Study of particle size distribution of pulverized coals in utility boilers

ABSTRACT

Particle size distribution (PSD) is a measurement in the energy industry and provides information about the range and width of distribution of particle sizes. PSD function is widely used to characterize dispersed systems like powders and droplets and finds immense applications in coal and related processing. In the present work, pulverized coal samples were analyzed from the perspective of their PSD. Three coal samples were crushed and ground using ball mill, and the obtained pulverized coal samples were then tested for their morphological characteristics and chemical composition using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), respectively. The coal samples were then sieved mechanically to obtain the PSD curves. Two mathematical models, viz Rosin-Rammler (RR) and Gates-Gaudin-Schuhmann (GGS), were used and compared for the estimation of the distribution function F(d) (mass fraction) for the data obtained from the PSD curves. The RR model provided splendid results when it is applied on the data procured from PSD curves of coal samples, leading to more accurate segregation of divergent particle sizes.

KEYWORDS:

• Distribution function
• modeling
• particle size distribution
• pulverized
• sieve