a unit train carrying 17,400 tonnes on a 1,200-kilometer round trip from mine to plant requires 72 hours for turnaround, which includes 4 hours for loading, 10 hours for emptying, and additional time for servicing each train.
Highway-based trucks
Coal may be transported by truck via a system of public roads if haul distances and cargo sizes are short. On-highway trucks typically carry payloads of little more than 25 tonnes, but off-highway vehicles have capacities of over 250 tonnes. Trucks have several advantages over railways: they can handle steeper grades and curves; they can build or resurface roads more quickly and for far less money than railways; and they can maintain a continuous coal supply by adding new trucks and replacing old ones.
Barges
For a very long time, rivers and lakes have been essential to the movement of bulk goods like coal throughout Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Canada, and the US. The quantity of barges that can be carried by a single towboat determines the cost of barge transport, which is based on the waterway’s size. For instance, in the United States, the upper Mississippi, lower Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland rivers may accommodate up to 20–25 barge tows, while the lower Mississippi can accommodate 25–35 barge tows. The maximum weight capacity of each barge is 1,500 tonnes. Delivery timings are typically sluggish due to the circuitous nature of waterways. On the other hand, coal transportation via barges is incredibly economical.
Conveyors
Conveyors are frequently used to move coal from mines to barge-loading stations, even though they are rarely used to move coal over large distances from producing to consuming areas. Conveyors are also typically utilised to move coal from a mine to the power plant stockpile in situations where a power plant is near one. Compared to trucks or rail systems, conveyors can move across rough terrain more readily. They also have the benefit of continuous conveyance and are easily extendable. Conveyors with broad belts and fast speeds can have massive capacities, ranging from two thousand to five thousand tonnes per hour.
Slurry Pipes
Crushed coal combined with a liquid, such as water or oil, is called coal slurry. The typical mixture is made up of 50% coal and 50% water by weight, and it was initially patented in England in 1891. Slurry fuels, often referred to as heavy coal slurries, are made up of 65 to 75 percent coal and the other components being water, methanol, or oil. Slurry fuels can be burnt straight into boilers, in contrast to typical slurry, which is delivered by pipeline to the user, who removes the water from the coal before burning.
Coal slurry pipelines currently in operation in the United States and Europe cover distances ranging from a few kilometres to several hundred kilometres. They have several advantages. A large portion—approximately 70 percent—of the costs involved in a slurry pipeline are invested in the initial construction of the line and pumping stations and are fixed for the life of the pipeline. Therefore, the total costs of moving slurry during the life of the line do not increase in proportion to inflation. The advantage over rail and truck transport is clear, as the costs of these latter modes escalate with inflation. Furthermore, pipelines require less right-of-way, much less labour, and about half of the steel and other supplies required for other transport methods.
Slurry pipelines, on the other hand, may cause environmental issues. Water demands are high: nearly one tonne of water is required to move one tonne of coal. This is a significant problem in Australia and the western United States, where water supplies are limited and unpredictable. Water pollution along the pipeline’s whole length as well as at its mouth are the subject of additional worries. Because of this, obtaining a right-of-way to install a pipeline has frequently been fraught with legal and environmental issues.
Electrical cord
Massive complexes comprising mining, preparation, and utility facilities were developed in the early 1960s as a result of the allocation of substantial coal reserves to mine-mouth power plants. For a number of reasons, the transportation of electricity from coal-fired power plants to remote consumption centres remains appealing. Most of the time, coal is the least expensive fuel and is widely accessible. Furthermore, there is a growing effort among electric utilities to find coal-burning methods that are intrinsically cleaner and more efficient. Over 3,000 miles separate consumers in the western countries of the former Soviet Union from Siberia via the world’s highest-voltage transmission line, which operates at 1,150 kilovolts. In the US, half of the electricity generated is produced by coal-fired plants.
Three networks make up the United States electrical grid: an east, a west, and a texas network. The capacity to transfer power from one network to another indicates the possibility of using electrical wire for coal power transportation on a larger scale, even though the transfers are now very minor.
Ships
It is anticipated that coal exports would rise, which will increase the significance of water transportation. When transporting coal by sea, care must be taken with (1) the route from the mine to the port, (2) the coal-handling facilities at the export port, (3) the decisions made by the ocean carrier regarding the size and number of ships, contractual duties, fleet management, and other factors, (4) the coal-handling facilities at the importing port, and (5) the transportation from the port to the client.
Coal exports are significantly impacted by the cost of transportation. The aggregate cost of mining, rail, port, and shipping can account for almost half of the delivered price of coal to foreign ports, and these costs can differ significantly for various foreign buyers. The construction of the required infrastructure and the upkeep of enormous stockpiles at the exporting ports also come with significant capital expenses. Since all of these expenses vary widely throughout providers, it is crucial to assess how competitively different coals are priced on international marketplaces.