Investigation of wear pattern in a complex coal pulveriser using CFD modelling

In this study, we have constructed a commercial-scale pulveriser and simulated motion of air and coal particles inside the pulveriser to investigate the effect of air passage on the wear pattern. Simulations were carried out using Eulerian–Lagrangian approach. The results indicated that the primary air entering into the pulveriser under the bowl via splitters, exited the pulveriser vanes to the left with the highest velocity. This validates the constructed model as the nozzle ring above the bowl has vanes that run clockwise making most of the primary air to exit the vanes to the left. Additional simulations with modified inlet duct geometry led to a possible solution for making the airflow distribution even at the base of the mill, which is expected to reduce the wear pattern. The results presented in the paper provides impetus for the modification of the airflow path using baffle splitters in the primary air duct, which could prove valuable to designers for the optimisation of airflow and the potential reduction of wear on the components within the coal pulveriser.     

CFD based investigations into optimization of coal pulveriser performance: Effect of classifier vane settings

In coal-fired power plant, pulveriser is the first major component, whose performance dictates the total power plant efficiency. Uniform flow rate and desired size fraction at outlet pipes along with higher classifier efficiency are three important measures which decide the pulverizer performance. Optimization of pulverizer at its best operating conditions has been considered as a potential area that needs to be addressed for improving unit performance, emissions, operations, and maintenance. The best operating conditions are optimum air velocity and classifier vane settings. In this investigation, numerical simulations of a typical pf coal based pulveriser have been carried out for different classifier vane settings to evaluate uniform flow rate and desired size fraction at outlet pipes along with high optimum classifier efficiency. The optimum opening for the vanes has been determined based on the above measures, which not only reduces unburnt CO, SO_x and NO_x emissions at boiler end but also minimise energy consumption of mill (in terms of reductions in regrinding cost). Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of the coal classifier physical model indicate good agreement with the plant data, in terms of internal flow patterns, particle collection efficiency and desired cut size. From the simulation studies, optimum opening for the vanes is found to be 65% for selected utility which leads to closest uniformity with 60% classifying efficiency wherein 70% particles pass through 75 μm sieve.     

Detonation burning of anthracite and lignite particles in a flow-type radial combustor

Regimes of continuous spin detonation of anthracite and lignite particles in an air flow in a radial vortex combustor 500 mm in diameter with a constant (along the radius) cross-sectional area are studied. Ground coal with a particle size of 1–12 μm is used. For transporting coal into the combustor and promoting the chemical reaction on the surface of solid particles, hydrogen or syngas is added in the ratio CO/H₂ = 1/1, 1/2, or 1/3. Continuous spin detonation of two-phase mixtures of fine anthracite and lignite particles and air with addition of hydrogen up to 4% of the coal consumption rate is obtained for the first time. The amount of syngas added to coal increases with decreasing fraction of hydrogen in the syngas: 14, 21, and 27% for anthracite and 11, 20, and 29% for lignite at CO/H₂ = 1/3, 1/2, and 1/1, respectively. The structure of detonation waves and the flow in their vicinity are not principally different from those observed previously for long-flame bituminous coal and charcoal. Higher detonation velocities are observed for more energy-intensive coal (anthracite). A higher pressure is obtained near the cylindrical wall of the combustor in cold runs as compared to detonation in the case with identical flow rates of the coal–air mixtures.     

A scanning electron microscopy study of the transformations of organically bound metals during lignite combustion

The transformation of organically bound alkaline metals on the surface of char particles during combustion of pulverized Montana lignite was studied in detail by scanning electron microscopy. The char particles were obtained by burning the lignite in a laboratory flow furnace in which the extent of burnout was controlled by collecting the char and quenching the combustion reaction at various residence times. The atomically dispersed alkaline earth metals in the raw coal form minute submicron grains of ash on the surface of the char after slight (10–20%) char burnout. As combustion of the char proceeds, these grains coalesce and ultimately form ash droplets ranging in size from ≈ 1 to 10 μm. Significant interaction between alkaline coal ash and the silicate minerals embedded in the char partition was observed. Most of the mass of the mineral matter in coal coalesces to form a few ash particles in the size range 10–20 μm. In addition, several thousand smaller particles, 1 to 8 μm in diameter, are produced by the shedding of ash particles during combustion.     

