Evidence-first editorial standard
This guide separates observed facts, engineering assumptions and data that still require confirmation. It does not promise a universal service life or replace the exact product data and project specification.
In a thermal plant, most wear comes from fine particles moving fast
Coal, biomass, ash and limestone are crushed, ground or collected into fine solids carried by air or water, and fine particles at velocity erode bends, transitions and fan surfaces. Unlike a mine, impact matters mainly at the start of the fuel chain; downstream, the wear is erosion, often at elevated temperature. The general picture is on our power generation page.
Fuel handling: transfer chutes, bunkers and feeders
Coal and biomass arrive coarse and are conveyed, crushed and stored in bunkers before the mills. Transfer chutes and crusher outlets see impact and sliding abrasion, and bunker outlets and feeders see sliding wear with a risk of build-up when the fuel is wet. These are bulk-handling problems, treated like any chute: alumina tiles in IC TILE where the flow slides, impact protection where it falls, as set out in crusher discharge chute liners.
Mills, classifiers and pulverised fuel pipes: the heaviest erosion
Inside and around the mill, classifier vanes, outlet turrets and the transitions into the fuel pipes erode quickly under fine coal at high velocity. The pipes to the burners wear at bends, splitters and riffle boxes, with the outer radius taking the most damage. Ceramic-lined bends and shaped parts are the common answer, as detailed in pulverised coal pipe lining, provided the fixing suits the operating temperature and the mill’s explosion-pressure design.
Ash handling: bottom ash, fly ash and their lines
Fly ash is fine and highly abrasive in dilute or dense-phase pneumatic lines, and bends, diverters and the first spools after feeders wear fastest, as discussed in dilute and dense-phase bend wear. Bottom ash, often transported as slurry, wears pipes and pump outlets like any abrasive slurry. Straight runs can often stay in steel or basalt, while bends and fittings move to alumina; the comparison is in cast basalt or ceramic-lined pipe.
Fans and FGD: erosion in gas and in slurry
Induced-draft and mill fans erode where dust-laden gas strikes the impeller and casing, described in fan casing wear liners and fan casing erosion. In wet flue-gas desulphurisation, limestone and gypsum slurries wear pumps, pipes, hydrocyclones and spray headers, with chemistry added to abrasion. There, the adhesive and any steel exposed at joints must resist the slurry chemistry as well as the wear.
Where to start in your plant
Make a list of the locations that force unplanned outages or frequent repairs — typically mill outlets, a few fuel-pipe bends, fly-ash bends and an ID fan — and record for each the material, velocity or flow, temperature and failure history. Send it with drawings and photos; Induscoat proposes alumina-lined fittings in IC PIPE and shaped parts in IC CUSTOM location by location. The line approach is on our page on pneumatic conveying, fans and ducts; the cement equivalent is in cement plant wear protection by circuit.