Components

1. Feeder Electrical Controls

2 Microprocessor/Power Control Cabinet
Load Cell Amplifier Cabinet
Feeder Microprocessor Controls
Power Supply
Input/Output Circuit Description
Input Signal Converter Card (A1)
Frequency to Current Converter Card (A2) (A3)
Microprocessor Memory
 COAL FEEDER

Coal Feeder is a device that regulates the amount of coal to be supplied

into the Coal Mill. The amount of coal is regulated according to the needs
in the boiler combustion chamber (furnace).

A GFC consists of two main parts viz. a mechanical component and

associated electronic hardware.
The electronic hardware is based on a controller, which is centered on
a 32 bit embedded processor of Pentium architecture
 WORKING PRINCIPLE
Coal that has been crushed with a Crusher will be transported by belt
conveyor to Coal Yard for stock and Coal Bunkers. From the Coal
Bunker then the upper strobe/damper is opened, the coal from the
bunker enters the loading area of the coal feeder, then the belt
conveyor runs at a speed set by Variable Speed Drive (VFD).

Coal is carried along through the weighing area for load weighing /
measurement. Flow settings are generated from load calculations
detected by load cells at the speed of the conveyor belt which is
detected by speed sensors. The coal that has been set flow in the coal
feeder goes into the mill to be smoothed
Coal Inlet
Is a gap or hole where the entry of coal material into the Coal Feeder,
before passing coal Inlet coal material that falls into the Coal Feeder is
controlled by a valve installed in the Coal Bunker so that not too much
when entering into the Coal Feeder.
Clean Out Conveyor:
Located at the bottom of the travel belt as a coal cleaner
that does not enter the Coal Mill. In the event of fuel spillage
off the belt, there is a risk of fuel backup or fire hazard. A
properly functioning chain is essential for the housekeeping
of the feeder. Broken chains or flights will cause an increase
in buildup causing other feeder issues.
LOAD CELL

Load Cell is Weighing Sensor that output electronic signal which

is transform by Load (N: Newton= Force). The Load Cell is built
inside Gravimetric Feeder and Weighing Scales which are
generally used to measure the weight. It is called Indicator or
Controller which show the weight (Kg etc.) transformed from
electronic signal.

In case of Gravimetric Feeder, in popular case, Load Cell is

placed inside platform of Gravimetric Feeder, which is weighing
the whole part of feeder including hopper, gear box, screw part
etc. Load Cell detect the weight of material to be fed by loss in
weight.
 FEEDER SPECIFICATIONS
1. Gear Reduction 123.19:1
2. Leveling Bar Height 22.86 cm.
3. Weigh Span Length 91.44 cm.
4. Calibration Probe Span Length 91.44 cm.
5. Area of Cross Section under Leveling Bar 0.1885 sq. m.
6. Specified Density of Material Handled 800 -1100 kgs./cu. m.
7. Maximum Capacity Feed Rate 102,000 Kg / hr Max.
8. Minimum Capacity Feed Rate 20,400 Kg / hr Min
9. Maximum Capacity Motor Speed 1450 RPM
10. Tachometer Type 60 Tooth - Gear
11. Input Signal 4-20 mA
12. Feedback Signal 4-20 mA
 POWER CONTROL CABINET
• The controller works on a real time operating system.
• All the control parameters of the gravimetric feeder are
fed in to the controller through the key board and are
stored in non-volatile memory. Apart from the
alphanumeric display, the operational status of the GFC is
displayed bybright lit LEDs.
• The microprocessor based electronic control system uses
special circuits, software routines and stores data and
program parameters in nonvolatile memory.
• The GFC consists of Power supply, Processor module,
input and output modules, keyboard along with display
and motor speed control module.
• All I/Os are optically isolated with respect to processor
and its associated circuits.
• Analog circuits used to amplify and convert the load
cell outputs are located separately in the feeder
local panel.
• The display / keyboard located on the Remote panel
door provides the means to communicate and
receive information from the processor, for
parameter setting, mode selection etc.
• The display / keyboard assembly consists of a
vacuum fluorescent to
display messages and process data for operator
convenience.
• GFC Controller consists of the following major
hardware components CPU, Interface, I / O Rack,
Relay module, Power supply, Keyboard and Display.
• The software takes operator inputs from
thevarious function keys & numeric input keys.
Some of the function keys provided are NEXT,
PREV, PROG,CLS, ENTER, ESC, etc. The GFC status
is provided through LEDs indicating states such as
FEEDER RUN,GRAVIMETRIC, VOLUMETRIC,
ALARM and TRIP.
• Other Operational keys include TARE CAL, SPAN
CAL, TOTAL DISPLAY, TOTAL RESET, SELECT DATA,
NEXT, SELF CHECK, SPL FUN, REMOTE,
BELT REV, INCH, LOCAL, CLOCK SET, etc.
The five LEDs on the keyboard panel indicate current operational status of the feeder.
a. RUNNING (green) is illuminated whenever the belt drive motor is energized.
b. FEEDING (green) is illuminated when the motor is energized and material on
the belt is sensed by the level control switch assembly (LSFB).
c. ALARM (red) indicates that a problem exists which requires attention, but is
not serious enough to immediately stop feeder operation.
d. TRIP (red) indicates that a serious problem exists and feeder operation has
been stopped.
e. VOLUMETRIC (red) indicates that a fault exists in the weighing system or
its electronics which prevents the feeder from operating the gravimetric mode.
The VF display shows RATE, DENSITY or SPEED by pressing the INFO SELECT
key.

