CFD analysis of the influence of centrifugal separator geometry modification on the pulverized coal distribution at the burners

Abstract

This paper presents the results of 3D numerical flow simulation in the ventilation mill (VM) and air mixture channel (AMC) of Kostolac B power plant, where a centrifugal separator with adjustable blade angle is used. Numerical simulations of multiphase flow were performed using the Euler-Euler and the Euler-Lagrange approach of the ANSYS FLUENT software package. The geometry of the numerical model was almost identical to the VM and AMC of Kostolac B, except for the smallest details. An unstructured tetrahedral grid, consisted of almost three million cells, was generated. The main contribution of this paper is the original analysis of the influence of centrifugal separator (CFS) geometry modification on the coal powder distribution at the horizontal burners. The modification of the blade angle, blade shape, and vertical position of the separator and its effect on the coal powder distribution at the burners were analyzed and are published for the first time. Results of the numerical simulations were compared with the measurements and can be used in modifying the separator geometry and position to obtain optimal distribution of the pulverized coal at the burners. Application of these results, obtained by numerical methods, ensures significant savings in time and money, in the process of finding the optimal geometry of CFS.