Coal-Fired Power Plant Conveying Equipment Selection Guide

A coal-fired power plant moves three critical bulk streams: coal into the boiler, ash and slag out of the boiler, and sorbents into the flue-gas cleaning system. Each stream has different temperatures, particle sizes, abrasion levels, and sealing requirements. This guide explains how to select the right conveyor, feeder, elevator, and auxiliary equipment for each duty — based on Tianyi Machinery's power plant project experience.

1. The Three Material Flows in a Coal Plant

Before selecting any machine, map the plant by flow. The three streams are independent but must interface cleanly:

• Fuel in: raw coal unloading, stacking, reclaiming, crushing/screening, and metered feeding to pulverizers or CFB boilers.
• Residue out: bottom ash, slag, and fly ash collected from the boiler, economizer, and dust collector, then lifted to storage silos.
• Sorbent in: limestone or lime powder for flue-gas desulfurization, and reagents for denitrification.

The wrong machine in any one stream creates dust, blockages, wear, or safety incidents. The sections below match equipment to each flow.

2. Coal Handling and Boiler Feeding

Coal is abrasive, dusty, combustible, and often wet. A complete coal handling system usually includes the following equipment:

• Belt conveyors (TD75, DTII, large-inclination DJ): the workhorse for receiving, transferring, and stacking raw coal. Capacity can reach thousands of tonnes per hour over hundreds of meters.
• En-masse coal feeder (TMSD power-plant series): purpose-built for low-speed, adjustable boiler feeding under coal bunkers. Six standard sizes cover a wide output range. Volumetric metering plus nuclear-belt scale options give precise feed rate control for pulverizers.
• Crushers and screens: reduce top size and remove fines or oversize before the boiler or mill. See crushing equipment and screening equipment.
• Magnetic separators: remove tramp iron to protect crushers and mills.
• Buffer / weighing bins and weigh feeders: stabilize flow and provide gravimetric feed to the boiler.

3. Slag and Ash Removal Systems

After combustion, ash and slag are hot, abrasive, and dusty. A reliable removal line protects boiler availability and environmental compliance. The typical Tianyi solution is the "en-masse chain conveyor + bucket elevator + enclosed slag bin" combination.

Support components include bin wall vibrators, dust collectors, hoists, manual/electric gates, dry ash bulk loaders, vacuum/pressure relief valves, and continuous level meters. These items ensure smooth discharge and a dust-free work area.

4. FGD and Flue-Gas Treatment Conveying

Modern plants must remove sulfur oxides and particulates. This requires another set of conveyors:

• Limestone receiving and preparation: belt conveyors or en-masse conveyors receive limestone and deliver it to the wet limestone grinding system.
• Limestone powder conveying: in dry FGD systems, powder must be moved pneumatically or mechanically from storage to the injection point. A sealed en-masse conveyor or screw conveyor prevents dust and controls feed rate.
• Gypsum handling: wet FGD produces gypsum slurry that is dewatered and conveyed to storage. Belt conveyors and bucket elevators handle the dewatered cake.

Tianyi has particular experience in limestone receiving systems and dry-FGD limestone powder conveying, where a fully sealed mechanical line is preferred over pneumatic transport for large, continuous flows.

5. Explosion-Proof and Dust-Sealed Designs

Coal dust is combustible, and some streams contain flammable gases. Standard open conveyors are not acceptable in many zones of a power plant. Tianyi offers two specialized en-masse conveyor families:

• TMSF gas-tight en-masse conveyor: designed for power plants, coal gasification, and chemical plants handling explosive or gas-laden materials such as raw coal, petroleum coke, and semi-coke. The casing, shaft seals, and inspection doors are engineered for gas-tight operation and can be fitted with explosion protection per ATEX or equivalent standards.
• TMSFc dust-sealed powder conveyor: developed for high-dust, positive-pressure environments such as coal mill outlets, power plant conveying floors, and smelters. It prevents fugitive dust and protects bearings and drives from contamination.

6. Auxiliary and General-Purpose Equipment

Several other Tianyi machines are commonly used across coal plant material streams:

• Bucket elevators: lift coal powder, ash, and slag. Gas-tight, explosion-proof belt-bucket designs are available for combustible dust.
• Screw conveyors: short-distance, enclosed transport of fine ash or pulverized coal; ideal for metering.
• Belt conveyors (TD75, DTII, DJ): widely used for coal, limestone, ash, and lignite in power plant receiving and stacking/reclaiming lines.
• Heavy-duty apron feeder: handles coal and limestone up to ~3,000 t/h, especially when large lumps or heavy loading are expected.
• Steel plate silos, valves, and dust collectors: complete the line. See dust collectors, valves, and spare parts.

7. Selection Criteria by Duty

8. Power Plant Project References

Tianyi Machinery has supplied conveying and auxiliary equipment to multiple thermal power projects, including:

• Indonesia Kendari Phase III 2×25 MW coal-fired power plant
• Indonesia South Sumatra No. 1 2×350 MW new coal-fired power project
• Indonesia KPD2 Sinar Mas 1×410 t/h + 1×70 MW power station
• China Yichang Dongyangguang thermal power
• China Shenzhen Energy Xianghuangqi 2×12 MW cogeneration

These projects used combinations of belt conveyors, en-masse chain conveyors, bucket elevators, dust collectors, feeders, crushers, screens, and steel silos — confirming the suitability of the equipment combinations described above.