MAHARASTRA STATE POWER

GENERATION CO. LTD.

ASH HANDLING PLANT

BOTTOM ASH EVACUUATION
SYSTEMANDHIGH
CONCENTRATION SLURRY
DISPOSAL SYSTEM
CONTENT
1) Introduction
2) Ash flow diagram
3) Ash and Types of ash
4) Bottom ash hopper: construction and working
5) Operation
6) Trouble shooting and remedies
7) Coarse ash removal system
8) Bottom ash slurry disposal system
9) Ash water pump house
10) High concentration slurry disposal system for Parli 250 MW
11) Operation
12) Control philosophy
13) HCSD system used in khaperkheda unit 3 & 4
14) Brief description of HCSD system
15) Advantages of HCSD over conventional system
16) Benefits of HCSD System
17) References
 1) Introduction
Now days due to energy crisis, the thermal power plants are
increased and also the capacity is increased to complete the demand of
the customer. To produce large quantity of electricity it necessary to
burn large amount of coal in the boiler. Generally the coal provided to
the power sector contains 40% of ash.
The ash generated in 250MW unit per day is calculated as follows-
Coal required for 250MW/hr = 160 T/hr
Ash generated = 64 T/hr
Ash generated in one day = 64 x 24 = 1536 T
Out of this total 20% is bottom ash and remaining is the fly ash.
In order to run the power plant it is very necessary to evacuate and
dispose the ash.

Generally the ash handling plant perform three activities as follows

1) Ash collection
2) Ash Evacuation
3) Ash disposal
1) Ash collection
The ash following from the furnace is collected in bottom ash
hopper provided below the furnace zone. The ash in the flue
gas is collected in the hopper provided below the ESP
hopper. Also the silo is used to store the ash.
2) Ash evacuation
The ash collected in the bottom ash hopper i.e. wet ash is
evacuated by the clinker grinder. The ash collected in the
ESP hopper is evacuated by the pressure convening system or
the Vacuum convening system.
3) Ash disposal
The ash slurry is disposed to the ash bund by the slurry
pump. The fly ash stored in the silo is given to user. If the
user is not available the fly ash is dumped in the ash bund
through the HCSD system.
2) ASH FLOW DIGRAM
Wet ash disposal system
Bottom ash hopper APH & ECO
Hopper(Coarse ash)

Water from HP
pump

Jet pump Jet pump

Coarse ash slurry

tank

Jet Pump

Ash Slurry Slump

Ash Slurry Pump

Ash Pond
 Fly ash disposal system
High concentration slurry disposal system
For Parli 250MW For Khaperkheda unit 3&4
Ash from ESP Ash from ESP hopper
hopper

Silo
Silo

Rotary Feeder
Pre-mixer

Dust Conditioner

Agitated retention
tank
Mixing Tank

GEHO pump
GEHO Pump

Ash pond Ash Pond

3) WHAT IS ASH?
In coal we find two things the organic material which can be burnt
and the mineral matter which can’t be burnt exactly it forms dead
weight called as ash.

Types of ash
 Bottom Ash and Slag:
This is material dropping out of the main furnaces bottom, in dry
or wet (molten) form. Generally, in our country, the bottom ash
consist of large size clinker, which can vary in size depending on
the type of coal, the furnace temperature etc. These clinkers are
heavier than air stream and so fall from combustion zone of boiler
to the bottom of boiler i.e. into bottom ash hopper. This forms
about 15-20% of the total ash.
 Economizer and Air Pre-heater ash:
This is called Grit consisting of coarse particles about 76 microns
and up to 5 mm. size, that are collected at these zones in the flue gas
stream. This is generally considered along with fly ash for purpose of
removal.

 Fly Ash.
The lighter particles of ash carried away by the flue gas and
collected by the Electrostatic Precipitator, are called fly ash. The particle
size varies between 10 to 76 micron
4) BOTTOM ASH HOPPER: CONSTRUCTION
AND WORKING
The conventional practice of storage and handling of bottom ash from
coal fired furnace uses the water impounded hopper.
The various parts of the hopper are as follows.
 W type water impounded hopper
 Seal trough
 Sluice gate
 Double roller clinker grinder
 Air water converted tank
 Jet pump (Hydro ejector)
 Drive unit

W type water impounded hopper :

W type refractory cooled hopper is installed below the furnace zone
of the boiler to collect ash i.e. falls from the furnace zone. Continuous
cooling water is provided to bottom ash hopper to maintain the
temperature at 60 degree Celsius. Make up water is given by HP pump.

