Use of Volatile Initiation

Temperature of Coals
to Help Control Fire Risk in Mills
Francis C.Y. Cheng, General Manager (Generation), The Hongkong Electric Co. Ltd.
Jack C.M. Chiu, Senior Generation Chemist, The Hongkong Electric Co. Ltd.
William C.F. Tam, Chemist, The Hongkong Electric Co. Ltd.

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 Content
• Introduction
• Coal Pulverizer
• Volatile Initiation Temperature (VIT)
• Thermogravimetric Analyzer and Determination
of VIT
• VIT of Bituminous & Sub-bituminous Coals
• Summary
• Reference

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 Introduction
• HK Electric - a public utility company generating & supplying
electricity to the Hong Kong Island, Lamma Island and Ap Lei Chau
of Hong Kong.
• 8 coal-fired units, 2 gas-fired combined-cycle units, 5 light-oil-fired
gas turbine units, a wind turbine and a Thin Film Photovoltaic
System with a total generation capacity of 3,736 MW.

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 Introduction
• Coal consumption in 2010 – ~3,1 million tonnes in total with about
one-third sub-bituminous coal (SBC).
• Five coal mills supply pulverized fuel (PF) to coal burners at five
individual elevations.
• In addition to drying the PF, hot primary air transports the PF via
individual PF pipes to the coal burners at the four corners of the
furnace at the same elevation.
• Mill outlet air temperature ranges between 70 and 75 oC for
handling bituminous coal.

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 Introduction
• Before year 2000, bituminous coals were burnt.
• First mill fire in 1991 with a reactive Indonesian coal.
• Started to study any characteristics of coal that could provide an
early warning to the operators about its fire risk in mills - journey to
develop volatiles initiation temperature (VIT) of coal then began.

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 Coal Pulverizer
Fig.1 – Vertical Spindle Bowl Mill
• Vertical spindle type Coal feed pipe

bowl mills
• Vertical coal feed pipe
• Rotating bowl table and
three rolls
• Hot primary air dries the
coal and transports the
PF Roll

Bowl

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 Coal Pulverizer
Fig. 2 – Bowl & Air Inlet Ring Assembly of
the Bowl Mill
• Hot primary air admitted from
the bottom of the bowl
through the air inlet ring
assembly at the edge of the
grinding table.
• PF transported upward to a
classifier mounted above the
grinding chamber.
• Coarse coal particles returned
to the bowl table for further
grinding.
Air inlet ring
assembly

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 Volatiles Initiation Temperature

• Coal originates from plant matter and consists of

water, organic matters and ash.
• The organic matters portion is a complex
mixture of light to heavy organic molecules.
• Upon heating, moisture (surface and then
inherent) followed by light hydrocarbons and at
last heavier organic molecules are forced to
come off the coal particles.

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 Volatiles Initiation Temperature

• If the environment is oxidizing, oxidation can propagate

as well until all the organic molecules react with the
oxygen available, i.e. fully combusted, and only ash is
left behind.
• First attempt to determine VIT:
Coal pulverized to 212 m particle size, was stepwisely
heated up from ambient temperature to 200~250 oC in a
tube furnace. Changes in the sample mass were
measured manually and the gaseous substances released
from the sample were monitored with a carbon
monoxide or hydrocarbon detector.

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 Volatiles Initiation Temperature

• The VIT was taken to be the temperature at which there

was an abrupt increase in mass loss of the sample or
release of carbon monoxide or hydrocarbon from the
sample.
• Identities of the first volatiles were complex
• VIT determination using a thermogravimetric analyzer
(TGA) began in 1998. Oxidizing environment was
chosen. Sample size, air purging rate and temperature
ramping rate determined after a series of experiments.

