MILL PERFORMACE

Dr. D. Banerjee
Email: debdas_ban@yahoo.com
 CONTENTS
• The Purpose of Mill
• Mill Performance testing
 Clean air flow test
 Dirty airflow test
 Fuel flow measurement
 Burner balancing
 Online monitoring system & mill up-gradation
 The Purpose of a Pulverizer:

To Pulverize Coal to a Suitable

size for Proper Combustion in the
Furnace
And
To Dry Incoming Coal
For Pressurized Pulverizers, The
Classifier’s purpose is twofold:
 Size Classification
 Uniform Fuel Distribution to
each Burner Line
The Pulverizer’s are the HEART of a Pulverized Coal
Fueled Boiler!
 PURPOSE MILL

• To grind Feed Coal( 20-25mm) to 75µ size. As per rated

capacity and delivered to boiler.
• Coal delivered to all coal pipes should be balanced
• Coal flow, dirty air & clean air flow should be balanced within
permitted rage of deviation.
Clean air flow: When only air is flowing through the mill & coal
pipes
Dirty Air Flow: When coal & air mixture is flowing from mill &
coal Pipes to boiler.
 PULVERIZER DESIGN CRITERIA
• PULVERIZERS SIZE & TYPE ARE SELECTED TO
PROVIDE A GRINDING CAPACITY BASED ON COAL
CHARACTERISTICS
• MARGINS IN CAPACITY ARE BASED ON EXPECTED
WEAR LIFE AND RANGE OF COAL TO BE FIRED
• OPERATING CAPACITY AFFECTED BY COAL
MOISTURE, INLET AIR TEMPERATURE AND AIR
FLOWS.
 MILL PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS

• MILL OUTLET TEMPERATURE

• MILL MOTOR AMPERES
• MILL AIR FLOW
• WEAR PART LIFE
• MILL PRESSURE DROP
• MILL OUT PUT
• MILL FINENESS FRACTIONS
• MILL REJECT RATE
 PERFORMANCE CORRECTION CURVES
TEST CANNOT BE ALWAYS CONDUCTED USING DESIGN
COAL
• MOISTURE IN COAL
• HGI OF RAW COAL
• MILL FINENESS
• CORRECTION CURVES USED & NEED TO BE VERIFIED
OBJECTIVE OF MILL PERFORMANCE TESTING

• CLEAN AIR BALANCING BETWEEN BURNERS

• DIRTY AIR BALANCING BETWEEN BURNERS
• FUEL BALANCING BETWEEN BURNERS
• FINENESS TESTING OF PF BETWEEN BURNERS
• TO ESTABLISH TRENDS OF DEGRADATION OF
GRINDING CAPACITY
 PREREQUISITES FOR TESTING
• VERTICAL CIRCULAR PIPES AND ADEQUATE STRAIGHT
LENGTH .
• MAXIMUM PARTICLE SIZE TO BE LESS THAN ONE
THIRD DIAMETER OF TIP
• INTERNAL PIPE DIAMETER OF COAL PIPES TO BE IN
THE RANGE 250-700MM
Mill Performance Test Purpose

• For conducting performance checks of Pulverisers

• For identification of pulveriser system deficiencies.
• Also provides scope for iso-kinetic collection of
pulverized coal sample (using ASME/Rotary sampler)
from mill discharge pipes for checking the fineness
fractions & coal flow distribution.
• Provide means for coal flow measurement
 Instruments

1.ASE The Dirty Air Velocity Test Kit includes the following items:
• Dirty air velocity probe (calibrated) with thermocouple
• Handheld digital manometer (pressure measurement range ( -5 to +15
inches of WC)
• Handheld digital thermometer
• Probe support bushing (threaded pipe that screws into test port and seals
probe to port)
• Tube (10' length, contains pressure and thermocouple lines) also called
static probe
L-type Pitot for clean air test
2. ASME PF sampler
3. Rotary Sampler
 Dirty Air Pitot
•The dirty air pitot probe is utilized to measure air velocity,
pressure, and temperature within a flow stream that is heavily
laden with particulate.
•The design of the dirty air probe reduces the potential for
pluggage of the pressure lines, a situation that will cause
erroneous data.
•The probe is connected to a pressure gauge or manometer to
measure DP & Sp.
• Probe is pre calibrated in wind tunnel. Calibration is
necessary in order to determine the calibration coefficient
• calibration coefficient is used to obtain dirty air flow velocity.
• An integrated thermocouple is used to measure the flow
temperature.
Test Procedure – Checking Dirty air balance using Dirty Pitot kit
Test ports are installed on coal pipes to facilitate clean and dirty air traversing using
pitot tubes and dirty air probes. Optimum location for these taps should be
between five diameters downstream and ten diameters upstream of the nearest
elbow or change of direction. A minimum of two test ports per coal pipe, 90
degree apart, is required for testing.
ii. The numbers of sampling ports are determined based on the available straight
lengths of coal pipes, upstream or downstream of the nearest bends. The
guidelines for locating testing cross sections are described in ASME PTC 4.2.
iii. Traverse points on the pitot tube are marked on an equal area grid in accordance
with ASME Performance test Code 4.2 for traversing circular ducts or pipes.
iv. Two equal lengths Tygon tubing sections are cut to desired length. The tubing is
then taped or bound together and one tube is marked on both ends to identify as
the ‘high pressure’ line or ‘impact’ line. The second tube is used as the ‘low
pressure’ line or ‘static’ line.
v. A 5” to 10” vertically inclined manometer is set up on a level and stable work area.
The tygon tubing is connected to the high and low side taps on the manometer as
indicated below. A digital manometer is preferred in lieu of the inclined
manometer, if available, as shown herein.
 Clean Air Tests

