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PROJECT No : SE -4538
TITLE :
Solution of Electrostatic ProbleIns in
PARTNERS : L.O.M.
Alenza 1 y2
-
28003 Madrid
ESPAGNE
L. C.I.E.
33 avenue de General Lecler:
92260 FONTENAY AUX RQSES
-. FRANCE
“) CEMENTOS REZOLA
Avenida de Anorga
36/2009 SAN SEBASTIAN
ESPAGNE
INERIS
Pare Technologique ALATA
B.P. N“.2
60550 VERNEUIL - EN ~~ HALATTE
FRANCE
IN POWDER HANDLING
.4ND P r o c e s s i n g
~
ABSTRACT
--
‘,
—
SOLUTION OF ELECTROSTATIC PROBLEMS
IN POWDER HANDLING
AND PROCESSING
L.O.M.
Alenza 1 y2
28003 MADRID
ESPAGNE
L. C.I.E.
33avenue de Gerkral Leclerc ~
92260 FONTENAY AUX ROSES
FRANCE
CEMENTOS REZOLA
Avenida de Anorga
36/2009 SAN SEBASTIAN
ESPAGNE
M. Dominique Guionnet
INERIS
Pare Technologique A L A T A
B.P. No.2
60550 Verneuil-en-Halatte
FRANCE
CONTENTS
l’age No.
1. 1NTROI)UCTION 1
2. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION 2
4. MILLING TRIALS 8
6. CONCLUSIONS 12
7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 14
8. REFERENCES 14
9. FIGURES 15
1 INTRODUCTION
Unpredictability in the results of tribocharging originat ss from the fact that the
powder charge at any time is very susceptible to small changes in the features of a
plant, the humidity and the surface conditions. This being so, the best remedy for
an electrostatic powder handling problem will always I equire specific analysis of
each individual case, in terms of the above parameters Even so, there is often a
single, quite simple method which will remedy a wide array of different, unwanted
charging scenarios.
Test rigs of Laboratory scale were designed and built tl } reproduce the circumstances
leading to three different powder handling problems ir a cement manufacturing
plant. Electrostatic charging in the experimental machines (a fluidised bed, a
pneumatic conveyor and a grinding mill) was monitor(:d in order to gauge the
success of a series of neutralizing techniques.
The moiect
.- had three aims: firstly, to enable industry to recognise an electrostatic
cause in powder handling problems; secondly, to quantify the problem as best as
) possible; thirdly, to enable an appropriate form of soh Ition to be chosen.
‘Experience gained from the work wil[ be continually ind widely disseminated by
several partners, leading to a more widespread awareness in industry of the
phenomenon of tribocharging.
1 “
L. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION
In the first phases of the project, which occupie ~ the five partners for over a
year, the best available techniques of measurem mt, in terms of both
principles and equipment, were reviewed. The i litial plan was to categorise
po~vders according to their properties and therel )y create a database.
Resistivity’ and charge decay time, pernlittivity, cl~argeabi~ity, Particle $ize
and shape, adhesion and cohesion were the imp xtant parameters looked at.
The effect of solid and liquid additives on the specific charge of powders
was most usefully anal yzed by the blender m( :thod.
2
2.3 Design of the Simulation Apparatus
The system was run below atmospheric pressure, by using suction on the
cyclone air outlet. Separate pipe sections were j( )ined with simple insulating
push fittings. Sensors and other items of equipment could pass through the
I pipe walls without risk of powder escaping into the lab. The upstream end
of the circuit was open to atmosphere, and powt ler fed directly into the pipe
I from a vibratory feeder. The rig was constructed i in such a way that any part
could be electrically isolated, allowing streamirq~ currents, and consequently
the local powder charging effect, to be monitort d. To ensure a reproducible,
quantified air flow, an orifice plate and water rr anometer was fitted
I immediately downstream of the cyclone.
,/)
A small cement mill, for evaluating electrostatic: charge behaviour and
developing the best control techniques, was bui .t to laboratory scale.
