IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 29, NO.
5 , SEPTEMBEWOCTOBER 1993
LowNO, Pyro-Systems Design and Operation
Geoffrey H. Conroy
Abstract-The generation of nitric oxides is a negative side
effect of any combustion process. The cement kiln is no exception;
however, recent developments in burner technology and precal-
ciner design can significantly reduce the NO, generation at the
source and minimize process emissions. This paper outlines these
recent technological advancements and shows actual industrial
results and the benefits realized by their application.
I. INTRODUCTION
T HE manufacture of cement requires substantial quantities
of electrical and thermal energy from fossil fuels. The
consumption of these valuable energies not only depletes
natural resources, but the resulting emissions have a negative
impact on the environment. Consequently, one of the main
objectives of an equipment design company must be to ad-
vance cement process technology to reduce consumption and
the environmental burden.
This paper will outline proven equipment designs that
are presently available for the reduction of NO, emissions.
Operational results of these modem buming techniques for
lower NO, emission and improved operating conditions will
be presented.
The paper concludes by outlining the design of today’s
cement pyro-line and how attention to detail in a few important
areas can reduce the NO, emissions of today’s precalciner
kiln, by up to 50% compared to a similar preheater kiln of
the 1970’s.
11. NO,-FORMATION AND MEASURES
FOR ITS REDUCTION
Stricter antipollution legislation and the detrimental effects
of nitric oxides on the environment demand minimizing their
emission from firing plants to the greatest possible extent.
Current provisions and future, even stricter requirements for
limiting gaseous emissions require appropriate measures for
minimizing the generation of NO, and lowering any NO, that
has been produced.
Two main sources account for the generation of NO,:
1) formation of nitric oxides by thermal processes within
the flame zone-at high combustion temperatures, orig-
inating from the nitrogen molecules in the combustion
air (“Thermal NO,”)
2 ) formation of NO as a result of fuel oxidation of nitrogen
molecules chemically bonded in the fuel (“Fuel NO,”).
Paper PID 92-35, approved by the Cement Industry Committee of the
IEEE Industry Applications Society for presentation at the 1992 IEEE Cement
Industry Technical Conference, Dallas, TX,May 10-14. Manuscript released
for publication October 17, 1992.
The author is with Humboldt Wedag, Inc., Norcross, GA 30092.
IEEE Log Number 9212093.
0093-9994/93$03.00 0 1993 IEEE
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867
Methods of reducing NO, emissions from cement kiln plants
can be initiated by the following measures;
Inside the kiln:
1) installation of optimum burner systems
2 ) use of fuels with low, chemically bonded nitrogen por-
tions.
Optimum burner design will be discussed as it offers the
only practical solution for the majority of kiln systems.
Outside the kiln:
1) catalytic conversion of NO,
2) decomposition of NO, by way of reaction with ammonia
3) decomposition of NO, by providing for localized reduc-
ing atmosphere.
The third measure listed above will be our main focus by
reviewing the installation of the recently developed LowN0,-
calciner. Measures 1 and 2, under that category, are not
discussed in detail because of the high capital expenditure
involved and the increased cost and handling problems asso-
ciated with ammonia.
Since the majority of the NO, formed in the cement pyro-
process is thermal NO, generated by the main kiln burner, this
is the area that initially requires the most attention.
111. KILN BURNERDESIGN
It is well-known that three parameters determine the amount
of NO, generated at this essential part of the process.
They are:
1) temperature-affected by
-maximum flame temperature
-gas temperature
- sintering-zone requirements
2 ) retention time-affected by
-flame shape and configuration
-buming-zone conditions
3) available oxygen-affected by
-excess air factor
-primary air rate
- flame configuration.
All of the above important factors are, to some extent,
