The ement Plant

Operations Handbook
for Dry Process Plants
Seventh dition
January 2 19

Ph i p AAlsop Ph D

Tradesh
Tradeship
ip Public
P ublication
ationss Ltd
 

The
The Cement Plant Operations Handbook - Seventh Edition

cknowledgements
I wo uld like to thank the legions of grey men wi th whom I have worked and from whom I have learned
over the years. Specifically I would like to express my appreciation to James Post, Hung Chen, Herman
Tseng, Andrew Jackura, Arthur Chin-Fatt, Michael McCabe and Peter Bergmann who have made
significant
significant contributio ns s the earlier editions developed. I would also like to thank Philip Kerton for
providing important revisions for this seven th edition. I am indeb
indebted
ted to International Cement Review
for thei
theirr continued interest and support in publishing successive editions of the Handbook.

The author however   retains proprietary rights over all expressions of ignorance or opin ion.

Copyright e Philip A Alsop, 2019

Publishe
Publ ished
d by
by Trad es hip Pu b licat
icatiions Ltd
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transmitted in any form or by any mean s, electronic, mechanical or oth erwise, wi thout prior written
consent from Tradeship Publicati
Publications
ons Ltd .

This publication is intended o ~ y for use by professional

professiona l personnel who are competen
competentt to evaluate the
significance and limitati
limitations
ons of the information prov
provided
ided herein
herein,, and who will acc
accept
ept total responsibility
forthe
for the application
application of the information.
 

  reface

reface
For brevity the objective
objec tive has bee
been
n constrained and whole area areas
s of operations technology and
management have been omitted as being inappropriate to address in so li mitmited
ed a compass.
compass. ]t is also
appreciated th t regulations. specif
specifiications and even operating practices are not universal
universal   and our
observations should be discounted accordingly.

The scop
scope
e att emp ted comprehends:

• a considera
consideration
tion only of cyclone pre heater kiln technology
technology   which comprises the
majority of world production capacity and virtual ly all kilns installed since
since 1970
• a re
revv iew of majo r pl nt sub
sub--systems with a proposed l st of data which should be
available to plant and corporate management 
management  and some suggestions regarding
problem ar area
eas
s and possible solut ions
• a summary of cement types and concrete problems
• an outl i ne of plant assessment and pl nt valuation
• reference to ASTM and EN specifications for cements and for standar
standard
d methods
• a collecti
collection
on of proc
process
ess formulae
• a selection o f reference data and notes
• references to review articles

Philip Al
Alsop

Florida USA

January2019
 

Thee Cement
Th Ceme nt Plant Operations Handbook - Seventh Editi on

Contents
Section A - Process summaries

1 Introduction 10
1. The basics of cement manufacture - 2. History o f cement manufacture - 3. Portland cement in
today  s world

2  Raw materials 16
1. Raw mat erials - 2. Raw mix - 3. Reserves - 4. Crushing - 5. Drying - 6. Pre-blending - 7. St orage
materials
and handlins

3. Raw milling and blending 30

1. Raw milling - 2. Blending - 3. Kiln feed

4. Flames and fuels 38

1. Chemistry ofof co
comb
mbususti on - 2. Fuels - 3. Physics of combustion - 4. Burner design - 5. Cement kiln
tion
burners - 6. Hea t transf
t ransfer
er - 7. Pollutant formation - 8. Modelling - 9. Fuel storage and firing systems in
practice - 10 . Insufflation - 11 . Alternative and wa
wass te fuels

5 urning and cooling 76

1. Chem ical reactions - 2. Process variants - 3. Kiln burning - 4. Kiln ontrol- 5. Volatiles in th
th   kiln - 6.
Kiln bypa s s 7. Kiln star
startt-up and shutdow n 8 . Kiln refractories- 9. Clinker cooling 10. Kiln mechanical
11. Emerg
Emergency
ency power 1 2 . Plant control systems

6 . Ceme
Cement
nt milling
milling 110

1. Storage of clinker and ot

o t her components - 2. Cement milling - 3. Separators class
classifiers
ifiers)) - 4. Ball mill
circuit control
contro l - 5. Cement storag
storage
e - 6. Cement dispatch - 7. Distribution - 8. Quality assurance and
customer service

7 . Quality contr
control
ol 134

1. Sampling - 2. Chemical analysis - 3. Particle size analysis - 4. Thermal an ana

a l ysis - 5. Microscopy - 6.
Virtual Cem
Ceme e nt and Concrete Testing laboratory VeCTl) - 7. Calorimetry - 8. Bumability - 9. Grindability
- 10
10.. Physical te sti n g l l . Process control ana
analysis
lysis 12. Chromate passivation - 13. Cementqua
Cementqualili ty 14.
Setting t ime - 15. ASTM cement types and specifica tions - 16 . European EN 197 cement specification -
17. Composit e cements intergriintergrinds
nds and blends)
blends) - 18. Supersulphated cement - 19. Calcium aluminate
cement CAC) - 20. Shrinkage-compen sa ting cements SCC) - 21. ISO 900
9001:20
1:2000
00 Quality
Qua lity management
system - 22. Concrete problems

8 Maintenance 168
1. Maintenance benefits and costs - 2. Failure modes - J Computerised Maintenllnce Management

System
Syste m s C MMS) - 4. Reliability-Centred Maintenance RCM ) - 5. Maintenance cost management - 6.
Maintenance orga ni sa t ion - 7. Role, planning and control - B Mobile equipme nt maintenance - 9.
People
Peopl e and indicators
 

Preface

9 Environment and pollutio

pollutionn cont
control
rol 180
1 Dust coUectio n 2. Pollution control 3. ISO 14000 - 4. Sustainable deve
developm
lopment
ent and climate
clim ate change
change

10. Hydration of Portland cement 198

1. Init ial stage - 2. Induction or dormant stage 3. Acceleration stage 4. Deceleration stage

11 202
. Plant reporting
1. Definitions - 2. List of reports 3. Inventories and feeders 4. Downtime reporting - 5. Misce
Miscelllaneous
reporting 6. Typica l daily production report - 7. Typical pro
proces
cess
s summar
su mmary
y data 8. Typical equipment
downtime report 9. Plant manning

12 Accounting 212
1. Cost or management at::wunting - 2. Investm
Investment
ent justification - 3. Capacity increase by process
change 4. Project cost
cost estimation 5. Financial statements

13. Technical and proces

processs au
audi
dits
ts 224
224
1. Historical performance 2 . Kiln specific fuel cons
consumpti
umpti on 3 . Cement mill specific power
consumption - 4. Other systems 5. De-bottlenecking 6. Proje
Project
ct audit 7. Risk assessment

14. Plant assessment list 234

1. General 2. Administration and commercial 3. Communication with stakehostakehollders - 4. Quarry - 5.
Drying 6. Raw milling 7. Blending 8. Kiln 9. Fue l 10. Clinker - 11. Finish mi U 12. Cement
13. Quality control - 14 . Packing and dist
dist ribution 15. Emission abatement dusdustt , NO 2  etc) - 16.
Maintenance 1 7 . Process - 18. Materials analysis - 19. Plant capacity summary - 20. Storage capacity

15 Cement plant construction and valuation 244

1. Ne w p lant construction - 2. Project management - 3. Cement plant invest ment costs - 4. Project
phases - 5. Plant valuation

Section
Section B - Pr
Proce
ocess
ss calculatio
calculations
ns and misc
miscella
ellaneo
neous
us data
dat a

B1 Power 262
1. Spe
Specific
cific power consumpt ion - 2 . Power conservation 3 . Three
Three--phase power 4. Motor power output
- 5. Peak power tariffs - 6. Power generati<;m - 7. Cogeneration

B2 Fans and a ir handling 265

1. Fan laws - 2. Fan mechanical - 3. Impeller build-u

build-up
p - 4. Gas properties - 5. Plant air distri bution - 6.
Pitots, orifices and
and venturis - 7. False air - 8. Dust loading - 9. Stac
Stack
k draught - 10. Dewpoint of moist air
at atmosphe
atm ospheric pressure 11. Spray cooling of gas - 12. Abrasion r esistance
ric pressure

B3 Conveying 272

1. Comparativ
Comparativee power consumpti on fo r lift - 2. Pneumatic conveying - 3. Buckete
Bucketell eva tor power - 4. Belt
conveyor power - S Scre
Screww conveyor
conv eyor power - 6. Airslide - 7. Drag chain power - 8. Tube belt conveyor
- 9. Air-supported belt conveyor - 10. Sandwich conveyor - 11 . Modified belt conveyor - 12 . Capsule
conveyor - 13. Water pump power
 

Thee Cement
Th Ceme nt Plant Operations Handbook - Seventh Edition

84. MilUng 276

1. Sievesizes - 2. Circulating load - 3. Classifier recovery - 4. Tromp curve - S. Mill critical speed - 6.
Charge volume loading - 1. Grace factor and other ball mil parameters - 8. ill power- 9. Baa weight
and surface area - 10. Maximum bal size required -11 -11.. Measureme
Measurement
nt of
o f wear - 12. Effects of gypsum
upon se ttin
ttingg time

8 5 Kilns and burning 284

1. Cemen t compounds and ratios - 2. Coating tendency - 3. Burnability factor - 4. Required burn burning
ing
temperature - 5. Theoretical heatofformation ofdinker - 6. Kiln gas velocities - 7. Kiln heatbalaoce - 8.
Kiln spec ifi
ificc heat loading (SHL ) - 9, Kiln retention time - 10. Kiln volume loading - 11. Kiln capacity vs
diameter - 12. Kiln drive power - 13. Cooler effICiency - 14. Kiln exhaust gas (coa l) - 15. Circula
Circulation
tion of
volatile components -16. Estimation of kiln bypass -17. Other kiln types - 18. Other cooler types

86. Fuels 297

L Typical data for solid fuels - 2. Typical data for liquid fuels - 3. Typical data for gaseous fuels

87. Materials 300

1. Bulk densit
densities
ies of materials for silo storage - 2. 5pe<:ific gravities and grindabilities - 3. Solubilities
of sulphates - 4. Rates of dissolution of different forms of calcium sulphate at 20 °C - 5. Innuence of
temperature on
on the solubilities
solubilit ies of various sulphate forms - 6. Chemica I formula weights - 1. Coefficients
of linear expansion

8 8 Statistics 303

89 Miscellaneous data 309

L Atmospheric pressure and density altitude (O"C) - 2. pH and normality - 3. Laboratory reagents
v

(aqueous solutions)
solutions) - 4. Seawater composition - S Abundance of elem ents in earth s crust - 6.
Hardness of material
materia ls 1. Earthquake scales- S Beaufort wind scale - 9. World cement production - 10.
Regional cement consumption data - 11 . EU Environmental legislation - 12 . Ship and truck capac
capacities
ities
-13. Patents

B10 Conversion t bles 315

1. Length 2. Volume   3. Pressure-4. Weight - 5. Area - 6. Dens ity 7. Energy -S. Force-9. Miscellaneous

References 316

Index 335

Advertisers index 338

 

 ntroduction

1 ntroduction
Cement is a powdered substance made of burn burned ed lime and clay. mixed w ith
w a t er and sand t o make morta r or w ith water
water,, sa nd and g ravel to make concrete:
the m ixture hardens
hard ens when it dries (Colli ns English Dictionary). It must not be
confused w ith concrete whi
whicc h is a co ns
nstt ruction material made of a mixture o f
cement, sand, stone and wa ter th t hardens t o a st ston
onee l ike mass i d ).

1.1 The
The basics o f cement manufacture
Portland cement is manufactured In a series of processes, as shown in Figure 1.1 .

I ~ u r e 11 ement pl nt process flow

UmestorH
stockpile
CHnker

carbonate ) and other materials containing appropriate proportions of calcium,

Limestone (calcium carbonate)
silicon, aluminium and iron oxides are crus hed and milled to a fine flour-l flour- l ike raw meal. This is heated
in a kiln system , firstly to dissociate calcium carbonate to calcium oxide (lime) with the evolution
of carbon dioxide, and then to react lime with the other components to form calcium silicates and
alum
lumiinates that partia y fuse at material burning temperatures up to 1450' C. The reaction products
artialllly
leave the kiln as dark grains of cli nker. This is finally inter
nterground
ground with
wit h a small proportion of gypsum to
control the rate of hydration), yielding a fine, powdered product: Portland cem ent ent.. Other hydraulic or
pozzolanic
pozzolan ic materials
mater ials may also be intergro und to produce composite cements.

1.2 History o f ceme

cement
nt manufacture
The ancient history of hydraulic mortars is exten sive, especially foHowing the widespread use of
mixtures
mixture s of natural pozzo l an.<;< Ind hlJmed lime by Greeks and Roman s. ConsWeted in 27BC ilnd robuilt
in 117-125AD, the Pan theon in Rome is the only perfectly preserved building from this period
period,, built of
pouolan-ll ime concrete with
pouolan- with an unsupported dome spanning 4Sm. Portland cement was developed In
the 19th century and is named after its resemblance in colour and character to the naturally occurring
stone of Port
Portland
land 8ill,
8il l, off
of f the
the south coas t of England.
 

The Cement Plant Operations Handbook - Seventh Edition

Some of the more significant dates in the development of Portland cement manufacture are (extended
from ICR Research , 2002):

1824 Joseph AsAspd

pdin
in patente
pate nted
d Portland cement
cement,, contemporaneously with Louis
Vicat s studies of hydrau lic limes.
1845 Isaac Johnson recognised the significance
significance of high temperature to produce
tricalcium silicate, making the first modern cemen
cement. t.
1880s Gypsum added for set control.
1885 Frederick Ransome patented the rotary kiln.
1891 The o n t i n u o u s l y ~ f e d ball mill was patented.
19 5 Paper sacks introduced for
fo r cement.
1904 Cement standards 6512 and ASTM C9 established.
1911 First electro
electrostatic
static precipitator installe
installed
d in a cement plant.
pl ant.
1928 Introduction of the grate pre heater kiln (Lepol) by Polysius provided the first
major improvement in thermal efficiency from the prevprev ious long wet kilns.
kilns .
1930 Vertical roller mill first applied to cement manufacture with rapid deve\opmE'nt
after 1960.
19305 Introduction
Introduction o f the
the roll press - rapi
rapid
d developme
dev elopment
nt after
after 1980.
1932 Patent of
o f cyclone pre heater kiln wit
withh commercial
commercia l development by KHD from
1951.
1937 lntroduction of the grate cooler by Fu ller
ler..
195 5 Introd
ntroducti
uction
on of
o f mechanical
mechanical separator
separators
s in mill circuits,
circuits, with superio
superiorr designs

appearing from late 1970s.