Seal trough:
Seal trough is provided around the periphery of the hopper that takes
care of downward expansion and also transverse expansion of boiler. It
contains sealing water to avoid ingress of air in the furnace. The
continuous overflow of this seal trough is maintained.
Refractory:
Refractory are placed along the surface of the hopper from inside.
Continuous water is provided for the cooling of the refractory. The
refractory cooling arrangement ensures cooling of refractory lining
exposed to the furnace gases and radiations. It is necessary to prevent
detoriation and spilling due to the temperature differential that would
exist between exposed and submerged surface without cooling. This
water also prevents thermal shock when the hopper water level is
dropped during evacuation. The refractory cooling water also provides
make up water to the bottom ash hopper in order to maintain hopper
water design temperature.

Sluice gate
Sluice gate is a device mounted to wet bottom ash hopper that forms a
sluice way through the ash hopper wall for the mixture of ash and water
to flow into a sluice conveyor pipe line.
The sluice gate is opened and closed by a hydraulic/pneumatic cylinder.
Water to the cylinder comer from hydraulic tank. The hydraulic holding
tank has an air cushion above the water level to assure constant pressure
to the cylinder. Water is used to open the sluice gate because speed
control of the gate is better achieved with water than air. The sluice gate
is closed by compressed air. Air pressure is sustained while the cylinder
is in the closed position to maintain a tight seal.
5 to 6 kg/cm2 air pressure should be supplied to the sluice gate hydraulic
reservoir tank and actuating cylinder.
Sluice gate enclosure:
It encloses the sluice gate. It is provided with inspection port to inspect
the removal of bottom ash from hopper when sluice gate is open. It
provides access for sluice gate and clinker grinder. During boiler outage
it is used as entrance for bottom ash hopper.

Clinker Grinder
The clinker grinder is of double roll design in which the rotating grinder
rolls crush oversize clinker to a size that is suitable for pipeline
transport. The size of the crushed clinker is approximately 25mm.
The grinder rolls are constructed from work hardened abrasion resistant
materials.
The grinder is driven by the motor through fluid coupling and chain
sprocket arrangement. The crushed particles falls in the jet pump body
provided below the clinker grinder.

Jet pump:

Jet pump provides motive force required to move bottom ash in sluice
conveyor pipeline to the ultimate disposal area. High pressure water is
supplied to the jet pump where the pressure head is converted into a
velocity head by the jet pump nozzle. Ash and water mixture from
bottom ash hopper falls into the jet pump body where part of the velocity
head is converted to pressure head to a suitable value to move the ash
slurry mixture to its ultimate destination. There are no any moving parts
in jet pump.

5) OPERATION
 Ensure continuous overflow of seal trough and bottom ash hopper.
 Open manually operated valve for instrument air
 Out of four, two sluice gate, one from each V section is selected
for operation.
 Start Healthy HP water pump.
 Start the clinker grinder of the selected sluice gate from local
control panel.
 Open the sluice gate from local control panel. After ensuring both
the V section of W type BA hopper is empty through observation
port,
 Close both sluice gate.
 Stop clinker grinder.
 Start bottom ash hopper filling.
 Duration of B.A. evacuation is 20 min.
 The ash removed from B. A. hopper is transferred to slurry tank
through pipeline
 Bottom ash is evacuated once in shift (8 hrs.).
6) Trouble shooting and remedies:
1) If the capacity of the system decreases, it can be a result of worn
grinder parts. It is necessary to replace the grinder.
2) If the grinder is jammed, run the grinder in reverse direction. The
grinder cannot resume normal operation, ground unload the bottom
ash hopper through sluice gate and its enclosure door and check for
scrap iron inside the grinder.

