Maerz Ofenbau AG Phone +41-44-287 27 27

Richard Wagner-Strasse 28 Fax +41-44-201 36 34

CH-8027 Zurich e-mail: info@maerz.com
Switzerland www.maerz.com

NEW – Cooling of
industrial kilns and furnaces
1. Cooling of industrial kilns and furna-
ces - still unsolved in many cases
The cooling of refractory lined kilns or furnaces for metallurgi-
cal or other industrial high temperature processes is often a
difficult technique.
The cooling of the steel shell in many applications is a must for
an adequate lifetime of the refractory lining but in some cases
the usual solutions do not show good results or contain hid-
den risks.
• Some types of kilns should be cooled, but this is difficult due
to the geometry of the shell.
• Some kilns or furnaces are cooled with spray cooling or film
cooling. Water losses are unavoidable. Maintenance is neces-
sary to remove organic and inorganic deposits which insula-
te between water and steel
• Critical areas like feeding ports or tapping holes are always a
problem at spray or film cooled furnaces.
• Some kilns are built with walls carrying welded cooling
pockets or cooling pipes. The weld seams carry the long term
risk of cracks and undetected water penetration into the
refractory lining.
2. A new approach of shell cooling
The new cooling system (patent applied) , developed in a co-
operation between BERZELIUS Germany and MAERZ Ofenbau
AG in Zurich, Switzerland, is a new approach to this task. It is
now an industrially approved technique and can be a solution
for other industrial kilns and furnaces.
In order to reduce the wearing of the lining, BERZELIUS
installed a very simple water spray cooling system. This results
in a higher temperature drop in the wear lining and the life of
the bricks lasted longer.
Fig. 1: Temperature gradient in the wear lining.
Shell uncooled or water cooled.
2
The temperature profile of the air-cooled wall is shown in the
following picture If the outside of the shell is water cooled, the
temperature gradient in the inner bricks is obvious steeper. This
steeper gradient is the explanation for the lower wear rate of
the refractory: The chemical reactions between slag and refrac-
tory material slow down.
So this new cooling system is a technical solution between an
unchilled shell and a furnace with "freeze lining". On furnaces
with "freeze lining", the liquid slag freezes onto a water cooled
(copper) wall. (fig. 1)
But this simple spray cooling solution also had several disad-
vantages:
• In the kiln shop there is a lot of damp, which causes
corrosion of the building and equipment
• The cooling requires a certain amount of maintenance as
sintered carbonates cover the shell after a short while
• Water can penetrate through cracks in the steel shell into the
magnesite and hydrates it.
• Some areas, e.g. neat flanges could not be sprayed with
water.
• The part underneath was not cooled in a reproducible
manner.
The demands for an improved water cooling system resulted
from the following requirements:
• Defined cooling of all those shell areas with wearing
problems in the inner side, e.g. slag line, feeding ports, etc.
• Direct welding to the steel shell is not acceptable (danger of
cracks and uncontrolled water penetration)
• The cooling system must work properly even on distorted
and uneven areas of the surface.
• The cooling system must be a compromise between the
increased heat losses of the process and the expected
extension of the lifetime of the lining.
• As the steel shell is expanding and deforming under
temperature and charge load, the cooling must work
nevertheless.
• The cooling system should not
require maintenance.
• In case of emergency, if cracks have to
be welded in the shell, the cooling
must not obstruct this work too much.
• The cooling system should not require
an extension of the plant’s water
supply system (pumps, pipes, cooling
capacity)
• It must also be possible to install the
cooling system during a 2-3 week
relining shutdown period.
 Fig. 2: Group of cooling elements.
Detail of fixation.

flexible hose

disc spring heat conductive paste

welding bolt

3. This is the new solution
for the old problem
The solution, as shown on the pictures, has the following fea-
tures (fig. 2) :
• The area to be cooled is covered by many single cooling
elements. Each of those has an approximate area of 0.5 m2.
• Each of these consist of a thin base plate shaped as the shell.
On the other side water channels made of half pipes are
welded to these base plates.
Fig. 3: Cooling elements mounted at a kiln of
Berzelius, Germany
• The cooling elements are pressed to the shell by numerous
strong bolts. These bolts are welded semi-automatically to
the shell.
• To maintain the tension, the nuts are underlayed with disk
springs.
• Water in and outlets of the single elements are connected
with flexible hoses.
• Groups of 8 - 12 elements are linked together for one water
circuit. Each circuit has a temperature- and flow controlled
outlet.
• Between the furnace shell and base plate of the cooling ele-
ment a special heat conductive paste ensures good heat
transport. If the unavoidable gap would not be closed with
this heat conductive paste, the system could not work
properly.

