Journal of Cleaner Production 18 (2010) 1171e1176

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Journal of Cleaner Production

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro

Cleaner production in a small lime factory by means of process controlq

Pedro A. Ochoa George a, Alexis Sagastume Gutiérrez a, *, Juan B. Cogollos Martínez a,
Carlo Vandecasteele b
a
Universidad de Cienfuegos, Carretera a Rodas Km 4, Cuatro Caminos, Cienfuegos, Cuba
b
Department of Chemical Engineering, K.U.Leuven, de Croylaan 46, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: An approach to Cleaner Production in a small factory of hydrated lime is presented. The work aims to
Received 2 July 2009 improving fuel and limestone utilization and reducing waste production in the plant. Efforts mainly focus
Received in revised form on the calcination stage, where around 50% of the production costs due to fuel consumption occur. To
23 March 2010
fulfill this objective, new indicators are proposed to evaluate the performance of the lime shaft kiln, in
Accepted 29 March 2010
Available online 8 April 2010
order to develop an operational control method for the calcination process. The systematic use of the
developed operational control method is a powerful tool in the daily operation of a small lime factory,
since it allows a more efficient calcination process with reduced environmental impact and production
Keywords:
Cleaner production
cost.
Hydrated lime production Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Process control

1. Introduction
Lime is one of the older materials produced by man and remains
a most useful material, e.g., for some chemical, metallurgical and
building industries (Boynton, 1988; Oates, 1998; Ochoa, 2000).
Surprisingly enough, the published knowledge on such an old and
widespread industry is not as large as could be expected, and some
process relations are not well documented (Ochoa, 2000). This fact
stresses the necessity to analyze some empirical knowledge
established almost as ‘universal truth’ at plant level.
In order to produce lime, limestone is calcinated by supplying
heat. The dissociation reaction of the carbonates contained in
limestone is promoted by the heat absorbed by the limestone in
a kiln, which implies three aspects: chemical, energetic and process
control. Dissociation begins when limestone reaches the calcina-
tion temperature at the limestone surface, with a well defined
reaction interface moving to the center of the limestone stone,
forming a growing shell of quicklime around the unreacted core. To
increase the reaction velocity, in order to reach a sufficient rate of
production, it is necessary to increase the surface temperature of
the stone over the calcination temperature.
This process usually takes place in kilns, the vertical shaft kiln
being one of the most used types of kiln, because of its high ener-
getic efficiency compared with other designs (Bes, 2006). A vertical
q All the data and detailed calculations can be obtained from the authors.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ53 43 511963; fax: þ53 43 522762.
E-mail address: asagastume@ucf.edu.cu (A.S. Gutiérrez).
shaft kiln (Fig. 1) is basically a moving bed reactor with the upward
flow of hot combustion gases counter-current to the downward
flow of limestone stones that undergo calcination at elevated
temperature, usually exceeding 900
C (Bes, 2006; Chen et al.,
2007; Oates, 1998; Senegacnik et al., 2007, 2008),. For a better
understanding the kiln is divided in three parts, namely, the pre-
heating, the calcination and the cooling zones. The preheating zone
begins at the top of the kiln and ends where calcination starts. At
this point begins the calcination zone which ends where calcina-
tion stops and the cooling zone begins. The heat required for
calcination is supplied by combustion of adequate fuel (coal, oil,
gas, etc.).
The large amount of heat required for this chemical reaction to
take place, accounts for an important part of the energy cost and is
consequently a crucial challenge with respect to optimization of
control in order to minimize production costs. Therefore, the
energetic assessment of the calcination process is a fundamental
aspect of the lime production. In lime factories traditionally the
classic expression to calculate the thermal efficiency of limekilns is
used (Boynton, 1988; Hill and Mason, 1997; Ochoa, 2000; Ruch,
1981):
qd  Aq
ht ¼ (1)
f V
Referring to this expression, Boynton (1988) stated “However,
much more detailed information than that provided by the
preceding formula is necessary in order to pinpoint the most
fruitful areas of heat dissipation.”

0959-6526/$ e see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2010.03.019
1172 P.A. Ochoa George et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 18 (2010) 1171e1176

Nomenclature Qoh Heat required for quicklime overheating.

