To encourage small-and medium-sized energy users to use more coal, the Coal Cartridge System (CCS) Development Project was started in April 1984 by the CCS Promotion Association, which is chaired by Mr. Masaru Yamato, Chairman of Idemitsu Kosan.
In the CCS, finely pulverized coal is packed together with inert gas into a tightly sealed container for direct transport to end users. The coal is not exposed to open air.
This system eliminates the need for coal yards, makes coal transport much easier and eliminates the need for laborious ash disposal. CCS supply centers, where coal will be processed into granular fuel and then injected into cartridges, are to be built in various districts throughout Japan. The cartridges will be delivered by bulk lorry or container. Used cartridges will be recovered and brought back to the centers in the same way.
The CCS Promotion Association completed a demonstration plant in 1984 at Tokuyama and a test boiler at Iwakuni in 1985, and finished the first phase of experimental test in September, 1987 as scheduled. From April, 1988, it is promoting the second phase of the technology for desulfurization in an easy way.
Commercial use of this revolutionary system will make it possible to handle inexpensive coal as easily as heavy oil. This will be of great benefit to energy users, especially smaller companies that, up until now, have had virtually no access to coal because transportation and storage were seen as insurmountable problems.
