Coal, coal-dust & coal burning


It’s been some busy weeks. In our Arctic Environmental Management course, we first went to the abandoned Mine 3, had an interview with an unforeseeable incident at the power plant, counted reindeer faeces and tracks at -30° C and visited the Kongsberg facility KSAT up on Platåfjellet.

Just for now, a little bit about coal:

Monday, four weeks ago, we started with a lecture in coal mining with Malte Jochmann, a geologist specialised on coal facies. I thought it was quite an interesting lecture, as I couldn’t barely imagine how this work is carried out. The different mining techniques and approaches such as ‘longwall’ or ‘room and pillar’ mining and the amount of material that is used, amazed me. A visit to the museum-like mine 3 followed right after and again, it was quite impressive for me to see the machines and the infrastructure.


Entrance and view from Gruve 3


Guillaume and I fooling around in our mining suits

Malte Jochmann explaining us some basic principles of a daily mining routine



Bags of calcium carbonate

Still remaining were the bags of calcium carbonate to block coal dust explosions. Simple constructions attached to the ceiling, but very effective.


Band of coal facies

Mine heading selfie with Josephine, my lab buddy


‘Fun’ fact: Legend has it that in mine 1 a horse was catapulted out of the mine shaft over the whole valley due to a coal dust explosion. Poor creature, what a demise.


Nick and I are presenting about the energy consumption of Longyearbyen in three weeks and therefore, we went to visit the power plant in town, which still runs on coal.
After our meeting with Per-Ove Kristensen, the Lokalystre’s project manager, he gave us a tour throughout the plant. From the control room to the generators over to the boilers. Nick remembered him saying “something is strange” while we were looking into the coal burning furnace and as soon as we reached the top of the boilers, some 40 meters above ground, a cloud of water vapour gushed out. Sssssssh. “That is not good” was all he said and rushed down the stairs. On the ground floor the fire alarm went off, engineers came running into the hall and Per-Ove looking at us: “You need to go, now!”. This was probably the shortest and most eventful power plant tour I’ve ever had… And one I don't necessarily need to repeat.

Control room© Nick Ward

Turbine room  © Nick Ward






Nick having a proper look into the furnace


© Nick Ward



View on top of the boilers towards Longyearbyen/Adventdalen © Nick Ward

© Nick Ward

Something was definitely not right



Interesting facts: The power plant burns roughly 100 tons of coal per day! Half of the produced electricity is consumed by the active mine 7. For only two years now they use a ‘scrubber’ to filter out sulphides and about 1'000 kg of urea every day to remove nitrogen oxides. Both are then dumped into the sea.


And yeah, that day the sunlight reached the valley for the first time this year and was celebrated by the locals the very next day.

   
Nick enjoying his first sunbath this year



Location: Longyearbyen, Svalbard and Jan Mayen

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