Qrec Heat recovered in the cooling zone.
Aq Fraction of calcium oxide in quicklime. qd Theoretical heat requirement heat for the dissociation
Ah Fraction of calcium oxide in hydrated lime. of CaCO3.
Aw Fraction of calcium oxide in the waste. Rd Conversion degree of the limestone.
Ap Fraction of calcium oxide in the final product. To Environmental temperature.
B % CaCO3 in limestone Td Dissociation temperature.
CpLs Specific heat of limestone. Toh Overheating temperature.
CpQl Specific heat of quicklime. V Net Calorific Value of the fuel.
d Diameter of limestone (stones) Vp Stone velocity
f Fuel consumed per ton of quicklime Ws Mass of waste produced in the separation process.
F Fuel consumed in the kiln. Wg Gas flow
Hl Mass of hydrated lime
Ls Mass of limestone fed to the kiln. Greek symbols
Ox Mass of produced calcium oxide. ht Classical thermal efficiency
Pc Mass of final product. hT Thermal efficiency
Ql Mass of quicklime produced in the kiln. Remark For Aq, Ah, Aw, Ap, F, Qph, Qd, Qoh and Qrec the amount
Qph Heat required for preheating the limestone considered always correspondS to 1 day.
Qd Heat requirement for the dissociation of CaCO3.

Nevertheless, other authors like Patterson (1996) and Ruch
(1993) approached the problem of the thermal efficiency from
a different point of view. Ruch outlines in his work connected with
the classic expression “.it is correct as theoretical extreme case,
but in practice leads us no further.”
On the other hand, the classic expression links energy and
chemical aspects of processes in kilns by inclusion of the term Aq,
which establishes a relation among the total heat supplied to the
kiln (fV), the demand of heat (Qd) required by the process and the
result of the reaction (Aq). The reaction is only provoked by the heat
absorbed by the stones and not by the total heat supplied to the
kiln, which includes heat losses of all types, even those that do not
play any role in the reaction, as the heat is not transferred to the
stones.
It may be concluded that the classic expression of the thermal
efficiency for limekilns does not offer sufficiently detailed infor-
mation for the design and exploitation of real furnaces.
Also, in order to assure long-term sustainability of the lime
factory, it is essential to maximize the production of quicklime for
Exit Gases
Limestone
a given fuel consumption and to minimize losses of limestone,
quicklime and hydrated lime. Efforts made to reduce the costs and
the environmental impact of lime production usually involve the
introduction of sophisticated instruments and equipment and also
imply the use of automatic control of several parameters of
operation (Ruch et al., 1973; Wang et al., 2005). The acquisition
cost of this kind of technology is high, and in general poor
countries do not have access to it. In the lime factory analyzed in
this paper, the small size precluded important investments,
changes in technology or changes in equipment. Therefore, control
of fuel and raw material consumption, and its influence on
production costs and environmental impact associated with the
production of lime are carried out manually. A way of improve-
ment in the production process, without major investments, is
through the implementation of cleaner production strategies by
means of process control.
The objective of this paper is to reduce by process control,
according to the principles of cleaner production (Huisingh, 1993),
the consumption of fuel and limestone, reducing at the same time
waste production and environmental impact, in a small factory for
the production of hydrated lime
2. Energy aspects

All operations in the production process of hydrated lime aim at

maximizing CaO in each stage of the process, at the lowest cost.
Starting from this focus, and as the energy assessment of the
Preheating calcination process is a core element in the exploitation and control
Zone Calcination of lime plants, expressions were developed allowing to calculate
Zone the thermal efficiency hT and the conversion degree of the calci-
nation process (Rd), based on regular data provided by laboratories
in lime factories.
Air Air
Fuel Fuel 2.1. Thermal efficiency of limekilns

