Design of a monitoring and protection system for a vibrating coal sizing screen

Abstract

Coal washing plants in coal mines use vibrating screens to size coal according to customer specifications and plant design. Screens are mostly used in coal washing plants, which are further used to size Run-Off-Mine coal (ROM) material after crushing them to a reduced size using roller crushers to classify bulk material and de-watering. However, the lack of/or limited safety measures on sizing screens leads to increased unmonitored noise levels caused by high vibrations, and constant damage to screen equipment, which leads to unplanned maintenance and production loss. This creates a health issue to plant employees and compromises machine safety while shortening the screens lifespan. Therefore, the paper seeks to design a monitoring and protection system for a vibrating coal sizing screen. This is done by using a vibration motion and noise sensor in order to monitor and protect the screens. By monitoring the vibration motion, messages are sent to the process and control room for further decision making. Thus, these will assist in the sequence of screen and machine stops before failure. Moreover, this enables proper maintenance scheduling and prevents extensive damage to vibrating screens.