Variation of physical and rheological properties of fly ash slurries with particle size and its effect on hydraulic transportation at high concentrations

In thermal power plants, fly ash is collected at the bottom of electrostatic precipitator (ESP) hoppers and transported to common sump for further disposal to the ash pond by slurry pipelines. The fly ash from different fields of ESP hoppers vary widely in particle size as well as quantity. Depending on the sequence of evacuation, the overall particle size distribution (PSD) would vary with time which in turn would affect the head requirement in the high concentration slurry disposal (HCSD) system. Fly ash samples from different fields of ESP hoppers of a thermal power plant have been analyzed for their physical properties namely the PSD, specific gravity, settling characteristics, pH of the slurry, etc. and for rheological properties in the concentration range of 60–70% (by weight). The particle size (d_wm) of the fly ash samples decreases with the increase in ESP field, whereas the static settled concentration and specific density increase. The pH values of all samples are almost constant and nonreactive in nature. The rheological properties namely yield stress and Bingham viscosity of the fly ash slurries from different fields of ESP hoppers increase with increase in concentration. Further at any given concentration, these parameters exhibit a strong dependence on particle size. Using these properties and treating the distribution of particles across the pipe cross section as homogeneous in the concentration range of 60–70% (by weight), CFD computations are made to evaluate the head requirement in a HCSD pipeline. The head loss increases with increase in concentration for all fields of ESP hoppers. The present study also shows that head requirement varies significantly by mixing different proportion of fly ash from different ESP fields.     

Bulk Hydraulic Disposal of Highly Concentrated Fly Ash and Bottom Ash–Water Slurries

Mine backfilling with power plant ash is gaining increasing attention from the power and mining industries for its bulk disposal. In the USA and other countries, mine backfilling with ash is considered as a viable option for stability improvement, subsidence control, and mine site rehabilitation. This paper presents the results of rheological studies conducted on fly ash and mixtures of fly ash and bottom ash samples collected from NTPC Talcher, Odisha. The complex hydro-mixture slurry indicated non-Newtonian pseudo-plastic behavior in the mass concentration range of 60–67.5%. A non-Newtonian power law head loss model was used to evaluate the head loss of ash slurry in pipelines having nominal bores in the range of 100–300 mm. The results indicated that the addition of bottom ash to fly ash slurry at a given solids concentration has a beneficial effect in reducing the pumping power requirement. A design chart for the fly ash mixture slurry has been formulated indicating the variation in backfilling rate with relative head requirements for a given length of pipeline for a range of pipe sizes and transport velocities. This is expected to provide relevant pipe flow and operational conditions for bulk disposal of fly ash for mine backfilling purpose.     

Investigating Straight-Pipe Pneumatic Conveying Characteristics for Fluidized Dense-Phase Pneumatic Conveying

This article presents results from an investigation into the pneumatic conveying characteristics (PCC) for horizontal straight-pipe sections for fluidized dense-phase pneumatic conveying of powders. Two fine powders (median particle diameter: 30 and 55 µm; particle density: 2300 and 1600 kg m^?3; loose-poured bulk density: 700 and 620 kg m^?3) were conveyed through 69 mm I.D. × 168 m, 69 mm I.D. × 148 m, 105 mm I.D. × 168 m and 69 mm I.D. × 554 m pipelines for a wide range of air and solids flow rates. Straight-pipe pneumatic conveying characteristics obtained from two sets of pressure tappings installed at two different locations in each pipeline have shown that the trends and relatively magnitudes of the pressure drops can be significantly different depending on product, pipeline diameter and length and location of tapping point in the pipeline (indicating a possible change in transport mechanism along the flow direction). The corresponding models for solids friction factor were also found to be different. There was no distinct pressure minimum curve (PMC) in any of the straight-pipe PCC, indicating a gradual change in flow transition (change in flow mechanism from dense to dilute phase). For total pipeline conveying characteristics, the shapes of the PCC curves and the location of the PMC were found to be significantly influenced by pipeline layout (e.g., location and number of bends) and not entirely by the dense-to-dilute-phase transition of flow mechanism. Seven existing models and a new empirically developed model for PMC for straight pipes have been evaluated against experimental data.     