196 Introduction by KHD of the kiln bypass to allow use of raw materials with
wit h high
volatile conte
contents
nts..
19605 XRF methods for rapid chemica
chemicall ana
analysis
lysis introduced.
introduced .
1966 Introduction of precalcinatio
precalcination,
n, initially
initi ally as air
air--through riser-
riser -firing.
1973 Introduction by IHI of the flash calci
calciner
ner with tert
ter ti ary air duct.
198 5 Introduction by
by IKN of fixed , inclined inlet cooler grate
grates
s for clinker distribution
and Coanda effect air injection.
19805 Horizontal roll presses start to be applied in th
thee cement industry.
198 5 Expert systems developed for kiln control,
contr ol, ronowing fuzzy logic trials in 1975.
1990s General introduction of multi-channel burners
burners to cater for more demanding
fuels_
20005 Vertical
Vertical roner mills used for grinding cement and slag products.

2010s Industry 4.0 impacts cement manufacturing. Theintenternet of increasi and offer
Things  ngly Big
Data combined with machine learning (artificial lligence) increasingly
new opportunities for plant automation and process optimisation.

1.3
1.3 Portland ceme
cement
nt in toda
today's
y's world
Concrete plays a vital
vital part in ou r daily lives, wit
withh immense benefits to socie
society
ty when building
buil ding schools,
schools,
hospitals, apartment blocks,
blocks , bridges, tunnels, dams, sewerage systems, pavements, runways,
runways , roads
and more. It is the world's most widely-
widely -used man-made material, with around Upa used for each
inhabitant. This amount is twice as large as the total of al all other building materials,
materials, including wood,
steel,, plastic and aluminium , none of which can replace concrete in terms of versatility,
steel versatility, longevity,
effectiveness, price and performance for most purposes.
 

 ntroduction

Table
Table 1.1 Grow
Growth
th of world cement consumption

'
Cement coosum
coosumption
ption (Mt) World population P « capit
itaa cemen
cemen t
I bn m . . . . , motion Ow
1910 30 15 20
1925 ISO 20 75

1940 400 2 2 180

1955 600 2 7 220

1974 1000 4  0 250

2000 1500 60 250

2005 2300 6 5 350

2010 3300 6 9 478

2015 4056 74 548

2020F 4175 7 8 535

Cement is e 5 s e n t i ~ for ~ n y featUre5 of modem life anu TaGle 1.1 h u w ~ a long- long- term grow
growthth rate In
cement demand o f2 -3 percent per year, accelerating to a little under four percent for the decade up to
2000 (Port
(Portll and 8ill, 2001). Consump t ion subsequently
subseque ntly increased
increased by over seven per cent annually from
2000 to 2011
2011,, reaching 3585Mt, t hen easing to around four p ercent to reac reach
h 4056Mt in 2015
2015 (Armstron
(Arm strongg
et ai,
ai, 2017)
2017).. Subsequent annual
ann ual grow
gr owth
th foreca
forec ast s are r ela
elatt ively low and variable, strongly influenced by
expectat ions for the Chinese market. The estimated total for world cement and clinker trade in 2016
was 189Mt (i b id)
id)..

The size
size of
o f a typica l modern cement plant has grown considerab
considerably,
ly, as illus
illustt ra t ed by the trend of orders
fulfilled by FLSmidth (Kris(Kristt ensen, 2009) (see Figure 1.2).

Figure
Figure 12 Cement kil
kilnn Silt'S cont inue to grow
continue

6000

'C
£: 5000
/
•• f
• 4000
VV
" .J
.I 3000
- <7

•
~ /

"•
\
000
V IV
:: V
•> 1000

<

1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Yea r

More recently, this t rend

rends
s towards
towar ds higher
highe r kiln sizes has been maintained, though at a slow
slower
er rat
rates,
es, with
capacities over 6OO0tpd common ly installed in the more populous countries,
countries, inclu ding India, Pakistan
and Indonesia.

Assuming an average sell i ng price of US$95jt, the cement industry worldw ide has revenues of a lmost
three--fifths of Walmart's, and Birshan et al (2015) report that McKinsey's ha
three hass estimated
estim ated that the gl
gl obal
capital value of the indust
indus t ry is approaching US$5OObn . The industry has some significant key features
features,,
being both capital- and energy
energy-- intensive and pr esenting diff icul t transport log
logis
istt ics (Cembureau
(Cembureau,, 2017):

• Until the more widespread acquisition of lower- cost equipment

equip ment from China and
Indii a in recent years, the cost of a greenfield plant wa:. y p i c ~ l I y above US$180m 
Ind US$180m 

Mta of capacity, equivalent to around

aro und three
thre e years
years of turnove
turnoverr, ranking cement
manufacturr e among the most capital-
manufactu capital-intensive industries. Even with mo
more
re Asian
compon
compo nents
ents,, costs r emain around the US$l00m leveL
 

The
The Cement
Cement Plant
Pla nt Operations Handbook
H andbook - Seventh Edition

• Producing 1t cement requires fuel equi

equiv valent 60 -130kg of oil and some 11 0kWh of
electric power.
• Cement has a lo w value-to-
value-to-weight
weight ratio,
ratio, limiting
limiting the distance tha
thatt cement
c ement can
be economicall
economicallyy transported
transported,, before the cost of t ransport exceeds the cost of the
product.. For land transportation, the maximum economic haul distance is nearer
product
to 200km than 300km. Maritime transportation over 4000km with 35 ,ooot
transportati on for over
cargo can be as cheap as 300km of truck transport.

ement consumption
Demographic trends,
trends , including population age,
age , growth rate and urbanisation, are the main drivers of
cement consumption.
consumption . The pace of growth of demand is influenced by a country s stage of economic
economic
ealth,, often measured by GOP per capita.
development and w ealth

The world average of per capita cement consumption in 20 16 was 560kg, while the median - which is
perhaps a better indicator
indicato r of centra l tendency it''s less affected by outliers - reached 285kg .
tendency,, as it
The conventional wisdom has long been that that,, as GOP per capita increases, so does a nation's cement
consumption, unt plateau is reached at around U5$15,000 GDP per capita (eg, Betts, 2003). In reality,
untilil a plateau
the relationship between GOP and cement consumption is mo re comple x, with data sho w ing a wide
complex,
varia t ion of trends, butbu t clearing indicating decline in consumption at high levels of GOP per capita as
indicatin g a decline
well as varia t ion in regional trends.
In genera l , cement consumpti on per capita tends to be lowest in emerging countries at an early stage of
cement consumption
development, as they lack the capacity to invest in public infrastructure and housing
housing..

As a country develops it moves into a phase of higher economic

economi c growth
growth,, enabling the population to
invest in housing and basic infrastructure
infrastructure..

As per capita income increases further and a nation moves towards a higher income status, it continues
to build up its infrastructure alongside its industrial and commercial base, thereby maintaining a high
alongside
level of consumption.
In the later st
st ages of development,, per capita cement consumption stabi
development stab ilises at a lower level as the
coun t ry will have satisfied much of its development and housing needs .

Figure 1 3 Evolution of per capita cement demand through phases of economic de velopment
\notlo
\notl onal fl f',ures for Illustration only)

.......
....... ~
_.roar-....,
_ if>I'r.tnroctur
PMi< _
...... n.n.ItIon
~
d <OtMltldol i i . ~ 70 .000

,,
00
900 :' ... L-odusI
_   :,' _  00 :,,
E , ,, ,000
'00
, , r
SO ,ooo
'00

,
i
i,
'
'
,
,
,
,,
- " •,:,,  
,,
,,
, 000

; 0 ,000 '.
",
i.i.
,
E
•
v
300
300
-- ,: c -
,,
,,
,,
,,
20 ,000
•
0

'' 0
, , 10,000

0
(ounny development pha

- Cement de
dem
man
and
d • • GOP per u p i t '

A single new kiln may produce 13,OOOtpd of clinker, to be ground wi t h other materials to produce
produce ov
o ver
15,OOOtpd of cement. This inv
invoolves the quarrying or purchasing of over 24 ,000tpd of raw materials
(including non-clinker cemen
cementt compone nts) and their blend
components) ing,, homogenlsatlon and milling, plus the
blending

processing of about
processing ab out 2000tpd of uel, and the milting and dispat
dispatch
ch of the product.
pro duct. All of these materials
have to be st ored, extracted from storage, transported and fed to equipment
equipme nt at a controlled rate - and
th is s not to mention the high temperatures that are employed and process exhaust gases to be treated
 

  awm teri ls

2 Raw m teri ls
Portland cement composition
compos ition varies from plant to plant due t o both cemen
cementt
specification
specif ications
s and the mineralogy o f available materials. A desirable raw mix
is one t hat minimises both the heat i npu t required for clinkering and total raw
material cost, wh il e producing a cement of acceptable performance.

21 Raw materials
Cement manufacture begins with the winning of raw materials and their transport to the plant.
involves either rippin g or drilling and blasting. In eit
Quarrying involves either
her case
case , the recovered material
materia l needs
to be of consistent qualfty.

Many questions arise in evaluating pot enti al raw materials

material s in relati
relati on to the follo wing points:

• location and availabilit y for exploitation

• area
area and thic
thickness
kness (henc
(hence e avai
availab
lab le reserves)
• nature an
and
d volume o f overburden
• geological
geological structure and geotechn
geotechnical
ical development constraints
• chemical qual
quality
ity and variations, both laterally and in depth (including
composition, mineralisation
mineralisation,, cavitation, ground water chemistry)

•• physical properties
appro priat e quarr
quarrying
ying and mineral proces
processing
sing techniques.

Concerns to protect biodiversity are emerging in relation to limestone quarry selection and
management {Whitte
{Whitten,
n, 20n}. Much advice on avoiding
avoi ding sites is ba
base
sed
d on mamma
m amma ls and birds,
birds , and is not
specific to li mestone
estone.. Environmental and social imp ct assessments ESIA) have tended to give poor
consideration to the specific characteristics
c haracteristics of limestone,
li mestone, and especia
especia Ily the sm
smaa Iler and
and severely range
range
restricted species which it contains. Very few species
species have been properly asses assesse
sedd for the
t he autho
a utho rita tiv
tivee
IUCN Red List of Threa
Threatened
tened Species and even fewer have been given any form of protection, so th t
even the best-planned quarry can cause global- global-level extinctions. Guidelines relevant to the cement
sector have been produced WBCSD, 2016 . New European European regulations require
requi re measures
measures to prevent or
eliminate colonisation of locati
locations
ons such as qua
quarry rry sites by invasive alien species,
species, ie , animals and plants
arriving in natural env
environments
ironments where they are not normally found. Guidance Guidanc e for the industry has
been produced (Cembureau, 2017).

Some major companies are using a m itigation hierarchy when selecting quarrying sites, summarised
as avoid, mitigate, compens
compensate
ate . Table 2.1 outlines a methodology to ensure th t sites are selected on

the basis of appropriate information, th t offsets are established only where mitigation is inadequate
or impossible and th t meaningful monitoring programmes are agreed.

Table 2.1 Th
The
e miti gatio n hierarchy for biodIVersity
Avoid at source Redesign project to remove
remove potential impacts due to the project s
feature.
Reduce on-s
on-siite Redesign project to remo
remov ve potential im
impacts
pacts due to the project s
feature. Design control systems to abate impacts.
Reduce off-site Implement off-site measures to reduce impa cts that cannot be
impacts
abated with
wi th end-o
end-of-proc
f-process
ess treatments.
Remedy Repair any residual,
residual, unavoidab
una voidable damage by restoration activities or
le damage
appropriate interventions.
Offset Compensate
Compen sate for residual
residual,, unavoidable impacts if
i f other mitigat
mitigation
ion
measures are not feasible, cost-effective or already fully implemented
eg, a like-for-like biological offset achieving no net loss ecologi
ecologically.
Net positive outcomes Make a positive contribution to b iodiversi
iodiversity
ty conservation.
 

The
The Cement Plant Operations Handbook - Seventh Edition

A structured MHigh Conservation Value - (HCVl approach can also be integrated to BiAs, identifying
areas with exceptionally
exceptionally--high social, cultural, environmental or biological values nd developing
management plans with stakeholder input to both permit exploitation and ensure
ensure maintenanc e of the
values. A quarry-related HCV assessment would require the following:
1. team formation
forma tion and briefing
briefin g on project
projec t scope,
scope, with attention to the surrounding
landscape and con text

2 compilation of available data vegetation, geology, soil

soils,
s, landforms,
landform s, species),
species) ,
including
including preliminary
preliminary stakeholder consultatio
c onsultations
ns

3. HCV pre
pre--assessment based on existing data
4 planning for fie
fieldw
ldwork
ork and agreem
agreement
ent on field methods fO prim
primary
ary data
collection

S fieldwork by competent professionals

6. data analysis and interpretation, including identification of specimens by
competent speci
specialists
alists
7. preparation of a draft report, with maps and management and monitoring
recommendations
8. discussion with local government agencies and other stakeholders
9. adoption of a formal
forma l HCV management and monitoring plan.

Poor biodiversity perform

performance
ance can damage relations with regulat
regulators
ors and potent ially blight a comp<lny's
repotation with its community and stakeholders, affecting access to reserves and permits t o operate.
The Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (www.ibatforbusiness.org) pr ov ides a convenient way
to access and use the most up-to-date biodiver
biodiversity
sity information in line with accepted standards and
severall cement companies are subscribers.
severa

Quarry rehabilita t ion is an important consideration. Restoration to nature', without infilling, can cost
around US$10/m 1, but re-use for other purp
purposes
oses may be a more attra
attractive
ctive prop
propOSiti
OSition
on eg, agriculture,
fishery, nature reserve, lakes, sports, housing, shopping centre, light industry).

A good
good quarry manag
management
ement plan is essential, based upon a 3D mode
model,
l, established via a borehole survey
throughout the prospective deposit (Ritzenthaler, 2011). Advances in computer power over the past
25 years have provided much more acce
accessibl
ssiblee models and plans for selecti
selective
ve quarrying to maximise
recovery and avoid low-grade material and contaminants.

Quarry management has been greatly facilitated in the current century by the introduction of Global
Po sitio ning Sys
System
tem G P ~ ) tf'Chnolngy (Mercy, 2(01) and more rece
recently
ntly - and increasin
increasingly
gly - by the use
of drones (Anon, Quarry Management, 2011). Full site surveys can be carried out more frequently, less
dangerously and at a lower cost than was possible with a team of topographers.

2.2 Raw mix

Normally, cement plants stand upon deposits of limestone (the 'calcareous'
Normally, 'calcareous' raw compo nent
nent)), while
shale or clay (the ' argillaceous' component
component)) is usually nearby. Limestone comprises 15 per cent of the
earth''s crust (K
earth (Ko
o lb , 2(01).

A substantial proportion of the raw mix is CaCO ] : heating a raw mix evolves some 35 per cent by weight
as C O and 1.
1.5t of raw materials
materi als are required
required to produce t of clinker. The basis of analytical data must
be dearly distinguished between r a w and loss (or i g n i t e d ~ ) .

