Estimation of coal particle size distribution by image segmentation

Several industrial coal processes are largely determined by the distribution of particle sizes in their feed.Currently these parameters are measured by manual sampling,which is time consuming and cannot provide real time feedback for automatic control purposes.In this paper,an approach using image segmentation on images of overlapped coal particles is described.The estimation of the particle size distribution by number is also described.The particle overlap problem was solved using image enhancement algorithms that converted those image parts representing material in lower layers to black.Exponential high-pass filter(EHPF) algorithms were used to remove the texture from particles on the surface.Finally,the edges of the surface particles were identified by morphological edge detection.These algorithms are described in detail as is the method of extracting the coal particle size.Tests indicate that using more coal images gives a higher accuracy estimate.The positive absolute error of 50 random tests was consistently less than 2.5% and the errors were reduced as the size of the fraction increased.

Effect of the secondary air distribution layer on separation density in a dense-phase gas–solid fluidized bed

Dry coal separation has been the most significant process in the field of coal beneficiation to date, because of its special advantage of operation with no water consumption. Mineral dry separation research has received wide attention, particularly in countries and regions experiencing drought and water shortages. During the process of dense coal gas-solid fluidized bed beneficiation, the material is stratified according to its density; the high density material layer remains at the bed bottom, and thus the high density coarse particle bed becomes an important infuencing factor in fluidized bed stability. In the steady fluidization stage, a small number of large radius bubbles are the direct cause of unsteady fluidization in the tradi- tional fluidized bed. The dispersion effect of the secondary air distribution bed for air flow is mainly apparent in the gas region; when the particle size exceeds 13 mm, the secondary air distribution bed has a synergistic effect on the density stability of the upper fluidized layer. When the particle size is small, especially when less than 6 ram, particles will constantly move, accounting for instability of the secondary air distribution bed and distorting the stability of the upper fluidized bed. Under optimum operation conditions, the probable deviation E of gas-solid separation fluidized with a high density coarse particle layer can be as low as 0.085 g/cm3.