SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES TECHNICAL REVIEW

Fly Ash Transfer and Loading Facilities

Yoshikatsu KONO

A fly ash handling facility has been installed at the Tsuruga thermal power plant of the Hokuriku Electric Power Co. The facility consists of a pressure transfer facility and ship loading facility. The pressure transfer facility is operated at a low flow rate and at a high content of fly ash. Fly ash is transferred by plug flow in a pipe that requires lesser amounts of compressed air than other flows of a high speed and a low fly ash content. The power consumption of air compressors is considerably lower than that of conventional pressure transfer facilities. Wear at bends is low and also degradation of fly ash is limited. These are attributed to the low flow rate. The wear at a bend in a transfer pipeline is approximately proportional to the cube of a flow rate, so the lower the flow rate, the lower the wear rate. The lower wear leads to reduced maintenance.