Continuous spin detonation of a coal-air mixture in a flow-type plane-radial combustor

Regimes of continuous spin detonation of coal particles in an air flow in a flow-type plane-radial combustor 500 mm in diameter are studied. The tested substance is fine-grained cannel coal from Kuzbass having a particle size of 1–7 µm and containing 24.7% of volatiles, 14.2% of ashes, and 5.1% of moisture. A certain amount of hydrogen is added for coal transportation into the combustor and promotion of the chemical reaction on the surface of solid particles. To reduce air pressure losses in channels connecting the manifold and the combustor, their cross section is increased to limiting values (25 cm²), whereas the combustor exit diameter is reduced. The angle of the air flow direction and the combustor geometry are also varied. The minimum pressure difference in the air injection channels (16%) is reached with stability of continuous spin detonation in the combustor being retained. The domain of continuous spin detonation regimes in the coordinates of the fuel flow rate and specific flow rate of the mixture is constructed. The results of studying detonation burning of solid fuels can find applications in power engineering, chemical industry, and environmental science, in particular, contamination by combustion products.     

Aerosol-to-Hydrosol Transfer Stages for Use in Bioaerosol Sampling

Single-jet and multijet aerosol-to-hydrosol transfer stages (AHTSs) with cutpoints of 2 and 0.8 μm aerodynamic diameter, respectively, were designed and evaluated. The devices are intended to take the coarse particle flow stream (minor flow) from a virtual impactor and concentrate the aerosol particles into a low flow rate of liquid. The design air flow rate for each system is 1 L/min, and the collection liquid flow needs to be ≥ 0.3 mL/min with a surfactant added to prevent loss of hydrosol particles on internal surfaces of the devices. Satisfactory performance was achieved when distilled water with 0.1% Tween 20 was used as the collection fluid. The effectiveness (average fractional efficiency) for the single-jet device is 94% over the size range of 2.5 to 10 μ m aerodynamic diameter, and that of the multijet AHTSs is 90% over the size range of 1 to 10 μ m aerodynamic diameter. The systems have an ideal air power consumption of 1.4 mW and 4.5 mW, respectively. If an AHTS were operated in a heated enclosure and sampled air at ?28°C, less than 1 W of heating would be required to prevent freezing. Preliminary results of bioaerosol testing with 0.7 μm AD single spores of Bacillus globigii var. niger show efficiencies over 100%. These values are probably due to the different expression of viability of the spores in the reference samples and those in the output liquid of the AHTSs.     

CFD modeling of MPS coal mill with moisture evaporation

Coal pulverizers play an important role in the functioning and performance of a PC-fired boiler. The main functions of a pulverizer are crushing, drying and separating the fine coal particles toward combustion in the furnace. It is a common experience that mill outlet pipes have unequal coal flow in each pipe and contain some coarse particles. Unequal coal flow translates into unequal air-to-fuel ratio in the burner, deviating from the design value and thus increasing unburned carbon in fly ash, NO_x and CO. Coarser particles at the mill outlet originate from poor separation and decrease the unit efficiency. In addition, coarser particles reduce burner stability at low load. Air flow distribution at the mill throat, as well as inside the mill, significantly influences the mill performance in terms of separation, drying, coal/air flow uniformity at the mill outlet, wear patterns and mill safety. In the present work, a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the MPS Roll Wheel pulverizer at Alliant Energy's Edgewater Unit 5 has been developed. The Eulerian-Lagrangian simulation approach in conjunction with the coal drying model in Fluent, a commercial CFD software package, has been used to conduct the simulation. Coal drying not only changes the primary air temperature but it also increases the primary air flow rate due to mass transfer from coal. Results of the simulation showed that a non-uniform airflow distribution near the throat contributes significantly to non-uniform air-coal flow at the outlet. It was shown that uniform velocity at the throat improves the air and coal flow distribution at the outlet pipes. A newly developed coal mill model provides a valuable tool that can be used to improve the pulverizer design and optimize unit operation. For example, reject coal rate, which is controlled by the air flow near the mill throat, can be reduced. The model can also be used to further aid in identifying and reducing high temperature or coal-rich areas where mill fires are most likely to start.     