Raw cement miKes vary from a single component (rarely sufficiently uniform for modem quality
demands) to four- or five--compon
five--component
ent mixes.
mixes. In established economi
economies
es many eaSily-accessible, good good 
quality reserves have already been consumed and cement makers are forced to use materials of
relatively marginal quality, requiring sweetenin
sweetening g byoneor more additives and good blendin
ble nding
g to assure
assure
homogeneity. Kiln feed typically contains 78-SO per cent CaCO ] so that acceptab
acceptable le limestone must fall
dose to this level to the extent that it also contains the other ngredients. It is essential to hav
have
e suff icient
flux (AI, Fe, Mg, F) to promote fusion in the kiln.
Therefore,
Therefore, materials, as quarried, are typic ally in proportion as show
shownn in Table 2.2.
 

Raw m teri
teri  ls

-
Table 2 1 TYP,ca

Umestone CaO)
Shale or day SiO
Additives SiO A ~ O
p r o p o r t

and
and FelOJ )
.
o n ~

10 J
Sh re n mb

85

13

<1 each

MgO should not exceed 4-5 per cent or the resulting cemen t may be expansive. Excess alkalis K, K, Na )
affect both kiln operation build-ups
build-ups)) and product qua lity alkali
alkali--si l ica reactivity
reactivity))_Excess sulphur causes
kiln build-ups and limi ts gypsum addition, which may cause setting problems. The stoichiometric
limits
ratio of alkalis to sulphur is best kept between 0.8-1.2 on a molar basis. Excess chloride in kiln feed
(>0.015 per cent for preheater kilns,
kilns , >0.02 per cent for air-separate precalciners ) causes serious build-up
problems in preneatercyclones.

Table 2.3 shows example ranges from chemical analyses of raw materials and raw meals for producing
Portland cement clinker.

, 0.0-1..5
0.0-1

0.0 01 0.5-
5-1
1 .5 0.0-1 0.0··0.8
0.0

oss on ignition 2-44 1· 20 6 .74 0.1-30 32-36

32-3 6

Scxm:e: Schorch t 01 2013

If the limestone s not homogeneous, rock from different areas may be blended to maximise reco very and
Ifthe
selective quarrying may be needed to avoid low-grade material or problems such as alkalis. Frequent
sampling and analysis of materials was traditionally used to control adjustme nts to mix proportions in
adjustments
cases of poor quarry homogeneity. Online analytical methods that assess the bulk composition avoid
samp ling errors and investment can be cost effective
effective,, whether applied to the blending process or at the
raw milL Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis PGNAA) is an established example: ma terial is
transported on a belt conveyor through an analysis cabin and continuously irradiated with a neutron
beam that st imulates em ission of pro mpt gamma rays to id identif
entifyy the chemical elements present and
their concentrations. Alternatives avoiding the need to comply with atomic radiation regulations)
regulations)
include laser Induced Dreakdo
Dreakdowwn Spectroscopy USS ) and Near Inr,a- Inr,a-Red a n a l ~ b NIR ), wh Ic h

address the surface layers of bulk material Muller et ai, 2011 and Muhlen , 20 17 ).
 

The ement Plant Operation

Operations
s Handbook Seventh Ed ition

Quarrying and hauling are commonly monitored by tile perfOfTTlance indicators shown in Table 2.4.

T h k } 4 Qu Ypf'rformanc(' Indr t o r ~

Blasting g explosive
explosivell t rock
Stripping ratio t waste re
removed/t used rock
Loadin g tph of equipment and loader availability
( of required hours)

Hauling tph per truck and truck availability

The conventional lim estone explosive is ANFO (am monium nitratenitrat e activated with around fi ve per
cent fuel oil). Usage is typically between about 100 -1 3Og/t in Fran ce (Ciments Fram;ais, 1993), with
considerablee va riation elsewhere, perhaps up to 200g/t. Staggered bl as
considerabl asti
tin
n g delays help av
avoid undue
vibrationss beyond t he quarry. Some North American locat
vibration locatiions use mor
moree explosive to produce a smaller·
sized feed to crushers and so reduce the demand upon them, allowing hi gher throughput.

All production and inventory records are mo st conveni

conveniently
ently kept in dry tonn
tonnes,
es, but moisture levels of
mined, hauled and crushed rock must be known to assess equipment efficiency.
Haulage can often account for around 30 per cent of quarrying
quarrying costs, and to ~ tha t cost do
do wn, haul
roads need to be maintained well, ie , to a standard t which a private car can drive
drive at
a t normal speeds.
Apart from c hemiStry
hemiStry,, grindab
grindability
ility and burnability (or 'co
'combinabil
mbinabil ity ) are also factors in selecting raw
materials. In particular, silica additives
additi ves containing large-grain quartz are very diffi cult to grind and can
result in hard burning, high fuel consumption and increased equipment ma maiint
nteena nce. If quartz silica is
employed, itit should preferably have
have a natural
natu ral grain size of less than SOlJm or be ground to less than 2- 2-3
per cent coarser than this size
size..
In recent years, partly to address concerns over the long-te
long -te rm sus
susta
ta inability of using virgin quarried
materials,, kiln s have increasingly used industrial by -products (eg, mill scale) and waste materials (eg,
materials
water
wat er treatment
treatmen t sludge)
ludge),, sometimes in return for disposal fees.

Tablr: ) Some <I1dustrlal by p l o d u l ~ u\('d allf rI1<1llv( raw m.llerrah

ea agents ind ustria
striall lime, carb id e slurry, lime sl urry , water tr
t reatment sl ud ge, fertilise r industry
sludge, low- grade limestone, paper sl sludge , sugarstudge
Si agents foundry sand
sand,, silica fume , rice husk ash
ash,, catalys t fines
Fe agents roasted pyrites, steel sla g. synthe
synthettic hematite
hematite,, converter flue dust
dust,, laterite wa
wass te,
red mud, mill scale
51 AI, Ca agents coal fly ash, metallurgical slags, fluidised bed as
ash
h, stone working residues,
phosphorus furnace slag, oil s hale residues, bottom ash , basa lt rock, waste bauxite
bauxite,,
china clay waste, demolition waste, crusher fines, soil, tailings
Sagents desulpho gy psum
Fagents Ca F filter slurry, ore tail ings

SUb sta
stances
nces containing calcined calcium C aD as opposed to CaCO,)
CaCO ,) are particularly attracti ve in
avoiding tile heat requir
required
ed for dissociating carbonate and resultant COl emissions (see Section 85.5.).
Natural raw materials contain minor quantities of various elements such as P, Ti , Cr and Mn and the co
processing of wastes has led to inco rporat
poration
ion of a much wider range of elements, with effects reviewed
by Bhatty (1995 ). Different wastes are economically available in different regions: in some places the
best supp li es are already contracted to major cemen
cementt companies: as with ownership of raw material
reserves, assured and sustained access to s upplie
uppliess of alternative raw materials (ARMs) isof key strategic
importance to a cement busines s. In some regions, it is not unusual for one or more minor components
of a raw mix to itsel
itselff be a blend of several materials, each
ea ch delivery having
having bee
bee n analysed
analysed to determine
the conce
conce ntration requi
required.
red.
Apart from raw mate ria ls, gypsum and fue l are required, together with various pouo lanic or hydraul ic
materials (both natural and by -p
-product
roduct), when producing composite cements.
 

  awm teri ls

2.3 Reserves
A know ledge of limestone reserves is necessary and, to a less er exten
extentt , of shale, particularly when
justifying inves
investt ment to increase capacity
capacity.. Reserves are classed according to the detail in which they
have been explored:
Class A or pro
provv en reserves - Extensive drilling has confirmed quanti
quantity,
ty, mineralogy,
variation, mining and legal availability.
Class Bor probable rese
reserve
rvess - Su
Suff
ffic
icie
ient
nt drilling allows presumption
presumption of
o f quality and
availability.
Class C or indkated reserv8 - Wid
Widely-
ely-spa
spaced
ced drilli ng gives extent and some knowledge
dri lling
ofquality.
Clau 0 or inferred reserv es Initial exploration and consideration of geology
geology allow
general assumptions.
assumptions .
Sig nificant benef
benefits
its arise from careful atten t ion to initial se lection and sizi
sizing
ng of quarry equipment, and
t akin
aking
g account of restrictions, such as permitted hours of operation or blasting.

2.4 Crushing

crushers need to accept shot rock with the minimum of w astage or preliminar
Primar y crushers
Primary preliminary
y size reduction.
Typically, feed size should be less than 1200mm and either the feed hopper should be prot
prote
ected by an
appropriate sc reen, or a hydraulic breaker used to break oversized rock.

The cho ic e of crusher is influenced by many factors, such as:

1. raw material characteristics (eg, compress

compressiive strength, abrasivity, breakage mode)
mode)
2. requ i red capacity
3. required product size
4. expected feed size from quarry
5. capital and running costs
6  fixed, mobile r sem i-mobile locatio
location.
n.

There may be primary, secondary and, occasionally

occasionally,, tertiary crushers in series to achieve a final
rrushed product of suitable size for feed ing to the raw mill. Most crushers are opcr.lted in open circuit,
though frequently they are also preceded by a screen or grizzly to bypass fin fine
e material directly to the
nex t stage. Crushed rock shou ld ideally be -20mm for feed to raw ba ll mills.
mills. Ver
Vertica
ticall roller
r oller mills
mil ls and rol l
presses generally require only a single stage of crushing, as they can accept larger feed, typically up to
100mm,
100m m, the maximum being roughly
roughly determined by roller diameters 0) 0) :
Roller mills Easy -grinding mate
materrials <4 +0.060,; <2 }lb-t 0.025 0,
Hard -gri nding material
materials
s D 0.060,,; <20
-t 0.060 + 0.0 15
150
0,
Sometimes a simplified rule
rule--of-thumb of not more than five per cent of table diameter is used for
materials of average grindability.

Roll pre ss Maximum feed should not exceed 0.050

0.050,,
Al ternatively, a lilimit
mit of twice the roll gap is used liedtke
liedtke,, 2 00).

Primary crushers may be located at either the quarry or the plant ant,, largely
largely dete
determ
rmii ned by comparing
haulage and conveying costs HeuerHeuer,, 1997), w hereas secondary crushers are almos almo st always located
at the plant. When the total tonnage to be carried between two fixed points justifies the in vestment,
a belt conveyor system often gives th the
e lowest overall transport cost. Mobile crushers are common in
aggregate quarri
quarries
es but have been rare for cement (Anon , RP, 1994). Basically, as the quarry face mo ves,
the distance to tr
transport
ansport material to a fixed crusher becomes greater, and the expense of maintainin
maintainingg
and opera t ing a fleet of dumper trucks increases
increases.. Mobile in-pit
-pit-crushin
-crushingg is bes t suited to large,
homogeneous,, undistu
homogeneous undisturr bed, flat-l
flat-lying
ying deposits, where the total production is mined at one location
location,,
 

The Cement PLant Operations Handbook - Seventh Edition

aUowing point- to -point material transport. If deposit irregularities necessitate simultaneous mining
and/or stripping at djfferent loca
location
tions,
s, semi-mobile in pit crushers fed by wheel-loaders o r a (small)
shove -truck system can be an economic solution, especially if the general haulage is uphill. If the truck
fleet can travel downhill when loaded longer hauls can be tolerated and semi- semi -stationary crushers
become an interesting alternative.
Horizontal or vertical impact crushers have been a fashionab
fashionable
le choice because one machine can reduce
run-af-quarry feed to mill feed size wit the crushing
crushi ng path gap varied
varied by hydraulic
hydraul ic pressure
pressure.. They are
no t the answer
not answer to all problems and sometim
sometimes
es entirely
entirel y unsuitable
unsuitable.. Some other types are illustrated in
Figure2..1.
Figure2

Crusher selection depends on various fact

factors,
ors, including
includi ng the work index of the material, its abrasiveness
and stickiness, the required throughput, feed size and required reduction ratios, and power
consumption. Reich (2007) discusses these matters and provides Table 2.6 to assist in selecting
Thyssen Krupp crushers .

Table 2.6 Crusher sele

selettlon
ttlon tnt ena
. , .
, .
, , .: - -.
Single-shaft 1:100 <150 <8 <10
hammer crusher
Double-shaft 1:100 <150 <8 <15 -20
hammer crusher
Impact crusher 1:20 <175 <12 <8
1:60
Grind ingpath
Double -roll 1:6 primary <150 >15 >20
crusher
Rollersizer 1:6 primary <175 >15 >15 Primary
1:5 secondary <15 Secondary
1:4 sidesizer '15 sidesizer
Jaw crusher 1:5 >150 -400 >15 <5

Gyratory crusher 1:5 >1.50 -400 >15 <5

Hammer mills (single and double horizontal shaft) operate by material falling into the circle of the
rotating hammer(s) and being impacted both by the hammer(s) and the breaker plate. The discharge is
partially or wholly screened by grates, which risk plugging In damp conditions.

The CenterSizer crushes material between teeth in the middle of a crushing

crushing chamber, with the required
required
shear and tensile forces generated by high roto
rotorr torques
torques at low circumferential speeds. Feederfines can
pass between the rolls without being further crushed, providing low power consumption, wear rate,
and fines content. A SideSizer crushes material at the sides between crushing teeth and adjustable
crushing combs.
Double -toggle jaw crushers have a simple compress
compressionion motion
mot ion with jaw
ja w angle
angle of 15-20·, while singl
single
e
toggle
toggle jaw crushers also have a measure of vertical jaw motion, adding attrition to compression. They
can handle some sticky materials, but
bu t wear increases.

Gyratory crushers operate by pressure between a gyrating cone and a stationary or spring-loaded
crushing ring. Cone crushers are anothervariant
anothervariant..

Double-roll crushers employ a combination

combination of shear and tensi le forces. Counter-rotating rolls with low
speed and large teeth can accomm
accommodate
odate both hard rock and wet, sticky day.

Monitoring
Monitori ng of cru
crushe
sherr operation requires the following data:

• product ion rate (tph

production (tph)) operating hour
hours
s (h)
• involuntary downtime (h)
• feed moisture (%)
• product screen analysis.
 

  awm teri ls

2.5 Drying
The handling characteristics of materials relative to moisture content vary widely widely.. In general
general,, a raw
mill can dry material of up to 15 per ce cent overall moisture, but pre-drying may be necess necessary
ary for certain
materials (or in certain seas
seasons
ons)) to facilitate handl
h andling
ing.. On the other hand
hand,, pre-dried materials
m aterials may also
cause
cau se serious
serious handli ng problems. Steam evolution from hot mater material
ial caus
causes bUild-up and can plugdust
es bUild-
collectors,, whilst
collectors whi lst the dr y fine
fine fraction is liab
liable
le to flush
flush from
fr om interme
in termediate
diate storage
storage.. There are advantages
in both handling and heat consumption if raw material mate rials s can
can be taken to th e raw mill and dried within it.

