Supplying pulverized coal to a coal-fired furnace

Claim 1

In a pulverized coal-fired steam generator having a direct-fired furnace, at least two burners for burning pulverized coal in the furnace, a load-carrying pulverizer for pulverizing the coal to be supplied to the furnace, and a plurality of conduits, one conduit per burner, interconnected between the burners and the pulverizer, each conduit conveying a coal/air stream consisting essentially of a dilute phase pulverized coal and air mixture from the pulverizer to its associated burner, an apparatus comprising: a. a separator for separating pulverized coal from air; b. a diversion conduit interconnected between the separator and a first of the plurality of conduits interconnected between the burners and the pulverizer; c. valve means disposed at the interconnection of said diversion conduit with the first of the plurality of conduits for selectively diverting the coal/air stream flowing therethrough into said diversion conduit; d. a return conduit interconnecting said separator with the first of the plurality of conduits at a location downstream of said valve means for venting the air removed from the coal/air stream in said stream in said separator to the furnace; e. a storage bin; and f. means for conveying the pulverized coal removed from the coal/air stream in said separator to the storage bin.

Claim 4

An apparatus as recited in claims 1 or 2 wherein the first conduit from which the pulverized coal and air stream is diverted to the separator is the shortest conduit of the plurality of conduits interconnected between the burners and the pulverizer.