FORTY-FOURTH CONFERENCE

BY
R. W. LUXFORD, W. H. MAGNUSSEN and M. J. WILSON
CS K Limited

Four drum-type feeders were installed at Victoria mill in 1964 as part of the No. 8
boiler installation. These feeders operated fairly satisfactorily, but choking occurred
occasionally owing to changes in bagasse quality or too high a head of bagasse in the
gravity supply chutes above the feeders. Although only occasional. the choking was a
problem because of the time needed to clear it and the damage to the feeder drives
caused by overloading and stalling. The resulting labour requirement and high
maintenance costs led to the coinmencerneiit in 1974 of an i~ivestigationalprogramme
to develop an improved drum-type feeder. Further impetus was added by the
coiiirnencement of work on the installation of No. 9 boiler which was to be equipped
with six similar drum-type bagasse Ieeders.

Experimentation was carried out during 1974 using one of the existing feeders on
No. 8 boiler. One of the principles tested was that of replacing the pinch point between
the carding drum and the feeder housing with a driven roller to try to achieve a

7---
METERING
RQLL..S

Fig. 1 S~mplifiedcross-sectional view of madifled feedel

370 FORTY-FOURTH CONFERENCE 1977

controlled rate of descent of the bagasse. Some success was obtained from this design.
The next step was to install a second roller above the carding drum and opposite the
first. The aim was to improve the regulation of the quantity of bagasse reaching the
drum and support the weight of bagasse in the supply chute. An experimental feeder in
which different roller positions could be Inore easily tested was designed and
constructed.
The principle tested in late 1974, when the experimental feeder was commissioned,
was that of gripping the descending column of bagasse between two counter-rotating
driven rollers and regulating its rate of descent onto the carding drum. The object was
to reduce the load on the carding drum and to achieve regulation of the rate of feeding.
The results were encouraging, but the season ended before the correct geometry of the
rollers had been found.
The 1975 crushing season brought wet field conditions and consequent high
extraneous matter in the cane and, ultimately in the bagasse to be fired. 'This c a ~ ~ s ea d
sharp increase in the frequency of choking in the drum feeders and seriously affected
steam output li-om Nos. 8 ancl 9 boilers. the mills' main steam suppliers. Feeder trials
were recommenced and soon produced a satisfactory combination of roller position
and speed relative to the carding drum. As soon as the satisfactory design was proven,
work commenced on modifying all the remaining drum-type feeders.

Fig. 1 shows a simplified cross-sectional view of the modified feeder. Item A in Fig.
1 is the housing which has been enlarged in the vicinity of the metering rollers. The
drum, (B), is unchanged and is chain-driven at varying specd by a hydraulic motor. The
metering rollers (C) are driven by chain from the carding drum shaft, a schematic of
this drive being shown in Fig. 2. 0111 the carding drum and the metering rollers are
fitted with Bights, cut to form serrations as shown in Fig. 3.

CARDING DRUM

SCHEMATIC - METERING ROLL CIiAIN

DRIVE
Fig. 2- -Metering roll chain drive
 FORTY.-FOURTH CONFERENCE

6 4 x 6 4 % 6 ANGLE
l

DETAIL. OF CARDING DRUM AND

SAWTQOTH BLADES

FEED METERING F?OL.LS-229 O WITH

8- SAW TOOTH P R O F I L E X GM.5.P
~ ~ BLADES

WELD 5mm CFW BOTH SIDES

SHAFT- 1 1 4 3 ~51 DIA BRIGHT M S

! BLADES- 8 OFF- 6 Q 3 x 89 x 6 M S .
Fig. 3-Detail of carding drum and saw tooth blades

The ratlo of the rotational, speed of the metering rollers to that of the carding drum
is 0.58 : 1; the ratio oftheir tip speeds is 0.127: I. The resultant effect is that the metering
rollers grip the descending column of bagasse and regulate its speed while the carding
drum combs the bagasse away from beneath the metering rollers. y driving the rollers
from the carding drum shaft, this effect is maintained regardless of the speed of the
feeder. Thus, by the addition of the metering rollers the role of the feeder drum has
been changed from both metering and combing to that of combing only or "carding".

The modified feeders have proved very satisfactory. Unlike the original feeders,
they are able to operate with a full feed chute of6 m head, with Dunstan drive pressures
averaging 1 400 to 1 700 Id%,corresponding to about 2 kW power usage, and peaking
at 2 400 to 2 800 kPa (about 2.8 kW). Choking or stalling is rare. Under similar
conditions an unmodified feeder would choke immediately with drive pressures
peaking at 7 000 to 14 000 kPa.
Metering characteristics appear to be good. Trials have shown a linear
relationship between the velocity of bagasse down the supply chute and the speed of the
feeder, a feature which should enable the feeder to be used to indicate feeding rates.
372 FORTY-FOURTH CONFERENCE 1977

A total of 25 measurements of bagasse velocity were taken at five din'erent roll

Wherc R. -=- Velocity

-
velocities. The results produced the following relationship:
Regression equation Y 1.63
of metering roll in r.p.111.
U = Velocity of feed in chute in ftjmin
Correlation coefficient 1. == 0.99
From the above rclationship and the feed chute cross-sectional area (0.325 m2)it
was possible to calculate the volume of bagassc rnctered at various feeder rpm.
Also, as each feeder is fitted with a revolution counting device on the carding drum
shaft, all further calculations were related to the rpm of this drum. (Ratio of the
metering roll rpm to the carding drum rpm is 0.58: 1.)
.'. V = 5.61 C: -t 1. l 9
Where C = Velocity of carding drum in rpm
V = Volume of bagasse metered in m"hr at feeder inlet
'I'o enable the bagasse metering rate to be nleasured in tonnes per hour. it was first
necessary to determine the bulk densil y of the bagasse at the base of a chute for various
values of head in the chute. This was done using a fabricated simulated chute. Three
trials were carried out and the following inforn~ationobtained:
Regression equation D = 73.12 H".""
agasse head in metres
asse bulk density dry in kg,m3
Correlation coefficient r - 0.99
The bagasses used in these measurements had moisture contcnts in the range 43 to 45Y,,
on bagasse. Ash contents were not measured, but were probably in the range 3 to 9", on
dry solids.
The average variations in the three trials were +7.0";, and -7.1?,. The
calculations were for dry matter. :lnd must be corrected for prevailing moisture content
to give actual bagasse weights.
From the above equation it will be seen that increasing the head has the effect of
slightly increasing the bulk density. The effect decreases as the head is increased. At 3 m
head of bagasse. the nonnal operating level in 1976 season, the dry bulk density at the
feeder entry was 75.6 kgi'm3. IJsing this figure as a working standard, the rate of
feeding in tonnesihr dry matter could be ascertained:
+
M = 0.43 C .09
M - -
Where C Velocity of carding drum in rpm
Bagasse metered (dry) in tonnes%r
I t was not possible at the time to verify this formula by direct calibration but it is
planned to carry out this work during 1977.
Conclusion
The bagasse fecdmg devlcc dekcloped ' ~ tVlctor~amill 1s an effective nnd relat~vcly
simplc feeder, requiring l~ttlep m e r to operate It hds good character~\tics1' s L+

volumetric meter m d should provde a useful indication of the quant~tyof bagasse

being led t o a boiler