Figure 2 1 Crushers

'

~ ~ /
J ~ '
Jawaushef

- '
(single toggle) double toggle)

' ~
(single rotor)
'

Drying is commonly carried out in combined cr c rushe

usherr-dryers or occasionally in autogenous mills, using
either dedicat
dedicat ed hot gas generators or waste heat from the kiln exhaust. The air flows require dust
removal
remo val and their high humidi ty has favou
favoured precipi tators over ba g houses.
red electrostatic precipitators

Monitorin
Monit oring
g includes:

• pro duction
product ion rate (tph) and opera ting hours (h )
operating
• inv
in voluntary downtime (h)
• hot gas temperature ( . C) and dischar
discha r ge gas t emperature ( . C)
• feed moisture ( ) and product moisture ( )
• heat input (fo
(forr dedicated heat generators) (kcaVkg
(kcaVkg).
).

Heat consumption is most conveniently calculated on equiv equi valent clinker basis so th t i t may be
to assess total process heat.
combined arithmetically with kiln heat to

2.6 re·blending

If the limestone and d y/ shale both have highly-consistent properties,

properties, or if differences in form would
result in segregation,
segregation , there may be justification for handling each separately up t o raw mill feed and
proportioning them with the mill feeders. More commonly, low-frequenc y, day-to-day material
variation can be mitigated and buffe
buffe r storage more economica lly provided, by a mixed pre- pre -blend
stockpile,, either longitudinal or circular. Strict
stockpile Strictly
ly speaking, homogeni
homogenisation
sation ref
refers
ers to a single materi
material
al
 

The Cement Pla

Pl an t Operati
Operations
ons Handbook
Handboo k - Seventh Edition

and blending' to t w o or more. 'Pre-homogenisation ' refers to homogenisation before the material is
sent to the raw mill and is most frequently applied to the main raw mix component, limestone. Where
two materials are to be blended, they are fed to the pile in the desired proportion.
The limestone (and clay/shale if premixed) are metered and fed simultaneously to a feed conveyor.
There are two major st
st acking systems {see also Figure 2.2} :

Figure 2 2 Stackmgand redalmlllg

Stacking

Ch evro
evronn stacking in layers along a single axis with the feed conveyor sweepin
sweepingg
backward
backwar ds and forwards along the length of the pile Figure 2.2.1). Here, fi ner
material is fo und at the centre of the pile and coarse in the lowest level and
near the surface.
Wi nd
ndrr ow stacking in longitudina
longitudinall strips side-by-side and then in successive layers;
avoiding the segregation
segregation oflarger material (>lOOmm ) falling to the
t he foot of the
pile, and managing the material reclaimed from the typically off-target end
cones which
which characteris
charac terisee chevron stacking {Petersen
Petersen,, 1994) but otherwise
there is little difference in blending efficiency. The windrow system requires
a more complex and expensive stacking belt arrangement (Figure 2.2.2), but
shows advantages when treating a blend of materials with different handling
characteristics (Paone et ai, we 2017) .
Chemical analysis of material fed to storage is essential, especially if premixcd. This may be either by
continuous sampling followed by periodic conventional analysis Andersen and Pedersen, 2004, and
Narayanan and Koenig, 2 4   ·1), or by neutron activation methods (Foster and Bond, 2006; Leetham,
2008, and Harder,
Harder, 2009 ), continuously analysing a portion of the material flow diverted to fall though
a chute or, better, the whole stream of ma terial traveling on a belt. The latter method has the obvious
advantage of rapidity and avoids a v ry difficult sampling problem
problem..

Thc main objective of blending is to achieve target consis

consisttency of chemical analysis. At intermediate
process stages it is co nvenient to cons
consiider the improvement ratio as a measure of effectiveness. This
ratio relates to a chosen parameter, eg, F or carbonate content. Typically, the standard deviation of
results for 24 samples taken hourly is used as a guide. In -pit blending can iron out relatively long-term
 

  awmaterials

or day-t
day-t o-day fluctuations in material properties,
properties , whilst in -plan t equipme nt compens
compensates
ates for short
short
term fluctuations that occur wit
wi t h an hour-to
hour-to--hou r frequency,
frequency, or ev
even
en mor e rapidly.

Pre-blend effectiveness (the ratio of estimated standard deviations [sl for feed and product) is
approximately related to the number of layers [N ] by:

Blending ratio = SI It< olI = IN/2

S p<   l.<: ' 1

Typically, a pile is built of 100

100-40
-400
0 layers
layers,, yieldi
yi elding
ng a blendi ng ratio o f 3-6 for raw data and 6-15 if the
variations within each reclaimed slice are ignored (which should be eliminated by normal handling)
(la bah n, 1995).
1995).

Recove
Recovery
ry from th e pile
pi le takes
takes place transversely
transversely to the long itud
itudinal
inal stacki
stacking,
ng, by end or side reclaim:
reclaim :

End reclaim various systems to scrape an en t ire end face

face with
wi th a transverse
scraper at floor le
level
vel moving material to a di
d ischarge conveyor
(Figure 2.2 .3).
ideredaim a boom-mounte d scraper working end- end -to -end al
a long the side of the
pile. This gives less effective blending and recovery flo w rate is not
constant (Figure 2.2.-1) .
Two pile
Two piles
s are
are normal ly operated, one one being bu ilt whi le the other is recovered. Length-
Length -to -width ratio
should beat leas
leastS:l.
tS:l. The pre-
pre-blend pile is usually the principal
princ ipal buffer storage
storage between
between quar
q uarry
ry// crushing
and raw milling. It should be mininially sized to maintain mill feed during the longest anti ant icipated
interruption in the supply of ne neww rock - probably the week weeken
endd shutdown of the quarry,
qua rry, or the time
required for maintenance of crushing equipment. Total capacity of 7-10 days consumption is normal,
ie, around 30 ,000-40,OOOt of ma matt eria
eriall for a 3000
3000tt pd clinker plant
plan t . Pre-blend p iles are usually
usual ly covered,
both to pre
prevvent rainfall on fine absorbent material, and to contain fugitive dust.

Circular pre-blends are emplo yed to save space and avoid the difficult
are sometimes employed difficult ies caused by end
end
cones but do not all
allow
ow subsequent expansion
expansion and present a challenge
challenge when a switch is made between
differentt types of clinker
differen clinker,, each
each wi th distincti
di stinctive
ve chemistry.

Pre-blending should e monitored for compositional variation of feed and discharge to determine a
blending ratio .

The effort to redu

reduce
ce variability starts with quarry pl anning and management.
management. A model of the quarry in
compositional terms is crucial and,and, wi th a quarrying
quarryin g plan, allows predictions
pre dictions for the general manner in
which va riations will occu r as the reserves
reserves are explOited. Suc Such
h work
wo rk identi fo r cha nges
id enti fies general trends for
that appear over periods
periods of weeks, months or years and that can be evened out by use of appropriate
equipment and wor king patte
patterns.
rns. A stockpile constructed
constructed over a period of days has th e potential to
reduce variations w hich occur over a similar t imescale. Residence time studies of conventional raw
milling circuits suggest that these can even out varia variatt ions occurring over periods of up to about 20
minutes.. later after treatment in blending silos, raw meal variability undergoes a further small
minutes
improvement, either due to layering into int o a selection of kiln feed silos from a singsinglle blending
blend ing silo or as a
funneling . To achieve optimum perform
result of internal layering and funneling. performance
ance a combi nation of blending
components should be used to best match the full spectrum of periodicity of raw materia variability.

By way of example, quarry face variability might be 40, w hich could be reduced by a factor of 1.2 by by
the time materia l arrives
arrives at the b lending stockpile,
stockpile, which could improve matters by a further factor of
6. Moving from the raw mill hoppers to the blending silo could could introduce a further ratio of 2:1 before a
significant 6:1 improvement upon ble bl e nding silo treatment, followed by a further 1.2 :1 i mprovement
during feeding to the kiln system . These improvements are cumulative and, and , multiplied together,
together,
indicate the overall system
system capab
capabilit
ility
y as 86.4 - more than sufficient to reduce t he quarry fa face
ce variation
below a typical kiln feed target
target variabil ity of <1. It is essential that all components in t h e system work
together. Ifthe stockp
stockpiile equipment faHs, then the cumulative improve ment in variability drops to a
meagre 14.
14.4,
4, insufficient
insufficien t to cope with the quarry
q uarry fa
face
ce material.

Apparently insignificant changes to quarry oper

operation
ation - oft
often
en by newly
newly--arrived managers - can have
significantt impacts upon plant performance that are not al
significan al way
ways
s immediately apparent.
 

The
The Cement Plant Operations Handbook
Han dbook - Seventh Edit
Edition
ion

2.7 Storage and h ndling

Bulk material handling is a major activity and bins fo r raw materials, intermediate products and
finished cement must reliably provide cont
contrrolled fl
flo
o ws of material
materialss upon demand. The tonnages of
material to be stored at various process stages are outlined by Deolalkar in Chapter 13 of his book
(Deolalkar, 2009), while his Chapter 16 discusses the f eatures of materials handling systems.

Hoppers and silos may be interme

intermed d iate stores to compensa
compensate
te for differe
differences in demand of
o f subsequent
subsequent
processes orfeed bins installed for feed rate control to equipment. They may be designed for.
• mass flow where material at every point is in motion during discharge. Thi s
requires smooth walls and steep sides with no abrupt transiti
transitions
ons..
• funnel flow where material fr om t he top surface discharge
discharges s through a vertical
channel abo ve the outlet whii le surrounding ma terial remains static. This occurs
outlet,, wh
particularly in squat silos and hoppe
hoppersrs with insufficiently steep walls.
Fun nel- fl ow is the most common. Bins may either be flat-bottomed or equipp
equipped wit h discharge aids. It
ed with
is typical for large-volume stores and is considere d acceptable where:

• non-cohesive (free-flowing) products are involved

• product segrega t ion is unimportant
• product degrad
degradation,
ation, in
includ
clud in
ingg l ump formation
formation,, poses no problems
• feed rate consistency is not of prime importance.
Hopper and silo flow processes are reviewed by Bresler 2003). Funnel-flow bin bins
s can typically not be
em ptied, resu l ting in reduced live capacity. The material discharg
completely em discharge
e order is in a fir5t-in ,

out   (FILO) sequence.

last-out
last-
Bulk solids do not flow consistently in vertical or very steep channels and tend to form both rat -holes
and temporary arches above voids, leading to erratic discharge rates.
The mas s- flow concept is preferred for feed bins and is also recommended for storage purposes with
cohesive products or wh
wheere qualitative consistency o f the reclaimed product is impo
important.
rtant.

Mass -fl ow bin

flow ins
s typically ha ve a slend er shape, steep wall slopes and relati ve ly large outlets. Row out
lender
is uniform, independent of the materia fir5t·· in, first-out (FIFO ), avoiding
materiall head. The flow sequence is fir5t
product deterioration due to excessive storage in rest periods.
Th e bulk materials most difficult to extract are generally those containing a substantia
substantiall quantity of
both fine particles and moisture. Wet clay materials are particularl
particularlyy prone to difficulties and specially
specially
designed wet-store feeders may be required Maynard, 2001 ).
 

Raw milling nd blending

3 Raw milling and blending

Raw m ililll ing must produce su
su ffic
fficient
ient feed to sustain the requ ired kiln production,
meeting targets for fi n eness, chemica
chemicall compos i t i on and moistu r e. Wit
With
h multip le
tasks to accomp
accompll ish, process fl ow and control become quite comp lex . Operators
need a de r understa
understan n ding of both basi
basic
c prin
principles
ciples an
and
d interrelationships
interrelat ionships to get

thee best results.

th results.

3.1 Raw milling

Usually each
each raw comp
c omponen
onen t is stored and fe
fed
d separatel
separately
y to
t o the miU, from which product is sampled
and chemically analysed to determine adjustment of feed proportions by addition of corrective
components to maintain the target clinker composition.
composition . Older mills may have silos for ri)W material
storage, but the occurrence of feed problems with moist materia l has led to a preference for hoppers.

Mill product is monitore d either by continuous online analysis

Mill analysis or by laboratory ana
analysi
lysis
s of hourly grab
or composite samples.
samples. Comput er control effects feed corrections and maintains the desired optimum
average composition.

Powder samples can be acquired more or less continuousl y by devi

devices
ces expo
exposed
sed to downwar
down wardd material
materia l
flow, while rock samples require grinding and blending. Sample extraction, preparation and transport
to a central l aboratory mean that corrective steps are delayed.
delayed . Mode
Modern
rn onlin e techniques,
techniques, outli ned
in Section 2.2, allow rapid correction and greatly reduced variation of mill product chemistry. Any
conti nuous analysis system requires
continuous requires reliable and uninterrupted material transport and feeding,
feeding , which
can be a serious challenge.

Operation of the various types of mill and separators is described in more detail under cement milling
(Section 6.2). Grinding aids are rarely employed because savings via decreased po w er consumption
are not cost effective. However,
However, Whitehead and Kaya 2018) point out that in some circumstances
the amounts of coarse quartz and calcite can be reduced, and improve kiln output rate and fuel
consumption due to enhanced combinability o f the kiln feed.

The main difference to cement mill operation is the need t o dry raw feed and assure transport of
slightly moist material within a mill. Also, many raw materials are softer than clinker, and operations
mus t avoid coarse residues
residues in kiln
k iln fee
feed
d that ar
are
e diff icul t to combine in the kiln and would result in high
clinker
cli nker free-lime, and/ or exces
excessiv
sivee fuel consumptio
consum ption n . Optimum kiln feed fineness must be determined
empirically and should be as coarse as the kiln will tolerate
tolerate..

Table 3 Recommen
Recommended
ded coars
coarse
e particle
part icle l mlt
mlts ki ln feed 0 0 by weight greater than speCifie
s for kiln speCified
d slle)
sl le)
Silica >  llm Below 0.5
90 -200llm Below 1.0
>4 Sllm Below 2.0
Calcite >12Sllm BelowS.O

A narrow size distribution is optimal because fines tend to increase dust loss by b y entrainment in
exhaust gas. The use of larger residues may be acceptable when they arise from natural rocks but bu t
11
requires checking by laboratory combinability tests . Larke et al (2013 •   describe a plan t trial using
an extremely-
extremely -coarse raw mix, following laboratory tests in which calcar
calcareous
eous raw material was ground
more coarsely. A major gain in mill output was achieved, with no detrimental effect upon cement
quality.

Materials are dried in the raw mill whenever possible, because:

• Less equipment is needed.

