A Ve n t u re o f C a p t . A n i l K .

Ve r m a

Rotary Furnace with Air Pollution Control Device

The matter was conceived and written by Capt. Anil K. Verma.
Rotary Furnace with Air Pollution Control Device

About Rotary Furnace

The Rotary Melting Furnace is a very flexible and universal equipment used for recycling many non-ferrous metals. It is the
major lead production technology used in India and many other countries for Secondary Lead Production. A lead production
system based on this technology has certain distinct characteristics such as:
Ÿ Equipment scalable for installing higher capacities
Ÿ Recovers all lead in one production cycle
Ÿ Plates & powder from scrap battery as well as slag from Mini Blast Furnace can be used as raw material
Ÿ Requires addition of certain consumables
Ÿ Can be fired with various fuels
Ÿ Generates high Pollution both as Flue Gases & Fugitive Emissions
Description of Rotary Furnace
It is a Rotary kiln in the form of a metallic cylinder with conical sides on both ends. Mild steel plate is used for construction of
this shell and its thickness varies depending upon the capacity of the equipment. This shell is rotated on its own axis at 1-2
rpm. For this purposes tyres (also called riding rings) are fitted on the shell. These are fabricated from MS squares or flats,
machined for a smooth finish. These tyres ride on steel rollers which are again machined finely. These rollers are fitted on a
robust MS structural frame and driven by a gear & motor arrangement. The shell is lined inside with insulation and fire bricks
of suitable Alumina content.
Conical ends of the furnace are open on both sides. The furnace is charged with Raw material along with additives from the
front end. This side is provided with a movable door on which a burner is mounted. The burner can be a conventional one or a
fully automatic one depending upon the fuel used. At the other end, an exhaust block lined with refractory bricks is provided.
A tapping hole is provided in the center of the shell from where molten metal & slag are discharged. Flue gases generated are
sucked from the exhaust block side of the furnace.
A typical 3.0 TpB Rotary Furnace has the following standard sizes & specifications :
Outside dimensions of the Rotary
Shell dia : 2075mm
Shell length : 2500mm
Total length : 4500mm
Charging dia : 450mm
Exhaust side dia : 450mm
Refractory thickness : 200mm
Fuel : Furnace Oil
Burner : Model 4 A Make: Wesman with complete assembly
FD Fan capacity : 550 cmh at 44mm of WG
Gear Box in drive : 8”, 1:40 Ratio
Motor in drive : 15.0 HP x 960 RPM
Structure used for base : ISMC 250 x 80
Manufacturing Process
Lead to be manufactured from Rotary Furnace can be obtained directly from scrapped batteries or as slag from Mini Blast
Furnace. In case of former, batteries are cut open or broken to segregate lead scrap, plastic and other materials from them;
lead scrap in the form of lead powder/ plates etc. is charged in the furnace along with a proportionate charge of additives. In
the case of latter, slag produced from Mini Blast Furnaces is charged into the Rotary Furnace, again with proportionate
additives.

This process is a batch type process. After filling the required quantity of raw material (either manually or mechanically), the
lid of the furnace at the front is closed. The burner attached to the moving door is then fired. Complete mass of lead raw
material along with additive chemicals is heated at high temperature inside the furnace. After some time, molten lead is
collected at the bottom of the furnace by puncturing the central opening of the Rotary Furnace. Lead is collected either
directly into Jumbo Ingot Moulds or in receiving channels from which they are poured into Jumbo Ingot Moulds.
After draining the Furnace of the first batch, production of next batch is undertaken and the Furnace is again charged with raw
material. After three such batches, one batch of slag collected in Rotary Furnace is executed.
This process leads to generation of flue gases which are toxic in nature and need appropriate and adequate Air Pollution
Control System for their treatment. The steps of Charging and Tapping of Rotary Furnace also lead to generation of Fugitive
Emissions which need to be captured at source and treated to maintain ambient air standards at workplace.
Process Details of a typical 3.0 TpB Rotary Furnace
Raw material charged : 3000 kgs/ Batch
Total additive chemicals charged : 400-500 kgs/ Batch
Rotational speed : 1-2 RPM
Fuel used : Furnace Oil
Calorific value of fuel used : 8600 kCal/ kg.
Fuel consumed : 30-40 lt/ hr.
Air provided for process : 550 cmh
Lead produced : 9000-10000 kg/day (for Raw Material feed of 12-15 TpD;
raw material being lead powder and plates)
Flue gas generation : 15000 cmh

