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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