Kadapa unit

Mohanraj V
Safety

Combustible

Oxygen Ignition
2
Good Combustion issues

NOx Fuel Cost

Cement
additives

Waste
Reactive clinker

Consistent burning
kWh/t

Rings

Combustion
Build-ups

SO2

3
Table of contents
1. Cement Plant-Overview
2. Combustion-Basics

3. Combustion classes
4. Combustion reaction
5. Case studies

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Session objectives
 Review of key combustion issues
 Understand what is needed to master combustion
 Raw mix (uniform and reactive)
 Good flame
- Fuel preparation
- Equipment (instrumentation,...)
- Burner
 Burner Design understanding

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Cement Plant-Overview

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Pyro process-Overview

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Precalciner Kilns

 Combustion air is taken from clinker cooler to precalciner

 Typically, 60% of the total fuel is burnt in the calciner, and
the raw meal is over 90% calcined before it reaches the
rotary kiln section.
 Since the calciner operates at temperatures around the
calcination temperature of raw meal (850°C to 900°C),
there may not be a flame as such.
 The calciner efficiency is dependent on uniform air flow
and uniform dispersion of fuel and raw meal in the air.
 Typically, average residence times calculated on gas flow
for different units were about 3 to 5 seconds for coal and
petcoke, and 2 to 3 seconds for natural gas.

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Combustion in Kilns

 The raw meal is subjected to enough heat to

allow the clinkering reactions to proceed.
 The main chemical reactions to produce the
calcium silicates that later give cement its
bonding strength occur in the kiln system.
 There is a combination of endothermic and
exothermic reactions occurring in an extremely
complicated chemical reaction sequence.

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Where does all that heat come from?
 The actual combustion process is an incredibly complex
series of chemical reactions that start off with fuel, air, and
an ignition source.
 In fact, there are actually more than one thousand separate
reactions involved from the transition of fuel into the final
combustion products of carbon dioxide and water.
 Fuels used are mainly coal, petcoke and a few incinerable
green fuels.

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Where does all that heat go?
 The combustion process heats up unburned fuel, feed, coating,
refractory, and the gases inside the kiln. That’s why it’s so important to
maintain stable secondary air temperature. That can only be
accomplished by maintaining consistent clinker cooler performance.

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Typical Kiln combustion

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COMBUSTION
“The Basics”
What is Combustion ?
List the 3 substances required for combustion?
1.
2.
3.

List three (3) additional requirements for Good combustion

4.
5.
6. 14
 Combustion: the right mix
 Combustion is an exothermic oxidation reaction between
fuel and oxygen.

1.FUEL
4.Proportioning
+
5.Mixing
3.Ignition 2.Oxygen

6.Burner
FLAME 15
 COMBUSTION STAGES: 3 + 1

Pre-combustion Preparation

HEAT

Ignition Combustion

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 Combustion: Elementary process breakdown

Combustion of
volatiles and
thermal decomposition Radiation
Radiation and
O2
Convection
High temperature
Gaseous phase

Combustion at particle surface

Heating by
radiation
Increasing particle Combustion
temperature products (CO2,
H2O…) and
ash
Thermal decomposition:
(light gases, tars, liquid HC’s,
soot) Ignition and
Vaporization (liquid)
Combustion
Unburnt coal
of
solid residue
Heating Phase Precombustion Phase (0.1 to 1 s) 17
(0.1 to 0.3 s)
Combustion Classes: 4 types

Type 1 :Neutral & complete combustion: ideal

Type 2 : Complete combustion with excess air

Type 3 : Incomplete combustion with excess air

Type 4 : Incomplete combustion with lack of air

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 Excess Air

 Any air above that required for stoichiometric combustion is

called Excess Air %:

(Atotal - Amin )/ Amin x 100

 Factor of excess air (or Stoichiometric Ratio

SR):
Atotal/Amin

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 Type 1: Neutral and Complete

 Neutral Combustion Oxygen O2min = quantity of O2 required

for stoichiometric combustion

 Neutral Combustion Air = volume (or moles) of air required

for stoichiometric combustion:
Amin = O2min/0.21 in Nm3

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 Type 2: Complete combustion with Excess air

 Fuel is completely oxidized, Oxygen remains

 Combustion products: H2O, CO2, N2, O2, Ar, SO2

 This is what we want to achieve with the lowest possible amount of

excess of air:
 flue gas losses
 best back end O2
 no volatilisation
 better heat exchange as flame temperature is higher
 target = 10% excess air, back end O2 depending upon
the fuel