Fundamental in the energetic assessment of limekiln exploita-

Cooling tion is the thermal efficiency of the process (Boynton, 1988; Hill and
Zone Mason, 1997; Ochoa, 2000). As the classical expression (Eq. (1)) is
Cooling Air
not sufficient to assess the thermal efficiency, a new expression is
needed.
Quicklime In a kiln operating under real conditions it is necessary to
supply, besides the dissociation heat, the necessary heat (Qph) to
Fig. 1. Lime shaft kiln. preheat the stones from ambient temperature to dissociation
 P.A. Ochoa George et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 18 (2010) 1171e1176 1173

   
temperature. It is also necessary to supply heat (Qoh) to overheat Ah Ap  Aw
the layer of lime formed around the unreacted core of limestone, as Ql ¼ Pc   (9)
Aq Ah  Aw
explained before, in order to maintain a sufficient production rate.
A fraction of the heat supplied to preheat the limestone and to
overheat the lime layer is recovered in the cooling zone and used to 4. Laboratory measurements
heat part of the combustion air, thus increasing the thermal effi-
ciency of the kiln. In the lime factory laboratory, the measurements of the available
Based on the above arguments, a new equation to calculate the %CaO in the quicklime, the hydrated lime, the waste and the final
thermal efficiency of limekilns (Ochoa, 2000) is proposed in this product flow are carried out daily. The measurements are made
work: following the Cuban Standard NC 54-279 based on the American
Standard ASTM C-25. Limestone composition is determined
Qph þ Qd þ Qoh  Qrec following the Cuban Standard NC 54-27 based on the American
hT ¼ (2) Standard ASTM C-25 and ASTM C-110
FV

In a vertical shaft kiln (Fig. 1), a heat (F  V) supply is necessary to
provide the energy needed to preheat the limestone, dissociate the
CaCO3 and overheat the lime layer (Qph þ Qd þ Qoh) in order to
produce quicklime. As discussed before, a fraction of the heat to
preheat and overheat the stone can be recovered in the cooling
zone (Qrec). This heat is recycled in the process and used to preheat
the combustion air, reducing the heat consumption and improving
the thermal efficiency.
2.2. Conversion degree
The conversion of limestone into quicklime is due to the
dissociation of CaCO3 into CO2 and CaO. If more CaCO3 dissociates,
the quality of the quicklime will improve. So, defining the conver-
sion degree as the ratio between the mass of CaCO3 dissociated to
the total mass of CaCO3 fed to the kiln, and using the mass balance,
we obtained:
Aq
Rd ¼
(3)
B 0:44  Aq þ 0:56
3. Mass and energy balance
The equations for the required calculation of the process heat
requirements (Qph, Qd, and Qoh) are deduced from an energy
balance of the kiln, where the dissociation heat depends on the
heat consumed for the endothermic reaction 3200 kJ=kgCaO (Bes,
2006; Boynton, 1988; Commandre et al., 2007; Hill and Mason,
1997; Oates, 1998; Senegacnik et al., 2007).
Qd ¼ 3200 kJ=kg  Ox (4)
5. Experimental optimization
In search of relations between selected operational parameters
and the process results, an experimental optimization was carried
out using the Method of Steepest Ascent (Box and Wilson, 1951;
Kuehl, 2001).The method applied is as follows:
1. A model of first order is identified to search for the maximum.
2. Experiments are developed following the most favorable
trajectory.
3. When good results are no longer obtained in the selected
directions, a second order model is identified.
4. The optimal solution is identified.
5.1. Practical application
In spite of the influence that the calcium carbonate content in
limestone (B) and the diameter of the limestone fed to the kilns (d)
can have on the results of the calcination process, both parameters
were not analyzed during the experimental optimization, as they
do not change with daily operations.
The operational parameters selected are the stone velocity (Vp)
in the kiln, controlled by changing the extraction frequency; the gas
flow (Wg), controlled by the outlet valve; and finally the fuel
consumption (F), controlled by the burner valve. In the optimiza-
tion it is set as objective to find the values of Vp, Wg and F that
maximize the conversion degree (Rd). In order to fulfill this objec-
tive, a factorial design is applied in two levels. As center point of the
design the actual point of operation of the kilns is selected:

The necessary heat to preheat the limestone to the dissociation Vp ¼ 0.3348 m/s
temperature and to overheat the lime layer around the unreacted Wg ¼ 0.7 kg/(s m2)
core, from the first law of thermodynamics, both depend on the F ¼ 9561 kg
specific heat ðCpLs ; CpQl Þ, the mass (Ls; Ql) and the temperature
gradient: The selected levels for the experimental design are listed in
Table 1.
Qph ¼ Ls  CpLs ðTd  T0 Þ (5) The results of the experiments are shown in Table 2.
After the fifth experiment, the conversion degree begins to
Qoh ¼ Ql  CpQl ðToh  Td Þ (6) decrease and the search is stopped. Then a second order model is
identified, using a Composite Factorial Central Rotary Design. As
The necessary values of the raw materials and products masses center point the results of experiment 5 were selected. The iden-
are calculated from the mass balance of the production process of tified model is:
hydrated lime:
   
Ap  Aw 1 Table 1
Ls ¼ Pc   0:785 þ (7) Levels of the experimental design.
Ah  Aw Aq
Factor Units Factor level
  Vp m/s 0.279 0.391
Ap  Aw Wg kg/s m2 0.3 1.1
Ox ¼ Pc  Ah  (8)
Ah  Aw F kg 9161 9961
1174 P.A. Ochoa George et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 18 (2010) 1171e1176

Table 2 Other potential reductions of the fuel and raw material

Trajectory of the experimental design. consumption can be achieved by reducing the limestone dimen-
Trajectory Vp Wg F Rd sions. This aspect will be analyzed in further studies.
1 0.33 0.70 9561 92.0
2 0.28 0.63 9029 92.6
3 0.22 0.57 8498 93.3 6. Method for process control of calcination in shaft kilns
4 0.17 0.50 7966 93.7
5 0.11 0.43 7434 94.2
Based on the indicators proposed above (hT and Rd), a method
6 0.06 0.36 6902 93.1
for operational control of the vertical shaft kiln was developed.

Stage 1
 Fuel characterization (Net Calorific Value)
 
Rd ¼ 85:44  4:85Vp þ 0:08Wg  3:75  105  F  0:2Vp  Limestone characterization (CaCO3%, limestone radius and
  specific heat)


 0:23w2g þ 1:96  109 F 2  81:61  Vp  Wg  Registration of obtained data in order to create a data base for
    later comparison.
þ 2:93  105  Vp  F þ 4:05  103  Wg  F
Stage 2
(10)
 Determination in the laboratory of the available %CaO in the
Optimization of Eq. (10) gives as optimal values for this second quicklime (Aq), in the hydrated lime (Ah), in the waste (Aw) and
order model: in the final product (Ap).
 Registration of obtained data.
Vp ¼ 0.558 m/h
Stage 3
Wg ¼ 0.50 kg/s m2
 Measurement of fuel consumption.
F ¼ 6902 kg  Measurement of the mass of final product.
Rd ¼ 96.5%  Measurement of the mass of waste.

Table 3
Variation of daily results with and without use of the proposed method (without, Wo; with, W).