influenced by the burner design.
Today’s high-performance cement kiln requires a specific
flame shape, not too lazy nor too short or intensive. The
former, while having positive effects on NO, formation, does
not create efficient radiant heat, the latter has good radiant
heat capabilities, but increased maintenance and poor coating
stability combined with increased NO, formation may result.
 868
Jet air - 1 WO
Pulverized coal
conveying air- 2
Swirl air - 2 404
RecirculatiOn c
-b
n, - Central air- t ~ m3/h
)
Fig. 1. Principle of the jet bumer.
Fig. 2. Jet burner tip.
In the late 1970’s the development of the first jet burner
took place, with the original objective to design a coal burner
that could produce a flame similar to that generated by oil
firing, a need resulting from the widespread conversion from
oil to coal firing at that time.
The principle of this burner, the PYRO-JET, is similar today
and is shown in Fig. 1.
The general construction of the jet burner is similar in
construction to the familiar three-channel burner; the major
difference is that the axial air is distributed by several indi-
vidual jet nozzles as opposed to an annular ring. The number,
size, and orientation of the nozzles depends on the capacity
and type of fuel to be burned. See Fig. 2.
Depending on the application the jet air is supplied at
medium or high pressures up to 1 bar, resulting in nozzle
velocities as high as 350 d s . It is this high velocity, specif-
ically directed axial air that allows the jet burner to operate
with primary air rates as low as 6%, even when using lower
quality fuels. The jet air nozzle design and orientation is also
responsible for significant reduction in thermal NO, formation
when compared to other bumer types. How this is achieved can
be summarized by reviewing the burner’s ability to influence
the key parameters responsible for NO, formation.
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 29, NO. 5, SEPTEMBEWOCTOBER 1993
tertiary take-off.
Temperature: With a conventional indirect coal-fired burner
there is an intense combustion zone close to the tip. This is an
area rich in hot gas, oxygen, and combustibles and is respon-
sible for a large percentage of the thermal NO, formation. By
the use of high-velocity axial air the jet burner quickly and
evenly distributes the combustibles and hot combustion gas
down the flame, greatly reducing this very high temperature
zone and reducing the opportunity for NO, formation. The
jet burner also typically produces clinker with lower liter
weights and slightly higher free lime values with no loss in
clinker quality; this results in overall reduction in burning zone
temperature.
Retention: As mentioned, the jet air quickly distributes the
fuel and hot combustion gases, resulting in a shorter retention
time of the oxygen and nitrogen molecules in the hottest zone
of the flame, at the burner tip. This may be the most significant
reason for the lower generation of NO,.
Available Oxygen: The action of the jet and swirl air noz-
zles results in a negative pressure zone in the center of the
flame in front of the bumer tip, forcing a portion of the fuel to
recirculate in the center of the flame, which bums in a deficit
air zone before mixing homogeneously with the hot oxygen-
rich secondary combustion air. The low primary air rate of
6 8 % also helps to reduce the oxygen levels in this area of
the flame.
The foregoing has outlined the design and the theoretical
capability of the burner, but to prove if LowN0,-burners
are fact or fiction, we must review some of the practical
experience obtained over the burners’ 12-year history, of
typical installations as illustrated (Fig. 3).
Currently, there are well over 100jet burners in operation on
different types of solid fossil fuels, naturally, it is not possible
to exhibit results for all of the installations.
Specific results from four plants are shown in Table I. In
each of the preheater kilns A, B, C, and D conventional indirect
coal-fired burners were replaced with PYRO-JET burners.
Apart from the data shown above the following is notewor-
thy:
. .
 CONROY: LowNO, PYRO-SYSTEMS DESIGN AND OPERATION
TABLE I
Operation A: Despite an increase in coke proportion from