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Type 3: Incomplete combustion with excess air

 Enough oxygen but combustibles still remain

 Combustion products:
CO2, H2O, N2, CO, O2 , (SOx, NOx)

COMBUSTION PROBLEM

 Possible causes:
 poor preparation of fuel
 poor fuel/O2 mixing
 poor fuel/O2 proportioning
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 Type 4: Incomplete combustion with lack of air

 Partial oxidation of the fuel

 Combustion products:
CO2, H2O, N2, H2, CO, CmHn, H2S

TOO MUCH FUEL

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 Excess of air: issues
Among them we can list
 heat consumption
 volatilization
 combustion products emission
 burning zone
 impact on quality
 flame temperature and attachment
 dust generation and dust capture in ESP etc…
 equipment limitation (ID Fan, DC, draft)
 secondary air
Finding the right setting is one of the major challenges of the Process
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Expert
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS VS EXCESS AIR

O2

O2

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TOTAL STACK LOSSES

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Summary about the 4 types of combustion
 Type 1: Neutral combustion air
Practically not possible to achieve due to the
ineffectiveness on mixing step
 Type 2: Excess combustion air
- Complete combustion
- Too much means heat loss
 Type 3: Lack of combustion air
- Incomplete combustion
- High CO level is an indication of deficiency on air
- Loss of efficiency
 Type 4: Adequate combustion air
- Neither CO
- Nor excess air

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OPERATION OUTLET OXYGEN

 When the other

constraints are
controlled, the oxygen
should be adapted to
limit volatilization

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Oxygen

 To determinate the proper level

Optimum oxygen level depends on operating
conditions. Two criteria to fix the Oxygen:
– Quality of the clinker
– Refractory protection and shell temperature

 To control the proper level

Once obtained the optimum level, it fluctuates
in a short-term, but on a long-term it is kept constant.

To control O2 => 3 possibilities:

fuel, fuel & I.D. fan, or only I.D. fan.

The correct action is function of the backend temperature.

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Other “Minor”combustion products

 NOx formation
 NO (94 %), NO2 (5%) and N2O
(1%)
 CO formation

 SOx formation

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NOx PRODUCED IN THE KILN IS RELATED TO:

 Flame temperature
 Flame shape
 Type of fuel (Nitrogen content)

 Excess O2
 Gas retention time in burning zone
 Load temperature
 Load retention time in burning zone
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FORMATION OF NITROGEN OXIDE

thermal Produced in
significant levels
in cement plants
NO fuel

prompt

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5.1. Thermal NO formation
Requires O and OH radicals
(released during fuel combustion)

1) breaking up of N2 molecule by O radicals

O + N2 NO + N

2) the N atoms released react with OH radicals All these

reactions are
N + OH NO + H not affected by
the Nitrogen
content of the
3) if oxygen molecules are still available fuel !

N + O2 NO + O

In the absence of oxygen

N + NO N2 + O
REDUCING ATMOSPHERE

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 Fuel NO

Results from the oxidation of the Nitrogen chemically combined

with the fuel

May be formed at

Low temperature In the precalciner

High temperature In the kiln burner

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 Fuel NO formation
In the kiln burner

If the flame ignition

distance is SHORT
Temperature increases
rapidly
The nitrogenous substances are
released very rapidly after the volatile
hydrocarbonaceous substances and
still surrounded by
REDUCING ATMOSPHERE

Little fuel NO is
formed !

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 Fuel NO formation (cont.)
In the kiln burner

If the flame ignition

distance is LONG
The temperature increase
is slower

The nitrogenous substances are

released after all volatile
hydrocarbonaceous substances have
been burnt,
and O2 from secondary air is present

More fuel NO is
formed !

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CO Formation
 CO oxidation is slow step in the combustion process
 CO production produces only 30 % of heat of complete combustion of
C
- 1 kg C + 1.33 kg O2  2.3 kg CO + 10 MJ
- (Remember 1 kg C + 2.66 kg O2  3.66 kg CO2 + 33 MJ)
 CO will not oxidize in a dry environment (it requires OH radicals)

 Rate of CO oxidation is highly temperature dependent

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CO

 Can we accept some CO?

Some plants are running with some CO, because it
is difficult to achieve the complete combustion
of fuel,mostly coal, even with a very good
fineness.

