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Consultancy Wing

SOUND OPERATION PRACTICES OF BALL AND TUBE MILL TVNL/TTPS 2X210 MW

BY: D.PRASAD SR.MANAGER NTPC-CW TTPS SITE
THE BALL AND TUBE MILL OF TTPS Lalpania is BBD 4762 TYPE

Where

B stands for BROYER after the name of inventor B stand for French word BOULET meaning balls i.e the main grinding media used for coal crushing. D stands for the DIRECT i.e the method of firing used. 47 stand for the dia. Of the shell in decimeters 62 stand for length of the shell in decimeters

1. Mill parameters monitoring Following Mill parameters are very important and need continuous close monitoring while mill in service Mill outlet temperature Mill current Air flow through mill PA pressure at mill inlet and mill outlet Mill dp(Not available) Noise level(Not informative)

2 Mill outlet temperature: Classifier outlet temperature plays a vital role during normal operation and shutdown of ball and tube mill. Classifier outlet temperature is maintained by regulating the cold air, hot air and bypass air damper. Monitoring of classifier outlet temperature gives exact status of mill if mill delta p is not working. PROBLEMS AND THERE REMEDIAL ACTION. Mill out let temperature going high:-Mill outlet temperature increases when coal lifting through mill decreases (i.e. coal air ratio decreases) or mill inlet temperature goes high. Therefore if mill outlet temperature going high check the following and take action accordingly. 1. Position of cold and hot air dampers: Maintain mill inlet temperature as per coal quality by adjusting cold and hot air temperature. 2. Check the bypass air: If bypass air is high, reduce it gradually. But it is worth to mention that bypass air should not be reduced blindly without checking mill inlet temperature because reducing bypass air may lead to pulverized coal settlement in pc pipes. 3. Check drum pressure: If drum pressure is gradually decreasing and accompanied by load reduction, then it may be the beginning of mill choking or deterioration in mill performance. If it is a case of mill choking and confirmed by other parameters, action may be taken as given below. Mill Choking: - Mill choking term, with reference to ball and tube mills, refers to a condition in which mill reduces/stops the pulverized fuel to boiler. It does not indicate that complete mill is filled with coal. It happens when coal quality worsens or wet coal supplied to mill. With change in coal quality, attention should be given to bypass air particularly in case of wet coal. Mill choking never takes place instantly. There are parameters which indicate start of mill choking in advance. These parameters are Rise in mill outlet temperature even at low mill inlet temperature accompanied by reduction in drum pressure. Change in mill delta p( not available in TTPS mills) Malfunctioning of Raw coal feeder Change in mill noise level: if it is a case of accumulation of wet coal inside the mill, noise level will start going up and will finally reach to maximum. If it is a case of accumulation of dry coal inside the mill, noise level will start coming down and finally reach to minimum. Increase in mill inlet pressure Increase in mill outlet pressure Increase in mill current: This may happen due to presence of wet coal that from the big lumps inside the mill Decrease in mill current: This may happen due to accumulation of dry coal inside the mill. None of the above mentioned parameter can alone predict mill choking. But with change in current as given above and by carefully evaluating the other parameters in general and mill level and noise level in particular, one may asses the mill choking in advance and takes the action as given below