20 to 50%, the sintering zone was shortened by 15% and
primary air by 11%; here a 33% reduction in NO, was
recorded.
Operation B: Here a 30% reduction was measured with an
increase in production and related fuel rate.
Operation C: The NO, again dropped by 30% despite a
production increase of 14% and corresponding additional fuel
rate.
Operation D: This installation has a particularly high kiln
thermal loading; three years of jet bumer operation has shown
a 30% improvement in brick life. The high thermal loading
results from the hard-buming clinker requirement; here 20%
decrease in NO, was still achieved.
These operations all show the typical tendency toward
lower liter weights accompanied by higher free lime contents
enabling softer burning conditions for the kilns, while main-
taining clinker quality. Burning-zone length also decreased
10-20% in many cases.
Reportedly, in virtually all cases the bumers installed
on coal or coalkoke firing systems experienced an average
1 6 3 5 % reduction in NO, with around 20-30% being
the average. Fig. 4 shows results from one plant where
comparisons were made between a jet bumer and an optimized
three-channel bumer.
At a recent technical symposium in Cologne, Germany,
a paper by Schneider [2] (representing a major worldwide
cement manufacturer that operates numerous PYRO-JET bum-
ers), stated that in a majority of their installations "A re-
markable reduction of NO,-emission of 30% or more was
achieved," and his concluding remarks were " ... the devel-
opment of the PYRO-JET bumer can doubtlessly claim to
having contributed an important impulse to the evolution of a
new bumer generation able to cope with the higher demands
from both operations and environment. The fact that in the
meantime also the competition has picked up that impulse can
certainly be taken as a proof of success."
Further proof of success is that in over 90% of installations
commissioned in the last five years the guarantees given for
NO, reduction were met or exceeded.
Therefore, it can be said that the LowN0,-jet bumer is a
fact. A 30% reduction at the main source of NO, formation is
possible with the correctly designed coal fired system, utilized
in a standard preheatedprecalciner kiln with grate cooler.
Although the development of this burner is an important
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869
&
Fig. 4. Comparison of before and after jet burner.
step toward reducing NO, formation at the main source, a
significant amount of NO, is still generated, which leaves the
kiln.
Fortunately, proven designs are now available that can
significantly reduce the NO, generated in the kiln by staged
burning techniques in a specifically designed precalciner. The
design, operation, and results of such a system will now be
discussed.
Iv. THE LOWNO,-PRECALCINER
CONCEPT
The potential benefits from the concept of staged firing in
a kildprecalciner system has been known for some time.
The principle is a simple one, after the kiln combustion
zone, which takes place out of necessity in an oxidizing
atmosphere to ensure clinker quality, a second firing stage is
arranged between the kiln inlet and the precalciner or preheater
riser duct. Specific amounts of fuel are fired exclusively
into the kiln exhaust gases creating a reducing atmosphere,
performed under specific conditions to ensure the necessary
temperature range ( 100&1200°C) and retention time, portions
of NO, will decompose and the oxygen molecules of the
nitric oxides will combine with the free carbon and carbon
monoxide to produce carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and
free nitrogen.
The extent to which this process will take place depends
on the excess air coefficient, retention time, temperature, and
homogeneity of the gas phase of reaction.
Following this second stage of sub-stoichiometric combus-
tion, the remaining combustibles are oxidized along with the
additional precalciner fuel in the upper stage of the duct after
mixing with the hot combustion air delivered from the kiln
hood or cooler.
Test work in several plants indicated that this type of staged
combustion would be capable of reducing the NO, formed by
 870 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 29, NO. 5, SEPTEMBEWOCTOBER 1993

