Probing for

Performance
Figure 1. Analysis with Ash Probe in trucks and ,inset, a photo of the ash probe.

PAUL MICHAEL TAYLOR, BRETBY GAMMATECH LTD, UK, PRESENTS TWO CASE STUDIES DETAILING THE BENEFITS OF USING A PROBE INSTRUMENT TO MEASURE THE ASH CONTENT OF COAL.

ver the past ten years since the first article appeared in World Coal, the Ash Probe has become a vital tool for many coal producers and users in over 20 countries around the world.1 This hand portable instrument provides quick and accurate measurements of the ash content of coal in piles, trucks or wagons. It works using the natural gamma technique, which makes use of the fact that the dirt associated with mined coal contains significantly higher concentrations of gamma emitting radioactive material than the coal itself.1 The signal received in its sensitive gamma detector increases as the dirt (or ash) content of the coal increases. Through a suitable calibration, the Ash Probe converts this gamma signal into an ash reading.

August 2010 | World Coal | 1

The main part of this article concentrates on providing two sets of case studies where the instrument has been used to significantly improve customer operations.2 These studies outline how the sites functioned before the use of the Ash Probe and then how they operate using the information from the instrument. Details of the performance of the instruments along with the benefits they provide to their users are described.

Brief description

The Ash Probe comes in two main parts: the probe and the display unit. The probe comprises a stainless steel tube containing a sensitive gamma detector at its inner end. This ensures that the detector is buried sufficiently deep to make certain that all the signal comes from the surrounding coal and not from naturally occurring background radiation. For a detailed description, refer to the many early articles about the Ash Probe. 1&3 Once calibrated, the Ash Probe provides the ash reading for each probing within 12 minutes of operation. Multiple probings are made to provide a precise measurement for the complete pile or truck load being tested. The

display unit provides the average ash content of the pile from all the probings, complete with its standard error (or precision) along with the total number of probings made. Thus, the instrument informs the user when the required number of probings has been made to achieve a given level of precision. For piles that are homogeneous in ash, this occurs after relatively few probings whereas, for less homogeneous coal, more probings are needed to reach the same precision. With conventional sampling and analysis, no such knowledge of the homogeneity is obtained from the single ash sample even though it may be made up of many increments. This information can only be extracted if each individual increment is separately analysed for ash not a practical prospect in most cases. So not only does the AshProbe provide a quick measurement of ash content, it also informs the user about the ash homogeneity of the coal and how many probings are required to obtain a given precision.

Colombian case study

The first Ash Probe customer in Colombia was C.I. Milpa S.A. This company extracts and processes

Figure 2. Analysis with the Ash Probe in piles.

coking coal from three mines: SanMiguel, Incarsa and La Limpia. Coal is also purchased from about 150 suppliers in the area. Before the use of the Ash Probe, the analysis of the ash content of the coals both at the purchasing stage and during the coking process was conducted by manual sampling of the trucks. The samples were then sent to the companys laboratory for conventional thermo-gravimetric analysis. This analysis process took about 15 hours. In 2005, C.I. Milpa S.A. took the decision to buy an Ash Probe and, after verifying the operation of the equipment, it was quickly decided to purchase four more units. The main use of the Ash Probes is to measure the ash content of the coals arriving by truck at the three washing plants. The trucks carry 10 20 t of coal and the average number of trucks/plant ranges from 80 150 trucks/day. Coals with a measured ash content of less than 10% bypass the washery and are either sent directly for export or to the coking ovens. Coals with an ash content of greater than 10% are organised into different piles for future washing depending upon their ash content. For example, coals with an ash content from 10 12%, 12 14%, and from 14 16%, etc., are all sent to separate piles. This organisation enables coals with the same ash grade to be sent to the washing plant together so that it can be calibrated for those ash levels, thus maximising yield. The time saving benefits are substantial, since the process to obtain ashes in the laboratory takes an average of 15 hours compared to the 5 10 minutes that it takes to obtain the ash contents by the AshProbe. This speeds up the entrance of the loaded coal trucks, because the destination of the coal can be quickly decided. Significant economic savings are obtained when clean coals are not washed. The quality of the final product is also improved because no dirty coals are used directly in the coking or export process. The Ash Probe is also used to

