Published: November 16, 2021 |

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A new process for turning coal into more environmentally friendly or “green” products could soon be put to use at a planned manufacturing site to be located in the heart of Beckley.

Plans on how these goods are manufactured as well as how they will be implemented at the proposed Beckley plant were discussed Thursday at a press conference at West Virginia University Institute of Technology.

“Basically, we take coal and, with some chemistry and science, we make a nice fertilizer and we make some pellets that will burn and replace the wood pellets (because they’re) more efficient and burn even cleaner,” said Ron Hedrick, the local project coordinator.

Hedrick said he envisions this as the first step for bringing more jobs to the area and having Beckley known as the center of a new green industry.

Handouts provided by Hedrick went into a bit more of the chemistry and science used to create these products.

The process, of course, starts with coal, which is ground up. It is then transferred to a mixer, where it is sprayed with a salt solution while being mixed until it becomes slurried.

The salted coal-char is then transported to the solar hybrid kiln for drying.

From there, the dried mixture can be pressed into pellets or converted into fertilizer.

He added that this process has been designed, developed, and patented over the past few years through the efforts of professors and students at George Washington University and Mississippi State University.

Professors from GWU and MSU were present at Thursday’s press conference via Zoom to talk about their work.

Those universities are also working in conjunction with an eco-friendly company, Englo Global, to manufacture these products on a larger scale.

These products will come to be known under the name of CoalChar, a product of Englo.

Recently, WVU Tech has been added to the mix after sending one of its engineering students, Tanner Myers, a junior, to MSU last summer to assist in advancing the project.

“It was a great experience,” said Tanner, a Princeton native.

“It was a great chance to work on a real engineering problem and just not the typical problems you’re given in class. It was great to see what real world applications that you can have in engineering,” added Tanner.

Tanner said he assisted on design aspects of what it would take to make the coal-based products on a larger scale, as it had currently only been done in a controlled lab setting.

“They had the process down that needed to be done but we needed to figure out how can we do it, what equipment can you use to make this process work in real life and not just on a lab scale,” Tanner said.

For all his efforts and hard work during those summer months, Tanner was presented an Engineering Award by Beckley Mayor Rob Rappold. He was also presented with a $1,000 check from Enslo to be put toward his tuition at WVU Tech.

Using designs Tanner helped create at MSU, Hedrick said the plan is to convert an abandoned 5,000-square-foot building in Beckley into a pilot plant that can manufacture these products.

The building, which Hedrick said has been vacant for 10 years, is at the corner of South Kanawha Street and Howe Street in downtown Beckley within a block of WVU Tech’s campus.

It was previously a maintenance facility for Appalachian Power.

Hendrick said there will also be classroom space in the building for WVU Tech students to continue to learn from and work on the project.

Hedrick said the owner of the building has already agreed to let them use it for the desired factory, with the idea that they will hash out the details regarding the purchase or lease of the building at a later date.

The hope is that if this pilot plant is successful, it can be scaled up and duplicated at new plants across West Virginia, which will bring in new jobs.

Hedrick said they are ready to move forward with this plan but first need WVU Tech to join as an official partner in order to apply for funding through the Appalachian Regional Commission, a federal-state partnership that works with the people of Appalachia to create opportunities for self-sustaining economic development and improved quality of life.

Hedrick said the proposal they intend to submit will be for $1.5 million.

“It may seem like a ways off and a big dream, but you don’t ever get there unless you start,” said Hedrick.

Source: The Register Herald

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