KFx Inc. Completes First Two Production Runs At 750,000 TPY K-Fuel Plant
Denver - KFx Inc. reported that it has completed its first two production runs at its 750,000 tons per year commercial scale K-Fuel plant in Gillette, Wyoming. Initial production results of approximately 200 tons, utilizing Powder River Basin feedstock coal with less than 8,000 Btu and one processor with operating conditions at design pressure, temperature and time profiles, are indicative of a product consistent with K-Fuel specifications. The resulting coal product specifications were approximately 11,000 Btu, 8-12% moisture and mercury reduction of around 70% from the feedstock coal. The company has commenced shipping this morning by truck approximately 150 tons of initial product to two customers. The Company's initial production will be tested in varied applications for burning characteristics, product handling, transportation and emissions.
"We are extremely pleased with plant operations thus far. The initial product quality is consistent with K-Fuel specifications," said Ted Venners, Chairman and CTO. "I want to express my thanks to everyone in our operations team. They have worked through some challenging situations, including tough weather conditions, to get us to this successful start up."
"This is an important milestone for KFx marking a significant step toward one of our strategic goals of becoming an energy production company," commented Mark Sexton, CEO. "We will utilize the early feedback and data from our tests to fine tune and optimize our process to produce a fully tested K-Fuel product as we ramp up production levels."
Throughout production startup, KFx and Lurgi SA personnel will continue to inspect the processors and all systems as well as make equipment, process, quality control systems and handling controls adjustments as required. KFx is working to complete its 14,400-ton product silo in order to meet railroad loading requirements, and the company continues to expect to commence loading and shipping unit trains with K-Fuel product in the spring of 2006.
SOURCE: KFx