System and method for the preparation of coal water slurries

A method comprising:

• providing a first portion of a solid fuel to a first slurry preparation system to generate a first fuel slurry, wherein the first slurry comprises ground particles of the solid fuel;
• providing a second portion of the solid fuel and a first portion of the first fuel slurry to a second slurry preparation system;
• grinding a mixture of the second portion of the solid fuel and the first portion of the first fuel slurry in the second slurry preparation system to produce a second fuel slurry, wherein the second fuel slurry has a smaller particle size distribution of the solid fuel compared to the first fuel slurry;
• and
• mixing a second portion of the first fuel slurry and the second fuel slurry to produce a third fuel slurry.

A system, comprising:

• a controller comprising:
• one or more tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable media collectively storing one or more sets of instructions;
• and
• one or more processing devices configured to execute the one or more sets of instructions to:
• monitor a parameter of a first fuel slurry provided to a gasifier, wherein the first fuel slurry comprises a mixture of a solid fuel and a liquid;
• and
• adjust the composition of the first fuel slurry by adjusting an amount of a second fuel slurry produced by a first slurry preparation system provided to a second slurry preparation system configured to produce the first fuel slurry using the second fuel slurry and the solid fuel.