Instrumentation comprised specially designed field meters, electrometers and
a device to measure and record the power cons~mption. The machine has
been installed in a climatically controlled enclosure having a metaliic screen
like a Faraday Cage. Relative humidity can be ~djusted to any point
between 30’%0 and 60?L0, and the temperature to between 18°C and 30°C.
Principally, the mill used a revolving steel cylinder, 60cm in length and
diameter 30cm, closed by two end caps and driven through gearing by an
electric motor. One cap supported a robust tra,i in the entrance for the
removal of processed material. Blasting by san{i,jet removed every trace of
oxide or paint from all surfaces. Inside the mil , an additional tray was
located, the purpose of this being to remove th t output of grinding balls
( a l s o t e r m e d g r i n d e r heads).
I
Above a critical velocity, all of the grinding ball:, will remain attached to
the inner wall by a centrifugal effect. In normal :]se, the mill turns at 65-
70% of critical velocity, nominal speed being 42 r.p.nl. ,
The number of grinder heads and their diametral size is shown below:
All mechanical connections to, and supports of, 1 he mill were made from
PTFE (Teflon) to obtain high insulation with res ~ect to surrounding
grounded metallic parts. Insulation resistance bet ween the mill and the
motor was greater than 100 GigaOhm.
The fundamental aspects governing the mechani jm ‘of gas-flow within the
bed are not yet fully understood. The fluidisatio~ of divided solid particles
occurs in the form of bubbles, analogous to the upward flow of gas through
a column of liquid. Figure 4 shows the schemat c diagram of the
equipment; the actual set-up was designed more to simulate the phenomenon
at the Cementos Rezola cement milling plant.
The fluidised bed was divided into three stacket. parts. The lowest and
middle parts, separated by a porous membraqe, were again divided into four
,), compartments in which mean and sequential pressure could be applied. The ,,
mean pressure just fluidises all particles; sequential pulses of higher pressure
perform the mixing. In the uppermost section, the smallest particles were
removed. The air feed pressure was measured with a digital manometer, and
the aeration and fluidisation flow with two independent flow meters.
Quite a large proportion of the project time wa:: spent reviewing methods of “
electrostatic charge control, both in the literature and private
communications from experienced cement mini ~g operatives. The idea was
to use the laboratory scale equipment to rank charge control techniques in
. order of effectiveness, expose any side effects, md select the optimum for
trials in full scale equipment.
4
,
The degree of success of each treatment strong]: r depends upon the primary
powder; several kinds of material were tested to =xpose these variations.
Preliminary Trials
Prior to any experiment with the test rigs, the e !fect of additives upon
primary powder properties was investigated. Two powdered additives,
graphite and alumina, were used to treat three pimary powders, LDPE
fines, cement and sepiolite. An addition of 5% graphite to LDPE fines was
able to reduce the charge decay time from mor( ~ than an hour to less than
one second. Similar effects were observed in th a other two powders, and as
a consequence the chargeability much reduced, and improved, by graphite.
The chargeability of cement only could be reduced by addition of alumina.
)
For liquid additive testing, the concentrations u ;ed were 35% & 50% for
relative humidity, and 150 & 300 ppm for SAI”. For cement and sepiolite,
but not LDPE, an increase in relative humidity produced an important
reduction in resistivity. All powders were less [johesive/adhesive, in a higher
humidity atmosphere.
It was hoped that the information given by these standard laboratory tests
would correlate with, and could therefore have predicted, the outcome of
more complex tests in industrial situations.
~,
5
3. PNEUMATIC CONVEYING TRIALS
Comments
The most effective additive, either liquid or po~ {dered was graphite,
combined with the powder in a concentration o~” 5°/0. This managed to
reduce tribocharging levels on all the primary powders and stopped the
sepiolite cyclone blockages.
