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GRINDABILITY

1. Particle size Objective of milling coal before feeding to boiler is to make the coal burned out completely. Followings are general yardstick about acceptable level of over 200mesh fraction for different type of coal. Anthracite < 10% ~ 15% Bituminous Coal < 15% ~ 35% Subbituminous Coal < 35% ~ 45% Lignite < 45% ~ 55% Grindability of coal is normally evaluated by moisture content and HGI (Hardgrove Grindability Index) based on ASTM.
1.4

1.2

EFF

1.0

0.8

0.6 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

HGI

Graph. 1.

2. HGI Followings are general criteria to achieve favorable grindability. Coal with fuel ratio 1.0 HGI : 35 ~ 45 Coal with fuel ratio 2.0 HGI : 45 ~ 75 Coal with fuel ratio 3.0 HGI : 75 ~ 100 As HGI becomes smaller, grindability would become inferior and larger capacity pulverizer is needed. Coal with HGI higher than 40 would be desirable in general. 3. HGIs influence on pulverizing capacity Graph 1. demonstrates relationship between HGI and pulverizing capacity based on following conditions. Constant power at pulverizer (kWh) Take Chinese coal with HGI 50 as standard 4. HGIs influence on power requirement at pulverizer Graph on page 3/5 demonstrate relationship between power requirement and HGI to achieve same pulverizing capacity. Left curve is the result of theoretical

calculation but right curve is the actual performance record at EPDC power station. Pulverizing capacity 70 ton/H 200 P % means 200 mesh pass weight % The graph shows that more power is required at pulverizer as HGI goes down taking South African Witbank coal with 54 ~ 56 HGI as standard, coal in order to maintain same pulverizing capacity. It is noted that HGIs increase by 10 ( say from 50 to 60 for example ) would result in 10% power cost saving at pulverizer. 5. TMs influence on pulverizing capacity Most high moisture content coal would act as a cushion between rollers and rotating table in the pulverizer during grinding process and reduce pulverizing capacity. In order to get rid of surface moisture and dry coal, most power stations these days use hot air supplied from air heater. Specific temperature, say 80oC, is being set up at the outlet of pulverizer to ensure dried coal to boiler is to be fed. If the temperature goes down below the set up temperature, more volume of hot air using additional fans is needed or alternatively reduce the volume of coal by regulating coal feeder when volume of hot air reaches the maximum capacity, thus reduces generating capacity. Graph 2. demonstrates relationship between surface moisture content and pulverizing capacity on the basis of constant power requirement and constant size distribution of pulverized coal. Graph 3. demonstrates relationship between surface moisture content and power requirement at pulverizer based on constant pulverizing capacity. It is noted that 1% additional moisture in pulverized coal would reduce boiler efficiency by 0.1%.
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1.00

0.98

Eff
0.96 0.94 0.92 4 6 8 10 12 14

Surface Moisture
Graph. 2.

1.10 1.09 1.08 1.07 1.06

Eff

1.05 1.04 1.03 1.02 1.01 1.00 0.99 4 6 8 10 12 14

Surface Moisture (%)

Graph. 3.

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