Size Reduction of Coal

Dr. A. K. Majumder

Department of Mining Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology
Kharagpur - 721 302, India
 Why Fragmentation?

1. Liberation
2. Material Handling
3. Industry Specification
 Pulverized coal power plant – d80 < 200 mesh
 Fluidized bed < 1/16 inch (< 1.6 mm)
 Lurgi pressure gasifier – 25 to 63 mm

Explosives are used in mining in order to extract the coal and blasting can be regarded as the
first stage in comminution
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 What is Liberation?

Locked shale particles in Partially Liberated Shale

coal matrix
Liberation is the process of releasing the individual
components in the composite particles to form separate
homogeneous fragments of coal and shale.
The Size Reduction Process

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NOTE
 So, the trick when producing quality product coal is to keep the size reduction
curves as steep as possible. Normally that is what we get paid for - the shorter
or more narrow fraction - the more value!
 To achieve that goal we need to select the correct equipment out of the repertoire
for size reduction in a proper way.
 They are all different when it comes to reduction technique, reduction ratio, feed
size etc. and have to be combined in the optimum way to reach or come close to
the requested size interval for the end product.

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Comminution and Sizes
Effective Range of 80% passing sizes by Process

Process F80 P80

1) Explosive shattering: infinite 1m
2) Primary crushing: 1m 100 mm
3) Secondary crushing: 100 m 10 mm
4) Coarse grinding: 10 mm 1 mm
5) Fine grinding: 1 mm 100 µm
6) Very fine grinding: 100 µm 10 µm
7) Superfine grinding: 10 µm 1 µm

The 80% passing size is used because it can be measured.

Size Reduction Equipment
Usual Duty Type of Machine kW/TPH Other Equipment
Heavy Rotary breaker 0.1-0.3 Feeder Breakers, Gyratory Crushers, Single Roll
Crusher, Open Hammer and Ring Impactor
Heavy Jaw Crusher 0.2-0.5

Heavy/ Roll Crusher 0.2-0.6 Cone Gyratory Crushers, Open Hammer and
medium Ring Impactor
Medium/ Hammer Mill 0.3-8.0 Cone Gyratory Crushers, double- (triple-) roll
light crushers
0.5-20.0 high-speed hammer mill (screen)
Light Impactor dry, ball-and-rod mills
roll/race pulverisers

1.0-30.0 vibration mills

Fines/ Ball Mill / 5.0-40.0 -high-frequency attrition mills (wet)
ultra Roller Mill . wet-ban mills -
-roll/race pulverisers
-jet mills

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Rotary Coal Breaker
 It Serves two purposes:
 Reduction in Top Size
 Rejection of rock
particles
 Size Reduction by Impact
action.
 The drum rotates at speeds of
between 12 and 18rpm.

 All of the large-size rocks and any tramp material pass along the breaker, being harder
or otherwise more resilient to breakdown than the coal, and are subsequently
discharged

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Rotary Coal Breaker (Pros and
Cons)
Coal and Shale Separation takes place during the process: The coal being softer gets
broken and due to reduced size passes through the openings and collected as
undersize.

Fines generation is less: The rotary breaker is able to maintain a uniform product top
size while producing a minimum amounts of fines due to the facts that the undersized
material is removed at the rate it is produced through the screen plate opening.

 Versatility of operation: The versatility of the rotary breaker is seen in its ability to
handle fluctuations in feed moisture, feed tonnage and size-consist.

Limitation:
 It has some limitations, too. Perhaps the greatest limitation to its use is in the size
reduction of raw coal containing plastic, clayey materials.
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Jaw crushers
The distinctive feature of this class of crusher is the two plates which open and shut like animal jaws. The
jaws are set at an acute angle to each other, and one jaw is pivoted so that it swings relative to the other
fixed jaw. Material fed into the jaws is alternately nipped and released to fall further into the crushing
chamber. Eventually it falls from the discharge aperture.

Jaw Crusher Type

All jaw crushers are rated according to their receiving areas, i.e. the width of the plates and the gape,
which is the distance between the jaws at the feed opening. For example,an 1830 • 1220mm crusher has a
width of 1830 mm and a gape of 1220 mm.