 | World Coal | August 2010

measure the ash content of the washed products and the information is used to control the washing parameters to ensure a consistent product quality. A further application is to determine the ash content of the export coals. The performance of the AshProbe is checked by taking manual samplings and conducting the respective analysis in the laboratory. Figure 3 shows a graph of 54 AshProbe ash readings against the comparison laboratory sample analyses. It can be seen that the bias is insignificant. The standard deviation of the differences is 0.7% ash. In general, this level of performance is typical. Once C.I. Milpa S.A. had become familiar with using the Ash Probes in its plants, it could see significant applications for these instruments in South America. It suggested becoming Bretby Gammatechs representative in the region and this was quickly accepted. Since 2005, the company has been selling Bretby Gammatech equipment with significant success. It now has customers who are amongst the most important players in the coking coal and coke markets in Colombia. There are also Ash Probes providing a quick ash measurement of the coal arriving at power plants, cement plants and steel mills throughout Colombia. Moreover, there are several Ash Probes in use at the large steam coal mine at Cerrejon. To date, over 50 AshProbes have been sold to 16 different companies in Colombia, with many repeat sales.

being processed. Quality also varies somewhat within the Mammoth seam. To adjust gravity to accommodate changing raw coal, it is vital to know the ash of the clean coal on a real-time basis. This allows gravity adjustment to maintain the

desired clean coal ash content. Washed anthracite is sold to steel plants and utility market customers. Steel producers require a typical ash of 9.5%, while the utility market accepts coal in the 8 10% ash range. The lower ash content coal is

Figure 3. Performance of the Ash Probe at Incarsa mine.

Table 1. Results of the comparisons between the Ash Probe and the laboratory ashes Date 11 March 2009 Product Nut Pea Buck Rice 22 April 2009 Nut Pea Buck Rice 7 May 2009 Nut Pea Buck Rice 3 June 2009 Nut Pea Buck Rice 23 June 2009 Nut Pea Buck Rice 14 July 2009 Nut Pea Buck Rice Ash Probe % 8.30 7.90 8.20 9.50 8.20 8.90 8.90 9.30 8.50 10.00 10.30 10.60 8.40 9.50 9.60 10.60 8.40 9.50 9.60 10.60 8.50 9.10 9.90 10.00 Lab ash % 8.40 8.32 8.71 9.88 8.89 7.46 8.87 10.78 9.23 9.59 9.18 11.18 9.73 10.00 9.33 11.71 8.70 9.40 9.80 10.10 8.54 8.78 9.83 10.47 Difference % -0.10 -0.42 -0.51 -0.38 -0.69 1.44 0.03 -1.48 -0.73 0.41 1.12 -0.58 -1.33 -0.50 0.27 -1.11 -0.30 0.10 -0.20 0.50 -0.04 0.32 0.07 -0.47

Stockton mine

Three coal seams are extracted at Stockton mine, about 2 km east of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, US. The Mammoth seam has the lowest inherent ash and it is the primary seam mined with the highest yield. The washing plant is rated at 150 tph of raw coal feed. Up to 1200 tpd are processed with clean coal production of up to about 500 tpd. Coal is washed at gravities from 1.72 to 1.82, depending on the coal seam

August 2010 | World Coal | 

Figure 4. Improvement in the consistency of the products after use of the Ash Probe at Stockton mine.

well received by the utility and allows for a higher market price, albeit at lower yield values. The typical gain in price does not make up for the loss in saleable tonnage and therefore revenue caused by producing cleaner coal using lower separation gravity values. This is a good reason to use the Ash Probe. Typical daily volume shipped during the heating season is about 20 truck loads, or 400+ t. Daily shipments can increase to 30+ truck loads when industrial shipments are included during the heating season (October to February). Before acquiring the Ash Probe, daily samples of clean coal were gathered and delivered to an independent laboratory for analysis. Ash results were available the following morning. The laboratory report was used to adjust gravities for the current day operation. Because of the delay in receiving ash results, gravity adjustments to lower or increase ash would be delayed by a full day, resulting in sub-optimal control of the washing plant, especially during periods of variable raw coal feed. A method of reducing the time delay was required. The UK owner of the mine, Atlantic Coal plc., was aware of the beneficial uses of the Ash Probe from colleagues in South Wales where Ash Probes have been in routine operation for more than a