Day Pc (t/day) F (t/day) F/Pc (kg/t) Ws (t/day) Rd % Aq % Ap % hT %

Wo W Wo W Wo W Wo W Wo W Wo W Wo W Wo W
1 33 38 8.5 7.1 258 183 13 4 93 95 82 88 70 70 52 59
2 19 39 4.6 7.2 244 181 6 3 95 95 85 89 70 70 53 59
3 28 40 7.0 7.6 252 186 10 4 94 95 88 88 68 71 52 59
4 28 41 7.0 7.4 253 195 10 4 96 95 87 88 71 72 53 63
5 27 38 7.1 7.1 263 183 11 3 94 94 89 87 70 71 52 58
6 31 39 8.1 7.6 262 196 11 5 94 94 87 87 69 71 51 58
7 31 39 8.7 7.7 282 198 14 5 93 94 87 87 70 71 51 58
8 30 39 7.6 7.3 256 188 11 3 93 94 85 88 68 71 51 59
9 34 39 8.2 7.6 243 186 11 7 94 95 85 88 69 72 53 60
10 39 41 9.7 7.4 251 197 14 3 92 95 86 88 66 70 51 59
11 38 38 9.7 7.1 256 184 14 2 93 96 83 89 68 70 51 57
12 38 39 9.6 7.6 253 187 13 6 93 94 85 87 68 70 52 58
13 37 41 9.5 7.8 259 195 14 4 93 95 86 89 68 71 52 58
14 38 40 9.4 7.2 250 180 15 7 96 95 86 89 69 71 52 64
15 41 40 9.9 7.4 244 187 15 5 93 95 90 89 69 71 54 60
16 40 40 9.7 7.5 245 193 16 3 92 94 85 88 69 70 54 58
17 39 39 9.9 7.5 255 185 14 3 94 96 84 89 70 71 52 56
18 36 41 8.8 7.8 247 200 13 4 94 95 87 89 69 71 54 58
19 36 39 9.2 7.4 256 200 12 3 94 96 86 90 69 71 51 58
20 35 37 8.7 7.3 251 194 11 2 94 95 87 89 69 70 51 54
21 36 38 8.8 7.1 246 183 11 2 94 95 87 89 68 70 51 57
22 37 39 8.5 7.5 231 189 12 3 91 96 86 89 66 71 54 56
23 39 40 9.1 7.8 247 196 14 6 92 95 82 88 66 71 52 58
24 34 40 8.4 7.6 249 197 12 3 93 96 84 90 67 70 52 56
25 40 39 10.02 7.2 251 190 14 3 94 94 85 87 70 70 53 59
26 38 38 9.6 7.4 253 203 13 4 93 95 88 89 68 71 51 56
27 39 37 9.9 7.2 254 195 15 5 94 95 85 88 69 71 53 58
28 35 37 8.8 7.3 253 183 12 3 94 95 87 88 69 71 52 56
29 32 40 8.3 7.6 261 203 12 5 93 94 87 87 71 72 51 59
30 45 38 10.9 7.5 244 192 16 3 93 95 86 89 67 71 54 55
31 36 39 8.8 7.2 246 190 13 3 93 96 86 89 68 71 53 59
32 30 38 7.6 7.1 256 184 10 4 95 95 86 89 71 70 51 58
33 41 39 9.9 7.3 242 189 14 3 93 95 88 89 69 70 53 57
34 39 39 9.7 7.5 250 198 15 4 94 95 86 89 68 71 54 57
35 36 38 9.4 7.1 264 183 14 3 94 95 86 89 68 69 51 57
36 39 39 9.9 7.2 254 190 15 3 94 95 86 88 68 70 53 59
37 33 38 8.4 7.3 257 193 13 3 94 94 87 87 70 70 53 57
 P.A. Ochoa George et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 18 (2010) 1171e1176 1175

Fig. 3. CO2 emissions(ton) per ton of final product.

Fig. 2. Increase of % CaO in quicklime.

Stage 4 average value of 1.50 tons of CO2 per ton of product to 1.19, and they
 Calculation of the process indicators (hT, Rd). remained more stable.
 Registration of obtained data.
7.2. Economical
Stage 5
 Taking the corresponding decisions based on experimental By the application of the control method important reductions
optimization information. of the production costs are achieved. Taking into consideration that,
 Setting of the chosen values (Vp, Wg and F). in this case, the control method is focused on the calcination stage,
we consider the decrease on the total costs of:

7. Results
Table 4
Economic results.
7.1. Technical
Day Limestone feed to the kiln Fuel consumption ($/day)
In Table 3, the results of the applied operational control method ($/day)