• Waste hea
Waste heatt from pre heater exhaust is used effectively.
• S02
S0 2 rom preheater exhaust is scrubbed.
 

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Mill production is determined by the grinding power available and feed grindability, but for high·
moisture feed the system drying capacity may be th e limiti
limiting
ng factor. Typically the target moisture level
ex-mill is belo
below
w one per cent to assure good f10wability of raw meal fo r ease of handling
handling..
Hamme r/impa ct mi mill
llss c n be used for pregrindingjp redrying purposes he d of a c onven t ional mi
mill
ll  
often with a type
ty pe of flash
flash drier.

Raw mill sweep with prehe ter exhaust is called compound operation. The raw grinding and cli cl inker
burning operations become interdependent and constant kiln ope ration is required to ensure control
of mill temperature and pressure. When the kiln is down, the mill must also stop unless auxiliary heat
provided.. When the mill is down, preheater exhaust must be cooled to maintain
is provided maintai n acceptable gas flow
and
an d temperatu re for dedusting.
dedusting. Gas conditioning by a wat er spray tower is usual, but i f water is scarce
scarce,,
ambient air tempering can be used. Air-
Air-to
to--air heat exchangers were not common ly use
used
d for
fo r dust-
dust -laden
exhaust gases due to t he tendency to cause bUild -up and plugging, but examples are becoming more
common.

A new raw mill classifier is now invariably of high-efficiency'', rotatin g cage -type
o f the ' high-efficiency type:: the rotational
speed
speed controls p rod
roduct
uct fineness
fineness at constant gas flow
flow..

Raw mliling can consume 10-30kWh(t, depending upon the materIals and equ i pment, and
developments aim to reduce this figure.
figure . Around 90 per cent of ne w raw mills are vertical roller mills,
mills ,
though many ball mills
mi lls (commonplace unti
u nti l the 1970s are still in use.
1970s)) are

Roll pres
Roll presse
ses
s are als
also
o used,
used, particul
par ticularly
arly in upgrading
upgr ading existing ball mil circuits either
eit her to increase
production or red
reduce
uce power consumption
cons umption . A pre
press
ss can
can accept material up to around 75mm i n size and
act as either a pregrinder for a ball mlll (perhaps with a disagglom erator to strip fines from the pressed
cake), or as an integral unit with its own gas circuit for drying. Such presses (w (wiit h a limited number

of suppliers) ha ve only made a limited market penetration, a key impro ved

key el ement of success being improv
separators, such as the KHD Hum bol dt Wedag V-Separa
V-Separator
tor,, introduc
introduced
ed in 1994
1994, although other designs
tend to be preferred
preferred for new installations
installati ons..

Ball mills equipped with a drying compartment and adequatel

Ball adequately y swept w i t h hot gas (1 .5-3m
5-3m// s above
the ball charge) , can handle feed w ith above 10 per cent moisturemoisture and a maximum size of around
2Smm,, preferably much less. With a tandem ha mm
2Smm mmee r mill, the maximu m feefeedd moisture
moistu re cont
content
ent may
be around 12 pe r cent if the mill exit diameter is large enough to keep the gas velocity low. Centre
discharge mills ('(' double rotators') and fully air-
air-swept mills (S -6m/s) can also dry up to 14 per cent
moisture. One of the limitations of an ai airr-swept ball mill is dependence upon the gas st ream for
materia
materi a l transport. The recirculating load is limited to about 7S -1S0 per cecent. Efficiency can be gained
by using higher recirculating loads and conveying the material mechanical
mechanically ly can
can achieve
achieve this.
this . Typical
bucket elev
ele vator instal
installatio ns are designed with a recirculating load capacity of up to 500 per cent,
lations cent, with
the added advantage that the grinding effiCiency within the mill tends to be greater due to improved
control of materi
material
al flow. Bucket elevat
elevator
or mills are not designed for gas sweeping and so are limited to
mill s are
raw materials with below about 4-5 per cent moisture.

For feed moisture of up to sisix

x per cent, dryin g is effected by part of the kiln exhaust at temperatures of
up to 300 ' c Ob viously a high drying requirement may be inconsistent w ith maximising kiln thermal
efficiency - generally fi ve- an
andd six-stage preheaters are only employed where subsequent drying
requirementt s ar
requiremen are
e minim
minimal.
al. Alternatively, but more expensively
expensivel y, dedicated ho t-gas generators can be
used for drying in the mill or hotter gases from a lower cyclone stage or the cooler exhaust may be
used. Drying is also aided by heat dissipation from mill drive power which equat es to approximately 1t
equates
moisture
moist ure per 1000kW
1000kWh h. Higher moistu re burdens require larger mil bodies
bodies,, increasing the cost.

Vertical roller
Vertical r oller mills
mi lls have some 33 per cent lower specificspecific power consumption than bali mills
mil ls and have
come to dominate the scene since their introduction during the 1970s. 1970s . These mills (see Figure 6.3.)
comprise two to six rollers which are hydraulically pressed on to a horizontal horizonta l rotating grindin g table
table .
Feed materia l is directed
directed to the centre of the table and and thrown outwards by rotation under the roliers
and into a rising air current at the periphery that is d irected by means of louvre ring ports. The air
passes
pas ses thro
through
ugh an integ
integral
ral rotary
rot ary classifier and fines pass
pass out with the air current while coars
coarse e material
falls back to the table
table.. Depend
Dependiing on different suppliers the rollers are, frusto -conical, cylindrical or
sJ. herical in :;Ii<lpe, tlntl in some case:; may have an axis of ro t ation inclined at some
some 15 degrees to the

horizontal, as indicated schematically

schematicall y in Figure 3.1 .
 

Raw milling n d blending

Figure
Figure 3 1 Schem
Sc llustratiions of some roller and track deS igns
hem at iC Illustrat

Loesche mill Peters ring-ba ll mill pfeiffermiU polysiusrollermill

Tapered--lever
Tapered Track -guided t.alls Track -guided ack -g uid ed
Track
Tr
moun t ed roller.; crowned rollers crowned rollers

Sourr.e  L nch and Row/and 2005

Material dries in air suspension betINeen table and classifier. The circulating load is typically 800 per
cent. Roller mill s are prone to vibration due to an unstable grinding bed, often caused by fine, dry mill
feed. Spraying w ter directly to thp hpn is the lI iulIl solution, which lso conditions the g s . RoUer mills
can dry and grind coarse moist feed (max pe r cent moisture wi t h an auxiliary furnace ) of up to
125mm in size, preferably 80-100mm. They are compact, with the classifier built into the mill body_
Operationally, roUer mills are quite sensitive to chachannges in parameters. Abrasive raw materia
materials
ls su
such
ch as
sand can cause quite rapid wea r of grin ding surface
surfaces.
s. Material is retained on the table using a dam ring
at its circumference
circumference.. As the table wears, the depth of material on the table increases and mill power
consumpt
cons umptionion inc
increa
reases
ses.. This is not normal ly a problem unless the mill motor is approaching full load,
in which case
case the dam ri ng height must be reduced
reduced to compensate
compensat e for table wear and avoid restricting
f eed rate
rat e. Detection of
o f tramp metal in mill feed and its removal are important precaut
precautiions
ons..

Specific power consumption depends upon material hardness and mill effic iency. For ball mills the
range is from approximately lOkWh/
lOkWh / t mill drive only) for soft, chalky limestone to 25kWh/t for hard
materials.. Compared to ball mills,
materials mi lls, energy savings for VRM circuit
circuits can be around 30 per cent. FLS
s can FLSmid
midtt h
claims the worl d s largestVR
largestVRM
M installation for raw material
materia l s, rated at 8700kW
8700kW and capable of producing
750-1000tpd at around 26kWh/
26kWh / t.

emerging from a mill carries 50 -500g/m 1 of fine material, requiring a velocity of some 15 -20m
Air emerging 20m// s to
ensu re entrainment, demanding the use of powerful fans. Raw me meaa l is collected by a fabric filter or
other dust collector - with its function being as much to collect
collect product as to clean gas.

PoittiPr POlS) revie

reviews
ws the latest evolution of the Horomi ll, suggesting t hat the correct configuration
for raw milling is clos
closed
ed circuit with a thir d generation S V ' classifier and perhaps a flash dry er in the
gas circuit.

Raw mills are monitore d by:

• produ cti
ction
on rate (tph)
• operating hours (h)
• invol untary dow
invol do w ntime (h)
• mill motor specific power consumption (kWh/t (kWh/t))
• mill circuit power consumption (k (kWh
Wh// t )
• maximu
max imum m fe
feed
ed size (mm)
• produc
pro duc t fine
fineness
ness ( finer than 300m and 125m)
• feed moisture ( )
• product moisture ( )
• pressure drop (mm WG)
• limestone (  );clay/shal
clay/sha le ( ); addi
additt ives ( )
• inlet and outlet gas temperatures ( . C)
• furnace fuel consumption kJ/t of dry product)
furnace
• noise level (dB).
Additional operating parameters
parameters required periodically
periodicall y include:

• circulating load ( )
• steel usage {g/t}
• chemical analysis of t90\Jm fraction.
 

The Cement Plant Operations Handbook - Se

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Analysi s of the coarse (  90lJm) fraction may be lime-

lime-rich or, more likel y, silica
silica--rich, relative to the tota
totall
sample but should show constant bias.

Downtime analysis can usefully highlight reasons for lack of availability and identify target areas
for improvement For example, significant mill blockages would indicate an issue related t o drying
capacity. Factors exte
extern
rnal
al to the mill are highlight
highligh t ed, such as feeder starvation due to handling and
drying problems in the crushing department.

3.2 Blending
This is another critical process stage. Oeficiencies will impair product quality, reduce kiln output,
Increase both fuel consumption, refractory wear and, potentia l ly, grinding costs wit
withh lower throughput
for similar 2a-day strengths
strengths.. Fo r optimum results a kiln feed with the correct chemistry and particle
size distribution is essential - with, above all, a minimum of varia
variability.
bility. A major cause of custom
customer
er
dissatisfaction and complaint is not the absolute concrete strength level achieved with the cement but
its variability.
Because customers require similar properties for cements from different sources, and also to optimise
clinker production, there has been a pragmatic trend to converge on a standard'
standard ' clinker chemistry in a
narrower range than often repeated from historical descript
descrip t ions (Moir
Moir,, 2003):

• LSF: 95-97%
• silica ratio (SR): 2.4-2.6
• al umina ra t io (AR ): 1.5 -1.8.

Most plants have to U 5 ( corrective materials such as sand and iron oxide to achieve this range, and the
corrective
blending system has to produce a raw feed that uniformly yields such a clinker.

The two major types involve tu t urbulence (in which the ma

material is tumbled about by injection of of high
volume air through air-pads on the floor) and controlled flow (CF - where sequenced light aeration of
segments of air-
air-pads causes layers of material in the silo to blend by differential rates of descent). CF
silos may have mul
multip
tiple
le dischar
discharge
ge chutes, or an inverted cone over a centre discharge
discharge within
wit hin which the
meal is fluidised. Approximate compressor power consumption is shown in Table 3.2.

Table 3 2 Compressor power (onsumptlon

,.
•. .. ,. • ' - . 1 •• • • . • ., _ \ •
' ~ ,
-
: ~ - - /IL _ : I ~ K ~ ~ ~ ' ~ ~ . _ . . . . . . , . _ · _ .

Turbul ent mixing (ai rmel&' l 1.'>-2.5

Controlled flow Inverted cone 0.25-0.50

multi outlet 0.10-0.13
SOUrce BartlK1klmew l995

Turbulent mixers can be opera

operatt ed batch·wise or continuously.
continuously . The former involve
involves
s either a filting cycle
corrected progressively to average the targe t mix or a sequenceof
sequenceoffilling,
filling, mi)(ing, sampling and analysing
analysing,,
correcting, remi)(ing. and then feeding to the kiln
kiln.. Continuous blending involves simu ltaneous feeding
of the silo, overflow to a second silo and final discharge to kiln feed.

Modem equipment generally uses cont contii nuous CF si los, each having capacity
capacity of more than 24-hours
24-hours''
kiln feed and yielding a blending ratio (or ' blending factor')
factor' ) of 4-8, or around 2-
2-3 for older silos. Note
that a given silo will show a lower blending efficiency if t he feed is consistent. The retention time
time of raw
meal in a blending silo affects bl
blending ratio and may be eas i ly monitored by the addition of zinc oxide
or fluorescein to silo feed (see Sect ion 64.7) . Apart from power savings, the effective capacity of a CF
silo is some 20 per cent greater due to the higher bulk density of meal which is not hea vily aerated. The
design of modern blending silos is described by Halbleib (2003).

Blending silos should be monitored by:

• blending ratio - 1 ~ )
• compressor power (kWh   t of throughput
throughput).
).
Blending silos are prone to internal bUild -up of dead material, particularly i raw meal is we
wetor
tor aer
aerati
ation
on
defective.. Periodic (o ne to two years) internal inspections and maintenance are necessary. As raw meal
defective
 

The Cement lant Operatio

Operati o ns Handbo
Handb o o k - Seventh Edition

may solidify if left inactive d uring a kiln shutdown for examp le), blending silos may require emptyi
emptying
ng
or recirculating when not in uS >.
To ensure good blending action, it is preferable that m teri l chemistry varies
varies both above and below its
target set- point on several occasions during the silo residence time.
With the availability of real-time online analysis of mill feed or product chemistry can be maintained
within narrow limits and modern plant designs frequently dispense with kiln feed blending or cut
down the size of prehomogenising stockpiles. However  such procedures do not work well when faced
with certain origins and frequencies of variability in a major raw miK component
omponent,, or wit h corrective
components thathatt are either difficult to extract from storage and accurately dose, or that are d ifficult to
combine within the kiln (Harrisson, 2013). Ratherthan investing in equipment to correct the chemistry
of the feed on its way to th kiln, an improved quarry management system to deli ve r a more consistent
supply of limestone provide'S a superior solution.