An Investigation into Pressure Fluctuations and Improved Modeling of Solids Friction for Dense-Phase Pneumatic Conveying of Powders

The aim of this paper is to investigate into flow mechanism with the help of pressure signal fluctuations analysis and modeling solids friction in case of solids–gas flows for fluidized-dense-phase pneumatic conveying of fine powders. Materials conveyed include fly ash (median particle diameter 30 µm; particle density 2300 kg m^?3; loose-poured bulk density 700 kg m^?3) and white powder (median particle diameter 55 µm; particle density 1600 kg m^?3; loose-poured bulk density 620 kg m^?3). These were conveyed in different flow regimes varying from fluidized-dense-to-dilute phase. To obtain information on the nature of flow inside pipeline, static pressure signals were studied using technique of Shannon entropy. Increase in the values of Shannon entropy along the flow direction through the straight-pipe sections were found for both the powders. However, drop occurred in the Shannon entropy values after the flow through bend(s). Change in slope of straight-pipe pneumatic conveying characteristics along the flow direction is another factor which provided indication regarding change in flow mechanisms along the flow. A new technique for modeling solids friction factor has been developed using a solids volumetric concentration and ratio of particle terminal settling velocity to superficial air velocity by replacing the conventional use of solids loading ratio and Froude number, respectively. The new model format has shown promise for predictions under diameter scale-up conditions.     

Modeling Dense-Phase Pneumatic Conveying of Powders Using Suspension Density

This article presents results of an investigation into the modeling of pressure drop in horizontal straight pipe section for fluidized dense-phase pneumatic conveying of powders. Suspension density and superficial air velocity have been used to model pressure drop for two-phase solids-gas flow. Two applicable models formats (developed by other researchers using two different definitions of suspension density) were used to represent the pressure drop due to solids-gas flow through straight pipe sections. Models were generated based on the test data of conveying power-station fly ash and electrostatic precipitator (ESP) dust (median particle diameter: 30 and 7 µm; particle density: 2300 and 3637 kg m^?3; loose-poured bulk density: 700 and 610 kg m^?3, respectively) through a relatively short length of a smaller diameter pipeline. The developed models were evaluated for their scale-up accuracy and stability by using them to predict the total pipeline pressure drop (with appropriate bend model) for 69 mm I.D. × 168 m; 105 mm I.D. × 168 m and 69 mm I.D. × 554 m pipes and comparing the predicted versus with experimental data. Results show that both the models with suspension density and air velocity generally provide relatively better prediction compared to the conventional use of solids loading ratio and Froude number. For fly ash, the two formats result in considerable different predictions, whereas they provide relatively similar results for ESP dust.     

Performance Characteristics of Centrifugal Slurry Pump with Multi-Sized Particulate Bottom and Fly Ash Mixtures

The present study reports on the performance characteristics of the centrifugal slurry pump with multi-sized particulate slurry of bottom ash and fly ash mixtures. The performance characteristic of the pump was experimentally evaluated at rotational speed 1450 rpm for bottom ash slurries with and without the addition of fly ash in the concentration range of 10% to 50% (by weight). Addition of fly ash in the bottom ash was varied from 10% to 30% (by weight). The pump total head, overall efficiency, and pump input power at different flow rates were evaluated. The performance characteristics results show that the value of head and the efficiency of the pump depend on the solid concentration. It was also observed that the performance parameter of the pump strongly depends on slurry properties. The addition of fine particles fly ash in the coarser particles of bottom ash slurry, leads to reduce the additional head losses in the pump. The pump performance in terms of head and efficiency improved with addition of fly ash in bottom ash slurry.     