7) Coarse Ash Removal System

  Intermittent wet removal system installed to convey coarse ash
from four nos. economizer hopper and six nos. air preheater hopper
to coarse ash tank and from coarse ash tank to bottom ash slurry
sump for onward disposal to ash pond.
 Coarse ash slurry from the tank will be evacuated and discharged
to BA sump through closed conduit by two jet pumps,. Suitable HP
water connection is provided at the inlet of each feeder ejector and
jet pump.
Time required for coarse ash removal is 20 min for each hopper.
Deashing of coarse ash is taken after deashing and filling of BA hopper.
8) BOTTOM ASH SLURRY DISPOSAL SYSTEM

 The system is designed for disposal of bottom ash and coarse ash
slurry from ash slurry sump to ash disposal pond.
 The slurry sump has two compartments with one common trough.
The trough provided with 2 plug type sump isolation valve
receives bottom ash and coarse ash slurry from BA hopper and
eco/AP hoppers.
 Each compartment of BA slurry sump is connected with one no.
ash slurry pump to dispose ash slurry to disposal area. The pump
will be driven through variable speed fluid coupling, gear box and
motor.
9) Ash water pump house :

1. HP pump
Used to provide water for BA and coarse ash evacuation, BA
hopper filling, ash slurry sump make up.
2. LP pump
Used to provide water for ash conditioners, mixing tank and pre
mixer of HCSD system.
3. RCW pump
Used to provide water for refractory cooling of BA hopper.
4. Seal water pump
Used to provide sealing water for slurry pump.
 Bottom ash overflow drain pump
Overflow water from seal trough and BA hopper is collected
continuously in a nearby underground BA overflow sump. The BA
overflow sump drain pump is used to drain out accumulated water
from the sump to slurry sump.

10) HIGH CONCENTRATION SLURRY DISPOSAL

SYSTEM FOR PARLI 250MW

Why HCSD?
 The conventional method of slurry disposal system contains
30% of ash and 70% of water. Thus this system requires huge
quantity of water. Also due to lean phase of mixer it acquires more
area in ash pond.
 The HCSD system uses rich mixer i.e. 70% of ash and 30% of
water which requires less water and also acquire less area in ash
pond.
HCSD system

The components of the system are as follows.

1) Silo
2) Ash intake valve
3) Pre mixture
4) Agitated retention tank
5) GEHO pump
 Silo :
 Silo is an Ash storage vessel. It is equipped with Bag filter unit
with ventilation system. Ventilation system removes the air
coming with the ash into the silo through bag filter to avoid
pressurization of the silo . Fluidizing pads are provided in the
conical portion of the silo to maintain fluidity of the ash. Silos
have heaters which maintain the ash temperature between 80 ºC
– 100 ºC.

Ash Intake Valve :

It is a manual flow control valve. It controls quantity of the dry
ash by adjusting its opening manually through an operating
lever. Its inlet is connected to the silo discharge end while
outlet is connected to the inlet side of the ash conditioner.

Pre Mixture:
It is a horizontal twin shaft paddle type pre mixture. Some
amount of water from LP pump is mixed in ash in pre mixture
to avoid nuisance of dust while transferring ash to agitator
retention tank. The capacity of this pre mixture is 120 TPH. The
drive for shaft paddle is electrical motor through gear coupling.

Agitator retention tank :

From pre mixture ash water mixture is poured into the ART
which will take care of the optimization of the slurry
consistency and homogenization of ash slurry.
Vertical shaft with blades is provided at centre of the ART for
preparation of homogeneous mixture. It is driven by motor.

The ART is equipped with following to perform that job.

1) Agitator with constant speed motor drive.
2) Emergency/ make up connection of process water.
3) Slurry density measurement via a dedicated control loop.
4) Pressure difference measurement via above control loop.
5) Slurry temperature measurement via above control loop.
6) Hand operated slurry and drain valve below the tank.

GEHO pump :
It is triplex single acting crankshaft drive piston diaphragm
pump. The pump model is TZPM 500.
The pump rated parameter are
Rated flow : 120 m3/hr
Rated discharge pr. : 6o bar
Maximum discharge pr. : 70 bar
The GEHO pump has got VFD.

