Kobelco offers UBC technology to DH Energy

Japan?s Kobe Steel Ltd (Kobelco), through its Indonesian unit PT UBC Indonesia, is offering their UBC (Upgraded Brown Coal) technology to PT DH Energy, which has Pendopo low-rank coal mine in South Sumatra.

Yukio Akazawa, Kobe Steel's general manager of business development coal and energy division, told Petromindo.com on Wednesday that they almost completed the operation of their demonstration plant in Satui, South Kalimantan in cooperation with tekMIRA, an Indonesian state-owned R&D agency for mineral and coal technology, and coal miner PT Arutmin Indonesia.

?The technology is proven. UBC is now ready to be commercialized,? he said.

The development of the UBC demonstration plant project with capacity 600 tons per day in Satui started in 2008 an is expected to be completed at the end of this year.

UBC technology works to upgrade lignite coal with high moisture content of more than 60% and calorie content of 2,328-4,460 kcal/kg to 8% and 5,810-6,380 kcal/kg (AR), respectively, he said.

"As I know, Australian firm White Energy Company is also offering their technology to DH Energy. We don't know when DH Energy will announce the winner," he said.

White Energy and Indonesia-listed coal mining group PT Bayan Resources through its JV company PT Kaltim Supacoal (KSC) have completed construction of a coal upgrading plant with a capacity of 1 million tons per year in Tabang in East Kalimantan. White Energy has a 51 percent stake in the JV with Bayan owning the balance.

KSC?s Tabang coal upgrading project is currently at commissioning phase and will enter commercial stage in December 2010. It has managed to upgrade coal quality from between 3,900 to 4,200 kcal/kg to approximately 5,800 kcal/kg as against the target of 6,100+ kcal/kg. (denny)