Fig. 6 . Aerial view of Norcem's Dalen Works at this location

Fig. 5. Operating principle of a LowNO, tube precalciner.

calciner, the greater is the extent of mixing. The CO formed

the kiln combustion zone by up to 50%.
in the kiln exhaust-gas duct due to a lack of air and LowNO,
However, satisfactory results cannot be obtained by simply
fuel injection is mixed to an ever increasing extent with the
applying quantities of fuel to the kiln inlet chamber. To
oxygen-rich gas flow from the tertiary air duct and is able to
ensure continuous operation and consistence NO, reduction
react further. Complete mixing of the flows takes place at the
efficiency, the design must allow for control over fuel rate
180" bend and the residence time of the gases in the downward
and temperature profile and give sufficient retention time. To
gas duct is available to ensure complete oxidation.
satisfy these requirements the PYROCLON-LowN0,-calciner
The meal from the lower stage of the preheater at a
was developed.
temperature of approximately 740°C is introduced into the
calciner, a certain percentage of the meal is introduced into
V. DESIGN the kiln exhaust-gas flow near the LowNO, burner and the
Utilizing the well-known duct type calciner it was possible remainder into the tertiary air flow. The precalciner fuel is also
to satisfy all requirements by making a few simple but specific supplied here. The majority of the coal bums in the hot tertiary
modifications. air, which significantly accelerates the combustion aided by
Fig. 5 shows the design principles of the PYROCLON- the kiln-hood take-off design.
LowN0,-calciner in comparison with a conventional tube The calciner, therefore, contains two burners, one for the
calciner. In Fig. 5(b) it can be seen how the tertiary air and main calciner and one LowN0,-bumer, which is sized for up
the kiln exhaust gas meet and flow through the calciner. This to 20% of the total precalciner fuel.
calciner has two burners with differing functions and the meal
is divided and fed to two separate locations in the calciner duct.
The main burner feeds fuel into the tertiary air flow and the
LowN0,-burner feeds fuel exclusively into the kiln exhaust VI. INDUSTRIAL INSTALLATION
gas. The kiln exhaust gas contains the NO, formed at high The first full-scale industrial installation was put in to
temperatures in the kiln. It also contains oxygen corresponding operation in 1988 at the Dalen cement works of NORCEM,
to the excess air in the combustion system. Through the located in Brevik, Norway (Fig. 6).
separate supply of fuel it is now possible to deliberately The LowN0,-precalciner was installed as part of a plant
set up a reducing atmosphere in the kiln exhaust gas by upgrade to increase the capacity of the existing Kiln #6 from
burning a certain quantity of fuel under substoichiometric 1400 mtpd to 3300 mtpd, which also included the addition of
conditions. This satisfies the first requirement for reducing the a new preheater string, tertiary air duct, and a new two-grate
NO, content. grate cooler.
Because of the parallel flow of the kiln exhaust gas and the Kiln 6 has a diameter of 4.4 m and a length of 68 m. This
tertiary air in the calciner these two streams mix gradually. The gives a kiln volume of 855 m3 and a specific kiln loading
NO, therefore has a sufficient resident time in the reducing gas of 1.87 t/d.m3 for 1600 t/d clinker. With a specific fuel heat
phase. This fulfills another requirement for NO, reduction. consumption of approximately 780 kcalkg clinker this gives
By dividing the meal it is possible to influence the temper- a thermal loading relative to the cross section of the kiln is
ature in the reducing kiln gas atmosphere, thereby fulfilling a 4.14 million kcal/m2.h. This production data for Kiln 6 at
third requirement for NO, reduction. 1600 t/d shows that for an increased production of 3300 t/d
When dimensioning the lower part of the LowN0,-calciner, approximately 50% of the fuel must be burned in the calciner
it is important to ensure that the two gas streams have equal if the sintering zone is not to be thermally overloaded.
velocities so that the gases mix slowly. In this design the The calciner had to be arranged so that the meal could
reducing zone is displaced into the calciner, so we actually discharge into it from both cyclone preheaters. This objective
have two flows in one tube calciner. As the gases flow up the was achieved at Dalen by building the additional cyclone

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 CONROY: LowNO, PYRO-SYSTEMS DESIGN AND OPERATION

9 -% SECTION A-A

Fig. 7. Installation of new preheater string and LowNOx-calciner at the Dalen Works.

preheater above the kiln and designing the calciner as a tube Environmental considerations had to be taken into account,
reactor (Fig. 7). as the cement plant lies in the largest industrialized area of
The gas ducting from the kiln inlet chamber to the lowest Norway.
cyclone stage was increased in cross-section and extended
upwards to the first stage of the existing preheater. The section
VII. LOWNO,-PRECALCINER PERFORMANCE
leading downwards after a 180' bend was divided into two
ducts that connected with the lowest cyclone stages of each After the commissioning and start-up of the new line,
of the two preheater strings. performance tests were carried out, that showed the
As it can be seen from Fig. 4 the meal lines are very long. kiln line capacity to be 3450 mtpd with a specific
The problems of blockages were therefore debated during the heat consumption of 760 kcal/kg. With the plant in
planning phase, but after several years of operation no unusual steady operation test work was undertaken to determine
problems have resulted. the effectiveness of the LoxN0,-calciner. The main ob-
As the production was to be doubled, the additional pre- jective was to determine the extent of NO, reduction
heater was sized for the same quantities of exhaust gas and possible by varying the LowNox-bumer fuel addition
meal. rate.
The combustion air for the calciner fuel is brought through The NO, content is measured in the exhaust gas at the
a tertiary air duct from the kiln hood via a settling chamber. kiln inlet and after the electrostatic precipitator of the new

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 812 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 29, NO. 5, SEPTEMBEWOCTOBER 1993

CO/NOX GAS ANALYZER/FORH 8 H O U R S tiM H M H M LowNO, coal

0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 [Vhl

",
A 7 fi I 4 3 09/12/8A I O 0 7 1.1

@ NO, after electrostatic precipitator:300-850 ppm

@) NOx at kiln inlet: 0-2500 ppm
@ CO after electrostatic precipitator: O - ~ . W O
Fig. 8. Typical fluctuations of NO, without LowNO, bumer operation. :,II_LL
Reduction
010

