Roller Press

V Naga Kumar

NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CEMENT & BUILDING MATERIALS

BALLABGARH (HARYANA)
Roller press
 What is a Roller Press

 Originally a compaction tool rather than a grinder

 Mainly as a pre-grinder for Capacity increase
 Integral Grinding with a high recirculation rate
 Applies the concept of high pressure transfer through a bed of
material
 Pressure across the bed has a compacting effect on material which
is crushed and gradually reduces in size
 Stability ensured by uniform feed control
 Can be utilized in various configurations
 Energy saving: substitution rate w.r.t. Ball Mill: 1.5~2.5 kWh/t
 Specifications of roller press
• High grinding pressure between 50 and 400 MPa

• Roller circumferential speed 0.5 to 1.8 m/s

• Feed grain size up to 60 mm

• Compacted cakes contain up to 40 % fines (< 90 µm)

• Compacted cakes contain also coarser particles with large

numbers of cracks and weak points
• Reduce energy during further grinding
Grinding System with Roller press Pre
grinding
Roller Press for Finish Grinding of Raw
Meal
 Ball Mill Roller press classification

• Ball mill roller press circuit are classified as fallows:

1. Pre grinder
2. Hybrid grinding
3. Combi grinding
CONFIGURATION FOR ROLLER PRESS CIRCUITS
 Pre-grinding with HPGR

Characteristics of pre-grinding
• ~15% increase in throughput compared to a single ball mill
• Intermediate product with 800-1000 cm²/g with a very wide
particle size distribution
• Option to with and without cake recirculation
• Can be used to supply several ball mills
• Smaller balls can be used in ball mill chamber with reduction in
Power consumption
• Very simple plant layout with minimal operating cost
 Hybrid grinding

Characteristics of hybrid grinding

• ~65% increase in throughput compared to a single ball mill
• Increase in throughput is limited by the fineness of the feed
• Intermediate product typically with 1500 cm²/g
• Wide particle size distribution of the intermediate product
• Simple plant layout with low investment costs
 Semi-finish
grinding with
closed circuit ball
mill

Characteristics of semi-finish grinding

• More than 150% increase in throughput compared to a single ball mill possible
• Energy saving of more than 50% compared to an equivalent ball mill for the
intermediate product
• Intermediate product typically with 1800 cm²/g to 3500 cm²/g
• Narrow particle size distribution of the intermediate product
 Semi-finish grinding with
closed circuit ball mill
• Can also be used for finish grinding
• Can be used to supply several ball mills
• Speed of rolls depending upon fineness of feed
• Flexibility to grind different products with a variable speed
drive
• Additional energy savings possibility by suitable ball charge
Specific energy demand
Performance Increase
Principle of grinding with
The roller press
Principle of Operation

• The compaction of the

material with the
density ρ start at the
nip angle α. The
maximum is achieved
at the so called attack
angle β( center of
pressure) where the
material reaches the
slab density ρG.
 Operating principle

In high-pressure roller press comminution

•The feed material is exposed to very high pressure for a short

time.

•The high pressure causes formation of micro cracks in the

feed particles and generates a substantial amount of fine
material.
 Comminution in roller press

• Comminution increases with rising pressure , but only little

beyond an optimum level ,as after reaching that level of
compression cake behaves as non compressible, viscous fluid
• Closely graded material requires high pressure as more voids
are present
• Widely graded requires less pressure as less void is present
 Material layer
• Material layer above roller gap gives efficient comminution
• Feed bin above roller gap serves as buffer to avoid feed
fluctuation
• Maximum feed size to roller press is approximately two times
the gap opening.
 Material hardness

Material hardness is reduced if processed

through roller press, help in grinding hard
material
 Operation Parameters

• Accumulator, nitrogen charge setting

• Hydraulic system, set point pressure
• Initial gap, zero setting of gap.
• Vibration of press and press drive.
• Bearing and oil temperatures
• Lubricating system.
 Mechanical Parameters
• Wear on roller press mainly occurs in the feed chute on the
roller surface and on the cheek plates.
• The function of cheek plates is to avoid the escape of material
side wards from the rollers.
• The wear rate itself on the roller is low ( for clinker 1-2g/t) and
does not create any problem. The improvement of the
resistance of the roller surface is still an ongoing process.
 Feed to product
Feed is nipped into the gap as a result of opposite rotation;
Material Commuted, compacted & shaped -
Into slabs / flakes /cakes

