Detail Design

Coal-fired Power: What's Old Is New Again
Coal is used to generate more than 50 percent of U.S. electricity, and, because it costs less than oil or natural gas, it continues to be a popular energy resource. New clean-coal technologies have dramatically reduced the environmental impact of coal-fired power plants, while advances in metallurgy and boiler designs have improved plant efficiency.

Bechtel has a long history of designing and building coal-fired power plants and offers a wide range of customizable designs for plant installations.

In a coal-fired plant, coal is burned to produce heat. The heat turns water to steam to drive the plant's electricity-generating turbines. And flue gas exhaust is cleaned and scrubbed before being released into the atmosphere.

Here’s how it works, for both low-sulfur and high-sulfur coal:

To view a graphic glimpse of Coal-fired Power, click here to download a PDF (739 KB) version of the illustration.

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