(EN) Coal especially of a low grade is efficiently dried at low cost while keeping an environmentally satisfactory state, and the dried coal is effectively utilized in coal-using facilities. A system for coal treatment (1) is provided which comprises a coal-fired thermal power plant (100), a cement production plant (200), and a coal drying apparatus (300). The coal drying apparatus (300) includes a drier (20), in which the waste heat of a gas discharged from the cement production plant (200) is utilized as heat energy for drying. The temperature of this discharge gas is regulated so as to be in the range of approximately 80-200 C in the drier (20). The low-grade coal such as sub-bituminous coal is dried with the drier (20) to such a degree that the total moisture content is reduced to given moisture content, that is, a value not lower than the equilibrium moisture content. As a result, the low-grade coal can have the same quality as high-grade coal such as bituminous coal, and the effective utilization thereof becomes possible.
