Why Will You Need Coal Stockpile Management?

Coal stockpile management is an important part of the coal handling industry from mine to end user. Almost all coal producers, sellers, and consumers make use of stockpiles at their plant, either to serve as a buffer between material delivery and processing, acting as a strategic stock against supply interruptions, or to enable coal blending to meet quality requirements.

mobile radial stacker for coal stockpile management

Stockpiling of coals is carried out at a number of points along the transport chain to the end user:

• at coal mines;
• at coal preparation plants;
• at transhipment points and terminals importing or exporting coals;
• at the end user site, including power plants, integrated iron and steel works, coke works and cement plants.

The management of stockpiles depends on the purpose of the facility and is site-specific. For instance, managing a large number of stockpiles at a terminal blending different coal types to meet different customer requirements involves a much more complex operation than a stockyard dealing with only one coal type.

fixed stacking conveyor for coal stockpile management

The main functions of a stockpile are:

• to serve as a buffer between material delivery and processing, acting as a strategic stock against short- and long-term interruptions;
• to homogenise and/or blend coals to provide an even feedstock of the required quality.

Coal Stocks

The coal stockyard provides a buffer capacity to accommodate fluctuations between supply and demand. Traditionally power plants have kept a large coal inventory in order to protect against long-term disruptions to fuel supply (such as labour strikes and weather-related events). This could amount to over a quarter of their annual burn requirements.

coal stacker and reclaimer for coal stockpile management

Homogenisation and Blending

With the opportunity for electric utilities to buy coals of different qualities from a wider range of suppliers, and to take advantage of cheaper prices on the spot market, there is a greater need for coal blending capability in stockyards.

The quality of a coal varies both within and between delivery lots. Therefore some degree of homogenisation is usually required. This can be achieved in a stockpile. Stockpiling is also used for mixing coals. The terminology for homogenising, blending and mixing is not clearly defined, with terms being used interchangeably.

In homogenisation, the purpose is to provide a product from one type of material so that the inherent fluctuations in respect of quality and/or size distribution are evened out. In blending, the aim is to achieve a final product from two or more coal types that has a well-defined chemical composition, where the elements will be very evenly distributed and no large pockets of one type can be identified.