BOILER AND AUXILIARIES

PULVERISER PLANT

CHAPTER 7 PULVERISER PLANT

7.1 INTRODUCTION
Coal can be burnt in a many ways such as hand firing, stoker firing, and pulveriser coal because of many advantages. 1. STOKER FIRING SYSTEM

Stokers are equipment, which mechanically feed coal uniformly into a grate at the bottom of the furnace and remove the ash residue from the bottom of the furnace. 2. PULVERISED FIRING SYSTEM

Here the coal is pulverised into a fine powder of size around 70 to 80 microns in a pulveriser plant. This powdered coal is then sprayed into the furnace by suitable methods. The coal burns when it floats inside the furnace. This is termed as suspension firing. Burning coal in pulverised form makes combustion efficiency as high as 99% compared to below 80% in stoker firing.

7.2 FUNDAMENTAL REQUIREMENTS OF A PULVERISER PLANT

Supply of coal in the pulverised form to the boiler furnace can be accomplished by using different types of equipment and systems. The use of a particular type of equipment is decided on the type of coal used, boiler requirements, users preference etc. However any pulveriser plant must meet the following essential requirements: (i) Row coal feeding (ii) Drying (iii) Grinding and circulating (iv) Classifying (v) Transporting Raw coal Feeders

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A raw coal feeder is a device that supplies the pulveriser with an uninterrupted flow of raw coal from the bunker to meet system requirements. The feeders have to regulate the rate of coal flow corresponding to boiler load, calorific value of coal etc, as shown.

Fig. Pulveriser Plant There are several types of coal feeders in use. The raw coal feeders are classified according to the method by which the rte of coal flow is determined as: (i) Volumetric feeder (ii) Gravimetric feeder (i) Volumetric Feeder In this feeder keeping the volume of coal moved per rotation and bulk density of coal as constants, by varying the speed of the feeder alone, the desired rate of coal flow is achieved. (ii) Gravimetric Feeder In a volumetric feeder if there is any variation in bulk density of coal or the volume moved per rotation, the actual mass rte of coal flow for a given speed will be varied. The Gravimetric feeders are used to provide an accurate rate of coal flow. Some of the raw coal feeders more commonly found are: (i) Scrapper or Drag link feeder
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(ii) Belt feeder (iii) Rotary volumetric feeder (iv) Gravimetric feeder

7.3 PULVERISERS
To effect the coal particle size reduction, needed for pulverised coal firing, machines known as pulverisers or mills are used to grind or comminute the coal. The pulverisers are generally based on rock and mineral-ore grinding machinery. The coal mills uses one, two or all three of the basic principles of particle size reduction namely impact, attrition and crushing. There are mainly five types of mill: (i) Ball Mill (ii) Bowl Mill (iii) Ball and Race Mill (iv) Hammer Mill (v) Beater wheel Mill The principal type of coal pulverisers are classified according to their operating speed as Slow, Medium and High speed mills. Five major types of coal mills used are tabulated below according to their speed.

Speed Category
Slow speed Medium speed

Speed Range
Below 50 rpm (Normal range 20-30 rpm) 50-100 rpm

Mill
(i) Ball/Tube/Drum Mill (i) Bowl Mill (ii) Ball and race mill (i) Impact or Hammer mill (ii) Beater wheel mill

High speed

Above 225 rpm

Of the above medium speed bowl mills are more commonly deployed in Indian Power Stations followed by Ball mills and Ball and Race mills. High speed mills are rarely used and generally limited to pulverising lignite only. 7.3.1 BALL MILL

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This mill is also called as Tube mill or Drum mill. In this mill the coal and hot air called primary air or hot flue gas can be admitted and pulverised coal is taken out at both ends. Otherwise at one end the raw coal is admitted with hot air/hot gas and the pulverised coal is taken out at he other end. Large capacity mills that are from 50 T/hr to 100 T/hr adopt the first method.

