System for co-firing coal and beneficiated organic-carbon-containing feedstock in a coal combustion apparatus

A co-firing system for combusting coal in a coal combusting apparatus with less adverse by-products;

• comprising:
• a first chamber of a coal combusting apparatus configured to pulverize coal and feed it into the coal combusting apparatus;
• a second chamber of a coal combusting apparatus configured to pulverize processed biomass pellets from a processed biomass system and feed them into the coal combusting apparatus,
• wherein the ratio, of pulverized coal to pulverized processed biomass pellets in the coal combusting apparatus is between 1 to 9 and 9 to 1 by weight, and
• wherein the processed biomass system is configured to make processed biomass from unprocessed organic-carbon-containing feedstock that includes free water, intercellular water, intracellular water, intracellular water-soluble salts, and at least some plant cells comprising cell walls that include lignin, hemicellulose, and microfibrils within fibrils, the processed biomass system;
• comprising:
• a beneficiation sub-system configured to convert the unprocessed organic-carbon-containing feedstock into a processed organic-carbon-containing feedstock with characteristics that include having an energy density of at least 17 MMBTU/ton (20 GJ/MT), a water content of less than 20 wt %, and a water-soluble intracellular salt content that is decreased more than 60 wt % on a dry basis from that of the unprocessed organic-carbon-containing feedstock;
• and
• a pelletizing sub-system to convert the processed organic-carbon-containing feedstock into processed biomass pellets.