Fig. 10. NOx content as a function of the coal quantity fed to the LowNOx
bumer.

kiln inlet
IO 10% 02) 15 A u g 8 8 17 0 4 0
ng on
slate 01 kiln COlNOX GAS ANALYZERIFORR 2 HOURS HM HM

NO, after cyclon

300 -1 - - - -
preheater
(relatedlo 10% 0 2 )

L 0 05
A
IO 15 20 IVhl
* 1 ..
90 l f..
l5 q..
fl 75 I 60 45 3C 15 0
t t t
LowNO, coal A1463 46A11761 46A11779 46A1465 46A1752 46HS795 46H
Fig. 9. Reduction of the NO, content between kiln inlet and after cyclone %CO %CO %CO
NINLOP FEFLTl 2 EELFlLTl OVNSINLP ELFLT3 ELFLT1.2 FOR
preheater.
0 00 0 80 0 80 0 00 1050 850
0 50 0 02 - 0 01 0 05 778 463
preheater string. Fig. 8 shows the normal range of fluctuation
0CO after electrostatic precipitator 0 05-0 13%
of NO, content at these locations during operation without the @ NO, after electrostatic precipitator 400-800 ppm
LowN0,-burner, for a period of eight hours. The typical NO, Fig. 11. CO and NOx concentrations after the EP; typical behavior after
value at the kiln inlet is about 1000 ppm and about 500 ppm starting the LowNOx bumer.
after the electrostatic precipitator.
1 4 J J n 911 I 7 1 5 0
In Fig. 9 the proportion of NO, in ppm measured on 1 H O U H H M HG IIM
different days is plotted against the quantity of coal at the
LowN0,-burner. The upper curve shows the NO, content
measured at the kiln inlet, standardized to 10% 0 2 . This curve
is random and not influenced by the quantity of coal at the
LowN0,-burner, but is dependent on the actual conditions
, -~
in the kiln, so variations are attributable to the kiln system 0 ,
60 54 4b 42 36 30 24 18 1 1 1 ~ 1 4 / 9 1 117 1 5 0
itself. The lower curve shows the measured NO, content in P ' P
,SF(-483 ......... LowNOx-coal
0-3 t/h
46A1465
the preheater exhaust gas, also standardized to 10% 0 2 . ppm NOX 1/11 -----
NO, at kiln inlel 0-2000 ppm
The variations in the upper curve have been transferred to OVNSINLP SIMPLNOX (showing inaccuracies attnbulable
IO00 680 1.80 lo cleanina
- cvclesl
. .
the lower curve. The distance between the two curves shows 1161 376 1.75 -NO, after electrostatic precipilator:
the extent to which the NO, content has been reduced. From 380-600 ppm
this it can be seen that in spite of sharply increasing NO, Fig. 12. Reduction of the NO, content after starting the LowNO, bumer.
contents at the kiln inlet only a small increase in quantity of
NO, was measured at the exit of the cyclone preheater. precipitator. The time is plotted on the abscissa, and in this
This means that the small increase in the LowN0,-calciner case the last 120 minutes of the kiln operation are shown.
was capable of producing a sharp reduction in kiln-NO,. At the start NO, content was high, being approx. 80%
Fig. 10 shows the percentage reduction measured relative to = 700 ppm, and CO content was approximately 50% =
the normal NO, value at the kiln inlet (standardized to 10% 0.09%. With increasing quantity of coal at the LowN0,-burner
0 2 ) . The influence of the quantity of coal at the LowN0,- the NO, content falls to approximately 20% corresponding
burner on the NO, reduction is clearly demonstrated. However, to approximately 500 ppm. The CO concentration remains
we also wanted to be assured that the formation of CO in the almost constant. The fluctuations of the CO are caused by
kiln exhaust gas does not tend an increase in the CO content the irregularities of the coal metering system, which will be
in the exhaust gas of electrostatic precipitator stack. further improved.
Fig. 11 provides information on the subject. The curves The conclusive reduction of NO, can be illustrated further
represent the values for NO, and CO after the electrostatic through Fig. 12, which shows the quantity of LowN0,-coal