Different operations proceed simultaneously:

 Density increases from 1.6 to 2.4 t/Cu.m
 Expelling most of the air contained in the feed
 Interparticle communition
 Key Parameters of Roller press
• Press throughput
M= W x S x V x ρ x 3.6 t/h
1000
W= Roller Width
M = Press through put t/h
S = Slab thickness mm
V = Circumferential speed m/s
ρ = Density of slab t/m3
for clinker 2.4 – 2.5 t/m3
for raw material 2.3 – 2.4 t/m3
for slag 2.2 – 2.3 t/m3
 Key Parameters of Roller press
• Press force
F= d/1000 2x л x Z x P x 100/4 KN

d = diameter hydraulic cylinder mm

Z = Number hydraulic cylinders
P = Hydraulic pressure (b)
 Key Parameters of Roller press
• Absorbed motor power at counter
P= 2 x F x β x V kW
η
F = Press Force k/N
η = Efficiency gear and motor
β = Attack angle 0
for clinker 2.3 – 2.85 0
for raw material 2.85 – 4 0
for slag 1.7 – 2.3 0
V = Circumferential speed m/s
 Roller speed
• The specific output of a roller press is directly proportional to
the peripheral speed of the rollers.
Q= 3600 * V * l * t * ρ t/h
V = roller peripheral speed
l = effective roller width
t = roller gap
ρ = density of pressed flakes
• To high velocity of grinding rollers will result in vibrations
and lead to unstable operation.
• Optimum velocity has to be established through experience
and will depend on the process used, nature of material to be
pressed, granulometry of feed, specific surface of grinding
rollers, grinding pressure
• The peripheral roller velocity between 1.2 to 1.6 m/sec is
preferred.
 Maximizing Absorbed Power
Roller speed [m/s]

unstable operation

Stable operation

Circulating load factor [-]

 Maximize absorbed power by increasing circulating load close to
point of unstable operation
 For example circulating load of 2 the roller speed should not exeed
1.5 – 1.55 m/s
 Motor Type
• Fixed speed motors and variable speed drive motors.
• Fixed speed drive motors is cheaper than variable speed drive
motors. Therefore this solution has been preferred in many
cases.
• In this cases buffer hopper is installed between the outlet of the
roller press and the ball mill inlet to adjust the output from the
roller press to fit the output of the ball mill.
• These can be done by adjusting the splitter gate for material
returned to roller press inlet.
• The variable speed drive has advantage to absorb variations
made to adjust the total feed.
 Surface Pattern

• The surface pattern will have a great impact on the

wear on the grinding surface.
• The use of heavily structured grinding surface can
result in the wear rate upto 4 times the wear on a
smooth grinding surface.
• The surface will have an influence on the ability to
draw the feed material into the gap between the
rollers and thus an influence on the gap width and
roller press grinding capacity.
 Grinding roller surface
• The roller surface is provided with wear protection in
order to maximize the life of rollers.
• The rollers can be either smooth or patterned.
• Types of patterned are chevron pattern and diamond
pattern.
• Three different arrangements of roller surfaces and
wear protection are presently in the market
o Wear segments (high wear resistance and are clamped on
the rollers body)
o Bandage surfaces ( high wear resistance and bandages
cannot replace without a complete removal of rollers)
o Welding on wear protection layers
Grinding roller surface

Flat surface

Hexagon surface

Chervon surface
Crack development on Hard Face
Wear protection polysius
Wear protection KHD
 Key Parameters of Roller press
• Specific roller pressure
K = F x 106 kN/m2
DxW
k ≤ 6000 kN/m2

W = Roller width mm
D = Roller diameter mm
F = Press Force k/N
Grinding of Cement Mill with a Roller
Press in Pre Grinding Mode

• Grinding Pressure for modern type roller presses optimally will be

between 5000 to 8000 N/m2
• It is clear from the diagram that the overall saving will stabilise
around 6kWh/t.
• A too low grinding pressure will not give the desired saving.
• A very high grinding pressure on the other hand will not give any
further saving in energy consumption.
 Grinding Pressure in Roller press