Modeling Solids Friction for Dense-Phase Pneumatic Conveying of Powders

This article results from an ongoing investigation aimed at developing a new validated test-design procedure for the accurate prediction of pressure drop for dense-phase pneumatic conveying of powders. Models for combined pressure drop coefficient (“K”) for solids-gas mixture were derived using the concept of “suspension density” by using the steady-state “straight pipe” pressure drop data between two different tapping locations of the same pipe and also for two different diameter pipes. It was observed that the derived models were different depending on the location of tapping points (for the same pipe) and selected pipe diameters. The derived models were then evaluated by predicting the pressure drop for pipelines with various diameters or lengths (69 mm I.D. × 168 m, 105 mm I.D. × 168 m, 69 mm I.D. × 554 m) for the conveying of power station fly ash. A comparison between the predicted pneumatic conveying characteristics (PCC) and the experimental plots showed that the models resulted in significant over-predictions. In the second part of the article, the “system” approach of scaleup was evaluated. “Total” pipeline pressure drop characteristics for test-rig pipelines were scaled up to predict the PCC for larger/longer pipes. It was found that the “system” approach generally resulted in grossly inaccurate predictions. It was concluded that further studies are needed for a better understanding of the solids-gas flow mechanism under dense-phase conditions.     

On Improving Scale-Up Procedures for Dense-Phase Pneumatic Conveying of Powders

This article presents results of an ongoing effort toward improving the modeling and scale-up procedures for the dense-phase pneumatic conveying of fine powders through pipes. Two new approaches are employed in this study. One approach, derived by modifying an existing reliable dilute-phase model to make it suitable for the dense-phase, has resulted in relatively stable predictions for diameter and length scale-up for two types of fly ash, ESP dust, pulverized brown coal and fly ash/cement mixture. Although some over-predictions still remain for the cases of diameter scale-up, there seems to be a substantial relative improvement in the overall accuracy of predictions (compared to the existing design methods). Another method has been derived using the concept of “two-layer” slurry flow modeling (suspension flow occurring on top of a non-suspension moving layer), and this has also resulted in similar improvements. Although the “two-layer” technique is believed to be more representative of the actual flow conditions under dense-phase conveying, the simpler “modified” method appears to be adequate for practical design purposes.     

粉煤灰提取白炭黑和氧化铝的研究

粉煤灰是我国当前排量最大的工业废渣之一,年排渣量已达3亿t以上,大量堆积的粉煤灰会对自然生态环境造成严重的危害。综合利用粉煤灰,实现粉煤灰的资源化利用,对于治理粉煤灰的污染具有十分重要的意义。文章提出先采用碱液常压浸出粉煤灰,生产白炭黑,然后采用碱石灰烧结法生产氧化铝,可实现粉煤灰的经济综合利用。研究表明：用苛性碱液在常压（＜125 ℃）下浸取粉煤灰45 min,粉煤灰中硅的提取率达到72.5 %以上,而氧化铝的总溶出率＜1.2 %;碳分浸取得到的硅酸钠溶液,可以生产氧化硅含量＞99 %的优质白炭黑,溶液中氧化硅转化率＞98 %;浸取硅后的渣中氧化铝含量＞55 %,氧化硅含量＜20 %,铝硅比≥2.7,适宜采用碱石灰烧结法生产氧化铝。碱石灰烧结法适宜的配方为：碱比 0.95～1.0,钙比 1.8～2.0;烧结温度宜为1 200～1 250 ℃;熟料溶出温度75～85 ℃,时间10～20 min,氧化铝回收率＞86 %。综合利用粉煤灰生产白炭黑和氧化铝,经济效益和社会效益显著。     