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Jaw crushers range in size up to 1680 mm gape by 2130 mm width. This size machine will
handle ore with a maximum size of 1.22 m at a crushing rate of approximately 725th -~ with a
203mm set. However, at crushing rates above 545th -1 the economic advantage of the jaw
crusher over the gyratory diminishes; and above 725th -1 jaw crushers cannot compete with
gyratory crushers.

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Roll crushers
Roll crushers, or crushing rolls, are still used in some mills, although they have been replaced in
most installations by cone crushers. They still have a useful application in handling friable,
sticky, frozen, and less abrasive feeds, such as limestone, coal, chalk, gypsum, phosphate, and
soft iron ores. Jaw and gyratory crushers have a tendency to choke near the discharge when
crushing friable rock with a large proportion of maximum size pieces in the feed.

The coefficient of friction between steel and

most ore particles is in the range 0.2-0.3, so
that the value of the angle of nip 0 should
never exceed about 30 ~ , or the particle will
slip.

It should also be noted that the value of the

coefficient of friction decreases with speed, so
that the speed of the rolls depends on the
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angle of nip, and the type of material being12
crushed.
 Roll Crusher
(Compression)

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 Types of Roll Crusher
1. Single Roll Crusher: 2. Double Roll Crusher:

4. Toothed Roll Crusher: 3. Smooth Roll Crusher:

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Roll Crusher
Advantages Disadvantages
The roll crusher has a simple  The main disadvantage of roll
structure, compact, lightweight, crusher is low processing
reliable, low cost and easy capacity.
maintenance.

 They give a very fine product  High wear, grinding teeth

size distribution and they produce vulnerable to hard material.
very little dust.

 Coal is probably the largest user

of roll crushers  High energy consumption.

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Hammer Mill
 Comminution is by impact rather than
compression.
 The Hammer Mill is a Size reduction
equipment in which the coal is initially
impacted by rotating hammers and then
subsequently further reduced by impact
against grid plates.
 Factors that affect the performance of
hammer mills are
 Rotor speed
 Rotor diameter  The hammers can weigh up to 100 kg
 Feed characteristics and can work on feed up to 450 – 650
 Machine type mm. The speed of rotor varies between
 Hammer or ring design 400 and 1800 rpm.
 Clearance and grid apertures  Feed hardness and moisture content
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affect the crusher efficiency negatively.
16
Impact Crushers

 Used in small-scale operations

 Coarse liberation sizes

 Hammer velocities (50mps)

 Screen hole size controls product size

 High wear rates of hammers and

screen
Coal Sizer used for primary size reduction in coal preparation (courtesy of MMD)
 Selection of the crushers
 Production requirements – Capacity
 Reduction Ratio
 Specific Energy Consumption
 Ore characteristics – HGI, Abrasion Index, Moisture Content
 Project location
 Operational considerations – Top feed Size
 Climatic conditions
 Capital cost
 Safety and environment
 Life of mine/expansion plans
 Maintenance requirements
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Crushing – Calculation of Reduction Ratio
All crushers have a limited reduction ratio meaning that size reduction will take place in stages.
The number of stages is guided by the size of the feed and the requested product, example see
below.
Feed Material Size: F80 = 400 mm
Blasted rock, 80% smaller than 400 mm

Product Size: P80 = 16 mm

Road aggregates or rod mill feed 80% smaller than 16 mm

Total reduction ratio (R) F80/P80 400/16 = 25

Reduction ratio in the primary crushing stage: R1 = 3

Reduction ratio in the secondary crushing stage: R2 = 4

Total in 2 crushing stages gives: R1xR2 = 3x4 = 12

02/15/2025 This is not sufficient. We need a third crushing stage 20

02/15/2025 21
Issues during operation in Crushing Plants

Oversize ROM Coal

Moisture Content in Coal during Rainy seasons

Improper Feed Rate

Fine Grinding
• Crushing meant preparing coal of sizes convenient for easy cleaning to the coal
preparation.

• The fines produced during crushing are separated and either mixed
with clean coal or rejected totally depending on their ash percent.
Coal is not ground to finer sizes deliberately as fines are difficult to
beneficiate and also costly.