3.3 Kiln
Kil n fee
feed
d
Both raw meal chemistry and feed rate to the kiln must be consistent to avoid kiln instability and
minimise fuel consumption. Short-term feed fluctuations (eg hunting of feed er control) should be
monitored, as well as average feed rate.
Suspension preheater510se afraction
a fraction of kiln feed entrained in exhaust gas. As this fine fract io n is usually
of a typical composition, kiln feed analysis must be biased to yield thedesired clinker composition. The
dust loss
loss,, some 5·12 percent of kiln feed, is not usuall
usuallyy collected until after it ha s passed through a raw
mill or dryer
dryer,, so that dust catch is not the same quantity or composit ion as preheater dust loss. Even
if the dust collector catch is returned directly to the kiln, it must still be compensated. Likewise, care
must be exercised to minimise chemical disturbance due to dust return, particularly when the ra w mill
is down and the dust collecto r catch changes from mill discharge in stead of kiln discharge. The least
negative option is feeding to the blendin g silo or to a separate storage tank for subseqsubsequent
uent controlled
return.
If the kiln exha ust passes directly and continuously to dust collection, then the dust may be returned
directly
directl y o the preheater
preheater-- sometimes
sometimes,, f low in quantity
quantity,, re-entrainment can be minimised by insufflation
at the hood injection at the upper end of the kiln. Either way, the return rate shou ld be controlled.
monitored by chemical ana
Ki ln feed is anallysis on four- or eight·hourly grab sample'S - not cumu lative
samples - to determine standa
standard
rd deviation
deviation resu
results
lts (see Section 2.6 ). Analysis is conventional for major
oxides with variatIon monitored statIstIcally In terms of CJS or LSF.
Kilns, particula rly the larger ones, are intolerant of variations in feed chemistry. The general rules
for chemistry control at the raw milling stage are similar, no matter how many mix componen
componentts are
available, and are basically simple:
• If the chemistry is not at the desired level: change it
• If a parameter is below the desired level: increase it to above th thaa t level. (Known
as crossin
crossingg the target line   - as seen on a control chart - and failure to do this
usually re'Sults in off·target batches of raw mea1.)
• When making a cha nge, pa y due regard to previous results and weighfeede
weighfeederr
settings. {This is important when batch blending. where th thee concept of
keeping a weighted average of all material chemistrie'S entering a silo is often
advantageous.}
• Where possible, use continuous samplers: spot samples can often be misleading
and cause erroneous corrections.
• Residues are very important and their testing and control demands as much care
as bulk chemistry checks.
Variations in fue l ash should not be overlooked and ash should be considered as part of the raw mix
argillaceous component If tile Quantity fed into the kiln varies, the chemical va riabil ity of the dinkerwiH
also vary. Plants with high fuel consumption and/or high fue l ash contents should minimise variations
by blend ing the fue l(s}.
 

Raw milling and blending

It should be remembered that standard deviation is not a perfect measure of variation as, simply
applied , it does no t distinguish between a ste ady trend and cons tant fluc
constant fluctt uati on. Kiln operators need
to respect maximum tolerab
tolerablle li mits upon var iabili ty - see Table 3.3.
iability

Table 3 3 K,ln feed target v3r1ablht e5 for vanous a t o r ~

LSF [or C S1 ( ) 1.0 [2.5 J

CaCO ( )' 0. 1-0 .2

0.1
Silica ratio 0.Q7

Alumina ratio 0.05

9OI-Im res id ue ( ) 1.0

calash ( ) 1.5
Feed rate (  ) ±LO
• CoCO , s an ollernatlW t tSF or C;' (potenriallfica lcium silicore content - see €clion BS.1
(potenriallficalcium ), which are rile preferred
BS.1),
control vorlobles.

The importance of controlling varia tion s is indicated in Tab le 3.4.

Table 3 4 likely mfluence of chemIcal vanatlOns upon pro{('ss and quality parameters

± lLSF  

± l   90
l.Imresidue
l.Imresidue 5-10kc alikg

Kiln feed Is normally conveyed by bucket elevator to the top of the preheater. Pneumatic conveying
de-- aeration Is desir
wastes energy, and feed de desirable
able before injection as the entraining air adds to the kiln
ID fan load and may reduce capacity
capacity..
Although about 1.55t raw materials are required to produce t of clinker,clinker, kiln feed -to
to--clinker ratio is
typically 1.65 - 1.75 as weighed
weighed,, due to the loss of du
duss t with exhaust gas, later col lected and returned .
The rat
ratio
io should be periodica
periodically
lly reco
reconcile
nciled
d wi th clinker and cement invent
invent ories and with measured
dust loss in the prehea ter exhaus t.
• Kil n feed = clinker Lol bypass dust downcomerdust - coal ash
w her
here e both bypass dust and down
downcomer
comer dust are converted to a loss -free basis.
 

Flames and fuels

4 Flames and fuels

Th e kiln burning zone is at the heart o f the manufacturing process and t he suppl
supplyy
o f hea t energy res ul
ults
ts from combustion o f fuels. CombCombu ustio n scie
scienc
nce
e in
involves
volves
t h ermodyna mimic
c s, fluid m echan
echanic
ic s, c he mi ca l kinetics and t ran sport processes,
and did not eme
emerr ge until over 100 yea r s ago. In recent ye yea
a r s n ew insights h ave

arisen
arisen throug h adva n ces in comput
th rough computer capability, experimental tec hniqu es and
er capability,
asym ptot ic methods o f a ppli ed mathematics.

Kiln
Kiln operators can
can cont rol t he following factors when firing fuel in a kiln o r calciner.

• fuel type

•• fuel handling
heat transfer

•• burner momentum
excess air

• emissions..
emissions

Other factors that are typically outside immediate operator control can have a dramatic effect on
combustion:

• secondary air momentum

• tertiary ai r momentum

• kiln aerodynamics
• calciner aerodynamics.

Unfortunately each factor is in

intt egral to one system and it is difficult to review one independently of
another. This section attempts to address the broad subject o f combustion and how it applies to
making cement.

4.1 Chemistry o f combustion

Combu stion is a specific group o f chemical reactions where a fuel and oxygen react at a sufficientl
Combus sufficient ly
high t emperature to evolve heat and combustion products. Combustion can vary in rate from a very
slow decay to an instantaneous explosion: a kiln requires steady heat release a t a certain rate.

Oxidatt ion o f industrial hydrocarbon f uels can reasonably

Oxida reasonabl y be simplified to four basic reactions:

• The complete oxidation o carbon

C + 0,--+ CO 2 + 394kJ/mOle 94kcaVmole)
• The complete oxidation of hydrogen
{ 572kJ/mole 13
137kca
7kcaljmole)
ljmole) - water condensed GCV)

{+ 484kJ/mole 116kcal/mol
116kcal/mol e) - water as steam NCV)

The difference in the physical states o f the wa

watt er produced in the reaction causes the
complication o f g ross ca l orific value GCV, or higher heating value
value)) and net ca lorific value
NeV, o r lower heating v alue) for fuels. Users face th e conundrum o f paying for gross heat
but u t ilising only net heat.

Primary a/renters the kiln via the burner pipe with the fuel.

Secondary air is drawn in around the flame. In a cement kiln this is hot air drown from the clinker cooler
vi the kiln hood.
Tertiary air in a cement kiln system is also hat air from the clinker cooler in this case supplied to the
precalciner by a duct.
 

The Cement Plant Operations

Operations Handbook - Se
Sev
ven
enth
th Edition

Table 4.1 Gross a n d n et calorif

calorific:
ic: val ue for
fo r selected fossil fuels

Fuel Calorific value

Gm Net Difference [ )
Coal (kcal/kg) 5500-7100 5400-1000 2
Oil, #6 (kcal/kg) 1 ,200 9700 5

Natural g< ls (kcill/m1 ) 6200 5600 1

• The incomplete ox idation of carbon

In the event of imperfect
imperf ect combustion,
combustion, some carbon is onl
onlyy partially
partia lly oxidise
oxidised
d , forming
carbon monoxide. The main effect is to reduce heat release.
2C + 02 t 2eO + 221kJ / mole (53kcal/mole)
Only jus
justt over
over half of the heat is released compared with complete combustion to carbon
carbon
dioxiide . Burners producing carbon monoxide as a result
diox result of bad fuel/air mixing show
a significant drop in efficiency and significant levels of carbon monoxide should be
avoided .
• The oxidation of carbon monoxide
Often, reactions proceed rapidly to the point where CO is formed and then slo w greatly until
CO burn-out is achieved, accor
according
ding to the following
followin g reversible reaction:

2CO + 01 - 2CO, + 173kJ/mole (41kcal mole)

The combustion of dry carbon monoxide is extremely slow,
slow, but if H-containing radicals are
present, it increases significantly.

4.2
4.2 Fuels
Fuels an
andd flam
flames
es
Both natural and manufactured fuels vary wi dely in composition and physica l characteristics, as
considered below.
below. It is important that procurement staff have a proper ap prec iation not only of the
benefits of savings in fuel purchase price but also of the importance
importance of assuring a consistent quality
of supp
suppll y and of costs that may be involved in storing and handling fuel from a new source, and in
compensa
comp ensating
ting forthe
for the adverse eff
effect
ects
s that it may prod
produce
uce during kin operation
operation..

aseous fuels
The charact
characteristics
eristics of some typical gases are given in Section B6.3. Natural gas has been used in kilns
for many years. While the basic constituent is methane
methane,, which has narrow flammability limits,
limits, the
presence of other gases affects ca lorific value and denSity. Higher hydrocarbons widen flammability
limits and assist flame stability. Natural gas has a low carbon content and produces low- low-emissivity
flames
flam es with a de t rimental effect on radiant heat transferand plant efficiency unless some dust particle
particles
s

are added. The high hydrogen content means that natural gas requires more combust combust ion air per kJ
of heat released than most other fuels . It also produces more exhaust gases, though with a smaller
proportion of CO , . For a kiln using 850kcal/kg clinker and two per cent excess 0 2  flame temperatures
and gas volumes are shown in Table 4.2.

Table 4 2 Flame temperatures and gas v o l u m ~

Fuel Flame temperature ( q Combustion gas Total exhaust gas

(Nm l /Mcal) (Nm l /t clinker)
Coal 2250 1. 23 1360

on 2350 1.31 1420

Go> 2400 1.4 5 1550

il fuels
Oil fuels are produced by refining crude oil oro r manufactured from coal. They are classified as distillate
fuels (such as kerosene ilnd diesel oil
oil)), or ilS rcsiduill fuels. The latter come in a range of viscosities

and are classified differently in different countries.

countries . Typical characteristics are giv en in Section B6 .2.
Residual fuels must be heated to become pumpable and reduce visc viscosity
osity to enable atomisation
atomisation.. The
hea vier the fuel, the more hea t is needed . Owing to t heir tendency to solidify when cold, handling
systems must avoid 'dead legs ' as much as possible. Lighter ' white' oils yield a better profit than black
 

  lamesand
lamesand fuels

fuel oils and refineries increasingly manufacture more of these. The black oils are heavier w ith different
characterr istics to the white products, having increasing quan
characte quantt ities of asphaltenes
asphaltenes.. These cracked fuel
fue l s
vary in character, depending on the sour
source
ce of crude
cru de and the refining process, and are not necessarily
compatible with each other. Under some circumstances,
circumstances, fuel oils form gels in tanks and fuel handling
systems with disastrous results. Proposed fuels should always be tested for compatibility with the
existing fuel before
befor e purchase
purchase..

Oil atomisation is important because initial drop size determines the size of the cenosphere that is
formed and hence
hence the droplet s burn time.
tim e. Oxyge
Oxygen
n diffusion
diffus ion is depe nden t on surface ar
area
ea,, but oxygen
demand
deman d depends on partic
particle
le mass.
mass. Since
Since surface
surface area
area depends on di amet erl and ma mass
ss on diameterl
larger drops take longer
lon ger to burn.

Most atomisers produce a range of drop diamet

diame ters, varying from a few micrometres to around 10 100
0-
lOOO[Jm or even more. A 100[Jm particle burns in about ha lf a second in an industrial flame while a
takes about five times as long and a 1000[Jm particle 10 times as long. Since residence
SOO[Jm particle takes
time in a flame is typically one second or less, it follows that drops l arger than about 200[Jm will not
fully burn out before the end of the flame and wi([ either drop on the product, un burnt, or end
end up in the
dustt collector.
dus

For optimum performance, a range of drop sizes is ideal, fine drops to facilitate ignition and flame
establishment and larger drops t maintain a controlled burning rate.
rate. Howe
However,
ver, for the above reasons
reasons,,
the maximum drop size must be below 100-2S0IJm, dependin g on the exact application.

Equally as important as drop size is spray angle.

angle . Essen
Essential
tially,
ly, mos tspr ays are conical, with two common
types: hollow cone and solid. Hollow cone atomisers are generally preferred, as air mixes most
effecti vely with fuel. The small numberof drops in the hollow cone core allows an internal recirculati
recirculation
on
zone to be established, which as assi
sists
sts in
in maintaini ng a stable flame fro nt.

Most burners vary fl ow rate to operate over a ran

Most range
ge of heat liberat ion rates:
rates: atomiser
atomis er performance mu st
be satisfactory over the entire operating range, since ceme nt plants do no nott alwa
always
ys operate at full load
loa d .
The drop size of many types of atom
atomiser
iser increases
increases rapidly as the fuel flow-rate is turned down and this
can present special problems for plant operation: turndown performance is an important selection
criterion for atomisers
atomisers..

Coals
Great care has to be taken handling and b urning coal owing t the risk of spontaneous ignition, fire
and explosion. As a result, the design and operation of coal coal-- firing systems requires greater specialist
knowledge t han ga
gas
s and fuel oil syste
systems.
ms. The characteristics of coal coals
s vary even
even more widely
widel y than other
fuels - from anthracite wi th a high CV and very low volatile and moisture content, to lignites with
moisture and volatile contents of up to cu percent . I yp
ypiical properties of some commonly-traded coals
are given in Section 66.1. The characterist
characterist ics of the coal and its ash have a dramatic effect on plant
performance and on maintenance requirements. Relevant properti properties es include:

• Volatile content - The higher the volatile content, the more rapidly the coa l
ignites and burns. Highly-volatil
Hi ghly-volatile
e coals (above
(above 3S per cent) tend to present
significantly higher explosion risks than those with a volatility below 25 per cent.
Coals with volatile contents above 45 per cent require special precautions.
• Swelling properties - On Once
ce the volatiles
vol atiles have beenbeen driven o ff, a coke particle
partic le is
left. If this is larger than the original particle, it has a more open pore struc ture
and will burn more rapidly than if it shrinks.
• Moisture content - Coals have two types of moisture: sur surface
face moist
moisture
ure and
inherent
inher ent moisture.
moistur e. Generally
Generally the higher the inher ent water, the grea greate
terr the coal
reactivity and the higher the consequenti
consequential al fi
firr e and l o s o n risk. For pu lverised

coa l firing, surface moisture has to be removed durin g grinding. grinding. Removal of the
inherent water should be minimised, otherwise moisture from t he atmosphere
recombines w ith the coal and causes spontaneous heating w hich can result in fire
or explosion.
• sh content - Cement manufacture demands consistent levels levels of ash quantity
and compo
compositisition,
on, and coals
coals have to be selected accordingly.
• Hardness and abrasion indices - Coal hardness affects coal mill capacity: the
harder the coal, the t he le
less
ss can be ground and/or the coarser the result resulting
ing pulverised
coal.
coa l. The abrasion index is mai nly dependen
dep endentt on as ash
h characteristics. Very abrasive
abrasive
coals with high silica ashes cause hi h igh wear
wea r rates
rates in grinding elements
elements..
 