Booster pump :
It takes suction directly from the ART and provides suction
pressure to the mainline GEHO pump.
 11) Operation
1) The operator will set the fly ash capacity and density by
hand at the main system control. Based on these setting
the main system PLC will calculate the quantity of water
and GEHO pump speed and transmit the set and
calculated setting to the pump PLC.
2) The manually operated valve below fly ash silo is opened
and measured amount of ash is transferred to pre mixture.
3) The water from LP pump is mixed with ash in pre mixture
to avoid nuisance of dust while transferring ash from pre
mixture to the ART.
4) The preparation of slurry is started at the set solid
concentration in ART.
5) While the booster pump is building up suction pressure
the mainline GEHO pump will automatically start on
reaching of sufficient suction pressure as set earlier and
will ramp up to the set stroke speed.

12) Control Philosophy

In order to meet the requirements for the system operation
and slurry disposal the ART is provided with a density
and pressure differential measurement in a control loop.
Slurry will be pumped from an outlet of the ART by a
hose pump into a circulation loop back to the top the
ART. In the circulation two pressure transmitters are
installed. They are located at certain distance from one
another and pressure difference can be measured between
the transmitters. The pressure difference is an indication
for rheological behavior of the slurry. Hence the operating
limits are derived from this and set in PLC. Control loop
is also equipped with density meter.
The density of fly ash is controlled by a motorized orifice
feeder and mass flow meter and is compared with set
value. In water circuit a flow control valve controls the
water flow and is compared with set value. When the
main system PLC will give a signal to adjust the
composition of the slurry; the first controlling parameter
will be the adjustment of water flow through the flow
control valve. When this parameter reaches the control
range the dosing quantity of dry fly ash will be controlled
by the motorized orifice feeder within the control range.
13) HCSD System used in Khaperkheda unit 3 & 4

PARAMETERS OF HCSD SYSTEM

ASH SILO

ROTARY
FEEDER
L.P.WATER
HEADER

MOISTURE CONTROL VALVE

SPEED

%OPEN TONNES
TANK LEVEL CONTROL VALVE

DUST
%OPEN LEVEL CONDITIONER

SLURRY
MIXING DENSITY
TANK

% ASH

PUMP SPEED
DISCHARGE PR.
- + GEHO.EXE

LINE DP AUTO MANUAL

SUCTION FLOW
SETTING
Main Components of the system are :
 Ash Silo
 Rotary Feeder
 Dust Conditioner
 Slurry Mixer
 GEHO Pump

Ash Storage Silo

  Silo is an Ash storage vessel . Capacity of each Silo is 300
MT.1no. of silo is provided for each 210 MW unit . It is equipped
with Bag filter unit with ventilation system.Ventilation system
removes the air coming with the ash into the silo through bag filter
to avoid pressurization of the silo .
 Fluidizing pads are provided in the conical portion of the silo to
maintain fluidity of the of ash.
 Silos have heaters which maintain the ash temperature between
80 ºC – 100 ºC.

Rotary Feeder
 The Ash is then sent to the Rotary feeder by opening the Ash
Intake valve . It is a rotary vane feeder driven by geared motor
.Rotary feeder has got VFD (Variable Frequency Drive) to control
ash flow by regulating the speed of the feeder . Capacity of the
rotary feeder is 100 MT/hr.
 Ash is then conditioned in the Dust Conditioner .

Dust Conditioner
 It is the paddle feeder where 5% to 8 % moisture is added to the
dry ash so that there is no nuisance of dust when ash is transferred
to slurry tank. It is a two shaft paddle feeder equipped with
gearbox and motor. Capacity of the dust collector is also 100
MT/hr.

Slurry Mixer
 If user is available the Ash is then supplied by means of a conveyer
to user.
 Else it is then sent to the Slurry Mixer. The Slurry Mixer is
installed at the center of Mixing tank .
 The Mixing tank (MT) is 4m in ht. The MT is provided with
tank level control valve level measurement probe and online slurry
density monitoring equipment. The normal level of ash in the MT
is maintained at 3.0 m – 3.2 m.
 Approx. 70 % Ash and 30 % water are mixed in the MT
Homogeneous mixture of high concentration slurry is formed in
slurry tank with the help of slurry mixer .