Section View of Rotary Furnace

 Advantages and Disadvantages of Rotary Furnace
Advantages
Ÿ Recovers 100% lead in the first operation.
Ÿ Slag produced is lead free.
Ÿ Equipment can be scaled up for higher production capacities.

Disadvantages
Ÿ Many chemicals are required for operation.
Ÿ High power consumption.
Ÿ Difficult to produce low Antimony lead suitable for soft lead purposes.
Ÿ Fugitive Emissions need to be captured in addition to flue gases.
Ÿ Need skilled operators and careful maintenance.

Air Pollution Control Device for Rotary Furnace

Apart from plates and paste of lead oxide from scrap batteries, slag from Mini Blast Furnace is charged in the Rotary Furnace.
In addition to these, certain compounds of sulphur are also present in the batteries. When this material is heated in the
presence of carbon, lead oxide is converted to lead. This conversion along with burning of fuel generates flue gases and fumes
containing dust, dirt, oxides of lead, lead particles and such other impurities etc.

Hence, to meet various goals of maintaining employees' health and factory environments as well as regulatory requirements,
it becomes imperative to get high end Air Pollution Control Systems to be installed with the Rotary Furnaces.
Characteristics of Air Pollution generated in Rotary Furnace
3
Dust : 8000-15000 mg/Nm
o
Temperature : 100-120 C
Gases : Traces of NOx and SO2
Discharge Characteristics required as per Norms
3
Dust : Less than 50 mg / Nm
3
Lead (Pb) : Less than 10 mg / Nm
o
Temperature : 60-90 C
Gases : Traces of NOx and SO2

Selection of Technology for Air Pollution Control System

Based on the parameters and the standards mentioned, the following technology is adopted for Air Pollution Control
System in Rotary Furnace:
Ÿ Rotary Chamber
Ÿ Gravity Chamber
Ÿ Involute Cyclone
Ÿ Pulse Jet based Bag House Filtration System

Details of Equipments allow with Functions

Rotary Chamber
Rotary Chamber receives very hot gases from Rotary Furnace while cold gases from atmosphere are induced into chamber
via specially designed profile. Thus chamber works as an equalizing chamber to reduce the temperature of gases and also
where sedimentation of dust particulate matter takes place.
 Duct & Bends
Ducts and Bends are required to convey flue gases from point of suction to final top of the chimney and connect various
equipments like gravity chamber, cyclone, bag house, ID Fan and chimney. All bends and reducers are aerodynamically
designed and have provision of manhole cleaning mechanism.
Gravity Chamber
It is a low pressure drop device which:
Ÿ Allows large size particles to settle down
Ÿ Cools down temperature of flue gases
Ÿ Used as spark arrestor to entrap live or red hot particles.

Involute Cyclone
Cyclone is used to remove medium size particles from flue gases stream. The treated flue gases are discharged from top
and dust is collected at bottom.
Bag Filtration System
It is used for final filtration of flue gases to remove fine dust particulate matter using Pulse Jet Technology. Treated gases from
all the bags are collected at top of bag house and passed through ID Fan to exhaust the same through chimney. The dust is
collected at bottom of hopper and is discharged through Rotary Air Lock Valve.
ID Fan
ID Fan provides necessary driving force to convey flue gases from top of furnace to top of the chimney. The volume sucked
overcome the total resistance offered by equipment and duct with the help of fluid horse power provided by ID Fan driven by
suitable motor.
Stack (Chimney)
The generated gases are passed into atmosphere after treatment through chimney of suitable height and diameter.