 To control the accepted level

To control at the minimum level we first act upon
the fuel and if required upon the fan;in order to
avoid over drafting the kiln we might have to
reduce the feed rate.

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 SOx formation
 S is a combustion reaction that we have excluded up to now
but it certainly plays a role with most solid fuels
 S + O2  SO2 + 9.25 MJ/kg S

 SOx Emissions a function of:

 amount of sulphur in fuel
 pyrite in raw materials
 burning zone oxygen levels
 S/Alk level when sulphur is high
 combustion efficiency

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Combustion: Overview

 Fuel + air + Ignition => kiln flame + exhaust gases

 C + O2 => heat + CO2

In reality is much more complex
not important to know all the equations
important to understand issues
O2 level
Flame shape
Minimum CO
e.g. combustion quality issue
Heat quantity calcination

Flame quality clinkerization

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Combustion Sensors:O2, CO, SO2

 Maintain optimum oxygen

 exit O2 preferred … no inleakage
 insufficient oxygen
 incomplete combustion => excessive CO
 explosion hazard; negative impacts on production, stability,
clinker quality, SHC
 low oxygen
 kiln instability due to sulphur volatilisation
 SO2 analyzer
inverse of O2
can predict combustion changes but often no new info
 excessive oxygen
 long flame, high SHC, often production limitation
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KHD – Pyrojet(Typical)

%Amin m/s mbar

1. Transport Air 1-2 18-30 <=1000

2. Swirl Air 2-5 <=150 <120

3. Jet Air 2-5 <=470 <1000

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MOMENTUM(Impulse)

v
m I=m.V

I (N)
Is =
(N.h.GJ-1) Q (GJ.h-1)

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SWIRL

Rotational moment / axial moment ratio

Vry Rot. circ. velocity: Vr

Vrx

Iqr rg
rg SW 
Ix . De
where: Iqr = Qmr . Vry

I x = S i I xi 44
BURNER PIPES: BENCHMARK VALUES

Impulse
Fuel-oil 1.2 N.h.GJ-1
Coal 1.5 N.h.GJ-1
Coke 1.8 N.h.GJ-1

Swirl
Fuel-oil, coal, coke 0.15
Natural Gas 0.05

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 The Ideal Flame

T
Hot ! "long" flame
"short" flame
Short !
Stable !
Adjustable !
Complete combustion: Homogeneous:
- CO = 0 - No temperature peaks
- SO2  - No local CO on the clinker bed

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Cement Manufacturing Course

Case Study:1 What do you think happened here!

Wear on burner after

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 Case-1 :History of problem

1.Plant have wear problems on rotary valve feeder

2.Supplier of rotary valve suggest a larger valve

3.The Larger valve needs a larger pipe at the exit

4.The larger pipe suffers blockages so an additional blower is fitted

5.This results in a Very High Transport air level of 8%.

6.Plant correct impulse and swirl to compensate but transport

Velocity of the coal is 40-45m/s causing wear after only 37
Operating days. RESULT
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Case-1:Conveying Velocity 40- 45m/s
Wear on burner after
37 Days

Get it wrong and pay the price!!! 50

Case study-2 : Burner pipe Rhino horn formation

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Case-2:Burner Pipe air blaster

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Case Study:3 Feeding coal to burner pipe

Problem :
The plant switched to pillard burner pipe and after these
modifications the clinker turned down brown which indicated burning
in a reducing atmosphere

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Case Study:3 Feeding coal to burner pipe

Solution :
After eliminating all of the factors likely to cause reducing condition
in the burning zone-such as:the draft; the burner pipe position; the
impulse; and the raw mix chemistry-the plant used a video camera
to examine the flame and discovered that the reducing conditions
resulted mainly from two causes:
-Poor coal distribution in the burner pipe body
-A diverging coal injection angle at the burner pipe tip.

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Case Study:3 Feeding coal to burner pipe

The coal distribution problem was due to poor design :

-The connecting sleeve was poorly dimensioned. It was too big and
caused the velocity of the transport pipe to drop 30%.i.e below 20
m/s
-poor coal feeding position. Off-centered and to the side of the
burner pipe, the coal inlet did not allow even coal distribution
throughout the annular outlet section

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Case Study:3 Feeding coal to burner pipe

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 Perfect Combustion

Most efficient combustion takes place

when there is neither CO nor
excess of air in the kiln exit gases.

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Thank you

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