COAL DUST EXPLOSION IN

THERMAL POWER PLANT

COAL DUST EXPLOSION IN

THERMAL POWER PLANT
(Presented By Group 2)
Syndicate Members:Inap/F Praveen Kumar
Insp/F Kaushalendra Kumar
SI/F

Hari Kumar M.P

SI/F

Nilesh Kumar

SI/F

Ramagya Mourya

COAL TO ELECTRICITY
M IN E S
M G R
T R A C K H O P P E R
C R U S H E R
B U N K E R
P U L V E R IZ E R
B O IL E R
T U R B IN E
G E N E R A T O R
G E N E R A TO R T R A N S F O R M E R
S W IT C H Y A R D /G R ID

MAIN CONSTITUENTS OF THERMAL

POWER PLANT
CHP
BOILER AND ESP
TURBINE AND GENERATOR
TRANSFOMERS
SWITCH YARDS

CHP INCLUDES :

COAL STORAGE

WAGON TIPPELER

CRUSHER HOUSE

CONVEYOR BELTS

COAL BUNKER

PULVERISING UNIT

BLOCK DIAGRAM OF COAL MOVEMENT

Coal From
Mines
Unloaded
at TH Through
MGR

Coal
Crushed to
-20 mm Size
in Crushers

COAL TO YARD
( Supply >
Consumption)
COAL FROM YARD
( Supply <
Consumption)

COAL to
Bunkers

CRUSHER:The function of crusher is to crush the bigger coal

particles (200mm)received from track hopper to
smaller
coal
particles(20mm)
and
then
discharging them to the belt feeders for either
stacking them in stack yard or feeding to the
bunkers.
BELT FEEDERS:The function of belt feeders is to feed the
crushed coal particles coming out from the
crusher to the corresponding conveyor after the
crushers. The coal is directly not fed to the
conveyors to avoid the impact loading on
conveyors ,so that it does not get damaged easily.

Dust Explosion :IT IS THE RAPID BURNING OF

COMBUSTIBLE

PARTICULATES

WITHIN A CONFINED AREA WHICH

RESULT IN THE GENERATION OF
INTENSE HEAT AND PRESSURE RISE

HISTORY OF DUST EXPLOSIONS

First recorded dust

explosion occurred in
Turin, Italy in 1785

281 combustible dust

incidents in the US from
1980-2005

Resulted in 119 deaths and

718 injuries

COMBUSTIBLE DUSTS EXAMPLES

DUST EXPLOSION CONCEPT

Log

-Burns slowly
-Difficult to ignite

Kindling

-Burns

quickly
-Easier to ignite

Dust

-Burns very fast

-Easily ignited

DUST EXPLOSION PENTAGON

Dust
Dust
Explosion
Explosion
Pentagon
Pentagon

CONDITION REQUIRED FOR DUST EXPLOSION

COMBUSTIBLE DUST
DUST SUSPENDED IN THE AIR AT
SUFFICIENT CONCENTRATION.
OXIDANT (ATMOSPHERIC OXYGEN)
IGNITION SOURCE.
CONFINEMENT (THIS IS NOT AN
ESSENTIAL CONDITION)

SOURCES OF IGNITION:

Electrostatic charge

Friction

Electrical arcing

Hot surfaces (e.g overheated bearing)

Fire (spontaneous combustion)

FACTOR AFFECTING DUST

EXPLOSION :Size of dust particles (5-200 Microns)
Pressure 5-100 PSI
Dust particles concentration (35-50 Gms/M3)
Oxygen level (Min.13% for bituminous coal)
Moisture content of the coal & air
Impurities in coal
Type of coal
Ignition Sources
A) Bituminous coal:- 500-625 degree Centigrade for
ignition , 160 Degree Centigrade for smouldering
fire in coal dust & 60 mJ of Electrical energy.

CATASTROPHE OF COAL DUST

EXPLOSION :

An initial (primary) explosion in processing

equipment or in an area where fugitive dust has
accumulated may dislodge more accumulated
dust into the air, or damage a containment
system (such as a duct, vessel, or collector). As a
result, if ignited, the additional dust dispersed
into the air may cause one or more secondary
explosions. These can be far more destructive
than a primary explosion due to the increased
quantity and concentration of dispersed
combustible dust. Many deaths in past incidents,
as well as other damage, have been caused by
secondary explosions.

INITIAL EXPLOSION

SECONDARY EXPLOSION

DUST EXPLOSION TERMINOLOGY

Secondary Explosions:

Occur when deflagrations propagate from one vessel to another

through connecting piping/equipment

Secondary explosion are often what causes the greatest amount

of damage

Pressure piling will occur increasing deflagrations into

detonations

Explosion isolation equipment used to prevent this from occurring

CONSEQUENCES OF DUST
EXPLOSIONS
February 2008:

Imperial Sugar-Savannah, GA
Caused by a overheated
bearing
14 people killed
Over 40 injured
Resulting OSHA fines totaled
$8.7 million
Rebuild cost of $200 million

MANAGEMENT OF COAL STOCKYARD

Various steps taken for the management of

stack yard are:

Proper coal-air interaction to avoid autooxidation and spontaneous combustion.

Freshly mined coals should be stacked and old

coal to be used.

Freshly mined coals should not be stacked over

old coal.

Stacking of coal layer by layer, with

compaction of each layer.

Stacking in trapezoidal shape, not in conical

shape.

Height of stockpile not more than 9-10m

(indian coal).

Lumps and fines should be stacked together

and compacted

Segregation of stockpiles into various

segments and relevent records of period of
stacking, quality of coal (cv) should be
maintained.

Compaction of finer particles over the bigger

particles.

DEFLAGRATIONS:

Deflagrations are propagating chemical reaction, in

which the propagation rate is well below the
velocity of sound (330meter/sec).
In a flammable mixture in open atmosphere the
flame propagation is slow initially , but as the
reaction heat causes expansion, the combustion
rate increase by turbulence in a mixture.
As the confinement is weak in open atmosphere
the flame speed is unlikely to high. In fact
deflagration velocity rarely exceed 10m/s and due
to this the pressure generated is low.
However the pressure generated from deflagration
is strong enough to cause damage to the structures.

VAPOUR CLOUD EXPLOSION

Vapour cloud explosions are actually deflagrations

of large flammable mixtures in the open.
Vapour cloud explosions occur when a fuel (typically
a low flash point liquid or gas) gets released in a
large quantity.
The vaporisation results in the formation of large
vapour clouds, which then mix with the
atmospheric oxygen. Parts of the vapour cloud are
thus, in the flammable range of the fuel, and if
ignited, give rise to a flame front, which then
propagates through the vapour cloud.
The generation of gases causes a pressure wave,
which then propagates in all direction.

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN DUST EXPLOSION

AND DEFLAGRATION OR VCE

Formation of cloud of flammable material.

Propagation of oxygen and combustible
material.
Generation of shock wave below sound
velocity.
Occur in minimum concentration.
Hence, most vapour cloud explosion and dust
explosion too are deflagration.

EFFECTS OF DUST EXPLOSION

Dust explosion can cause major
damage to structures, equipment, and
personnel from violent over pressure
or shock wave effects. Flying objects
and debris can cause further damage .
Intense radiant heat from fire ball can
ignite the surroundings.In a tightly
enclosed space , the sudden depletion
of oxygen can cause asphyxiation.

HOW TO PREVENT DUST

EXPLOSION

Good house keeping

wetting(dust control by addition of
water)
Through restricting source of ignition
Regular checking/maintenance of
machinery
Proper earthing /bonding
Oxidant concentration reduction.