are shown. In the table, the variation of the daily results of the Without With Without With
process is presented, comparing 37 consecutive exploitation days 1 77 66 1873 1574
without the application of the new operational control method 2 71 67 1021 1593
proposed with the 37 consecutive days of operation with the 3 39 70 1554 1679
4 58 73 1560 1630
application of the method. The case study is developed in a small 5 59 66 1565 1569
lime factory with a maximum total production capacity of the 4 6 59 69 1788 1679
limekilns of ca. 40 ton per day of quicklime. The dimension of the 7 65 70 1922 1698
limestone feed to the kiln battery in the plant is in the range of 8 71 67 1688 1611
9 63 72 1821 1680
60e80 mm. In the plant the data is measured and reported on
10 69 69 2154 1650
a daily bases. 11 80 64 2140 1576
The production of hydrated lime (Pc) increased while the 12 79 70 2115 1690
consumption of fuel (F) decreased, decreasing the specific fuel 13 78 71 2105 1720
consumption per ton of final product (F/Pc), implying a smaller 14 78 72 2089 1587
15 77 70 2197 1644
environmental impact and a better profitability. As a result of the 16 85 68 2154 1654
optimization of the conversion degree of the dissociation reaction 17 85 67 2192 1665
(Rd) is increased the percent of available calcium oxide in the 18 82 70 1953 1718
quicklime (Aq), and in the final product (Ap). Fig. 2 shows that, as 19 75 67 2027 1631
20 74 62 1931 1618
discussed, on the average the % CaO, Aq, in quicklime increased
21 71 64 1945 1569
significantly due to the process control method described. More- 22 72 67 1881 1665
over Aq is much more constant over the different days, indicating 23 74 71 2116 1723
that the control method improves production stability and 24 80 67 1865 1689
consistency. Also, because of the reduction of the consumption of 25 70 67 2206 1591
26 83 66 2119 1648
fuel a decrease in the CO2 emissions is achieved. For each ton of fuel 27 78 66 2181 1586
combusted, approximately 3.12 ton of CO2 is emitted to the atmo- 28 83 64 1947 1606
sphere. In addition, 0.785 ton of CO2 is emitted for each ton of 29 72 71 1835 1693
CaCO3 dissociated. From an average value of 53 ton per day, the 30 67 65 2414 1652
31 93 66 1947 1590
emissions where reduced to 46 ton per day. The percentage of CO2
32 75 65 1687 1577
from fuel combustion has thus reduced from 50% of the total CO2 33 62 66 2181 1624
emitted to 48%. Furthermore, as less fuel is consumed per ton of 34 83 68 2145 1659
product, less CO2 is emitted per ton of product. Fig. 3 shows the 35 83 64 2088 1573
results obtained in reducing the specifics CO2 emissions: with the 36 76 67 2182 1585
37 83 65 1868 1615
operational control method the emissions were reduced from an
1176 P.A. Ochoa George et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 18 (2010) 1171e1176
1. Limestone feed to the kiln [1.96 $/m3]
2. Fuel consumption [0.22$/l].
The reductions of the costs are calculated in function of the
decrease of the consumption of fuel and raw material per ton of
final product. Table 4 compares the total economic costs daily
obtained in the calcination stage without and with the operational
control method.
The production cost of one ton of limestone without imple-
menting the control method was 109 $/ton, after the imple-
mentation it was reduced to 95 $/ton representing a cost reduction
of 13e97% of the reduction is due to the fuel consumption. These
costs are directly associated with the calcination stage.
Also a cost reduction is achieved in the mining activities:
a reduction of the daily demand of limestone for the kilns by on
average 5 ton, results in a cost reduction of the limestone supply to
the kiln. To supply limestone to the kiln it is first necessary to
reduce and calibrate the limestone obtained in the quarry. In this
stage of the production process ca. 25% of the limestone coming
from the quarry is lost because it does not meet the dimension
requirements. Therefore, the daily extraction in the quarry is on
average reduced by ca. 7 ton. This reduces the need for human
resources, explosives, specialized equipment and transportation of
the limestone to the lime plant. Consequently, the costs of the
mining activities are reduced because of the improvement in the
limekilns performance.
In conclusion, the production of the lime plant is increased with
a reduction of the production costs, thus increasing the
competitiveness.
8. Conclusion
Application of an operational control method of the calcination
process reduces the fuel and raw material consumption and the
environmental impact of the process, in agreement with cleaner
production. Furthermore, production costs are reduced and the
quality of the final product is improved. Also, it is worth mentioning
that the results were reached without any additional investment.
Acknowledgement
Grateful acknowledgement is made to VLIR-UOS (Flanders,
Belgium) for their support through the project “A Centre for Cleaner
Production to contribute to the socio-environmental development
of the province of Cienfuegos, Cuba” with Luc Hens (VUB) as
promoter and Carlo Vandecasteele as co-promoter
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