Chapter 00 — Feedstock · Stranded carbon
ModeledReject & Low-Rank Coal. Value from the carbon nobody else can burn.
Washery rejects, coal fines, high-ash and low-rank lignite are off-spec for conventional combustion — stranded at the mine mouth with no compliant outlet. Plasma gasification isn't combustion: it deconstructs that carbon into hydrogen-rich syngas without a flame, locking the mineral fraction into inert vitrified slag rather than releasing it as fly ash.
High
Fixed carbon
15–45%
Ash (reject grade)
No flame
Non-combustion route
Vitrified
Ash → inert slag
Reflects typical reject/low-rank coal properties, not plasma-trial output — modeled. High-ash streams yield more slag and are handled accordingly. Targeted at coal unsuitable for other uses.
Feedstock Profile
- Grade
- Washery rejects · fines · lignite
- Ash
- High · 15–45%
- Status
- Stranded — off-spec for combustion
- Carbon
- High fixed carbon content
Why Plasma Gasification Fits
- Monetises carbon that is otherwise stranded and unsaleable.
- Non-combustion route avoids the fly-ash and NOx profile of burning coal.
- Mineral matter is locked into inert vitrified slag, not dispersed.
- Brownfield, mine-mouth siting uses existing handling infrastructure.
- Offers legacy coal assets a decarbonisation-aligned second life.