搅拌法制备漂珠增强铝基复合材料的熔体分层与控制

采用液态搅拌法制备漂珠增强铝基复合材料过程中, 当颗粒含量较低时, 熔体容易分层。为了了解颗粒在铝熔体中的分布情况, 对试样的不同位置进行扫描电镜分析。结果表明, 在试样的底部有明显的纯铝层,而漂珠在上部的铝熔体中分布均匀。漂珠向熔体上部移动的速度主要取决于漂珠颗粒与铝熔体的密度差、颗粒直径、颗粒体积分数及铝熔体粘度。原料确定后, 只能通过增加铝熔体的粘度或减少浇铸过程的时间来减少纯铝层的产生。因此, 可以采用下浇铸式方法和快速冷却装置, 使颗粒来不及向上运动而被凝固在铝熔体中, 形成漂珠在铝熔体中均匀分布的复合材料。      

330 MW循环流化床锅炉燃烧调整试验研究

为解决某330 MW循环流化床（circulating fluidized bed,CFB）锅炉运行床温分布不均匀、炉内受热面磨损爆管等问题,进行了锅炉的燃烧优化调整试验。结果表明,通过优化一次风量、总风量及风室压力等关键运行参数,确定了最佳运行工况及参数,降低了锅炉灰渣平均可燃物含量,使锅炉热效率提高0.85%。燃烧优化调整试验还使一、二次风机总功率降低了0.8 MW,厂用电率相应降低了0.24%,锅炉的运行安全性和经济性由此得到进一步提高。     

A study of physico-chemical and mineralogical properties of Talcher coal fly ash for stowing in underground coal mines

This study examines the suitability of Talcher coal fly ash for stowing in the nearby underground coal mines based on their physico-chemical and mineralogical analysis. The physical properties such as bulk density, specific gravity, particle size distribution, porosity, permeability and water holding capacity etc. have been determined. From the chemical characterization it is found that the ash samples are enriched predominantly in silica (SiO₂), alumina (Al₂O₃) and iron oxides (Fe₂O₃), along with a little amount of CaO, and fall under the Class F fly ash category. In addition, the mineral phases identified in the ash samples are quartz, mullite, magnetite, and hematite. The particle morphological analysis revealed that the ash particles are almost spherical in shape and the bulk ash porous in nature. From the particle size and permeability point of view, pond ash may be considered a better stowing material than fly ash.     

Modeling flow properties of fine dry powders using particle morphological properties and its effects on geometry of fly ash evacuation hoppers

This paper results from an ongoing effort to correlate the physical properties of powders at a fundamental level with their bulk behavior. Cohesion and unconfined yield stress are the measure of inter-particle forces of attraction in the bulk powder. The existing model for cohesion does not include important bulk properties, such as particle size distribution, tapped density, and prevailing applied stress. In the present paper, flow properties of 25 bulk solids (different cement and fly ash samples) have been evaluated using a ring shear tester and the products have been characterized according to their flowabilities. Models for cohesion and unconfined yield strength have been developed in this study by taking into account the effects of particle size distribution, tapped bulk density and pre-shear stress. The newly developed models have provided good fit to the experimental data. The effect of these flow properties on the design of hoppers have been investigated for fly ash samples collected from seven consecutive electrostatic precipitator (ESP) hoppers of a coal fired thermal power station. The results show that fly ash from the rear end ESP hopper would require higher amount of opening size compared to the first or second field of ESP to ensure proper mass flow condition is achieved at all the ESP hoppers.     

Dust explosion hazard of pulverized fuel carry-over

This paper reports the results of experiments done to examine the explosibility of the waste products (fly ash and bottom ash) from pulverized fuels (coal and petroleum coke). Tests were conducted for the fly and bottom ashes alone and also for selected fly ashes blended with the fuels. The explosion parameters of interest were explosion pressure and rate of pressure rise. The fly ashes showed no propensity to explode, whereas one of the bottom ashes did show limited explosibility. Both findings can be explained with reference to the volatile matter content of the ashes. Admixture of either coal or petroleum coke with fly ash resulted in explosible mixtures at volatile contents in the range of 7-13%, with the value being dependent on the composition of the mixture components and their particle sizes.     