• The low grinding Pressure the specific energy consumption of the

roller pressure is low.
• While the recirculation and the energy consumption for the separation
and material transport is high.
• At high grinding pressure opposite is the case.
• Most economic solution in this case is the use of a grinding pressure
of approximately 6000 kN/m2
 Key Parameters of Roller press
• Specific surface load
L= F x 103 N/mm2
W x D/2 x α
F = Press force k/N
W = Roller width mm
D = Roller diameter mm
α = Nip angle 0
for clinker 6.9 – 9.2 0
for raw material 9.2 – 12.6 0
for slag 5.7 – 7.5 0
Should not exceed 250 N/mm2
 Key Parameters of Roller press
• Specific energy consumption
E = P/M kWh/t
P = Abs motor power kW
M = Press throughput t/h
for clinker 2.5 – 3 kWh/t
for raw material 2 – 2.5 kWh/t
for slag ~ 3 kWh/t
Ec = P U /M kWh/t
Ec = Closed circuit ( with separator or/and slab recirculation)
U = Circulation factor
 Feed size

For a gap width of 25 mm, material size

around 100 mm can be processed
Maximum limit for the lump size in the feed is
set as 4% of the roller diameter.
Misalignment of rollers
 Roller diameter
• Cake thickness changes proportional to roller
diameter and roller thickness

• Cake thickness can be changed by narrowing

nipping area of roller too

• Nipping area can be changed by modifying roller

surface too
 Roller press advantages

• Long wear part life

• Low operational and maintenance costs

• Short shutdown for wear part

• Replenishment
 Roller press cake quality

• Raw Grinding 2.2 to 2.3 MT / M3

• Finish grinding 2.6 MT/ M 3

 Reasons for output reduction
• Feed arrangement problems
• Spillage of feed material(2-4 mm between cheek wear
plates and end of the rollers)
• Pressing and grinding efficiency of the press not at
optimum level.
• Damage to roller surface.
• Hot bearings.
• Uneven motor loads
• Vibrations
• Grindability of the feed
• Granulometry of the feed
• Amount of returned cake
 Inspection
• Continuous operation of roller press is achieved if the
critical areas of the press are regularly inspected
• During Operation
o Vibration of press and press drive
o Bearing and oil temperature
o Lubrication system
• During Stop
o Wear Parts (rollers, cheek plates, inside feed chute)
o Bearings and bearing sealings
o Lubrication system, water cooling system
o Hydraulic system, pressure setting accumulators
o Drive including gear boxes, shafts, clutches, electrical
motors
 Comparative performance in different
modes of operation
MODE OF CAPACITY ENERGY MAINTEN- INVESTMENT
OPERATION INCREASE, SAVING,% ANCE COST,%
% COST %
PRE- 25-40 10-20 105 90-110
GRINDING

HYBRID- 50-70 20-30 110 90-110

GRINDING

COMBI- 80-200 25-45 130 130

GRINDING

FINISH- --- 40-60 120 100

GRINDING
 Case Study
• One of the cement plant converted roller press ball
mill circuit in to roller press finish mode considering
fallowing reasons
• To save grinding energy
• To reduce water consumption
Design Parameters
Comparison of operating Parameters
Flow sheets in Semi finish & Finish
Mode
 CONSTRAINTS
Major Constraints
High vibration level in roller press
due to high fine material re-circulation roller press by fines and coarse mixing
and material segregation in pre bin
Material flushing from RP pre bin and
unstable operation
Material flushing from V-separator
discharge and belts overloaded leads
to stoppage
Not able to achieve the required
fineness of 350 kg/cm2
Not able to achieve the require
production
Solution
Mixed feed (Fresh + Rejects) feed to
Maintain consistent pre bin level by
roller press feed chute modification
V- Separator discharge chute
modification
Improve the v separator and dynamic
separator efficiency
Process optimization
 Modifications
• Feed chute gap reduced from 130mm to 70mm, chute
width reduced from 500mm to 400mm.
• Material flushing reduced and consistent material
flow increased roller press grinding efficiency
• Dynamic separator reject material diverted to V
separator discharge belt conveyor for better mixing of
with V-separator reject and fresh feed.
 Further modifications for stable
operation & high fineness
• Mixing box installation in intermediate feed bin to achieve
homogenised fresh feed.
• Roller press de dusting system modification for better venting to
reduce vibration.
• SKS reject bin inlet chute modification and de-dusting system
provided for better distribution.
• All the belt conveyors and bucket elevator discharge chutes were re-
designed by reducing the opening to avoid material flushing and
overloading.
• SKS separator static guide vane angle adjusted to 55 deg to reduce
gap.
• Installation of cake breaker beam at roller press discharge to
improve separation efficiency.
Power Comparison before and after
Quality Comparison
THANK YOU