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Thermogravimetric Analyzer & Determination of
VIT
The TGA used for VIT determination is an LECO TGA-601 as shown in Figures 3 to 6. Nitrogen
gas (99.5 %) and compressed air at 35 psi are used for pneumatic control and combustion
respectively.
Fig. 3 – Thermogravimetric Analyzer, Fig. 4 – Thermogravimetric Analyzer, LECO
LECO TGA-601 TGA-601 (diagrammatic)

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Thermogravimetric Analyzer & Determination of
VIT
Fig. 5 – LECO TGA-601 Carousel and Fig. 6 – LECO TGA-601 Sketch of
balance pedestal carousel and balance pedestal

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Thermogravimetric Analyzer & Determination of
VIT
• General analysis coal sample of a nominal top size of 212 m is used.
• An air oxidizing condition is chosen to simulate the environment of
mill in operation.
• From experiments, the sample weight is finally fixed at 0.50 gram.
A larger sample weight is not preferred for this particular setup in
order to allow good contact of the sample with the air stream when
the dynamic condition of a running mill cannot be simulated with
this kind of experiment.

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Thermogravimetric Analyzer & Determination of
VIT
• Crucibles with coal sample are placed on the carousel of the
instrument which can run 20 samples in one go. The mass of the
sample is weighed by the built-in balance. During each weighing
cycle, the carousel falls to place the crucible onto the balance
pedestal and, after weighing, rises to lift it from the balance pedestal
again. The carousel then rotates to allow the next crucible to be
weighed.

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Thermogravimetric Analyzer & Determination of
VIT
• Oven temperature is raised from room temperature to 920 oC at a
ramp rate of 4 oC/min. and in a stream of air at about 4 L/min.
• Data including time elapsed, oven temperature and weight of the
sample are recorded during the analysis cycle.
• The rate of weight loss of the sample is calculated and plotted
against the oven temperature.
• When the coal sample begins to release its volatile matter content,
the rate of weight loss increases and the temperature at which this
occurs is the VIT of the coal sample (Figure 7).

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Thermogravimetric Analyzer & Determination of
VIT

Figure 7 – Rate of % Wt. Loss versus Temperature

RATE OF % WT. LOSS vs TEMPERATURE

1.4

1.2

1
Rate of Weight Loss, % per min

0.8

0.6

0.4
VIT
0.2

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000
-0.2
Temperature, deg C

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 Thermogravimetric Analyzer & Determination of
VIT
The instrumental settings for VIT determination are tabulated below
for reference:

Method Name VIT Final Temp. (o C) 920 Constant Wt 00:01

(hr:mn)
Step Step 1 Ramp Time 03:44 Final Wt at End of Step
(hr:mn)
Name WTLOSS Atmosphere Air Data Rate Smart Rate
Covers OFF Flow Rate Low Formula [((I – W) / I)x100]
Rate 4.00 Hold Time 00:05
(hr:mn)
Start Temp. (o C) 25 Constant Wt (%) 99:99

Where I = initial sample weight; W = current sample weight

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 VIT Of Bituminous & Sub-bituminous Coals

• In recent years, coal supplies of Lamma Power Station are mainly

from Indonesia - Kalimantan Island.
• The volatile initiation temperatures of some of the coal types burnt
in Lamma Power Station are summarized in Tables 1a & 1b. The
coal rank of each coal types is determined using the criteria of
ASTM D388.

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 Table 1a – VIT of Bituminous Coals Burnt in Lamma Power Station
Coal Type Total Moisture, % GCV, kcal/kg AR O, % DAF Molar O/C VIT, oC Coal Rank

1 14.47 6264 8.15 0.07 270 mvb

2 7.9 6170 6.04 0.05 270 mvb
3 18.6 5801 11.65 0.11 257 hvCb
4 11.0 6642 9.31 0.09 254 hvAb
5 7.5 6350 7.84 0.07 253 hvBb
6 10.2 5849 10.77 0.10 251 hvAb
7 14.0 5828 12.91 0.12 251 hvBb
8 16.0 5920 14.19 0.14 251 hvCb
9 14.6 5622 16.83 0.14 248 hvBb
10 9.6 6220 11.32 0.13 248 hvBb
11 16.4 6052 20.84 0.21 238 hvBb
12 10.8 5934 14.24 0.14 238 hvBb
13 21.3 5505 15.09 0.15 237 hvCb
14 16.5 5969 15.26 0.15 236 hvCb
15 14.5 6085 14.56 0.14 232 hvCb
16 19.6 5706 17.19 0.17 232 hvCb
17 21.8 5483 16.06 0.16 230 hvCb
18 20.5 5282 16.72 0.17 229 hvCb
19 15.6 6203 12.74 0.12 226 hvCb
Remark: mvb = medium volatile bituminous; hvAb = high volatile A bituminous;
hvBb = high volatile B bituminous; hvCb = high volatile C bituminous; subA = sub-bituminous A;
subB = sub-bituminous B; subC = sub-bituminous C.