For sepiolite and cement, SAT seems unable to reduce, the charge level of
the powder. A comparison between the initial c ~argeability test results and
the charge developed during pneumatic transpo]t ruled out any accurate
predictions. Tribocharging occurring due to panicles impacting a plate did
not correlate with tribocharging from powder b own through pipework
entrained in a volume of air. Put another way, ndividual powder treatments
which appeared successful in the simple experi] nental model were not
reflected in “a different kind of charging scenario.
A 40m run of 80mm diameter stainless steel piping was used to convey fine ‘
metal oxide powder of 2 microns mean particle diameter by pneumatics.
The powder was fed into the system at the rate of 1 tonne/hour and
transported in an air flow of approximately 3601 n3/hour. After the operation,
‘up to 10kg could be, found adhering to the walk of the pipes.
Using the laboratory technique, streaming curre] Its from’ eight sections of
pipework, insulated from each other and also fn }m ground, were monitored
to record specific charge exchanged per unit length of pipe. Charge-driven
current from the receiving hopper, and the chaq ;e on the powder in the
hopper at the end of conveying, could also be n )easured with good
reproducibility.
I
As expected, under low humidity conditions the powder was much more
likely to acquire charge by triboelectrification, the degree being typical of
pneumatic transport.
An increase in the mass flow rate of powder le: ids to a decrease in the
specific charge on the powder, but this did not appear to have any influence
on the contamination problem. The most impor ant aspect of the results was
the hypothesis that the space ch~ge density of powder [pC/m3] is the
governing factor for powder charging. Space c1 arge density is a direct
function of streaming current and relatively ind tpendent of mass flow rate.
,
Where right-angled bends were included in the pipework, we found that the
polarity of powder charging was opposite to thtit in straight pipe sections.
This finding confirmed identical phenomena pr wiously observed in the
laboratory scale rig. Powder traveling around the inside of a bend will
become compressed against the inside wall, du~: to a centrifugal effect
similar to the operation of a cyclone. The spacl> charge density close to the
internal pipe surface will be much increased, zld as a consequence, the
) direction of the driving force for charge exchmlge could reverse,
7’
I
4. MILLING TRIALS
A laboratory scale mill was the starting point for the study of the problems
associated with milling; also, to initiate solutions to be applied in the real
plant. The test rig was used for measurements of some effects and variables
described as follows:
,.
- Electrostatic charge of the powder subs~ antes during milling
- Electrical power consumption
- Effects of additives and neutralizers on power consumption
- Effects of ambient conditions (Relative Humidity, Temperature)
8
Electrostatic measurements in the plant, accord in,; to this systematic method,
illuminated the location of the problem and dem{lnstrated the results of
additives, neutralizers and other types of devices used to, improve
performance and reduce the power consumption.
/
4.4 Research at Other Manufacturing Plants
1.,
I 9
1.
5
-. IMPROVEMENTS IN MIXING AND MILLING AT ~,HE CEMENT PLANT
.)- Samples of the m-ix were taken from the entram:e and
homogeneisation silo.
, exit of the
0
Tests n“l Test n 2
L.S.F. Inlet L.S.F. Outlet L.S.F. inlet L.S.F. Outlet
M a x . 130,37 109,55 123,45 108,21
Min- 98,73 102,04 101,32 101,79
St. Deviation 9 , 1 6 2,14 7,22 1,54
10
From these results, the homogenisation silo is clew] y not responsible ior our
problems in raw mix homogeneity. So, the other elements (such as transport
installations, intermediate storage silos etc. ) mus. be checked as suspect
mix segregation elements.
In this area, via experimental work carried out ir the plant, it has been
demonstrated (using a high voltage neutralizer) t!~at electrostatic phenomena
may be partly responsible for reduced efficiency in the process. This has led
to the partial replacement of chemical additive b{ an electric neutralizer in
I
the smaller cement production mill. -
We can evaluate in a general way the influence lf the project on the milling
process. Energy consumption remains the same 1 Jut the costs of milling
additive in 1995 are more or less 10°/0 lower than in 1994, for the same
quantity of cement production.