Fugitive Emissions Control Device

Smelting of lead in furnaces involve stages or parts where though pollution is generated, it is not handled by the main Air
Pollution Control System, like charging of Rotary Furnace when it is red hot or tapping of lead from Rotary Furnace which lead
to generation of fumes.

Systems put in place to capture and treat these fugitive emissions as and when they arise are called Fugitive Emission Control
System. Fugitive Emissions generally lead to pollution of work atmosphere and jeopardize the maintenance of ambient air
standards at the workplace. Hence, to safeguard employee health, these systems are becoming mandatory world over.
Norms of Ambient Air which the Fugitive Emissions Control System help to meet are
Parameter Approved Range Time Period
PM (size < 2.5 micron) < 40 microgm/ Nm3 Annual Basis
PM (size < 10 micron) < 60 microgm/ Nm3 Annual Basis
Lead < 0.5 microgm/ Nm3 Annual Basis
SO2 < 50 microgm/ Nm3 Annual Basis
NO2 < 40 microgm/ Nm3 Annual Basis

Rotary Loading Device

Rotary Furnaces of lower capacities are generally charged manually. But manual charging involves time and labour which
slows down the production rate and reduces total output. Hence a mechanized Rotary Loading System is provided for feeding
of raw material in Rotary Furnace. This leads to huge savings of time & labour and increase the total output. The Rotary Loader
is a device specially designed for transfer of raw material from a Chute of adequate capacity to inside the furnace shell.

Below are the commonly used Rotary Chargers:

Vibro type, Forklift type and Tractor fitted charging device.

Distinct benefits of a Rotary Charging System are

Time Saving
Increases production
Reduces direct human contact with Hot Rotary Furnace
Reduces temperature loss during charging
Reduction in Flue Gases generated

Jumbo Ingot Mould

Jumbo Ingot Moulds are collection trolleys used for collecting molten lead from Rotary Furnaces. They can be of varying
capacities, ranging from 500 Kg. to 1500 Kg. The most prevalent of the same is 500 Kg. Ingot Mould. Due to higher weight of
the cast, it is called a Jumbo Ingot Mould.

These moulds have trolley type structure with two unidirectional wheels at the back and one free spin wheel at the front. It is
provided with a handle to pull it. They are moved manually or on rails electro-mechanically, varying from unit to unit. They are
smoothened on the inside and do not have any sharp folds or edges. They are usually constructed in SG cast iron for longer life
and increased strength. We also provide Bucket type moulds to be used with material handing device.

Typical parameters for a 500 Kg Jumbo Ingot are

Shape : Pyramidical Hopper Type
Size – Top : 500mm x 500mm (Inside)
Size – Bottom : 350mm x 350mm (Inside)
Height : 500mm
MoC : SG Iron
Thk : 40mm
Back Wheels : 200mm Dia x 50mm Wd
Front Wheel : 150mm Dia x 50mm Wd

Wet Scrubber for Air Pollution Control Device

A Wet Scrubber in the Air Pollution Control System is mandatory in India and many parts of the world. Wet Scrubber uses
water to scrub clean the flue gases of any pollutant gases or particles that may remain after Bag Filtration System. The
Scrubber therefore requires a pump, pipeline and a retention tank.

The size of the Scrubber depends upon the capacity of the system being installed. Flue gases are introduced in the body of the
Scrubber from side and as they move up towards the top of the Scrubber which has the outlet, they pass through a spray of
fine water droplets provided by a spray shower provided in the body. This fine spray leads to scrubbing of any pollutant in the
flue gases. Cleaned gases escape through the top opening after passing through a mist eliminator whereas water with
pollutants moves to the bottom of the Scrubber from where it is passed into the tank. One or more chambers of the tank allow
for settling of pollutants which are then periodically cleaned and fresh water is added to make up any loss in quantity of water.
It is then recirculated to the Scrubber.
Note: Due to continuous up-gradation in technology, specified & projected values may differ in actual products
Flow Sheet - Rotary Furnace and Its Air Pollution Control Device with Scrubber
Flow Sheet - Fugitive Emission Control System for Rotary Furnace
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