Temperature distribution along superconducting power transmission lines

A system of equations, describing the refrigerant's parameters (temperature and pressure) change, during its flow along a heated pipeline, for example along a superconducting power transmission line (SPTL), is derived.The possibility of a temperature maximum existing in the SPTL is found.The possibility, in principle, of ‘isothermal’ SPTL (with constant temperature, along its length) is shown. The most favourable refrigerant parameters' region for SPTL is determined.     

Investigation of reactions in high-alumina fly ash and lime pastes

By-product fly ash from coal combustion generally contains a high percentage of active silica and smaller amounts of alumina, although some coals can have higher alumina contents (30 to 40%). During our experimental tests on the utilization f fly ash in road and highway foundation sheets, we have found a fly ash poor in silica, having an exceptionally high alumina content. This material has shown a good reactivity towards lime paste, giving hardened mixtures with high mechanical properties.     

高铝粉煤灰提取氧化铝及其废渣利用技术研究现状

高铝粉煤灰是制备氧化铝和氢氧化铝的良好原料,文章介绍了粉煤灰的基本情况以及对环境的危害,从高铝粉煤灰提取氧化铝以及利用提铝废渣制备硅酸盐水泥和白炭黑两个层次概述了近年来对粉煤灰再利用的现状。重点阐述了高铝粉煤灰提取氧化铝的制备工艺及其特点,两种主要提铝技术路线所产生的废渣用于制备硅酸盐水泥和白炭黑的研究现状,探讨了粉煤灰提取氧化铝无再次污染的工业应用方向。     

Heat transfer and heating rate of food stuffs in commercial shop ovens

The CFD analysis of flow and temperature distribution in heating ovens used in bakery shop, to keep the foodstuffs warm, is attempted using finite element technique. The oven is modelled as a two-dimensional steady state natural convection heat transfer problem. Effects of heater location and total heat input on temperature uniformity of foodstuffs are studied. Placing the heater at the bottom of the oven improves the air circulation rate by 17 times and 10 times than that at the top and side of the oven. But the top location provides better uniformity in foodstuff temperature than the other cases. Side location is not preferable. In the present ovens, the heating elements are located at the top. The analysis shows that if heaters are located at the bottom along with additional flow guidance arrangements, energy efficient oven configuration can be obtained.     

CFD modeling of erosion wear in pipe bend for the flow of bottom ash suspension

In the present study, erosion wear behavior of slurry pipeline due to solid–liquid suspension in the pipeline has been investigated using commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code FLUENT. A multiphase Euler–Lagrange model was adopted to predict the solid particle erosion wear in a 90° pipe bend for the flow of bottom ash–water suspension. A standard k–ε turbulence modeling scheme was used to simulate the flow through the pipeline. Water and bottom ash were taken as liquid and as a dispersed phase of solid–liquid mixture, respectively. A simulation study for erosion wear in a pipe bend was carried out to investigate the influence of various parameters including velocity, solid concentration, and particle size. The velocity of the bottom ash–water suspension varied from 0.5 to 2.5?m/s for solid concentrations with a range of 2.5 to 10.0% (by volume). The particle diameters of the bottom ash were 162 and 300?µm. The simulation results agree with the results of previous studies.     

Characteristic of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in fly ash from incinerators in china

Fly ash from municipal solid waste (MSW), medical waste (MW) and electrical power plant (EPP) incinerators were analyzed for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs). The study showed that the PCDD/F levels in fly ash were EPP < MSW < MW. The homologue profiles of PCDD/Fs in fly ash produced from waste incinerators were similar. However, the homologue profiles of PCDD/Fs in fly ash from electrostatic precipitator (ESP) of electrical power plant were different from that from waste incinerator. The strong correlation was found between the concentration of 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF and the I-TEQ value of fly ash regardless of the different fly ashes sources.