COAL MILL OPERATION

SAFETY ASPECTS

Coal Shop Safety

SOLID FUELS

Coal
Petroleum coke (sulfur % )
Delayed coke: the most common
Non grindable fluid coke
Shot coke (as impurity in delayed coke)
Lignite
Charcoal (moinha)
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Coal Shop Safety

FUEL DRYING- GRINDING SYSTEM

Raw Coal

Dust Collector

Feed
Bin

Hot gases

Pulverized
Coal Silo

Grinding - Drying
System

Pulverized
Coal

Flowsheet of Grinding - Drying System

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Coal Shop Safety

General Safety Rules

Three Conditions

Combustible dust (or gas) in exploding

concentration

Oxygen above the critical concentration

Ignition source

COAL IGNITION TEMPERATURE Vs VM

Coal Shop Safety

Safety in Coal Shops Current TA

Coal Shop Safety

High Risk Fuels defined as any fuel >36%VM &

High Risk Operation defined when grinding finer.
Compliance of both TA and specific requirements for
High Risk Fuels & High Risk Operation required PRIOR
to use

For blended fuels

Weighted average VM of the blend determines the level
of risk.
If any single component of the blend 20%, by weight
has a VM higher than the weighted average then, this
fuels VM is used to determine the level of risk

TA: Technical Agenda - Safety in Coal grinding Shops Update FEB 2007

Coal Shop Safety

General Safety Rules Ignition Process

Coal absorbs oxygen from atmosphere

Heat Produced

Heat Released

Temperature increases and speeds up oxidation

process
(Inside the pile, the heat cannot be released)

First three weeks of storage = maximum oxygen

intake.

Critical Temperature ( 70 - 80 C) for self-ignition

Coal Shop Safety

General Safety Rules Ignition Process

For coals stored at a temperature of 20 C, the
risk is worth paying attention to when the storage
time exceeds:

4 months for anthracite coals

2 to 3 months for lean, rich and 1/4 rich coals

1 to 2 months for long-flaming coals

1 week to 1 month for lignites

Coal Shop Safety

General Safety Rules Ignition Process

Some of the most important factors which

heighten the danger of self-ignition of coal are:

High volatile content in the fuel (>20 % over dry)

The more fine-granular the coal, the larger the

reactive surface to absorb oxygen (proportion of
fines greater than 10%)

Coal containing, besides the fine-granular portion,

also coarse material, since air intake into the coal
heap is facilitated by this heterogeneous structure

Coal Shop Safety

General Safety Rules Ignition Process

Some of the most important factors which

heighten the danger of self-ignition of coal are:

Freshly mined coal reacts faster with oxygen than

coal stored for a longer period

Coal with an abnormally high moisture content

Foreign components such as pyrite (>4%), iron,

phosphorus in the coal ash

Already hot fuel

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Coal Shop Safety

General Safety Rules Oxygen Concentration

Coal grinding should be done in inert atmosphere

Basic rules for the Oxygen during coal grinding are:

< 14% O2 for Petcoke and Anthracite

< 10% O2 for coal with volatiles below 30%

< 9% O2 for coal with volatile above 30%

The interlocked maxmax is 1 % point higher

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Coal Shop Safety

General Safety Rules Protection Measures

Explosion protection

Fire protection/ fighting

Water spray

Inerting installation

CO2

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Coal Shop Safety

CIRCUIT CONTROL

Mill outlet temperature constant (70-95C), mill inlet

below safe level.

Sweep air volume: Fan power ( KW) constant

(damper).

Fuel fineness: Mill sweep / Separator settings / Roller

pressure /Ball charge.

Indirect firing : P.F. bin level constant / high bin level.

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Typical Coal Mill Flow Sheet

Coal Shop Safety

O2/CO analyser
Temp/Press sensors

O2/CO analyser
Temp/Press sensors

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Coal Shop Safety

General Safety Rules Safety Control

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Coal Shop Safety

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BASIC CONSIDERATIONS

EXHAUST GASES:

RAW COAL:
Feed size

: 0-50 mm

Moisture content : 10-15% H2O

Grindability

Coal Shop Safety

Temperature

: 75-90C

Dust load

: 500-600g/m3

: 50-70H

DRYING
GRINDING
CLASSIFYING
HOT GASES:

PULVERIZED COAL:

Temperature

: 250-300C

O2 content

: 3-7%

Dew point

: 20-70C

Fineness

: 1-15%
R 0.09 mm

Moisture content : <1.0% H2O

Grinding-Drying of Coal: Basic Considerations

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