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Coal jobs could return to Appalachia, this time to power EVs. How does ORNL do it?
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Through a new process that turns coal waste into a material that can power electric cars, Oak Ridge National Laboratory has a unique opportunity to return energy-producing jobs to Appalachians who worked in coal mining, an industry that has lost nearly half its jobs since 2014.
The U.S. is dotted with piles of coal refuse, the waste produced from coal mining and processing. Scientists at ORNL developed a process that uses electricity to turn the coal waste into graphite, a carbon material used in batteries for electric cars and grid storage.
If the process is licensed to companies that can manufacture graphite at a large scale, it could create jobs that were lost in Appalachia with the downturn of the coal industry.
“The national labs have a responsibility to contribute to the welfare, to the prosperity of the nation,” project lead Edgar Lara-Curzio, a distinguished scientist at ORNL, told Knox News. “Given that we are part of Appalachia and Appalachia is in our backyard, we thought this would be an opportunity to bring those pieces together.”
The research, which received Department of Energy funding about four years back, resulted in two major findings.
First, a team of researchers improved a process to heat the coal waste without oxygen, preventing it from burning and turning it into fine coal particles and coal char. Then, another branch of the team developed a “recipe” to convert the byproducts into graphite inside an electrochemical reactor, according to the lab.
Unlike conventional methods for creating synthetic graphite, the process creates no emissions or waste and operates at a much lower temperature.
It also would be faster and cheaper at an industrial scale, according to a preliminary analysis from the lab.
Coal mine operator Ramaco Resources wants to produce graphite
The team already has a partner interested in commercializing the breakthrough. Ramaco Resources, which operates coal mines in Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming, supplies coal to the project and hopes to commercialize its findings.
The company’s tagline for its research division asserts that “coal is too valuable to burn.” While coal is mainly burned to produce electricity or make steel, its carbon content is useful for critical materials like carbon fiber and graphite.
“We are encouraged by the progress and breakthroughs we’ve made working with ORNL and are actively reviewing plans to design and build a pilot production facility that we can ramp into larger-scale production,” Randy Atkins, Ramaco chairman and CEO, said in a news release.
The coal refuse used by the lab is different from coal ash, the waste product of burning coal in power plants. When utility companies burn coal for power, most of the carbon in the coal is oxidized, forming carbon dioxide. The ash that’s left is not rich enough in carbon to produce graphite, Lara-Curzio said.
Coal refuse from mines and processing plants is typically made of fine particles too small to burn or low-quality coal. When stored in piles, the waste can pose environmental risks, including the risk of ignition.
Why graphite is important in electric vehicle batteries and more
The U.S. depends on imports of natural graphite, largely from China, to make lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles.
While lithium and cobalt get more attention as EV battery materials, graphite is the main ingredient by weight, said Eric Wolfe, an engineer leading the lab’s effort to scale up the reactor process. He has taken the project from generating 5 grams of graphite to 500 grams at a time, and the reactor is capable of producing even more.
The lab has successfully tested batteries made with its synthetic graphite, which makes up the anode, the negatively charged part of the battery that helps create electricity. Researchers plan to hold workshops with battery manufacturers to share their results.
“The better the quality of graphite, the better battery you’re going to have,” Wolfe said in a release. “We can’t mine it here in the U.S., but now we can make it.”
Daniel Dassow is a growth and development reporter focused on technology and energy. Phone 423-637-0878. Email daniel.dassow@knoxnews.com.
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