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Table 1b –VIT of Sub-bituminous Coals Burnt in Lamma Power Station

Coal Type Total Moisture, % GCV, kcal/kg AR O, % DAF Coal Rank

Molar O/C VIT, oC

20 23.8 4926 15.80 0.15 239 subA

21 22.9 5359 17.66 0.18 235 subA
22 24.5 5061 18.17 0.19 231 subA
23 26.8 5073 16.67 0.16 229 subA
24 23.3 5219 17.98 0.18 227 subA
25 22.6 5271 18.02 0.18 225 subA
26 21.8 5485 16.81 0.17 224 subA
27 23.0 5200 18.06 0.18 223 subA
28 23.3 5278 18.17 0.18 223 subA
29 20.9 5473 17.08 0.17 222 subA
30 27.0 4735 17.53 0.23 220 subA
31 26.5 4871 17.60 0.17 216 subB
32 23.4 5168 17.76 0.18 214 subA
33 26.5 4993 18.22 0.17 214 subA
34 25.6 4838 17.85 0.18 214 subC
35 23.7 5378 19.38 0.20 212 subA

Remark: mvb = medium volatile bituminous; hvAb = high volatile A bituminous;

hvBb = high volatile B bituminous; hvCb = high volatile C bituminous; subA = sub-bituminous A;
subB = sub-bituminous B; subC = sub-bituminous C.

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 VIT Of Bituminous & Sub-bituminous Coals

• Bituminous coal in general has a higher VIT than sub-bituminous

coal. The lower the ranking of the coal, the lower is its VIT. The
demarcation between the coal ranks of bituminous coal and sub-
bituminous may not be very clear in some cases.
• Lamma Power Station also adopts the molar Oxygen : Carbon (O/C)
ratio to assess the readiness of spontaneous combustion of a coal
type. Sub-bituminous coals, being younger in age, are generally
richer in oxygen content and hence have higher O/C ratios as
shown in Tables 1a & 1b.

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 VIT Of Bituminous & Sub-bituminous Coals

• Figure 8 is a plot of O/C ratio against VIT of the coal type. VIT is
seen to decrease with an increase in O/C ratio.

Figure 8 – A plot of molar oxygen to carbon ratio and VIT

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 VIT Of Bituminous & Sub-bituminous Coals

• From experience on burning sub-bituminous coal, Lamma Power

Station now sets a high temperature alarm for the mill inlet air
temperature (220 0C), aiming at reminding the operator that the hot
air entering a mill may have reached or gone beyond the VIT of the
coal type being handled by that particular mill.
• In case that the VIT of the coal type is outstandingly low, the
operator can manually lower the mill inlet air temperature though
the coal flow through the mill has to be lowered at the same time.
• The minimum mill outlet temperature setting for sub-bituminous
coal is set at 60 0C to prevent dew-fall in the PF pipes.

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 Summary
• With the introduction of a growing amount of sub-bituminous coal
and to avoid mill fires, Lamma Power Station developed the
determination of volatiles initiation temperature (VIT) which is the
temperature at which a coal sample begins to release its volatile
hydrocarbon.
• The use of a thermogravimetric analyser (TGA) facilitates the
laboratory determination. Sub-bituminous coal generally has VIT
lower than bituminous coal and in some cases falls below the mill
inlet air temperature alarm of 220 0C.
• It can then provide an alarm to the operators of the necessity of
bringing down the mill inlet air temperature. Coal flow has to be
compromised under such condition.
• Safe handling and burning of sub-bituminous coals was achieved
with the help of VIT determination.

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 Reference

• Thermal Coal Technology, A manual for Australian coal, Lindsay Juniper,

1999, Ultra-Systems Technology Pty Ltd.

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