Coal Age

FEB 2013

Coal Age Magazine - For nearly 100 years, Coal Age has been the magazine that readers can trust for guidance and insight on this important industry.

Issue link: https://coal.epubxp.com/i/110818

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 33 of 59

online analysis continued materials handling and government labs. In that same year, Progression first tested a commercial LIBS analyzer on an overthe-belt configuration within the minerals industry and today has multiple MR Figure 6b: Titan CCA calorific value performance. Figure 6c: Titan CCA ash performance. Figure 6d: Titan CCA sulfur performance. systems operating within the phosphate industry. The years of real-world applications experience in the mining industry contributed significantly in the development and design of the Titan CCA. The Titan CCA combines both technologies in a single instrument, with adjacent analysis modules for MR and LIBS (See Figure 4). The small footprint (64 inches wide x 24 inches deep) coupled with mechanical conveying to the analyzer and pneumatic transport of sample streams from the unit minimizes installation problems. Considering that the unit operates on minus 4 mesh sample streams, this analyzer is most likely to be found in loadout towers, accepting either secondary or tertiary reject streams. The PRB mine discussed in this article actually tried out a prototype device from Progression in 2010 and then opted for a full production unit in the fall of 2011. For a view of the installed Titan CCA, see Figure 5. As is typical of any established technology being applied to a new market, there were some teething problems during commissioning. These issues, associated with a reliable air supply to the unit, coal sampling, and network connectivity had been satisfactorily addressed by early 2012. The unit has been running reliably since then. The PRB mine with the Titan CCA uses it in both feedback and feed-forward modes. They use a rolling average of online analysis results to detect trends in sulfur, ash, moisture, Btu/lb and Na 2 O ash fraction, and ascertain whether any of the contract specs are at risk. If they are, a team makes a quick mitigation decision that may consist of either guidance to the shovel operators or in extreme cases reassigning one or more haul trucks to the higher quality location. In addition, the control room operator tracks the silo qualities in real time, looking for any trends that might threaten a contract limit. He, too, can direct a mitigation response, to restore a cushion in coal quality vis-��-vis contract limits. There are tangible benefits that the analyzer brings to the mine. With the analyzer, the mine has increased its ability to communicate with the pit production operators and troubleshoot quality variances, and they can more readily respond to adverse quality trends not apparent from the core data. Having coal quality information on a real-time basis is especially critical when the mine is loading trains back to back, in order to avoid backing up rail traffic or losing a train altogether. Analytical Results Figure 6e: Titan CCA Na2O performance. 32 www.coalage.com Inasmuch as the mine already had a twostage sampling system on the silo feed belt, February 2013

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Coal Age - FEB 2013