Blender dedusts fly ash with minimal moisture to cut transport costs
A coal-burning electric power plant installs a blender to dedust fly ash and decrease its disposal costs.
Birchwood Power Partners [BPP] operates a 220-megawatt coal-burning electric power plant in King George, Va. The bituminous coal, which is mined from West Virginia, is transported to the plant for storage prior to use. The coal is then charged into the plant's furnace where it's burned to create heat. The coal-burning process leaves the by-product fly ash. Water tubes that pass through the furnace are heated by the burning coal, creating high-pressure steam that spins the plant's turbines and generates electricity. A high-velocity hot airstream conveys the fly ash from the furnace's outlet to a baghouse where the ash is collected before conveying to a 1,200-ton silo. The filtered air discharges from an exhaust stack. The fly ash is then discharged from the silo and transported to a landfill for disposal.