BLUE CIRCLE TECHNICAL CENTRE

CEMENT MILL CONTROL

DAVID BAIRD + MARK STOERKER

 CEMENT MILL CONTROL
AIMS OF THIS PRESENTATION…
• To describe the various Control Loops available for
automatically controlling Cement Mills.
• To identify the benefits to be gained.
•To establish “ Where we are at present ”.
•To ask the ?-”Where do we go from here ? ”
•To help you to develop an Action Plan to improve mill
control within HBM.
 OPEN CIRCUIT
CEMENT MILL
CONTROL LOOPS
 Open Circuit Mill Controls
Clinker
Gypsum Mill outlet
Other temperature

Water injection

Feed TPH

Chamber 1 exit Cement SSA m2/kg

Mill sonic
temperature and temperature
CLOSED CIRCUIT
CEMENT MILL
CONTROL LOOPS
 CLOSED CIRCUIT CEMENT
MILL CONTROL LOOPS
AUTOMATIC LOOPS…
• Constant Feed Rate-( tph )
•Ratio control of Feed Components-( % Clinker.Gypsum,MAC)
•Total Feed Control (Rejects and fresh feed).
•Sonic control (Folaphone)- Chamber 1 noise level.
• Separator (H.E.S.) -airflow control.
•Milling temperature control-( water injection % -C1+2)
•Power -Mill Motor and Bucket Elevator KW.
 ABERTHAW CM 10 - AUTO + MANUAL CONTROL LOOPS

MILL FAN DAMPER

LIMESTONE RATIO CONTROL

 CEMENT MILL CONTROL
LOOPS 1
CONSTANT FEEDRATE AND RATIO
CONTROL OF FEED COMPONENTS
• Accurate weight and Ratio control of the clinker /
gypsum / Limestone / MAC / Pozzolan is essential if we
are to avoid….
•STEP changes/variability in cement quality.
•STEP changes in mill performance / stability due to
feed grindability changes.
 Effect of Gypsum, Limestone + Pozzolan
on Cement mill performance

● 1% SO3 = + 30 m2/kg Surface Area

● 1% Gypsum = + 5% Production
● 1% Gypsum = + 12 m2/kg Surface Area
● 1% Limestone = -2.5% B.C.I Grindability
● 1% Limestone = +2%Production at constant SSA.
● 1% Pozzolan = -0.4 to -0.67 % B.C.I.Grindability
 CLINKER CHEMISTRY VARIATIONS-AFFECT ON MILL
PERFORMANCE
consumption and Chemistry for two closed circuit mills

No 2 Mill SRC Mills under

Automatic
C3S
C3S
Total Feed
Control
Nº1 Mill (OPC)
C2S

C2S +5% C2S =+ 1 kWh/tonne

Nº1 Mill (OPC)

L.S.F.
Nº2 Mill (SRC)
LSF

LSF

Mill Only Kwh/t 32.5 33.0 33.5

 BLUE CIRCLE TECHNICAL CENTRE

ESTIMATING THE COSTS OF

POOR MILL CONTROL
 C em en t S S A V ariatio n s
S S A - m 2/kg
460
420
380
340
300
T im e
T a rg e t G o o d C o n tro l P o o r C o n tro l

Control +/- m2/kg Range kWh/tonne Avg. kWh/t

Poor 40 340 – 420 37.0 – 50.8 43.9
Good 10 340 – 360 37.0 – 40.3 38.6
Savings 5.3 kWh/t
 Overgrinding - Power Penalty
When we overgrind, we waste power in Chamber 1:
2
m / kg Max Chamber 1 Penalty
Variability m2/ kg kWh/tonne kWh/tonne
0 340 9.0 0

+/- 10 350 9.4 0.4

+/- 40 380 10.6 1.6

CEMENT MILL CONTROL LOOPS 2
SOUND CONTROL-CHAMBER 1
• Can act as protection against overfilling Chamber 1
by cutting feed if noise level drops due to other factors
ie blockages within the mill or at the mill discharge.
Feed cuts off at fixed sound level.
•A modification used at Aberthaw is to use Sonic to
input to the Total Feed Control Loop. This forward
feeds the effects of gradual build up in filling level.
 Folaphone (Mill Sonic) Location
0.5 m from end of
mill Chamber 1 This bloody
thing will
never work! Mill
Sensor 25 mm centerline or
from shell below