• The coal is ground to finer sizes at the point of utilization.

• Ball mill, Ball and tube mill, Ring and ball mill are the mills used to
pulverize the coal to 200 mesh size.

• The powdered coal from the coal mills is carried to the boiler in coal
pipes by high pressure hot air.
Grindability test

• Grindability is a loose term describing the relative ease with which the coal can
be comminuted by mechanical action.
• The Hardgrove Grindability Index (HGI) is determined from
HGI = 13.6 + 6.93w

• Soft coal – HGI > 70

• Medium soft coal – 50 < HGI < 70
• Hard coal – 30 < HGI < 50

Equation was originally proposed to relate the energy of comminution to the fresh
surface area produced, but in practice the HGI is used simply as an empirical
correlation number.
 In designing a plant for size reduction the two main features of interest are:
1. The power required for size reduction
2. The choice of crushers and grinders

Energy for Size Reduction - Work Index

It had been generally observed that in the process of size reduction, as the size of the particles
diminishes the surface area of the particles increases. So a measure of size or surface area
before and after size reduction would indicate the extent of energy expended in the
comminution process. Hence if E was the energy used for a desired size reduction, which
resulted in a change in surface area S, it has been found that

𝑛
𝑑𝐸=𝑘[ 𝑆 𝑑𝑆]
Where k is a constant and a function of the crushing strength of the rock. Different researchers have
determined the value of the exponent n as:

n = -2 (Rittinger)
n = -1 (Kick)
n = -1.5 (Bond)
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It has been found that Rittinger's expression, n = - 2 , is more applicable for coarse size
reduction while that of Kick, n = - 1, is more appropriate for finer size reductions in the
region where large surface areas of particles are exposed as in the case of grinding
operations.

Bond's intermediate value of 1.5 covers almost the entire range of particles.

Substituting n = - 1.5 in the above equation and integrating between feed particle size, F, and
product particle size, P, yields Bond's general expression for the energy required in size
reduction as:

𝑬 =𝟐 𝒌
[ 𝟏
−
√𝑷 √𝑭
𝟏
]
where k is a constant and a function of ore characteristics.

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The final form of Bond's equation for size reduction of a mass of feed, M F , in closed circuit
grinding is now written as:

𝑬 𝑮 =𝟏𝟎 𝑾 𝒊
𝟏
−
√𝑷 √𝑭
𝟏
[
𝑴 𝑭 𝒌𝑾𝒉
]
Where F = 80% passing size of the feed in microns (written as F 80)
P = 80% passing size of the product in microns (written as P 80)
Wi = A constant for the ore

an infinite size to 100 µm.

Wi is known as the Bond Work Index and represents the work required to reduce the ore from

By definition the specific grinding energy is the energy required per unit mass of the rock.
The specific grinding energy of a particular mineral is written as:

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𝑬 𝑮 =𝟏𝟎 𝑾 𝒊
𝟏
[−
𝟏
√ 𝑷 𝟖𝟎 √ 𝑭 𝟖𝟎
𝒌𝑾𝒉/𝒕
] 27
• Determination of the WI requires a test fraction about 20 times the size of that
required for the Hardgrove test.
• In addition, the time required to perform the Bond test is considerably longer
than that for the Hardgrove test.

• Mcintyre and Plitt’s determined relationship between WI and HGI as follows:

WI = 1622/

• Aplan have shown a correlation between the HGI and Wi of U.S. coal

Wi = 511/
Roller-race mill
• Widely used to prepare pulverized coal for firing power
plant boiler furnaces.
• The coal enters from a controlled feeder and falls by
gravity into the center of a rotating bowl or saucer with a
rim speed of about 366 m/min, which throws it out to the
edges by centrifugal action.
• In passing to the edge, it is rolled over by large heavily
loaded steel rollers running against the rim.
• The crushed coal passes over the edge of the bowl and
meets a stream of warm air flowing up around the rim.
This carries particles past deflectors to a simple
multivane classifier that returns the larger particles to the
mill feed stream.
Roll-race mill, capacity 68 t/h at
HGI = 70, < 200 mesh