RATE shows the operating feed rate of the feeder when in the gravimetric
mode, or the equivalent feed rate using the average density of the material
when in the volumetric mode.
DENSITY shows the density of material on the belt in the gravimetric mode in
pounds per cubit foot or kilograms per cubic meter. In the volumetric mode,
the density shown is based on an average density determined before the
weight system faulted.
SPEED shows the feeder belt drive motor rpm.
 Load Cell Amplifier Cabinet

The load cell amplifier cabinet contains the load

cell amplifier board. The board has
connecting receptacles for the load cell and
calibration cables.
There are three selector switches on the
cabinet door: feeder local control CAL/LOC
RUN/REM (SLF), feeder work lights (FLS), and
feeder drive REV/OFF/FWD
(SSFBD)
Input Signal Converter Card (A1)

The function of the input signal converter is to convert the

customer fuel demand signal to a normalized 0 to 10 kHz
signal for interfacing with the microprocessor system. The
fuel demand signal can be any standard control signal:
current, voltage or potentiometer. The voltage and current
mode cards are essentially the same except for a terminating
resistor on the current mode card.
Frequency to Current Converter Card (A2) (A3)

The frequency to current converter card is used as a feedback

module for customers who require an analog feedback. The output
signal is unipolar and within a range of 20 mA. This circuit allows the
digital electronics of the microprocessor to output a digital signal,
while the customer receives a current feedback signal. In special
applications, this circuit may be used to convert a digital motor
speed demand signal into an analog demand signal.
 SET UP FUNCTIONS AT GLANCE
Feed Rate Set Point (Address 00)
This is the feed rate set point used when the feeder is operating in the
REMOTE mode controlled by feed rate set point . The available units for this
parameter ar pounds/hour, tons/hour, kilograms/second, kilograms/hour, and
metric tons/hour
< SETUP > 00

Speed Set Point RPM (Address 01)

This is the operating speed of the belt drive motor in the LOCAL and
CALIBRATION modes, and also in the REMOTE mode when the feeder
is controlled by speed set point
< SETUP 01 >

Initial Density Estimate (Address 02)

This is an initial density estimate of the material which will be fed
and is used to initialize the average running density whenever a
new value is entered.
< SETUP 02 >
Run Mode (Address 03)
The feeder can be run in REMOTE operation in any of eight run modes

0. Analog Customer Feed Rate Demand

1. Raise/Lower Customer Feed Rate Demand

.
2. Feed Rate Set Point
3. Analog Customer RPM Demand.

4. Raise/Lower Customer Speed Demand

5. Speed Set Point.

. 6. Feed Rate Serial
7. RPM Serial.
Maximum Feed Rate (Address 05)
<SETUP XX>

Minimum Feed Rate (Address 06)

Remote Data Logging Totalizer Increment (Address 07)

Demand Mode (Address 08)

Tachometer Type (Address 09)

T
Weigh Span (Address 10)

Volume (Address 11)

Calibration Probe Span (Address 12)

Calibration Weight (Address 13)

Motor Speed Control Servo Loop Gain (Address 14)

Motor Speed Control Servo Loop Rate Feedback Gain (Address 15)

Discharge Pluggage Delay (Address 16)

Belt Motion Monitor Delay Time (Address 17)

Level/Temperature Sensor Trip Delay (Address 18)

Weight Signal Filtering (Address 19)

Feedback Signal Filtering (Address 20)

Feedback Filter Override Threshold (Address 21)

V
Belt Travel Revolutions (Address 22)
Loss of Flow Trip Delay (Address 23)
Paddle Feedback Permissive (Address 24)
Communications Unit Number (Address 25)

Mode Select Enable/Disable (Address 26)

FRI Output Frequency (Address 27)

Raise/Lower Contact Input Response Time (Address 28)

Maximum Motor Speed Clamp (Address 29)

Minimum Motor Speed Clamp (Address 30)

Weight Signal Gain Factor (Address 33)

Remote Totalizer Pulse Width (Address 35)

FEEDER CALIBRATION

Calibration is accomplished in two separate steps

1. Elimination of system tare, which includes the weight of the weigh roller, load
cell support assembly, and the feeder belt. It also involves measuring belt speed
and its relationship to motor speed.
2. Calibration of the load cell output with a known weight.