The
The Cement Plant Operations Handbook
H andbook - Seventh Edition

etroleum oke
Petroleum coke (petcoke), a by-product from oil refining, is the solid re sidue remaining after extraction
of all valuable liquid and gaseous components from crude oil. The volatile content range is typically 5-15
per cent, depending on the coking proces s The main difficulty in burning petcoke is its low reactivity
due to this lo w volatile content. Petcoke has certain advantages, particularly its very high 1 of around
8000kcal/kg gross), but increa
increasing
sing price
price in certain market conditions some times reduces its attraction.
The usually
usually-hig
-highh sulphur content (3 -6 per cent can also limit usage (Batra et ai, 2005): its use has been
banned in some Indian states (Jethmalani, 2017).

It exists in four basic forms delayed (  green ), calcined, fluid coke and f1exicoke. Delayed coke is by
far the most common aocl green dela yed coke   typically has 8-16 per ce nt volati les , though higher
temperature process ing can yie ld l ess th an one per cent volatiles. It may be sponge   or shot and is
used - with care - as up to 100 percent of total kiln fueL

Pet co ke burning usually involve

involves
s finer grin ding than coal and highe
fi ner grinding higherr excess oxygen to compensate for
its lo w reactivity and achieve complete comb
combustion
ustion,, which can result in some de-rating of the kiln Roy,
2001). High · momentum burner design and attention to calciner design can also assist.

4.3 Physics o f combustion

No chemical reactions can take place until th
thee oxygen in the airis brought into con ta ct with the fuel..
Th erefore, aU combustion processes take place in the following stages:

mixing ..... ignition ..... chemical reaction ..... dispers

dispersal
al of products
Combustion rate depends on the slowest of these stages. In mo st industrial combustion systems,
mixing is slow whilst the other step s are fa st. The rate and completeness of th e combustion process is
therefore controlled by the rate and completeness of fuel/air mixin
mixing.
g.

In su fficient fueVair mixing produces unburned CO in flue gases, w astin g fu el energy potentiaL Forgood
combustion, adequa
adequatete air must be suppli ed for complete mixing and the burner must be designed to
mix ththee fuel and air streams effect
effectively
ively and efficien
efficientl
tl y. Hence, the saying of combustion eng ineers: If
it s mixed
mixed,, it s burnt.

Fuel air mixing

For most burners, fueVair mixing occurs as a result of jet entrainment.

Figure 4 . 1 shows a free jet issuing from noule in an ambipnt mPCiium . Fr iction occu rs between the
jet boundary and its surroundings, locally accelera tintingg th e surrounding fluid to the jet velocity.
velocity. The
jett, expanding it. This process is momentum controlled and
accelerated air is then pulled into th e je
continues until the jet velocity is the same as that of its surroundings. The greater the jet momentum,
the more su rrounding fluid is entrained. A free jet that is able to expand unimpeded can entrain as
much of its surrounding medium as it needs to satisfy its entrai
entrainment
nment capa
capacity
city..

Figure4 1 fntralnment o f ~ e o n d i l r y ilIr Into a free JI I

Secondary air

Potential
~

Mixing r,-.,nsitlon
region region
 

The Cement Plant Oper

Operation
ations
s Handbook - Se
Sev
venth Edition

A confine
confinedd jet,
je t, however, as in a rotary kiln, is constrained in two ways. The quantity of surrounding fluid
being fed to the kiln,
kiln, ie secondary air, is controlled and limited. In addition
addition,, jet expansion is limited by
the kiln shelL
If the conf
confined
ined jet has momentum in excess of that requi
required
red for complete entrainmen
entra inmentt of the secondar
secondary
y
stream,, jet recirculati
stream recirculation
on occ
occurs
urs.. The secondary a ir stream is initially pulled into the jet as described
secondary air
abov
abo ve   but a point is reached when all the available air has been entrained. At this stage the j t pulls
back exhaust gases from further
furthe r up the kiln and draws them into the flame to overcome this excess
momentum. This phenomenon known as external recirculati
recirculat ion is illustrated in Figure 4 2

Figure 41 Idealised recirculation

V-[77Z[7ZZZ-[ZZZ-Z-7ZZ
- ;-=--
Secondary air t / - -;:"-
:::-=-::-:;:: -
Pr imary air -  --   -   -  ---  .  -  - 

he role of primary air

Primary air has two major roles in burners:
1 controUing the rate of fuel/air
fu el/air mixing.
1. assist ing w ith flame stability.
stability.

he effect of primary air on fuel air mixing

The primary air itself mixes very ra pidlywith fuel at the nozzle, but the remaining ai air seconda ry ai r) must
be entr
entraine
ainedd into the primary air/fuel jejett as described above. The ra t e of entrainment is dependent on
the ratio
ratio of the momentum of o f the
the primary air to that of of the secondary air. Thus , t he higher the primary
prima ry
lIir
lI ir flow-
flow -rate and velocity, t he more rllpid the fu el/l/llll ir mixing.
mixing. Th e fi
filili me charact
characteeristics li re det
deteermined
by this momentum ratio, and combustion modelling can be used to design burners with specific flame
characteristics..
characteristics
The presence or absence of recirc
recirculation
ulation has a great effect on flame characteristics. A modera
moderatt e degree
of recirculation is a positive indication that fuel/air mixing is complete, w hilst its absence is a dear
recirculation
indication
indication that
tha t not all of the sec
secondar
ondary
y air has been entrained. In this case, significant levels of carbon
monoxide are normal
normally ly produced
produced..
Furthermore , in the absence of recirculat
Furthermore, recirculation
ion there
there isa tendencyforthe
tenden cyforthe flame
flameto
to expand until itit impinges
on the brickwork. Hot reducing gases will then make contact w ith refractory br br icks, tending to wash
them away and causing subsequent failure. The recirculating gases from a flame with high momentum
m omentum
ratio, ho w ever, provide a cushion ' of cooler neutral gas which prevents impingement.

A high-momentum recirculato ), burner

burne r jet will also produce a more responsive and stable flame that
is more controllable
controllable,, making plant
plan t operation easier. The characteristics of kiln flames w ith and w ithout
external recirculation are summarised in Tab le 4.3.
 

  lames and fuel

fuelss

Tabl e 4 3 Characteristic
Characteristicss of flam es with and without external reC ir
F1amewith recirculation
FueVair mixing Good
Reducing/oxidising Oxidising co nditions exist
conditions throughout the flame. Oxidising
conditions exist elsewhere
Flame impingement None . Recirculating gases pro tect
bricks and dinkerfrom flame
impingement
Carbon monoxide level CO only produced at levels of
oxygen below O.S per cent
Heat release pattern Rapid mix ing gives high flame
temperature near the nozzle and a
short burning zone
Flame stabi lity Good flame shape with stable heat
release pattern
irculatio
culation
n
Flame withou
withoutt recirculation
recirculation
,,
Strongly reducing conditions occur in
fuel-rich parts of the flame
Flame impingement ocurs on the
brickwork/clinker at the point where
the jet expands to hit the kiln (11 ° .
Imp in gement is severe where a ow
air/ secondary air ratio occurs
primary ai
CO produced at levets of oxygen as high as
2-4 per cent
Poor mixing gives gradual heat re le ase
with long flame
Heat release pattern considerably
effected y changes in secondary air
temperature,, excess air, fuel quality, etc
temperature

econdary ir erodyn mics

Since secondary air has to be entrained in the fuel/
fuel / primary air jetjet,, its aerodynamics can have a huge
effect on fue
fueVair
Vair mixing. determiined by cooler uptake and hood
mixing . and its flow patterns are considerably determ
system design - oror,, for planetary coolers, by the ~ t e U i t e throats. To obtain the optimum potential
performance from any kiln, t is absolutely essential that its aerodynamic characteristics are are taken

fuHy into accou nt w hen designing the burner. For complete combustion and uniform heat transfer, an
account
cross--section of a kiln is essential. Modelling techniques are
even distribution of fuel throughout the cross
an Important tool for process optimisat
optimisation.
ion. Extensive tests of kiln aerodynamics have been conducted
by using water/bead model tests, computatio
computational
nal fluid dynamics (CFD) and full si ze investigations.
One e)(ample of the aerodynamics for a gratgrate
e cooler kiln is illustrated in Figures 4 .3 and 4.4, where
asymmetry in the airflow pattern is clearly evident.

Flgur( 4 3 TYPI(al al'rody

al'rodynamlu
namlu from
from a FIgu re 4 4 Close upof aerodynaml<S In the

r
grate cool( , burning LOne

-
•• •

.•••

~
'<: ,

,.--
.,-  .-. .\

..
-

-
1. .

Burner design cannot overcome certain airflow patterns and modification to the equipment geometry
is necessary. For example, in Figures 4 .3
.3.. and 4.4 the tertiary aIr off-take on th
thee rear of the hood has
been reloca
relocated
ted to
t o eliminate
elimi nate poor aerodynamics.
aerodynamics.

However, in some cases, the solution may be as simple as changing the location of the burn
burner
er tip as
shown in Figures 4.5 and 4.6.
 

The
The Cement
Cement Plant
Pla nt Operations Handbook - Seventh Edition

Similar effects are observed wit

with
h riser ducts where a sharp angle
angle of entry
ent ry from the kiln can give a highly
asymmet
asy mmetric
ric airflow
airflow producing poorfuel jair rnixingand an intense recirculation lOne on one side while
in flash calciners the velocity profile of gases exiting the kiln can dominate the distribution of particles
injected to the riser.

ffect o excess air on fuel consumption

Although the effect o f excess air level on overa
overallll thermal efficiency has been understood for many
years,, it is often surprising how little attention it receives. As the oxygen level increases, more excess
years
oxygen and nitrogen passes through the system and requires heating firstly to flame temperature and
ultimately to exhaust gas temperature.
In cement plants increased airflow through the cooler reduce
reduces
s secondary
secondary air temperature and
therefore the flame temperature thus requiring eveneven more fufue
el to heat the charge to the required
process temperature and the increase in fuel consumption is much greater than that needed just to
heat the excess air to back
back--end temperature.
temperature . Improved cooler
coole r designs
designs and control te nd to avoid such
effects.

If the excess air level in a flame is reduced below a certain level 

level  incomplete carbon combustion
p roduces carbon monoxide and fuel consumption increases (see Figure 4 .7 . The better the fuel/air
m i xing the lowe
lowerr the excess air level at which these emissions occur
occur..

Figure 4 7 Effect of kiln oKygen on Hue gas heat loss

7
.
6 - -  I - /
-
./
I i
 

o
F =
-1 -05
 I
o
•5
=:; -
perning
~

1
- V
1.1--

L5 2 2.5 3

Oxygen in kiln exhaust ( )

Excess air also has a dramatic effect on flame length and on the heat
he at profile in the kiln. Many operators
tend to belie
believe
ve tha t flame length increases as the draught from the 10 fan increases
increases.. The opposite is
true. Figure 4.8 sho w s a typical relationship betw een flame length and excess air for an optimised kiln
with good fuel/air mixing and for one with poor fuel/air mixing. A shorter flame other things being
equal produces a more reactive clinker.
 

  lamesand
lamesand fuels

Two important characteristics of Figure 4.8 are:

1. flame length dependence upon excess air levels
2. responsiveness of the flame to excess air levels.

Figure 4 8 Holme length versus ex ess .l,r

60

t
I I I
'
-----

'
.....
........, -  
\
p....

10

o
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

• Poorfuelfairmixing • Optimised fuelfair I1'IixinB

The optimised flame can have a length of 30m at 1.5 per cent excess oxygen, whereas the poor flame
has the same length at 3.5 per cent excess oxygen. In addition, the responsiveness of the optimised
flame allows the operator to fine-tune flame length with minor adjustments to th e excess air level,
whereas the poor flame requires a much broader range of adjustments
requires adjustments..

4.4 Burner design

The flame in a rotary cement kiln, riserorcalciner is for
forthe
the most part produce
producedd by a turbulent diffusi
diffusion
on
jet. Scientists have paid far less attention to diffusion flames than to p remixed flames, despite the fact
mostt industrial flames involve the simultaneous mixing and combustion of separate streams of
that mos
fuel and air
air.. The prOblem with analysing diffusion flames is that there is no fundamental property,
property,
like flame speed, which can be measured and correlated, and even the mixtu
mixtu re strength has no dear
meaning.

When any jet mixes into its surroundings, steep concentration gradients are set up nearthe orifice from
which
whic h t emerges. Furtherdownstrea
Furtherdownstream, m, turbulent
tur bulent mixing causes th ese gradients to become less severe,
mixing
but then rapid and random oscillations and pulsations occur. Only after thethe jet has largely decayed is
there any approximation to homogeneity.
homogeneity.

The particular fue Vair mixing pattern is determ

determined
ined by mechanical and diffusion fluxes. The rates of
chemical reaction are 01 little importal lCe except in the tail of the flame where residual chars can take
a significa
significant
nt time to
t o bu
bum.
m.

4.5 Cementt ki
Cemen kiln
ln bur
burne
ners
rs

Rotary kiln burners are different from most other industrial burners
burners,, in that only a proportion of the
combustion air passes through the burner under the control o the burner designer. Most o the air
comes from the dink
dinker
er coo ler and the aerodynamics of that flow depends upon other factors .
cooler
 

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The Cemen
Cementt Plant Operations Handboo
Han dbook
k - Se
Seve
vent
nth
h Edition
Edition

Apart from precessing jet burners (p49) , all kiln and calciner burners are jet entrainment burners. OffOff
the--she
the shelf
lf rotary kiln burners are often simply nozzles w ith cross-sectional ar
area determined on the basis
of either the kinetic energy of the primary air flo w or its momentum flux. These approaches do no t
account for the fact that fuel/air mixing is strongly affected by entrainment of secondary air and by
the flame confinement within the kiln. These design methods usually result in a very hi high pdmary air
vellocity >300m   s) , employing 5-
ve 5-10 per cent of the stoichiometric air requirement.
requirement . It is prefera
preferable
ble to
base designs upon the phenomenon of jet entrainment (see Figure 4.1 ), This ap app
p roach determines
the degree of external recirculation as the burner fuel jet mixes w ith the secondary air, air, as shown in
Figure 4.9 . The cross-sectional area of the burner nozzle or noules is derived from relatively complex
ca lculations, generally related to:

m.
m o + m. l

where: m. ' mass flow of entrained secondary

secondary air
m ' mass flow
flow-- rate of fue l and primary air through the burner
m. ' mass flow of secondary
secondary air
In comparison with the simpler and unsound methods, jet en t rainment designs usually require more
mass flow of primary air a t a lower velocity to provide enoug
enough
h momentum for external recirculation.
recirculation.

