Fine coal grinding circuits have not changed appreciably in design for forty years. The grinding process is non-optimised, resulting in either increased operational costs (power and maintenance), decreased performance through the utilisation of coal with non-ideal size distributions, or restrictions on the range of coal types which can be used.

The objective of the proposed project is to improve the efficiency of power station coal grinding circuits through the application of simulation technology widely used in other industries.

The simulation technology includes:

• Developing models of utility grinding circuits (mills and air separators).
• Applying existing breakage characterisation technologies to characterise a range of coal types.
• Developing a software simulation structure incorporating the utility models and coal characterisation model.

The coal companies can use this simulation technology to evaluate the potential for:

• improved unit performance
• improved circuit configuration
• on-line control
• improved long term circuit performance when processing a range of different coal types
• new circuit designs.

Contact Information
Isles Road, Indooroopilly, Qld Australia 4068
Phone:+61 7 3365 5888
Fax:    +61 7 3365 5999
Email: jkmrc@uq.edu.au