Fig. Ball Mill Coal Pulveriser When the drum is rotating the row coal from the feeder falls on the screw conveyor of the trunnion. The screw conveyor pushes the coal inside the mill by its rotational movement and the coal intermingles with the ball charge inside the

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mill. Pulverisation of coal is accomplished through continued cascading of the mixtures, result from a) Impact of the failing balls on the coal, b) Attrition as particles slide over each other as well as over the liners and c) Crushing as balls roll over each other and over the liners with coal particles between them. Larger pieces of coal are broken by impact and the fine grinding is done by attrition and crushing as the balls rolls and slide within the charge. The hot primary air/gas introduced into the mill through the central tubes of the trunnions completes the coal drying and carries the pulverised coal out of the mill via the trunnions annulus around the central tube, counter to the raw coal feeding the mill. Any bigger size particles are pushed back into the drum by the movement of the screw conveyor for further grinding. The pulverised coal and the air enter the classifier installed above the mill. When the pulverised coal and air mixture enters the classifier, the vanes impart swirling to the mixture as it travels towards the outlet. The swirling depends on the position of vanes and separates the bigger coal particles by centrifugal force. These bigger particles fall back by gravity to the trunnion inlet where they mix with the raw coal and re pulverised. In these mills operating under pressure, there is a special joint in the trunnion between fixed part and the rotating part to prevent coal dust leaking out on to the atmosphere. The joint consists of a lip of synthetic material rubbing on a smooth part. Counter pressure provided by a seal air fan prevents any leakage to the outside. The major advantages of this mill are 1) High availability 2) Low maintenance 3) Constant capacity and fineness 4) Hard and abrasive fuels grind efficiency 5) Large reserve capacity
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6) Increased fineness at low loads 7) Fast response over wide load range 8) Pulverise wide range of coals
9) Unaffected by foreign material

This mill having following disadvantages also which influence the decision of choosing this mill for a given application
1) High power consumption. KW per unit of coal pulverised is very high particularly

at part load. 2) Larger in size requiring more mill bay area. 3) Chance of mill fire when the mill is idle. 4) Very noisy requiring special insulation for noise attenuation. 5) High moisture coals produced a large reduction in mill capacity. 6) High capital cost due to the size and weight. 7.3.2 BOWL MILL

Bowl mill is a vertical spindle medium speed mill. In a bowl mill the coal is pulverised between discs called bowl rotates by the drive assembly and rollers kept above the disc loaded by spring or pneumatic or hydraulic loading devices. Some of the typical bowl mills are Lopulco Mill Berz mill Raymond mill (Deep and shallow bowls) HP mill (developed version of Raymond mill) Coal from the raw coal feeder is fed at the centre of the bowl through a raw coal inlet chute inserted at the centre of separator body top. Due to centrifugal force the coal moves towards the periphery. The three rolls exert the required grinding pressure through the springs. The primary air supplied to the mill side moves up through the vanes around the bowl. By the deflector liners the air is directed towards the centre of the mill which causes the re-circulation of the coal through the grinding area. The air moving upwards picks the fine coal and enters the classifier through the vanes. The vanes introduced spin and as a result course particles get separated from the stream and
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return through the annulus between the centres feed pipe and multiport assembly at the outlet of the classifier.

Fig. Bowl Mill Any hard foreign material entering the mill with coal cannot be pulverised. Such particles when move on the bowl lift the roller journal assembly compressing the spring and increase the gap between roller and the bowl. Once such particles clear the bowl the spring brings back the roller journal assembly to the initial position. The pyrites fall down from the bowl into the mill side assembly where they are swiped by the scrappers and discharged into the pyrites hopper through the tramp iron spout. Periodically the rejects are removed from the pyrite hopper by first closing the inlet gate and then opening outlet gate. The major advantages of this mill are a) c) e) f) Low power consumption. Minimum maintenance. Quiet and vibration less operation. Ability to handle wide range of coals. b) Reliability d) Wide capacity.

The demerits of this mill are

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a) c)

Need for removal of mill rejects. Outage required for replacement of worn-out bull ring segments and rollers. BALL AND RACE MILL

b) Foreign materials in coal mill cause damage to rollers.