Gravity discharge rate of fine particles from hoppers

An experimental and theoretical study has been made of the rate with which fine particles undergo gravity discharge in air from a hopper. The particles studied were small enough for their motion to be significantly retarded by air resistance but large enough to be substantially free from cohesion (50 μm ? d ? 500 μm). A simple flow system was chosen so that particle and air properties varied in one dimension only and could be measured easily. The theoretical analysis yields inter-related equations for particle flow rate and for the spatial distributions of particle stress, bed voidage and interstitial air pressure. Particle flow rates predicted from basic material properties and hopper geometry are about twice as large as measured values but show the correct dependency on particle size.     

Deposition of Tobacco Smoke Particles in a Low Ventilation Room

Deposition on indoor surfaces is an important removal mechanism for tobacco smoke particles. We report measurements of deposition rates of environmental tobacco smoke particles in a room-size chamber. The deposition rates were determined from the changes in measured concentrations by correcting for the effects of coagulation and ventilation. The airflow turbulent intensity parameter was determined independently by measuring the air velocities in the chamber. Particles with diameters < 0.25 μm coagulate to form larger particles of sizes between 0.25 and 0.5 μm. The effect of coagulation on the particles > 0.5 μm was found to be negligible. Comparison between our measurements and calculations using the theory of Crump and Seinfeld (1981) showed smaller measured deposition rates for particles from 0.1 to 0.3 μm in diameter and greater measured deposition rates for particles larger than 0.6 μm at three mixing intensities. Comparison of Nazaroff and Cass' model (1989a) for natural convection flow showed good agreement with the measurements for particles > 0.1 μm in diameter; however, measured deposition rates exceeded model predictions by a factor of approximately 4 for particles in size range of 0.05–0.1 μm in diameter. These results were used to predict deposition of sidestream smoke particles on interior surfaces. Calculations predict that in 10 hours after smoking one cigarette, 22% of total sidestream particles by mass will deposit on interior surfaces at 0.03 air change per hour (ACH), 6% will deposit at 0.5 ACH, and 3% will deposit at 1 ACH.     

Analysis of particle trajectories in a quick-contact cyclone reactor using a discrete phase model

The Eulerian–Lagrangian approach with a discrete phase model (DPM) is used to investigate the motion trajectories of the particles at the range of 1–50 μm in the quick-contact cyclone reactor, in which the cracking reactions and the separations of catalysts and products can occur respectively and simultaneously. The results show that the typical motion trajectories of the particles in the quick-contact cyclone reactor can be described as three types: trapping, escaping and dust ring. The first typical motion of particles corresponds to the particles successfully separated from the gas flow, while the other two types can lead to more coking and erosion in the reactor. Moreover, a pre-vortex flow is observed in the mixing-reaction chamber. Additionally, the grade separation efficiency of each particle size is also obtained by counting the numbers of escaping and capturing particles. The particles with diameter larger than 10 μm are separated completely from the gas. The reactor also has a strong capability to trap the particles of small diameters (5 μm <d_p<10 μm). Both results indicate that the separation efficiency of the reactor has met the requirement as a primary separator. Compared with the experimental results, the separation efficiency in the simulated method is higher than 98% with errors of no more than 1.31%. It is illustrated that separation efficiency of the reactor can be predicted by CFD simulation.     

Cocurrent gas and particle flow during pneumatic discharge from a bunker through an orifice

The flow of gas escaping from a bunker during pneumatic discharge of solid particles has been measured. A laboratory bunker (0.20 m diam.) was used from which sand (average size 205 μm) or glass ballotini (average size 100 and 200 μm) were discharged while simultaneously air was introduced at the bottom.It appeared that the flow of gas is primarily a function of the solids flow rate; orifice diameter and particle properties occurs as parameters in this relation.When combining this result with that of a previous investigation a unique relation is obtained between air flow rate, solids flow rate and pressure drop across the orifice.     

