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 Pulverized
Bin Coal Silo

Pulverized
Coal
Grinding - Drying
Hot gases System

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

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COAL IGNITION TEMPERATURE Vs VM Coal Shop Safety

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 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
fuel’s VM is used to determine the level of risk
TA: Technical Agenda - Safety in Coal grinding Shops Update FEB 2007

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 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

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 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

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 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

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 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 (70-95°C), 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

Sensors Threshold
Grinding mill outlet temp (coke) 115°C
Grinding Mill outlet temp (coal) 95°C
Mill inlet Temperature: HVF 250°C (550F)
Mill inlet temperature: LVFuel 300°C (680F)
Filter outlet O2 (coke) 15%
Filter outlet O2 (coal) 13%
Filter outlet CO 2000 ppm
Fired fuel into the kiln (% H2O) 0.5 - 1.5%
Filter outlet temperature (coke) 105°C
Temperature difference (outlet - inlet) 10°C
Temperature difference variation 10°C
Filter hopper temperature (coke) 85°
“Pulverized” hopper CO 1000 ppm
“Pulverized” hopper temperature 85°
Sources (JP Senechal 1997 memo, S. Fujimoto 1992 training course)

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Coal Shop Safety

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 BASIC CONSIDERATIONS Coal Shop Safety

RAW COAL: EXHAUST GASES:

• Feed size : 0-50 mm • Temperature : 75-90°C
• Moisture content : 10-15% H2O • Dust load : 500-600g/m3
• Grindability : 50-70°H

 DRYING
 GRINDING
 CLASSIFYING
HOT GASES: PULVERIZED COAL:
• Temperature : 250-300°C • Fineness : 1-15%
• O2 content : 3-7% R 0.09 mm
• Dew point : 20-70°C • Moisture content : <1.0% H2O

Grinding-Drying of Coal: Basic Considerations

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