Clean Air: Air going through the fuel lines, at

FLOW
normal operating temperatures and pressures
Pitots
Clean air velocities are indicative of the ‘transport’
energy in the PF pipes and should be within +/‐ 2%
of the mean.

Pressu re
Static
Total Pressure

Static Pressure

10” Incline
Manometer

Clean Air Test

Taps
 Dirty Air Tests
• Dirty Air: Coal Air mixture going through the
fuel lines with mill in service
• 8 to12 point are traversed for measurement of
velocity head ( Vh )
• Dirty air velocities are measured in each fuel
line to determine airflow and coal flow in
each fuel line
• Dirty air velocities should be within +/‐ 5%
of the mean.
1 ¼” Full Ported
Ball Valve

Dustless Connector
D
i
r
t
y

A
i
r

P
r
o
b
e

Pointer
Denotes HP
Side

HP

C o n n ec t o r

LP
C onnector

Coal/Air Flow

Inclined Gauge Oil

M anomet er
In dirty air test coal pipes of some mill are within permissible range while some are
outside range which needs to be set right by checking orifice condition, classifier setting
etc.
 Calculation
•
Density (d)= ( 460+70F)/(460 + t F) X( BP+ Sp/13.9)/29.9” Hg)X .075 lbs/f 3
Velocity= 1095(Vh) ½ X K f/m
(d ) ½

(Vh)1/2 =(Vh1) 1/2+(Vh2) 1/2+(Vh3) 1/2 ...

No of Traverse
% Deviation = Avg. Velocity – Velocity x 100%

Avg. Velocity
Volumetric Flow (Q)= Velocity x Pipe Cross-section Area
Dirty Air Flow (W) = Q x 60 min/hour x Density
Bp = Barometric Pressure (“Hg); Sp = Static Pressure (“WC)
K – Calibration Coefficient of the Pitot
 Example
Mill Out Temp–88C/190.4 F, Bp–28.7 ”Hg, Sp– 1.6 ”WC Pipe Cross-section
Area - 0.14522 m2
Density (d) = 530 X (28.7 +1.6/13.6) X 0.075 Lbs./f3
650.4 29.92
= 0.05886 Lbs./f3 * 16.01847 = 0.9429 kg/m3
Say (Vh)1/2 = 1.4576 ”WC
Velocity = 0.93 * 1095 * 1.4576 * 0.00508
(0.05886)1/2
= 31.1 m / s
Dirty Air Flow = 31.1 * 0.14522 * 0.9429 * 3600 / 1000
= 15.33 T/hr
A typical summary sheet of dirty pitot test report

MILL- 6A
COR-1 COR-2 COR-3 COR-4
SAMPLER DP
(“wc) 2.83 2.82 2.64 2.65
TEMP. (deg C)
87.50 78.10 84.40 80.30
STATIC Pr. (“wc)
1.80 2.40 1.80 2.00
AIR DENSITY
(KG/CUM) 0.97 0.99 0.97 0.99
DESIGN
VELOCITY (M/S) 26-28 26-28 26-28 26-28
VELOCITY (M/S)
30.43 29.95 29.28 29.16
VELOCITY
DEVIATION (%) 2.44 0.82 -1.42 -1.84
 Iso-kinetic Coal Sampling