Direction of Mill
Rigid stand
 CEMENT MILL CONTROL LOOPS 3
MILLING TEMPERATURE CONTROL
•Essential for Cement quality control and to avoid Mill
internal coating problems.
•Control of Chamber 1 water injection should be
based upon material temperature at Intermediate
Diaphragm
•Mill outlet temperature control should be based upon
the material temperature not gas temperature due to
the effects of inleaking air.
 CEMENT MILL CONTROL LOOPS 3
MILLING TEMPERATURE CONTROL (2)
•With a High Efficiency Separator-install a gas recycle
system with 2 damper controls (fresh air and recycle)
to control milling temperatures.
•Control of mill airflow is normally manual. Check mill
exit gas dew point temperature and increase mill airflow
if high water injection is used.
•Mill outlet material temperature control should be
typically 110 - 115 C to avoid Flash/False set .
 Mill Temperature Control
Thermocouple 90o
C
Water injection Inleak 15o
chambers 1and 2 C

Thermocouple in
diaphragm Pickup Thermocouple 140o
transmitter C
CEMENT MILL CONTROL LOOPS 4
TOTAL FEED CONTROL
•Essential for maintaining a constant mill filling level to
achieve optimum grinding efficiency (optimum voids
filling/powder loading-see C.T.C notes).
• The separator characteristics remain more constant
with constant feedrate thus avoid large variations in Cut
size and Recirculating load.
•Typical relationship:-
.PLUS 1.4 tph Rejects = minus 0.6 tph Fresh
Feed Flow
Overfilled / Underfilled Mills
OVERFILLED
Poor Grinding Efficiency
High Voidage Filling
Noise Level Low
Coating problems

UNDERFILLED
Poor Grinding Efficiency
Low Voidage Filling
Noise Level High
Risk of high wear and
media/liner breakages
 CLOSED CIRCUIT
CEMENT MILL CONTROL
SOME PROBLEM AREAS
 POTENTIAL CONTROL PROBLEMS
• Inaccurate weigh feeders. Rejects flow spiking.
•Undersized Separators with non linear characteristics.
•Undersized Separator fan.
•Excessive inleaking air over mill (>30%) and
Separator (>10%) dust filter plants.
•Undersized Bucket Elevator limiting circulating load.
•Poor airslide design causing uneven feed+rejects
flow.
• Hold up inside mill due to nibs/poor internals causing
surging.
 POTENTIAL PROBLEM AREAS
Separator/Fan
Elevator/Airslides
Mill Fan Mill Dust filter

Main filter

Weigh Cement
feeders
To storage

Mill Internals
 A VIEW INSIDE- WHAT CAN COMPLICATE
AUTOMATIC CONTROL

Chamber 2
Chamber 1

Material Surges

Build up of Nibs
at diaphragm Material Surges
PROBLEM AREAS-MILL INTERNALS
WORN
LINERS

GAPS
IN
SECTIONS

WORN/BROKEN SLOTS ALLOW NIBS TO ENTER CHAMBER 2

 THE FUTURE-
WHERE DO WE GO FROM
HERE?
 POSSIBLE OPTIONS FOR MILL CONTROL

● ABB LINKMAN - NORTHFLEET

● MAGOTTEAUX “GO CONTROL”- COOKSTOWN
● POLYSIUS / FLS MILL EXPERT SYSTEMS
● ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK SYSTEMS,PANTEK
ETC. - BOWMANVILLE ?
● IMPROVE ON LINE ANALYSIS-SSA/PSD - MALVERN ,
SO3, - ITECA, FLS LAB X 3000. 45 um ,ETC
WHAT NEW / OLD PROBLEM AREAS WILL WE FACE
WITH THESE NEW SYSTEMS?

● Level of reliability e.g. on line P.S.D. Analysers and

Sampling systems.
● Needs a “Works Champion”.
● Needs commitment and capital to have the best
chance of success.
● Expert system must be able to control process-e.g.
avoid artificial limitations imposed by
airslide/elevator/separator speed/mill internal
limitations etc.
 YOUR TASK

DEVELOP AN ACTION PLAN TO

IMPROVE AUTOMATIC CEMENT
MILL CONTROL WITHIN H.B.M.
BASE YOUR PLAN ON A CLOSED
CIRCUIT MILLING SYSTEM.
HOW MUCH DOES THE LEVEL OF CONTROL
AFFECT MILL PERFORMANCE?