Coal fired power station efficiency affects the environment and cost of power. Pulverised fuel (pf) is conveyed from the mill to the furnace through a convoluted network of steel pipes with several junctions and the coal can be badly distributed between the burners. In order to simulate the behaviour of pf in the network and to provide a solution to this problem, a test facility has been constructed at the University of Nottingham. The rig provides air drawn through a 154 mm pipe, which then splits two or three ways. A number of bends prior to the junction point ensure an unbalanced distribution of powder in the downstream pipes. Conventional and novel techniques have been applied to quantify the mal-distribution. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.