7.3.3

The construction and working of this mill is more or less similar to the bowl mill. The major difference is instead of bowl and roller this mill has a lower grinding ring connected to the drive assembly and a stationary upper grinding ring applied pressure from pneumatic loading cylinder containing pressurised inert gas. Hollow steel balls are carried between these two rings. The bottom ring receiving the raw coal at the centre rotates and in turn rotates the ball. In this process the trapped in between the grinding element gets pulverised and moves towards the outer edge of the lower grinding ring. The coal air mixture is carried up to the classifier, where the coarser particles are returned for further grinding and the finer once go into the mill outlet pipes for the distribution to the burner.

Fig. Ball and Race Mill

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7.3.4

HAMMER MILL

It consists of thick casing with sufficient stiffeners. The inside of the casing is fully lined with armoured steel plate. The mill shaft supported on two bearings run through the centre of the casing. Discs, which carry the arms and hammer tips, are mounted on to the shaft. The hammer tips are made from manganese steel to take up greater wear during impact and shock. The shaft is deep drilled for the circulation of cooling water for cooling the shaft, which comes in contact with hot air or hot gas as well as the inner race of both bearings. The motor shaft and mill shaft are directly coupled, so the mill runs at motor speed.

Fig. Hammer Mill The hot air/hot gas supplied dries the coal in the mill and transports the coal to the classifier. The coarser particles are returned by classifier for further grinding. 7.3.5 BEATER WHEEL MILL

The construction and working of a beater wheel mill is similar is many ways to a radial fan. The mill consists of a spiral housing fully lined inside with lateral and circumferential armours. The beater wheel mounted on an overhung shaft revolves within the housing. Sets of heavy beater plates are fitted to the beater wheel supported

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by webs. The beater wheel shaft is supported on one side by two self-aligning roller bearings, which are lubricated by an oil pump. The mill shaft is coupled to the motor by a PULVIS coupling. During operation the beater wheel rotates at a speed of 420 rpm. The beater wheel mill functioning like a fan creates vacuum in its suction side and sucks the drying fluid, mostly the hot flue gas from the furnace upper section through a duct. The fuel is also fed into this duct by the raw coal feeder. Grinding takes place by the impact of the coal against the beater plates. Further grinding effects due to the impact when the material is discharged by the wheel at high velocity over the armoured liners of the housing. These mills are excellent dryers and so they are mainly used for lignite and peat only. Factors Affecting Mill Performance The performance of the mill plant especially the pulveriser output is affected by a number of factors mainly associated with the properties of coal being ground. Important of these factors are Grind ability index of coal

It is a measure of the ease with which coal can be pulverised. One of the methods of measuring grindability index of coal is Hard Grove Grindability Index Number (HGI). Higher the number easier the coal pulverisation. Normal HGI values of Indian bituminous coals vary from 45 to 60. Lignite has high HGI up to 120. Thus a mill designed to handle a coal having a particular HGI will have a greater output with grinding coal more than that value and conversely a reduced output if low HGI coals are handled. Mill output increases with high grindability index coal. Fineness of milled product

Normally for bituminous coals to give optimum combustion efficiency a fineness of 70% through 200 mesh will be desired. The mill and classifier will be designed to produce this fineness. Any increase in fineness will waste mill power. Reducing the

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fineness can increase mill output but it is permissible only if the coarser fuel provide satisfactory combustion. Moisture content

The total moisture content of the raw coal is made of inherent and free or surface moisture. In any coal milling system drying of coal is adopted by using hot flue gas or hot air. Insufficient drying produces agglomeration of fines in the pulverising zone and difficulty to remove the fines efficiently and as quickly as they are produced. This limits the output capacity of the mill when high moisture coal is used. Size of raw coal

Larger the size of raw coal fed to the mill amount of work per unit mass is increased to get fine coal of same fineness. Hence the mill capacity varies inversely with size of raw coal. Generally the mills will be supplied by a uniform size of raw coal prepared in the coal crushers. Mill wear

Due to the grinding action and abrasive nature of coal, mill and exhauster parts wear which depends on the period of service, type of coal, wearing properly of the material etc. mill output will reduce as wear increases and this is because of loss of contact surfaces. This aspect will be taken care of during mill design as such the mill can deliver near full capacity till considerable wear takes place but after that the output rapidly falls calling for replacement of worn out parts.

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