Isokinetic: When the velocity of dirty air entering the collection

nozzle is equal to the velocity of the flow in the fuel line

24 m/s 30 m/s 19 m/s

24 m/s 24 m/s 24 m/s
Iso‐Kinetic Super Iso‐Kinetic Sub Iso‐Kinetic
Sampling Sampling Sampling
The particles The particles are The gas
flow into the pulled into the velocity than
less is the
sampler at the sampler at sample rate
same rate as the higher rate than allowing fines to
coal in the pipe a
the pipe velocity escape.
(more fines)
 PF sample collection (Iso-Kinetics)

Iso kinetic Sampling (Method):

1. ASME method Sampler it comes with dirty pitot Kit. Manual sampling
device. Sampling is done in iso-kinetic condition. Sampling is done from
16 point traverse.
2.The Rotary Pulverized Fuel Sampler (M&W) is a manual-sampling device,
designed for representative extraction of pulverized coal samples from
mill discharge pipes. The sampling procedure is in accordance with
international standard ISO 9931.
Rotary Sampler the multi point sampler extracts one representative
sample using 4 sampling tips in 16 different configurations giving a total
of 64 sampling points, evenly distributed over the cross-section of the
circular pipe.
 ASME Iso-kinetic Coal Sampler
1 ¼” Full Ported
Ball Valve
. The ASME PTC 4.2 Coal Sampling System is
Dustless
Pointer Denotes
Sample Tip
utilized to sample particulate carried within an air
Connector
Location

Orifice
HP
Connection
stream.
LP
Assembly
Connectio n
The sample is extracted isokinetically to
Reinforced
determine the particulate flow rate.
Tubing
To Air Supply

Filter Canister
The sampling probe features a single, slotted
Coal
Flow
Assembly

Cyclone
nozzle meeting the geometry specifications of the
Separator

Sample
ASME method.
Container
The probe is inserted into the flow stream and
Test Cart
positioned at specific locations covering the cross
section.
Magnahelic pressure gauge for orifice DP instead
of fragile oil-filled inclined manometer
Light weight cyclone assembly to reduce probe
weight
An Excel® spreadsheet template that allows the
operator to reduce data instantly afer a test

0
C C
The sampler as shown here is equipped with four sampling tips through which
the sample is simultaneously extracted. By means of an angular gear
mechanism, the sampler tips are rotated in concentric circles around the
sampler head. A dial with eight equally distributed marks (45⁰ ) indicates the
angular position of the sampler tips at every 22.5⁰ . When the dial is rotated
twice, it gives one full turn of the sampler tips, thus giving 16 angular positions
Fuel flow Imbalance (Test 1) reduced
afer classifier adjustments (Test 2)
 Burner Imbalance

• Mill discharge pipes offer different resistance to the flows due to unequal
lengths and different geometry layouts.
• Fixed orifices are put in shorter pipes to balance velocities / dirty air flow / coal
flows. The sizes of the orifices are specified by equipment supplier.
• Dirty air flow distribution should be within +/- 5.0% & Coal distribution within +/-
10% of the average of fuel pipes

Pipe to Pipe Fuel Flows (210 MW)

Mills

2 3

Boiler
1 4

Control Room
 Use of Iso-kinetic Coal Sampler

1 ¼” Full Ported
Ball Valve

Pointer Denotes
Dustless Sample Tip
Connector
Location
HP
Connection
Orifice
LP
Assembly
Connectio n

Reinforced
Tubing
To Air Supply

Filter Canister
Assembly
Coal
Flow Cyclone
Separator

Sample
Container

Test Cart

Variation of coal flows in the four corners in 210 MW unit

250

64‐point Rotary Sampler is 200

Sample Weight (grams)

preferred due to ease of use 150

and because it requires less 100

straight lengths Mill A

Mill
Mill C
Mill E
50
D Average
Mill F
0
Corner 1 Corner 2 Corner 3 Corner 4
COAL PIPE INSTRUMENTS AND
MEASUREMENT ACCURACY
Measurements in
Coal Pipes
Complicated Because
of Roping

Comparison of Sampling Grids

 Rosin & Rammler Chart

• Fineness is expressed as the percentage pass through a 200 ‐mesh

screen (74µm). Coarseness is expressed as the percentage retained on a
50‐mesh screen (297µm).
• Typical recommended value of pulverised fuel fineness through 200
mesh Sieve is 70% and 1% retention on 50 mesh sieve.