4. Installation and
first operational results
The first part of a kiln at BERZELIUS was
equipped in January 2003 with
approximately 100 of these cooling
elements during a 2 weeks shut-
down. The cooling effect since
the new start is within the cal-
culated limits right from the
beginning. (fig. 3 and 4)

3

Fig. 4: One side of the kiln with cooling elements
The average heat transfer is app. 10 kW/m2. The calculated heat
loss of the air cooled shell is approximately 6 kW/m2.
The outside temperature of the shell is circa 60°C. The unchil-
led shell showed temperatures around 300°C.
During a longer shutdown in Summer 2003 the rest of the shell
will be revamped with another 140 pieces.
It is expected that the cooling elements will prolong the shut-
down interval for relining from 18 months to at least 24
months.
Other positive side effects are :
• Improved working environment - less vapour, and cooler
reactor shell.
• Ideal monitoring of the cooling behaviour of all cooled areas.
This allows conclusions to be drawn to the extent of the
wearing of the lining.
5. The heat conductive paste
The heat conductive paste is one key element for this new coo-
ling system. It is a product developed for improving the coo-
ling of semiconductor elements for high current loads.
The gap between the outside of the shell and the cooling
panels is due to imperfections of the shell of an average 2 - 3
mm. This air gap would insulate quite a lot and the heat trans-
fer would be low, uneven and unpredictable. The heat conduc-
tive paste closes the gap and a steady and even heat transport
is guaranteed. The panels are designed in a way that during
erection a closed film of paste can easily be achieved.
The paste, specially developed for this application, was careful-
ly tested in a large scale experiments by BERZELIUS and
MAERZ. In particular, its properties after an overheating cau-
sed by a longer interruption of the water supply was investiga-
ted.
The paste keeps its good heat conductivity and its softness in
a range of several hundred degrees Celsius.
The panels are designed in such a way that should the gap
between the shell and the panel increase, for example due to a
distortion of the shell, the gap can be refilled with heat con-
ductive paste from outside.
6. Revamping an existing furnace -
how to proceed
The experiences gained during the successful prototype pro-
ject enable MAERZ to revamp other kilns. This new technical
solution is not without technical risks. Therefore, the following
steps for a safe and smooth revamping must be taken.
6.1 Basic design study
This study must include :
• Thermal calculations of heat losses, temperature profiles,
cooling water demand.
• Outline drawing of one typical element and of the whole shell
showing the cooled parts, the amount and the variety of
single elements and the water circuits.
• Water flow sheet including emergency water supply and
instrumentation.
© 2003 - Maerz Ofenbau AG, Zurich, Switzerland: www.maerz.com; Dtp: aku2 kury-kugler, Seeboden, Austria: www.aku2.at; Printed in Swizzerland
• Recommendations if modifications in the refractory lining
are advisable.
• FEM calculation to check the thermo-mechanical stress of
the steel structure.
After this basic design study the benefits of a revamping can
be estimated, hidden risks should show up, the costs can be
predicted and a time schedule for the whole project can be
established.
6.2 Detail Design and project execution
If the results of the basic design study show technically good
results then a revamping would be worth doing assuming of
course that the payback of the investment is acceptable.
For an industrial kiln it is usually important to make the revam-
ping modifications during a scheduled shutdown period of a
few weeks . Normally this will be carried out during the relining
of the kiln. Therefore the modification has to be designed to
be carried out during this short shut down period.
The control system of the plant also has to be supplemented in
a way that the signals of the cooling water outlet are monito-
red and registered. A trend analysis can give reliable informa-
tion of the wear of the lining. This makes the operation of the
furnaces more predictable and safe.
June 2003