Virginia Tech operates its own power
generating plant. The electricity generated by this plant
supplies power to the university and to local businesses
and residences in the Blacksburg area. The plant burns
three types of coal, which produces steam that drives
the turbines that generate the electricity. The
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires that
for each ton of coal burned, the emissions from the
coal furnace smokestacks contain no more than 2,500
parts per million (ppm) of sulfur and no more than 2.8
kilograms (kg) of coal dust. However, the managers of
the plant are concerned about the environment and
want to keep these emissions to a minimum. The
following table summarizes the amounts of sulfur, coal
dust, and steam that result from burning a ton of each
type of coal.