Development of a Software Tool for the Prediction of Coal-Blending Efficiency

A coal-blending simulator for longitudinal stockpiles has been developed using the Visual Ba­ sic development platform for Windows®. The input to the simulator consists of the standard deviation and the autocorrelation of the coal property for which blending is attempted. The program initially creates a time series of property values for the coal delivered to the stockyard. Then, this input sequence Is rearranged by simulating the operation of the stacking and reclaiming equipment. The output sequence of property values reflects the quality fluctuation of the coal fed to the power plant after blending. Results from the application of the simulator to the lignite mines ofnorthern Greece show that coal-blending efficiency isa function of the capacity of the stockpile, the number of stockpile layers and the combination of the applied stacking and re­ claiming methods.