11
,.
‘ 6. CONCLUSIONS
There are a limited number of options for dealing witt static charge. Most often
used are additives, which lower the volume resistivity of the powder, or high-
voltage corona neutralisers which overcome the powder tribocharge with much
higher levels of positive and negative ions.
I The degree of success of additives in increasing condt .ctivity depends very much
on the primary powder. But there may be additional physical reasons to prevent
their adoption. Looking at the application to cement o niy, although the resistivity
can be usefully lowered by the addition of 5°/0 graphi’ e, there were two undesirable
side-effects. Firstly, the cement was unacceptably disc oloured; secondly, the
.) lubricating effect on the grinder heads reduced their efficiency.
Of the liquid additives tested with cement, water in t} [e form of relative humidity
was found to be most successful at modifying electri( al properties, and SAT not at
all. However, conditioning cement powder using humidity was not a practical
industrial treatment. The whole picture should alway: be considered.
Space charge density, and not specific charge, correspol Ids directly to streaming
current in pneumatically conveyed powder; thought to Ee the govering factor for
tribocharging. Where powder flow is centrifugally conll messed, the space charge
density increases and the situation is likely to cause po~~der adhesion or choking.
In laboratory scale cement milling, electrostatic charge 1 las been isoiated as the
cause. of efficiency 10SS, mostly due to powder sticking :0 milling elements.
Neutralisers and additives were both successful at reduc ng power consumption at
small scale. The ultimate aim was to substitute current c heroical additives with a
more economical A.C. corona neutraliser at full scale. 1 unfortunately, the internal
.,
environment of a cement mill is very aggressive, and ar y ordinary neutraliser
would probably be destroyed by falling rocks, or erodec. A specially designed
high-power system would be necessary to tackle these problems.
L.O.M. have drawn upon their Brite EuRam experience in two post-project
consultancies. In both the sulphur plant and the wheat hour plant investigated, an
explosion risk has been identified, and in the second ca’ e, unsafe shocks have been
received by personnel. Using an accurate model of the relevant features of the
sulphur plant, L.O.M. predict that low productivity COU1 ~ be markedly improved,
simply by using specified additives. Where no chemical additives are permitted, as
in the case of wheat flour, the options are reduced to changing materials, geometry
and ambient conditions, backed up with laboratory anal>’sis of powder.
Analysis of the raw-mix homogenisation silo has shown that although there may be
considerable static charge at the surface, this is probably insignificant compared to
the other forces, Because of the extremely large size of :he. silo (9.7m diameter and
23m height) neutralisation of the surface charge to redui:e the overall static build-
up would not be worthwhile.
Experience gained during the Iife of the” project will be continually disseminated to
clients through consultancy work on individual industria. problems as they arise.
Because of the permanent increases in productivity, or rt~ductions in power
consumption which may be achieved using the results, tile cost of the project “will
be recovered after a small number of successful solutions have been applied.
13
7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The work described above could not have been carried i Jut without the support of
the European Community Brite-EuRam Programrne.
8. REFERENCES
.
[1] British Standard B.S. 5958 “Code of Practice for Con, rol of Undesirable Static
Electric@”. (1980)
[4] COLE B.N., BAUM M. R., MOBBS F.R. “An investig~ lion of electrostatic
charging effects in high speed gas-solids pipe flow”, Prf )c. Inst. Mech. Eng., 184
(3C) (1969-1970), pp 77-83.
[5] EBADAT V., BAILEY A. G.” AND SINGH S. ‘The 1) !fluence of a Super-imposed
Electric fieid on Triboelectrfrcation of Powder Particle r in a Pneumatic Conveying
System”, Journal of Electrostatics, Vol. 3 (1990), pp 25”’-270
[7] BOSHUNG P:, GLOR, M. “Methods for Investigating the Electrostatic Behaviour
.) of Powders’: JournaI of Electrostatics; Vol. 8 (1980), p]) 205-219.
14
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