Drying powdered coal with the aid of ultrasound

Abstract

The results of introducing ultrasound into three different drying processes has been discussed. The processes included: (1) static drying of a layer of powdered coal with airborne ultrasound, (2) rotary kiln drying with airborne ultrasound, and (3) drying of powdered coal on a sloping, ultrasonically vibrated metal trough. In all three processes, the introduction of ultrasound increased the drying rate. The frequency of ultrasound used was 20 kHz with sound intensities up to 165 dB. The pulverized coal used had a size range from 400 μm to less than 2 smm, with 65% being less than 150 μm in size. Air temperatures used varied from 65 to 300 °C. The most energy-efficient drying process with ultrasound was found to be the sloping, ultrasonically vibrated trough. However, this process was limited to the use of an initial coal powder feed containing less than 10% moisture. For moisture contents above 10%, a dual drying system could be used. For example, the rotary kiln drier could be used ahead of the trough drier. Both the static airborne ultrasound drying process and the ultrasonically vibrated trough drying process work best with a relatively thin layer of powdered coal. However, the residence time for the powdered coal being dried is measured in seconds for the sloping trough process in contrast to minutes for the static drying process. The static drying of a layer of powdered coal is also a batch-drying process while the rotary kiln and sloping trough are continuous processes. The advantages of the static airborne ultrasonic drying process would be: (1) closer control of the drying process, and (2) smaller quantities of powder can be used.