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 CONROY LowNO, PYRO-SYSTEMS DESIGN AND OPERATION
-
Fig. 13. Pyrotop principle of operation.
and the NO, at the kiln inlet and after the electric precipitator.
During the following 45 minutes the NO, content after the
electrostatic precipitator (solid line) fell from approximately
530 ppm to approximately 380 ppm, which corresponded to
a reduction of 29%.
This reduction was achieved with a relative low quantity of
LowN0,-coal, approximately 1.8 t/h. It is interesting to remark
that at the same time there was actually an increase of NO,
at the kiln inlet (broken line). The cyclic cleaning pulses of
the kiln analyzer probe have been removed from the curve for
clarification purposes. In other short-term tests reductions of
up to 50% were recorded. An overall NO, reduction of 30%
was achievable during all the test work performed.
VIII. FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS
OF THE LOWNO,-CALCINER
The tube-type calciner fulfills all requirements of precal-
cining for the cement kiln, even when utilizing low-quality
alternate fuels. However, to allow for the special require-
ments of NO, reduction as described in this paper, a more
defined reduction chamber will be required, which in turn
will require a more efficient precalciner design to ensure
complete combustion for reduction of not only NO,, but CO
also.
To achieve this, more control must be obtained in certain
specific areas of the calcining process. These requirements
have led to the development of a new reaction vessel designed
to be mounted at the top of the tube calciner in place of the
180’ bend. This chamber, known as Pyrotop, is shown in Figs.
13 and 14.
The design and location of the new chamber enable influ-
encing of dust concentration in certain areas of the calciner.
The pyrotop chamber acts as a settling chamber, the air flow
travels around ind upward and a portion of the dust can either
be recycled back to the ascending inlet calciner duct or directed
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873
Fig. 14. Pyrotop design.
to the calciner duct going to the lower stage of the preheater.
In this way, the new design permits regulating the temperature
in certain zones of the calciner and the addition mixing aids
complete combustion in a lower dust-laden zone.
The chamber is also a perfect receptacle for the injecting of
ammonia, if required, in a defined “temperature window .”
The combination of the Pyrotop and LowNO, calciner
design approaches the perfect precalciner system:
- accepting all fuels
- control of temperature profile in specific zones
- improved mixing effect (temperature/combustibles/oxy-
gen)
- minimizing NO, and CO emissions
- low pressure drop.
IX. TODAY’SMODERNCEMENTPYRO-LINE
The good news for cement producers is that the equipment
designs discussed in this paper to reduce NO, emission
and improve the kiln process efficiency can be incorporated
into a new installation with little or no increase in capital
cost.
By paying attention to the combustion-process design and
the overall system design the cement precalciner kiln of the
1990’s can operate at improved efficiency and produce 50%
less NO, than the preheater kiln of the 1970’s of similar
capacity.
An overall view of a 5000 mtpd PYRO-LINE currently
undergoing commissioning is shown in Fig. 15.
A review of the process-equipment design and arrangement
reveals several important noteworthy points, which result in
lower NO, formation and subsequent reduction and improved
kiln operational efficiency, i.e., thermal- and electrical-energy
consumption.
 874
Technical Data
Preheater I 2 x 4-staael 33 mbar
Precalciner I LOWNOX 60 - 6 5 % fuel
Kiln I 0 5 . 0 m x 55 m
Burner "yrojet - coal firing
Cooler
Electrical I 1s kWh/t
c
NOX
-
400 ppm stack
-__
Two-stage,Stepped Cooler
They are highlighted by the following:
Cyclone Preheater: Low pressure cyclone designs result in
average losses of 30 mbar with improved efficiency; by use of
special cast dip tube design, lower stage separation efficiency
can be maintained. Naturally, where applicable, 5- and 6-stage
preheaters should be utilized for further fuel savings.
LOWNO, Precalciner: The precalciner incorporates the de-
sign previously discussed, to allow sufficient retention time
of kiln gases in reducing phase for NO, decomposition. The
design of fuel injection and raw-meal distribution allows
for control over the combustion conditions and temperature
profile to ensure maximum NO, reduction and eliminate high
temperature zones and material buildup.
The controlled burning of precalciner fuel in gradual reduc-
ing to oxidizing gas phases also inhibits the opportunity for
further fuel NO, formation. Here, reduction in kiln formed
NO, can be reduced by 30-50%.
Pyro-Rapid Kiln: The kiln is a two-tire support mange-