3 ACTION SUGGESTED TO TACKLE MILL CHOKING: When mill choking is confirmed based on above indicators then depending on current characteristic take action as given below. WHEN MILL CURRENT IS INCREASING: A) RISE IN CURRENT IS FAST:1. Stop the feeders immediately 2. Reduce the bypass air to minimum and keep watch on mill outlet temperature. Depending on outlet temperature, maintain mill air. Maintain mill outlet temperature 85-90 degree centigrade. Once outlet temperature starts decreasing accompanied by rise in drum pressure, increase mill air because this indicates improvement in coal lifting due to drying of wet coal. 3. Maintain mill inlet temperature more than 250 degree centigrade. 4. Start one RC feeder (if both feeders are off) for a while to avoid mill tripping on both feeders off protection. Increase the loading of other mill suitably. Maintain the unit load according to situation and take other action required for unit stability. Continue with this till mill current comes to normal. B) RISE IN CURRENT IS LOW:1. Run the coal feeder at minimum. 2. Keep bypass air 10-15 TPH and mill air more than coal feed rate. 3. Maintain mill air and bypass air keeping mill temperature 85-90 degree centigrade. 4. Take other action as suggested in( A) above WHEN MILL CURRENT IS DECREASING: A) Decrease in current is fast 1. Stop the feeders immediately 2. Reduce the bypass air to minimum and maintain mill air to maximum keeping mill outlet temperature below 90 degree centigrade. Once outlet temperature starts decreasing accompanied by rise in drum pressure. Increase mill air because this indicates improvement in coal flow. 3. If air flow is not being maintained due to too much coal inside mill, stop the mill as well and do the purging process with auxiliary motor in service(pc pipes purging facilities not available in TTPS). If mill is not stopped then there is every chance that fine coal may come out of seals and mill will trip on lube oil pressure low. 4. Maintain mill inlet temperature around 240 degrees centigrade. 5. Start the one RC feeder for a while to avoid mill tripping on both feeders off protection, if mill is in service. 6. Increase the loading of other mill suitably. 7. Maintain the unit load according to situation and take other actions required for unit stability.

4 B) Decrease in current is slow 1. Run the coal feeder at minimum 2. Maintain bypass air minimum and mill air keeping mill outlet temperature below 90 degree centigrade. 3. Continue with this till mill level dp (mill dp not available in TTPS) and noise level come to normal ONE END OPERATION: During one end operation of the mill, generally following problems are noticed 1. Rise in the other end classifier outlet temperature 2. Accumulation of coal in hot air box which is not in service 3. Explosion/fire in hot air box. To overcome the above problems, air flow through the end which is not in service is ensured by opening air through mill control damper by around 5% on auto. also the classifier outlet temperature of running end is maintained at lower side(75 deg centigrade) whenever one end operation is in service. HUNTING OF MILL CURRENT DURING START-UP:Due to presence of coal lumps inside the mill, hunting in mill current is observed during start-up. this is generally happens when water is sprayed inside the mill for quenching purpose during maintenance job. In order to avoid hunting in mill current in this situation, preheating the mill is done for 15-20 minutes with partial opening of PA general shut-off gate and classifier outlet gates. Care is to be taken that mill out-let temperature does not exceed 75-80 deg centigrade during pre-heating period. MILL FIRE: Ball and tube mill are very prone to fire and explosion due to, this mill having a ready pulverized coal stock at a temperature. There could be a number of reason for fires which could be as below: 1. Entrapment of foreign material in ribbon conveyor thus breaking the connecting rods resulting in pulverized coal accumulation in the screw area leading to fire. 2. One side operation of mill without slight opening of the damper on non operating side. This may result in coal dust accumulation on non-operating side and consequently fire will start. 3. Ball and coal dust accumulation in hot air box(dead zone)resulting in fire, 4. Due to choking of mill 5. Accumulation of pulverized coal near the closed PF purge damper. 6. Classifier vanes, reject box can get choked and it can catch fire. To avoid the mill fire, following should be the operational strategy:1. Breakage of connecting rod is a possibility due to which PF can accumulate in screw conveyor zone. Usually after breakage of connecting rods, abnormal sound is clearly heard and once it is confirmed that rods have broken, mill should be taken into shut down and maintenance should take up the repair works. Zero speed sensors to be provided for early indication in control room.

5 2. Steam inerting at the time of starting and stopping the mill should be taken up positively.(steam inerting not commissioned in TTPS) 3. Mill should not be run without coal feeding to the mill for more than 5-10 minutes. It should be included in logic 4. As far as possible, both ends of the mill should be kept in service because (most of the reported case of fires) has taken place when single end operation of mill was there. 5. Purging of mill for 10 minutes every time, before stopping for a longer duration /outage. 6. Classifier reject chute should be thoroughly checked for choking during PM and cleaning of classifier and reject chute should be carried out strictly.