Design of Mass Flow Coal Bunker with Four Different Liner Materials

This paper presents the design of coal bunker with different liner materials. The bulk solids flow pattern depends on the flow properties such as angle of internal friction, Kinematic angle of wall friction and flow function of the bulk solid. These flow properties are affected by the physical characteristics of the material. Even mass flow silos/bunkers can give flow problems due to changes in the physical properties such as moisture content, particle size, size distribution and wall surface roughness. In this work, the influence of moisture content on the flow properties of the Coal material was studied by using four different liner materials. Ring Shear Tester was used for the measurement of flow properties of the Coal sample. Experiments were carried out to study the effect of moisture content was studied based on the change in the flowability value and it was found that there exists a critical moisture level, which affects the flow properties significantly. The flow characteristics of Coal such as bulk density, wall yield locus, internal angle of friction, wall angle of friction against four different liner materials of Stainless Steel-304-2B, Mild Steel, Ultra high molecular polyethylene and Cast Nylon are evaluated. Based on the data obtained, the design ensures the mass flow.