Coal Grinding;Coal contains varying quantities of volatiles, both combustible and non-combustible.

All types of coal also contain hygroscopic (inherent) moisture as well as varying quantities of impurities which are released in the form of ash in the combustion process. The degree of grinding required depends on the type of coal used. Coal with a low volatile content requires a high ignition temperature and must be finely ground. Coal with a high volatile content, however, must not be ground too fine, otherwise the volatiles will be expelled too quickly to be able to mix properly with the combustion air. The table specifies the main types of coal in geological order and the approximate coal meal finenesses recommended.

Drying - Air Circulation

There are three factors which are decisive in determining the amount of air to be drawn through a coal mill: 1) The amount of air at a given temperature must be sufficient to ensure effective drying of the moist coal. 2) The amount of air must be adequate in relation to the evaporated moisture, so that the dew point of the air leaving the mill is maintained at a suitably low level. In practice, the dew point must be 15-20C lower than the mill exit air temperature to prevent condensation in the ducts and the dedusting installation after the mill. 3) In air-swept mills, of both the ball and roller types, the air velocity must be high enough to extract the ground material from the mill. When specifying the moisture of coal, a distinction is made between surface moisture, which evaporates at ambient temperature, and hygroscopic moisture which is more closely bound to the coal.The inherent moisture content depends on the geological age of the coal, the moisture ranging from 1-2% in anthracite to 10-20% in lignite. The relationship between moisture content and dew point as well as the amount and temperature of the drying air is shown in the above graphs. As will appear, if the dewpoint is 15C below the mill outlet temperature of 70C, the dewpoint thus being 55C, and the moisture content 10%, the mill inlet temperature should not exceed approx. 350C. The figure also shows that if the available drying air has a temperature in the region of 300C, and the moisture content in the raw coal is below 10%, the drying air requirements are less than 1.2 kg air per kg coal. The amount of air to be extracted from the grinding plant, including false air and water vapour will in this case be less than 1.5 kg air per kg coal, corresponding to approx 17% of the combustion air, based on coal with a calorific value of 6500 kcal/kg (27,200 kJ/kg). For a conventional suspension preheater kiln this 17% normally constitutes a suitable amount of primary air for kiln combustion purposes. As to the amount of air necessary to extract the coal meal from the mill, operational data has been collected from a large number of ball mills grinding coal with up to 10% moisture, all with the temperature of the drying air exceeding 300C. On the basis of this data it can be concluded that the amount of air required to extract the coal meal from the mill is around 1.5 kg air per kg coal. The corresponding figure for roller mills is approx. 2.0 kg air per kg coal.

The coal must be sufficiently dry for grinding, storing, and feeding purposes. Excessive drying should be avoided, due to the accelerating process of oxidation which occurs as the moisture content is reduced, with the consequent risk of spontaneous ignition. In practice, drying off the surface moisture of the coal and a small part of the hygroscopic moisture will ensure a high degree of safety combined with good processing and handling properties. In order to maintain a constant moisture content in the coal meal discharged from the mill, coal grinding plants are supplied with fully automatic thermal control equipment controlling the temperature of the air at mill outlet.