Figure 4.9 Mlxmg and re1:lrculatlon downstre m of a confmed

conf med Jet

Recirculation
m,

ITIr maximum
:=--- --.

, X
•
,,
recirculation zone

dl
wall N I . C p -,

P ~  

,
nozzle
.
jet boundary recirculation boundary

The mass flow an and ve locity of primary air are a central debate in the cement industry.
industry. Heat balance
ca lculations suggest thathatt incremental
incremental increases in primary aiair at a low temperature reduce the thermal
efficiency of the kiln by displacing hotter secondary air from the coo ler. Ho wever, this argument
assumes thathatt the amount of excess ai r required to obtain the same production rate without flame
impingement or CO emiss ion is held constant. In practicepractice,, if the burner momen
moment um is insufficient to
effectively mix fuel with secondary air, the heat consumption increases by two per cent for every one
per cent increase in excess oxygen . This is one of the main reasons why NO emissions are reduced
with low primary airai r burner
burners.s. Hence, when designing a kiln burner there are co'mpeting forces between
minii mising the
min the amount
am ount of prima
p rimary
ry air and
and excess air that mus
mustt be taken into consideration.

lame stability
Astablle flame has a constant
Astab constant point
poi nt of ign ition ve
very cioseto the burner nozzle, whereas with an unstab
unstablle
flame the point of ign ition fluctuates up and down the kiln. This is po t enti
entiall
allyy dan
dangero
gerous,
us, since there
is a high risk of the flame extinguishing and, in any case, the substantial quantities of unburned fuel

between the noule and the ignition point form an explosion risk.
 

  lames and fuels

Obtaini ng good flame stability with natur

naturalal gas is qui
quite
te diffic u It because
because of its high ignit
ignit ion temperature,
narrow flam mabi lity imits and slow
s low flame spe
speed.
ed. Sta bilisation of oil fla mes
mes requires
requires proper atomi sati on
plus some means
means of local recirculatio
recirculation.n. Stabilisation of pulverised fuel flames eg, coal/coke) is affected
by fineness, ash properties, volatil e content and conveying
conveying v elocity. Flam Flames
es produced by coal n o d e
of SOmis are susceptible to seve
velocities in excess of severre instabilities.
instabilities . Despite
Despite all these
these poten
po tential
tial haza
hazards,
rds,
few kiln burners have adequate means of ensuring good flame stability. For gas the most effective
technique is to form an internal recirculati
recirculation
on zone just in frontofthe nozzle; burni bur ning
ng gas
gas is carried back
from f urther down t he flame and constantly ignites the the incomi ng fuel,
fuel, anchoring it to t he noule .

recirculat ion zone can be achiev

The internal recirculation achieved
ed by a number
numbe r of methods
methods:: either a bluff body orswirt on
the fuel, the pri mar
maryy air,
air, or both
both..
Bluff bodies suffer overheating from th e flam e and tend to be unreliable over long periods. periods. Swirl on
the injected fuel can gi g ive good results but tends to be less effective with high primary air flows and
velocities . Swirl on t he primary air is a very
very effective
effective way of ensuring flame stabilit y, but quite high
levels of sw irl are required
required to achieve effective stability
stabil ity.. This can have adverse
adverse side effects on the
th e overall
flame characteristics such as imping ement on t he refrrefracto
actory.
ry.

The most-effective method of ensuring flame stability is to us use

e limited s wirl on the both the fuel and
pri mar y air.
air. T his ensu
ensures
res excellent stability
stabil ity and predictable burne
burnerr performance over a wide range
range of
operating conditions.

Except on some relativ

relati v ely primit ive burners,
burners, still available in some kilns, reradiation from th e hot walls
should rarely be used as the pri mary means of flame stabilisation:
stabilisation : more positive methods are preferred.
preferred.

alciner burners
Combustion cond itions n the calcinerareve ry different to t hose i n the kiln,
kiln , nvolvi
nvolvinn g owertemperatures
and oxygen concentrat ions,, which inhibit combustion. A retention ti
oxygen concentrations t i me of t least 3s is requ ired, rising
to over 5s for fuels th t are difficult
difficul t to combust completely. Designs must also achieve eradication of
toxic residues and keep NO , emission to low levels (Schurmann and Streit, 2018 ).

Many original calciner burners we r e simply open-ended pipes, pipes , burning fuel in intim te contact
with the feed. Flame stability is not normall
normallyy an issue,
issue, since the incoming combustion
combustion ai r is usually
preheated to above the gas gas ignition temperature
temperature.. He
Hencnce
e sophisticated
sophis ticated swirl and bluff body de
devv ices are
rarely necessary. However, such simple burners can suffer from a number of disadvantagdisadvantages
es in cludin g
poor fuel/air mi xing and uncont rolled heat transfe
transfer,r, which can adversely
adversely affect pro duct quality. Mos
Mostt
calciner burne
burners large quantit ies of CO , typically over lOOOppm and sometimes up
rs of this type produce large
to several per cent.

More sophisticated calciner burners are scaled-

scaled - down kiln burners, and like kiln burners, should be
matched to calciner aerodynam es to opti mise
mise performance
performanc e. Some ca le
leii ner aerodynamic flow patterns
give serious
serious combust ion probl
problems because of poor ai rflow and mixing as discussed below
ems because belo w for AFs) . In
these cases the bu rner alone cannot ensure
ensure optimum fuel/ai r mixing also be
mixing:: airflow patterns must also
improved.

Gas burners
Natural gas burners range
range from open
op en·· ended pipes to mult i-jet adjust
adjustable
able orifice designs.
designs. Owing to the
narrow lilimits of flammability and high au t o -ignition temperature, burning natural
natura l gas safely across a
wide range of flows requires some means o f stabilisation
stabilisation,, as discussed above.
above .

One interesting design uses the pa t ented Precessing Jet PJ) nozzle dev de veloped at the Universi
Universi ty
of Adelaide , Au
Auss t ralia. In combination with other j et flows, this provides a high -radiation, lOW-NO ,
flame tailored for a given application and its initi l installations were mainly in gas -fired rotary kilns. kilns .
Precessing
Precessing refer
referss to a gyros
gyroscopic
copic motion which creates a flow field w ith a stirring motion, so th t
combustion occurs in lar large
ge fuel-rich
fuel-rich structures w ithi n the flame enve
envelope
lope.. This results in cracking of
of
hydrocarbons
hydrocarbon s to p r odu
oducece int ermediate soot part
particles
icles,, yiel ding a highly radiant low temperature flame
th t promotes high heat transfer
transfer with low NO, formation. It is marketed by FCT-ACTech as the Gyro Gyro
Therm bur
burner
ner (Wilson et ai, 2007)
2007)..

oil burners
Oil is an excellent kiln fuel as its high
high-- emissivity flames provide high rates 1 heat transter to th
thee charge.

Howeverr, to burn oil efficiently it must be atomised and sprayed into the kiln in a controlled manner,
Howeve
as previously disc
discusse
ussedd.
 

The Cement Plan t Operations

Operations Handbook - Seventh Edit
Edition
ion

Rotary kiln oil burners are simi lar to gas burners

similar burners,, wi th an oil sprayer replacing the gas gun. Some
primary air is always used. Common atomisers indude: simple pressure jet duplex pressure jet jet  
spill return, twin fluid a ir blast or steam) and high- high -efficiency tw i n fluid . So
Some
me burners employ
emplo y luff
bod ies for flame stabilisation while others employ swirl. Like a few gas burners burners,, some oil burners rely
entirely on reradiat
reradiation
ion from hot refractory to achieve stabil stability,
ity, but generally, aerodynamic swirl flame
stabilisatt ion assu
stabilisa assures
res   e l l e n t flame stability.

Because the cement kiln requires a precisely-contro

precisely-controlled
lled heat-up operat
operators
ors should use a hi h-
performance
performance twin
twi n -fluid atomiserwith a wide fuel turndown 8:1).

alciner o l burners
Oi l burners for flash calciners vary from open-
open -ended pipes spewing oi
oi l into the vessel to sophisticated
burners
burners employing twin
twi n -fluid atomis
atomisers.
ers.
The open
open--ended pipes tend to produce large drop si zes over 10001Jm) that cannot burn out durin duringg
their residence time in the vessel. Such pipes may have been satisf satisfactory
actory for the lighte
lighterr fuels of the
1960s, but they are totally unsuitab
unsuitablle for modern high -asphaltene oils. High performance
performance,, internal
mixing, twin-
twin -fluid atomiser
atomisers
s are essential to burn all the fuel within the vessel. As w ith gas burners, oil
burners should be designed and OPtimised for theirthei r location using modelling.

oalbumers
Where ash deposition is acceptable, coal is the best rotary kiln fuel owing to its very high -emissivity
flames, w hich provide high rates of heat transfer to the charge. Generally, the lower cost
cost of coal gives it
a significant advantage, thou
though
gh it is rather more difficult to handle than liquids or gases, being a solid
of varyi ng composition and calorific value . Regardless of burner design,
design, coal must be dried and ground
before injection to the kiln. As for oil and gas, a burner is a critical kiln component and the variable
nature of pulverised coal requires a flexibility of design to allow the use of differing grades of fuel.
Many rotary kiln coal burners have been simple open-ended pipes monotubes) and apart from the
inconvenie
incon venience
nce of having to insert a temporary
tempor ary oil burner to warm up the kiln, an open -ended pipe can
give excellent performance. Unlike oil - and especially gas - it is quite safe to rely on reradiation from
the kiln walls w hen coal firing, owing to the low ignition temperature of most coals .

With the conversion

conversion of o il-- to coal firing in t he 1970s, new burners were developed from
o f many kilns from oil
oil burner designs. These generally used less primary air than open- open -ended pipes and were suited to use
wi th indirect firing systems . However, in many cases , performance was very poor due to inadequate
fuel/air mixing caused by low jet momentum. Many of these burners exhibit sophistication for its own
sake, gaining no benefits from the extra cost. However, benefits can result from using multi-channel
burners, especia lly with more difficult low- low-volatile fuels such as petcoke, provided the burner is
matched to the kiln iln..

Figure 4 10 Burnertedmology and Its development

before 1960 197 1980 1990 2000 2010

coal Oil/gas coal/petcoke alternatIVe fuels

Si ngle-chan nel burner multi -c hannel burn er lO  NO. burner alternative fuels burner

Source: [CRA 2010 Unitherm CemCom ond Fives Pl lord

 

Flames and fuels

ual and multi fuel burners

Dual and multi
multi-fuel
-fuel burne
burners
rs combine the essential
essential features
features of single-fuel burners previously described
and provide flexibility in fuel choice, a major advantage when unstable world fuel prices make any
medium-term
medium-te rm prediction of costs very difficul
difficult.
t. A true
true m ulti
ulti--fuel installation aUows the plant
pl ant to choose
the most economical fuel currently available. In many cases by-product fuels may be used in place of,
or in addition to
to,, the primary fuel. Vering and Hermann ofVenti-Oelde 2006) outline the repercussions
upon firing fan design now that pressures of 25-40kPa are required .

4.6 Heat
Heat transfer
transfe r
Fuels are burned to heat a product and the mechanism of heat transfer from the flame is vitally
important This is a very complex subject worthy of several books and is covered here only in sufficient
detail to allow a reasonable understanding. Radiation faUingon a surface may be reflec
reflectt ed, tr ansmi t ted,
or absorbed
absorbed.. The fraction o f energy that is absorbed is manifest as heat. If there is a temperature
difference ie, a driving force) between two parts of a system,
system, heat will
wil l be transferred by one or more of
three mechanisms: conduction, convection and radiation.
Radiation dominates in cement kilns, transferringover9S
Radiation transferrin gover9S per cent of the heat in the burning zone. It can
be seen from Figure 4.11 that the process is more complex than the basic equation would suggest. The
factors which affect the rate of radiative heat exchange are the temperatures , emissivity and relative
geometry of the flame and surroundings.
surroundings .
• Basic equation for radiative heat transfer.
transfer.
Q = mA (TF  - Tr )

where: Q = he heat transferred J/s)

a Stefan-Boltzmann constant - 5.6697 x ~
E = emissivity
A = sunace area ml)
TF = flame temperature K)
Tr = product temperature K)

Figure 4.11 Heat transfer paths n the rotary kiln

Kililn
n rotation
Heat lo o.'i

Ref lected
radia t ion
Combustion Feed/product
products
Direct ~ f S C ~
, radi ation

Conducted heat
 

The
Th Han dbook - Seventh Editi on
e Cement Plant Operations Handbook

ffect of fuel type on heat transfer

The most observable difference between gas oil and coal flames is the brightness or emissivity, which
is -OJ for a gas flame, ~ 5 for oil and -0.85 for coaL Emissi
Emissivvity varies along the length of the flame as
shown in Fgure 4.12.

Figure 4 12 Heat transfer rates from d,lle'r '"t fuel types

...h e: m

/ 1
.N
I
; T J---'
......... '
= t  ,
•
•• • • • • • • •
-' -
Oi till1oC e 'long kiln from burner 1m) DisUora * ' I kiln from bumer(m)

-' -' _ Oil

W

The higher emissivity of the oil and coal flames resu lt in higher
higher heat transf
trans fer rates in
in the near flame
reg ion and a 'pe
'peakier'
akier' heat flU)( profile.

ffect of burner esign on heat transfer

Burner aerody
aerodynam ics also sign ifica ntl y mod
namics modiify flame sha
shape
pe and the heat transfer profile as shown in
Figure 4.13. A long, flat heat flux profile equates to a long burning zone. This is usua usually
lly detrimental to
clinker quality, giving rise to larger alite and beli
belitete crystals.. An optimised heat flux can be achieved by
crystals
adjustin g t he burner settings.
settings.

Figure 4 13 H M transfer rates from d i ffe re n t burt1('f deSign

deSigns
s

If.
h
\
'x.\ .\ . I
,
1  \ - I \ \

<
-

\
II
I\ :
• • • • •

Th e opti
opti mised heat flux was produced by a rec.irculatory fl ame, produced by opoptt imising the kiln
aerodynamics and tailoring the burner mome
momentum relative to the secondary
secondary air momentum
momentu m through
physical and mathematical modelling.

4.7
4.7 Pollutant
Polluta nt formation
Th e origin
origi ns of some gaseous polluta
pollutannts formed during combust
combustiion are briefl
brieflyy discussed here, while
Chapter9
Chapter 9 provides
provides the main discussion.
d iscussion.

formation
Th e two main formation mechanisms are ' thermal NO; and ' fu el NO;. Thermal NO. involves the
combination of atmospheric nitrogen and
and oxygen. The high activation ener
energy
gy of this reaction demand
demandss
very hi gh temperatures and thermal NO, format
formation
ion Is hence temperatur
temperaturee sensitive. Owing to the very