Numerical studies of pulverized coal combustion in a tubular coal combustor with slanted oxygen jet

A pure two-fluid model for turbulent reacting gas-particle flow of coal particles is developed using a unified Eulerian treatment of both the gas and particle phases. The particles' history caused by mass transfer due to moisture evaporation, devolatilization and char reaction is described. Both velocity and temperature of the coal particles and the gas phase are predicted by solving the momentum and energy equations of the gas and particle phases, respectively. A k-ε-k_k two-phase turbulence model, EBU-Arrhenius turbulent combustion model and four-flux radiation heat transfer model are incorporated into a comprehensive model. The above comprehensive mathematical model is used to simulate two-dimensional gas-particle flows and pulverized coal combustion in a newly designed tubular oxygen-coal combustor of blast furnace. Predicted results of isothermal gas-particle flows are in good agreement with those obtained by measurements. The results also show that the proposed tubular oxygen-coal combustor prolongs the coal particle residence time and enhances the mixing of coal and oxygen. Results indicate that smaller coal particles of 10 μm diameter are heated and devolatilized rapidly and have volatile combustion in the combustor, while larger coal particles of 40 and 70 μm in diameter are heated but not devolatilized, and combustion of such particles does not occur in the tubular combustor.     

选粉机颗粒轨迹的非稳态模拟

选粉机颗粒轨迹模拟研究是分析选粉机分级效率与分级精度性能技术指标的重要基础之一。根据计算流体动力学（CFD）理论,运用DPM模型的颗粒运动方程对时间积分求解颗粒运动轨迹,阐述了颗粒的分级过程。对二维平面离散颗粒的捕集和采样结果进行分析,考察了细粉和粗粉的质量流率,并研究了不同工况下细粉颗粒粒径分布情况。对数值模拟相关工况点进行模拟结果的实验分析,结果表明：细粉颗粒质量流率模拟结果与实验结果误差为5.66%;细粉颗粒粒径分布曲线两者较吻合,100 μm颗粒含量相对误差为6.54%。研究结果为分析和预测选粉机不同工况下的成品产量和粒径分布提供了模拟方法。     

Improvement of the Uniformity of Radial Solids Concentration Profiles in Circulating Fluidized‐Bed Risers

In order to enhance the uniformity of the radial solids distribution and thereby the performance of industrial circulating fluidized‐bed (CFB) risers, an approach by using the air jet from the riser circumference is proposed. The Eulerian‐Eulerian computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model with the kinetic theory of granular flow is adopted to simulate the gas‐solids two‐phase flow in a CFB riser with fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) particles. The numerical results indicate that by employing the circumferential air jet approach under appropriate jet velocities, the maximum solids concentration in the near‐wall region can be greatly reduced, the entrance region can be shortened, and the uniformity of the flow structure can be significantly improved.     

基于颗粒流运动论的喷动流化床气固流动行为三维模拟

1 INTRODUCTION Spout-fluid beds have been of increasing interest in the petrochemical, chemical and metallurgic indus-tries since spout-fluid beds can reduce some of the limitations of both spouting and fluidization by su-perimposing the two type of systems[1―4]. In recent years, spout-fluid beds have become an alternative for gas/solid contactors in coal gasification. Spout-fluid bed coal gasifiers have been adopted for APFBC-CC (advanced pressurized fluidized bed combus-tion-combined…     

Fundamental ash deposition characteristics in pulverized coal reaction under high temperature conditions

Three types of coal with the different melting temperature and ash content were burned under the condition of high-temperature air pulverized coal reaction. A water-cooled tube was inserted into the furnace to make the ash adhere. Particle size and composition distributions of ash particles in both reacting coal particles and depositing layer were analyzed, using a Computer Controlled Scanning Electron Microscope, to study the deposition behaviors of ash particles. As a result, quantity of the ash deposition on the tube surface increases with a decrease of the melting temperature of coal ash. Index of fraction of the ash deposition depended on the coal type. For structure of the deposit layer, fine particles of size less than 3 μm mainly consisted of the initial layer for three types of coal, and the thickness was about 30 μm. Deposition of fine particulates of about 3 μm became a trigger of initial deposition at the stagnation point of tube even if irrespective of coal type is burned. The chemical compositions of ash particles in the reacting particles differed from those in the initial deposition layer. The deposition phenomenon relates to the particle size distribution of ash formed, the flow dynamics surrounding the probe, the chemical compositions in each ash particle and so forth.     