decade. It recommended the application to Stockton. The AshProbe was purchased in January 2009 and commissioned by the manufacturer towards the end of February 2009. By early March the customer gained confidence in the results and the probe started to be used instead of the independent laboratory for the routine analysis of the buck, rice, peas and nuts. Every few weeks, as a check on performance, samples taken from around the probe were delivered to the laboratory and the ash results compared with the Ash Probe readings. The results of these comparisons are shown in Table 1. An analysis of these comparisons reveals that the standard deviation of the differences between the probe ash contents and the laboratory ash values is 0.69% ash. This compares well with the standard deviation of 0.61% ash obtained during the calibration. There is also a very small bias of -0.190.02% ash. Ofcourse, these results include the inevitable sampling and analysis error by the independent laboratory. It can be seen that there has been no calibration drift throughout the four month period. A study has been undertaken to assess whether the mine has derived any benefit in terms of product consistency as a result of using the AshProbe. The daily ashes for each

product have been grouped into monthly sets for a period of four months both before and after the Ash Probe was commissioned and used. The standard deviation of each monthly set has been determined and plotted as a stacked bar chart, as shown in Figure 4. There are two sets of data for March: data from the conventional laboratory and the AshProbe data. All the data before February are derived from the conventional laboratory ashes and the data from April onwards are derived from the probe ash contents (laboratory ash values were limited after March). Since the Ash Probe started to be used in early March, there has been a significant improvement in the consistency of all four products. Recent communication with the mine has revealed that since the AshProbe started to be used it has never produced out of specification coal.4 Moreover, it is gaining new business based upon the quality and consistency of its product. In April2010, it used the probe to presample an undeterminable coal type before it was excavated. From doing this it found that the material was good quality barley coal. Back in the 1950s, when the property was tunnel mined, rice and barley were dumped back into the tunnels to use as fill because there was no market for fine coal in those days. By using the probe they realised its actual potential and, rather than bypassing it, they mined it. The author does not have the financial details of the supply contracts so it is difficult to provide a detailed account of the financial benefits accrued to the mine by this improvement in product consistency. Suffice to say the impact should be significant. In terms of savings in external laboratory costs, the case is clear. Since March 2009, there has been an average reduction of US$700/week in the invoices from the independent laboratory. The payback period on this saving alone is well under one year. The Ash Probe has allowed real time testing of clean coal ash. The

 | World Coal | August 2010

total test time is less than one hour. Results are available immediately and used to make any necessary adjustments in gravity to ensure product ash specifications. The frequency of washed coal testing using the Ash Probe is dependent on changes in raw coal feed. When the raw coal feed is homogeneous, a single daily test is completed. When raw coal feed is more variable, either within the seam or because of blending of seams, tests are done more frequently to ensure washing gravities are properly set for the desired ash.

Conclusions

This article has provided detailed accounts of Ash Probe user experience in Colombia and the US. These accounts have provided information on the results of longterm performance tests and details of the considerable benefits derived by the users of the Ash Probe. Apart

from the reduction in time delays in gaining accurate ash results, the benefits from using the probe range from financial savings in sampling and analysis costs to improved consistency in saleable product. This latter benefit is possible because the rapid results from the Ash Probe allow plant operators to adjust washing densities quickly in order to maximise yield at a given ash content or blend coals more accurately in real time. The long-term tests at Incarsa mine and Stockton mine have shown the Ash Probe to perform to within 0.7% ash of the conventional samples. Use of the probe at Stockton mine has enabled a very significant reduction in the day-today variability of its products, while at the same time enabling a reduction sampling and analysis costs such that, on this basis alone, the Ash Probe will pay for itself in significantly less than a year.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank MarthaParra and German Padilla of C.I.MILPA S.A. for providing all the detailed Colombian data, as well as GregKuenzel of Atlantic Coal and RayPetrilla, Steve Brobst, Corey Brobst and Steve Ciarimboli of Coal Contractors (2001) Inc. for providing all the information for the Stockton case study.

References
1. 2.

TAYLOR, P.M., An All-Natural Technology, World Coal, Volume 9, No.1, January 2000.

3.

TAYLOR, P.M., Natural Gamma Comes of Age for the Quick Measurement of the Ash Content of Coal in Piles, Wagons and Trucks: Some Case Histories , XVI International Coal Preparation Congress, Lexington, Kentucky, Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, 2010.

4.

TAYLOR, P.M., Quick Ash Measurement of Coal Piles is Possible with the Ash Probe, XIV International Coal Preparation Congress, South African Institute of Mining & Metallurgy, 2002. Personal communication with SteveCiarimboli, Stockton mine, May2010.

August 2010 | World Coal |