GEHO Slurry Pump:

GEHO pump is the heart of the HCSD system.
 Suction to the GEHO slurry pump is from slurry mixing tank. It
is a special type of reciprocating pump called as Piston Diaphragm
pump.
 The GEHO piston diaphragm pump, (model TZPM 800)is a
reciprocating, positive displacement pump designed to handle
abrasive ash slurry. It is a triplex single acting pump having three
cylinders at phase angle of 1200.
 Pump design is such that the pumped liquid does not come in
contact with moving parts , such as piston and cylinder liner . This
is done by means of a diaphragm , which effects a mechanical
separation between the pumped liquid and the cleanpropelling
liquid in which the moving parts are running .Pump is driven by
 main electric motor and gear box (5.6:1) through variable
frequency drive (VFD). VFD is necessary to vary the pump speed
during the blocking conditions of discharge pipe line . Pump
parameters are controlled by programmable logic control (PLC)
from AHP control room.

• Technical specifications
Make GEHO (Netherland)

Type of Pump Triplex single acting crank shaft driven

high pressure piston diaphragm
Positive displacement pump

3
Capacity 80 m / hr.

Motor Capacity 330 KW, 1500 RPM, LT Induction motor &

fed through VFD transformer
& coupled to pump through gear box.

Required Motor Power 29 KW to 290 KW

Total weight Approx. 30 T

3
Range of operation 8 to 80 M / Hr. (Variable speed)
Location of Equipment Indoor

Duty Application Fly Ash Disposal

Liquid to be pumped Water and Fly Ash

Solid Concentration 65 to 74.5 %

Maximum particle size < 6 mm

Discharge Pressure 60 bar to 120 bar

Stroke rate 54 spm MAX

Slurry Temperature < 60 ºC

14)Brief Description of HCSD System

 The dry fly collected in the ash silo is fed to ash conditioner
through rotary feeder.
 Rotary feeder controls the mass flow rate of dry fly ash.
 The ash is moistened by adding little water (about 10% by
weight) in the ash conditioner.
 The moistened ash is fed in to slurry mixing tank and it is
thoroughly mixed with water.
 The concentration of the ash slurry in the mixing tank is achieved
about 70% by weight of ash to 30% by weight of water (i.e.
ash/water = 70/30).
 The level of slurry in the ash slurry tank, flow of dry ash as well as
water are monitored and maintained by providing necessary
instruments in the control system such as Flow meter, density
meter, etc.
 The high concentrated slurry so formed is transported to dump
yard in the form of paste under high pressure through 125 NB
9.52mm thick M.S. Seamless pipe line by piston diaphragm
pumps.
 15) ADVANTAGES OVER CONVENTIONAL SYSTEM

ADVANTAGE CONVENTIONAL HCSD SYSTEM

SYSTEM 30% WATER +70%ASH
70% WATER 30%ASH

WATER HIGH LOW

CONSUMPTION
POWER 1634 KW 1223 KW
CONSUMPTION
PUMP HOUSE NOT PERFECT CLEAN CAN BE MAINTAINED
PERFECT CLEAN
SLURRY LINE & SLURRY LINE – 300NB SLURRY LINE – 125 NB
MAINTENANCE MAINT. IS HIGH DUE MAINT IS NIL DUE TO
TO SLEEVE COUPLING WELDED PIPE JOINTS.
JOINTS.
FACILITY OF ASH NOT AVAILLABLE AVAILLABLE
UTILISATION

SPACE DILUTE SLURRY DENSE SLURRY REQUIRES

REQUIRES MORE LESS SPACE
SPACE
POLLUTION WATER POLLUTION NO WATER POLLUTION DUE
DUE TO LARGE QTY OF TO NO RUN OFF WATER
WATER REQUIRED FROM ASH BUND
WATER RECOVERY REQUIRED NOT REQUIRED
SYSTEM
16) Benefits of HCSD System
 Low water Consumption
 Preservation of ash Bund
 Employment generation in ash brick manufacturing sector.
 Preservation of natural resources
 Increase in productivity of agricultural products

17) References
 Ash Handling Plant by NPTI.
 Operational and maintenance manual of Parli 250 MW by
McNally Bharat.