Use of four sieves (50,100,140,

200 mesh) and straight line plot
of fineness fractions on R&R
Chart can confirm correctness
of fineness of sample
Use of the
ASME
Isokinetic
Coal Sampler
 COAL FINENESS ANALYSIS
• FINENESS SAMPLE ANALYSIS NEEDS TO BE CARRIED
OUT IMMEDIATELY TO AVOID COAGULATION IN CASE
OF HIGH MOISTURE COALS
• MINIMUM FOUR STANDARD MESH SCREENS TO BE
USED
Impact of coal quality on Mill Selection &
Mill Performance
 Coal Quality & Mill Selection

1. Quantity of coal fired

2. Moisture in coal

3. PF fineness required

4. Hard Grove Index

5. Abbrasing Index (Yancy-Gear & Price,YGPI)

EFFECT OF COAL PROPERTY ON PULVERISER(MILL) PERFORMANCE

Result change in Pulveriser

Change in coal Property
Capacity

Moisture content increase Decrease

HGI increase Increase

PF fineness increase Decrease

Mills – Typical Design Curves
Mills – Typical Design Curves
Mills – Typical Design Curves
 WHY IS MILL PERFORMANCE TESTING
IMPORTANT?
• UNIT CAPABILITY GOVERENED BY MILL
PERFORMANCE
• BOILER AND COMBUSTION SYSTEM PERFORMACE
AFFECTED BY QUALITY OF PF COAL AND ITS
DISTRIBUTIION
• RELIABLE FEEDBACK SHOULD FOCUS ON TIMELY MILL
OVERHAUL
• VERY EFECTIVE CROSS CHECK OF THE STATION
INSTRUMENTS FEEDBACK
USE OF METAL TEMPERATURE IN FUEL PIPE TO
MONITOR CHOCKING
• FUEL PIPING METAL TEMPERATURE IS BEING MONITORED
TO MONITOR FUEL PIPE CHOCKING.
• RECENT STUDIES SHOWED THAT LOWER THAN MILL OUT LET
TEMPERATURE IS NOT NECESSARILY AN INDICATION OF PIPE
CHOCKING.
• DIFFERENCE OF 7 TO 8 C WAS OBSERVED BETWEEN COAL AIR
TEMPERATURE METAL TEMPERATURE FOR A PIPE WHICH
WAS CLEAR.
 BENEFITS
• CLEAN AIR FLOW BALANCING TESTS WOULD
CONFIRM THE ADEQUACY OF FUEL PIPE & MILL
ORIFICES.

• DIRTY AIR FLOW TESTS WOULD CONFIRM AIR

IMBALANCE IF ANY.

• REASONS FOR SHORT FALL IN MILL PERFORMANCE OR

ADDITIONAL MILL REQUIREMENT CAN BE CHECKED.
 BENEFITS
• PA FLOW AND COAL FLOW RATES CAN BE CROSS CHECKED AND
CALIBRATION INTIATIVES CAN BE SCHEDULED.
• FUEL PIPING CAN BE CHECKED FOR ANY CHOKING.
• ADEQUACY OF PIPING LAYOUT IN ACHIEVING UNIFORM
DISTRIBUTION OF COAL AND AIR FLOW DISTRIBUTIONCAN BE
CHECKED.
• IMBALANCE IN COAL COMBUSTION IF IT IS DUE TO UNEQUAL
BURNER LOADING WOULD BE KNOWN.
 Pulverizer Troubleshooting-Matrix
• LACK OF CAPACITY • HIGH MOISTURE
OR HIGH POWER • LOW GCV
CONSUMPTION • INCREASED RAW
COAL SIZE.
• GRINDING TOO
FINE
 Pulverizer Troubleshooting-Matrix

• EXCESSIVE
CHANGE INMILL
COALREJECTS
GRINDABILITY, SULFUR &
ASH.
• IMPROPER COAL/AIR RATIO
• THROAT GAP WEAR.
 Pulverizer Troubleshooting-Matrix
• CHANGEGRIND
COARSE IN COAL GRINDABILITY
• HIGH MOISTURE
• INCREASED THROUGH PUT.
• CLASSIFIER SETTING
• MILL WEAR.
 Pulverizer Troubleshooting-Matrix
•• HIGH
LOWMOISTURE
COAL \AIR TEMPERATURE
• LOW PA INLET TEMPERATURE
• PASSING OF COLD AIR.
• LOW A.H INLET TEMPERATURE
• NON AVAILABILITY OF SCAPH
 Pulverizer Troubleshooting-Matrix

• HIGH FIRES
MILL VOLATILES
• MOISTURE
• LOW COAL\ AIR TEMPERATURE.
• BURNER LINE BALANCE
 Primary Air Duct Traverse

Primary air flows are calculated by

grid traverse at different flows and air
temperatures using a calibrated pitot.
The following table summarises the
flows at 100% open damper position
in a 210 MW unit. Digital Thermometer
10” Incline Manometer Digital Manometer

Mill UCB Measured Deviation (%)

A 50 63 +26
Forward Reverse
B 52 65 +25 velocity probe

C 52 62 +19
D 55 66 +20
E 50 61 +22
F 52 62 +19

Duct
Experiences with on line measurement
system & Mill Up-gradation
Real Time Primary Air Flow Measurement and Dirty Air
Flow Measurement & Balancing System
Two sensors were mounted in each discharge pipe in the vertical
portion before the burners (Photo 1) and four sensors were
mounted across the venturi in PA duct for measurement of Dirty air
velocities (Photo 2). The ‘meControl’ panel was installed in Control
room (Photo 3).

Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3

 Variable Orifices

Installed four manual operated ceramic lined variable valves, one in

each pipe, in addition to existing pipe orifices in horizontal run of the
four coal pipes of Mill-1A (Photo 4, 5, 6).

Photo 4

Photo 4 Photo 5
Photo 6
 ‘Real Time’ Dirty Air Flow Measurement and Balancing System

• Installed in Mill 1A under Indo-Germ Energy program & support

of GTZ
• Equipment supplied by M/s Promecon, Germany
• Sensors in discharge pipes of mill and Inlet PA Duct
• Manually Operated Variable Valves in PF discharge pipes
• Imbalance in dirty air velocities amongst the four pipes reduced PF Pipe Sensors
on throttling of the valves in Corner 1 & 2 pipes

Before Afer Valves in PF Pipes

WORKING PRINCIPLE

•The velocity measurement is performed by a pair of two sensors installed at

a fixed distance in the air inlet duct to the mill & in the PF discharge pipes.
•The sensors are aligned parallel to the longitudinal axis of the pipe and scan
the electrostatic fluctuation of particles in the gas between them.
•Stochastic signals created by (dust) particles by the pair of
upstream/downstream sensors are cross correlated and referenced by their
time shif.
• By using the cross sectional area of the duct and the temperature and
pressure information the gas STP-volume flow is calculated on line.
Comparison of Online values with Dirty Pitot Test results

Velocity m/s by Dirty Pitot test Velocity m/s - Promecon system

Corner Corner

PA 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
flow

T/hr
70.6 29.4 30.6 26.9 27 28.6 29.4 25.6 25.3
60.7 24.7 27 23.2 23.2 24.5 25.2 22.6 21.7
50.3 19.8 21.7 18.4 18.9 19.7 20.7 18.3 18.5
40.9 15.7 18.1 14.5 15.5 14.5 16.7 13.1 14.7

The real time readings of PROMECON system compare well vis-à-

vis the test instrument feedback. There’s some difference in the
absolute values of velocities but the variation pattern of velocity in
different coal pipes are almost the same as observed in dirty pitot tests.
 Mill capacity Enhancement
• Project on mill capacity enhancement successfully carried out with support of USAID for one
XRP mill at mill 2D.
• Components replaced for mill capacity increase
 Rotating Vane wheel assembly (SAS Global Patented)
 High spin Static Classifier (SAS Global Patented)

• Appreciable increase in mill capacity (10-15%) and reduction in APC(~5 A) observed

• Due to deterioration in coal quality our boilers run with higher than design no. of mills leading
to high exit gas temperatures and high APC
• Operation with design number of mills will result in lower APC & increase in efficiency
 BOWL MILL GRINDING ROLL MATERIAL

Basic chemical composition Properties

C Si Mn S P Ni Cr Mo
NI -HARD 1

3-3,6 0,3-0,5 0,3-0,7 MAX0,15 MAX0,3 3,3-4,8 1,5-2,6 MAX0,4 53-61 RC

NI –HARD 2

MAX2,9 0,3-0,5 0,3-0,7 MAX0,15 MAX0,3 3,3-5 1,4-2,4 MAX0,4 52-59 RC

NI –HARD 3

1-1,6 0,4-0,7 0,4-0,7 MAX0,05 MAX0,05 4-4,75 1,4-1,8

NI –HARD 4

2,6-3,2 1,8-2 0,4-0,6 MAX0,1 MAX0,06 5-6,5 8-9 MAX0,4

In India power house coals are very abrasive as they get worst coal. and the grinding
roll and bull ring life is about 2500 to 4000 hours. Till in recent past Ni-hard was being
extremely used as grinding roll material
 SINTER
SINTER CAST
CAST GRINDING
11 GRINDING
ELEMENTS
ELEMENTS
BREAKTHROUGH IN GRINDING ELEMENTS TECHNOLOGY / METALLURGY.

 C - 2.3-3.4 %, Cr.-18–27 %,Mo-0.5-2.5, Mn –1.5 max.,Si–1 % max

 THE COMPOSITE CASTING HAVING HARDNESS

OF 60 – 66 RC Running Hours 10000