Influence of the nanoaerosol fraction of industrial coal dust on the combustion of methane–air mixtures

The mechanism of formation of nanosized aerosol particles during mechanical grinding of coal from Kuzbass mines is studied. The concentration and size spectrum of aerosol particles in a mine tunnel during cutter operation were measured using an aerosol spectrometer. It is found that 90% of the particles are less than 200 nm in size. In the nanometer range, there are two peaks corresponding to average diameters of 20 and 150 nm, the first of which is due to single particles, and the second to aggregates consisting of single particles. The formation of aerosol during mechanical coal grinding in a continuous flow mill was studied. The spectrum and morphology of the particles produced in the laboratory mill are in qualitative agreement with those for the nanoaerosol formed in the mine. The influence of the coal aerosol on the combustion of gas mixtures was studied. Laboratory experiments showed that the presence of the nanoaerosol in a lean methane–air mixture significantly increased its explosibility. This was manifested in an increase in the maximum pressure and a significant increase in the pressure rise rate during explosion. The study leads to the conclusion that the nanoaerosol is formed from the organic coal components released into the gas phase during local heating of coal on the cutter teeth.     

撞击气流床气化炉内雾化过程中颗粒运动特性

基于实验室规模的撞击气流床气化炉,以水煤浆为原料进行气化实验,采用高温内窥镜及工业相机组成的可视化成像系统,在操作条件下,对水煤浆雾化过程进行拍摄。运用图像处理算法来识别和检测所得图像中的颗粒信息,利用颗粒示踪算法对颗粒进行轨迹测算。对颗粒的平均粒径、速度及角度进行统计分析。结果表明,喷嘴出口射流区内平均粒径主要集中在325～375 μm,相较于原煤颗粒较大;大部分颗粒速度集中在1～2 m·s^-1且运动过程中速度变化不大;大部分颗粒运动方向不随时间而变化,呈简单直线运动;颗粒轨迹呈现以喷嘴为起始点的扇形射线。     

Absolute measurement of pneumatically conveyed powder using a single long throat venturi

The principle of using a long throated venturi meter to measure the flow rate of two mixed phases is widely published, yet there is no practicable application for accurate measurement in relatively lean particulate conveying. Coal fired power stations would benefit from such a meter. Pulverised coal is conveyed pneumatically through pipes from the mill to the furnace. Control devices that ensure delivery of coal to each burner is equal require an accurate on-line measurement of the coal flowing through each line. Relative comparison of coal flow rate between similar pipelines is possible on-line, but to date no absolute on-line measure has been achieved, and weigh hopper discharge measurement for total coal flow rate is crude. Using a program developed by Azzopardi et al. [B.J. Azzopardi, S.F.C.F Teixeira, C.I. Pulford, A quasi-one-dimensional model for gas/solids flow in venturis, Powder Technology 102 (1999) 281-288.] for calculation of the pressure drop in a two phase venturi, a venturi was designed with optimised geometry to give a measurable sensitivity to coal flow rate at the relatively lean conditions encountered in a power station. The venturi was inserted into a pneumatic conveying test rig designed to simulate a coal fired power station. The program predicted the pressure drops measured in the test rig venturi with good agreement. The pressure calibration graphs thus obtained provided a possible means of calculating the air and coal flow rates. Air flow rate was accurate to within 2%. Coal flow rate accuracy was within 20%. Error analysis showed this error to be related to experiment. The program accuracy was shown to be within 7%. This accuracy merits a full scale power station trial.     

Effects of air temperature and humidity on particle deposition

Particle deposition in a fully developed turbulent duct flow was studied. The random walk model of Lagrangian approach was used to predict the trajectories of 3000 particles with a density of 900 kg/m³. The effects of thermophoretic force and air humidity were also considered. The results were compared with the previous studies with a particle size range of 0.01–50 μm and air flow velocity of 5 m/s. The profile of dimensionless deposition velocity with relaxation time presents a V-shaped curve and the results are in good agreement with the previous studies.The effects of air temperature and humidity on particle deposition with a particle size of 1 μm were also investigated. The results show that thermophoretic force accelerates particle deposition onto the duct walls with increasing temperature difference between air flow and the duct wall surface. Meanwhile, it was found that particle deposition velocity increases with air humidity.