ment with an L/D of 11:l and an effective kiln loading
of 5.4 tpd/m3. The shorter kiln features a rapid transition
zone thereby utilizing the raw-meal activity caused by the
decarbonation process to facilitate quick heat-up to clinker
sintering temperature with more evenly distributed clinker
components, resulting in a higher clinker quality and improved
burning conditions with lower radiant heat loss.
Pyro-Jet Burner: The kiln combustion process is supported
by a jet burner, which as described in this paper has proven to
reduce NO, formation reliably by 20-30%, while improving
kiln stability and burning zone conditions.
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 29, NO. 5, SEPTEMBEWOCTOBER 1993
__=
Kiln Hood T.A
Pyrojet Burner Two-tire Kiln LOWPressure
Preheater
Fig. 15.
It is important that the fuel supply system be designed to
facilitate the consistent and even feeding of the burner.
Tertiary Air Take-Off: Not to be taken for granted, the
method of tertiary take-off can influence NO, formation and
system efficiency. This combustion gas should be taken from
the kiln hood, as only in this way can the secondary air
temperature be moderately reduced without affecting cooler
efficiency. Better distribution of the secondary air around the
flame also results. It is well-known that high secondary air
temperature results in higher thermal NO, formation at the
burner tip. With use of the jet burner the higher secondary air
temperatures are not required for effective kiln combustion.
This heat is transferred to the precalciner via the tertiary
air duct, where in the calciner, it improves the combustion
condition for the precalciner fuel and combustibles from the
LowNO, combustion zone.
Stepped 2-Stage Cooler: The cooler is designed with ded-
icated cooler air-distribution system in the stepped first and
second compartments, constructed with stationary and mov-
ing grate sections for improved material distribution and
recuperation efficiency. A clinker crusher can be located
between the first and second grate sections, allowing for
improved secondary cooling efficiency reducing cooler size
and overall power requirement. Cooler efficiencies of over
70% are achieved with specific grate loading of 45 tpd/m2.
Pyro-Systems like the one described above with four-stage
preheater coal-fired kiln will achieve thermal efficiency of
720-740 kcal/kg clinker with electrical consumption of 1 6 2 0
kWh/mt. With six-stage preheaters, 68CL700 kcallkg at 20-22
kWh/t would result.
 CONROY: LowNO, PYRO-SYSTEMS DESIGN AND OPERATION
X. CONCLUSION
It is evident that by utilizing current equipment design,
lower NO, emissions are available for the newly constructed
cement plant. It is also possible to utilize much of the same
technology in existing kiln plants. However, the benefits to be
expected in existing facilities may be less due to the prevailing
conditions that would compromise their optimum application.
While analyzing the pyro-line we tend to concentrate primarily
on the thermal consumption. Elsewhere in the plant recent
advances in grinding technology can save significant electrical
energy, not forgetting that for each kilowatt consumed, there
is certainly a power plant somewhere emitting NO,.
REFERENCES
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ments and practical experience,” World Cement, no. 4, 1990.
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K H D Symposium 90.
[3] S. Syerud, “Operating experiences with the Pyroclon LowN0,-
Calciner,” K H D Symposium 90, Modem Burning Techniques.
[4] A. Wolter, “Fast gas trace analysis optimizes and reduces the emission
of pollutants in cement plants,” ZKG, no. 12, 1987.
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R. Rother and D. Kupper, “Stepped fuel supply-an effective way of
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burning process,” ZKG, no. 1, 1990.
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recycling from preheater,” World Cement, Mar. 1988.
Geoffrey H. Conroy was born in Great Britain in
1955. He received the B.Sc. degree in mechanical
engineering in 1977, while serving a five-year ap-
prenticeship with Polysius Ltd., England.
He continued with the Polysius group in England,
Germany, and the United States from 1977 to 1983
as a Process Engineer for cement process equipment
projects. In 1983, he joined KHD Humboldt Wedag,
where he specialized mainly in grinding projects
and roller press technology. In 1986 he joined
Coplay Cement Company to manage the corporate
engineering group, where he- supervised the installation of a grinding project
incorporating one of the first industrially applied roller press systems. In 1989
he rejoined KHD, where he is now Director of Projects, responsible for new
project development throughout North and South America.