INSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL ADVANCEMENT ~Professenatan Town Knowedge This institute was established a few years ago for the dissemination of knowledge to the persons engaged in the cement and other allied industries. Actually the advancement of professionals in any industry is very vital for the success of any modern organisation in these days of increasingly competitive economy. An effective training/re-training programme would result in reducing costs; improve quality and an increase in production. In order to meet such goals, a panel of eminent and qualified engineers of the respective disciplines is periodically conducting seminars conferences and short term courses/workshops on different subjects We are confident that this institute shall help in providing the required technical expertise to the engineers/supervisors to meet the progressive technological growth of indigenous cement industry. ‘This institute is now publishing a Handbook for Cement Engineers which would certainly be found useful to those associated with this industry as well as by the new comers. ABOUT THE AUTHOR ‘The author had been associated with cement industry since 1953 when he joined Associated Cement Companies Ltd., India at their Wah works (District Rawalpindi). After serving at Robiri works (District Sukkur), he let for Saudi Arabia in 1974 where he joined Saudi Cement Company, Dammam-Saudi Arabia. He travelled to U.K., European countries, U.S.A., India, Saudi Arabia and various other countries for higher training, including visits to various cement plants and allied industries, attending seminars and other professional engagements. © He had the privilege of working at Building Research Station, U.K and Portland Cement Association U.S.A. + He visited world renowned establishments of: = MIS F.L.Smidth, Denmark = MIS Krupp Polysius, Germany ~ MIS Fuller Company, U.S.A MIS Halliburton, U.S.A — MIS Associated Cement Companies Ltd., India «He is serving as a Cement Technologist and Consultant upon his return from Saudi ‘Arabia in 1987 and thus having an experience of about 50 years of working in different positions, both in Pakistan and abroad. —_ Published by; Institute for Professional Advancement, 9-F Johar Town, Lahore-Pakistan Phone: 92-42-5171209 E-mail: ipa_pk@hotmail.com—_—_—_—————_ 4 abe Sg Ass SII Lg) puny the g5505 HANDBOOK FOR CEMENT ENGINEERS CONTENTS SECTION-A : PROC MANUFACTURE OF PORTLAND CEMENT. 1 Introduction 2 Outlines of Process 3 Process Automation HEMICAL AND MINERALOGICAL COMPOSITION 1 Portland Cement 2 Portland Cement Clinker 3 Phases/Minerals in Clinker 2.4 Cement Industry Nomenclature 2.5 Calculation of Phase/Mineral Composition of Clinker RAW MATERIALS 3.1 Natural Origin 2 By-Products/Waste Materials 3 Supplementary Materials 4 Impurities/Contaminants 5 Sampling .6 Geological Exploration 7 Physico-mechanical Analysis 8 Chemical Composition ‘9 Requirement of Raw Materials 3.10 Proportioning of Raw Materials 3.11. Chemical Ratios/Parameters for Kiln Feed and Clinker CRUSHING AND PREHOMOGENIZATION 4.1 Crushing 4.2 Reduction Ratio 4.3. Types of Crushers 4.4 Prehomogenisation 4.5 Blending Beds a)- Stacking Methods b) Reclaiming Methods 4.6 Automatic Sampling and Analysing Page Ne 1-3 46 7-18 19-245. GRINDING OF RAW MATERIALS 25-29 5.1 Feeding of Raw Materials 5.2 Drying of Raw Materials 5.3. Fineness of Raw Meal 5.4 Processes of Grinding 3.5 Grinding Systems a) Ball Mill b) Vertical Roller Mill ©) _ Roller Press 5.6 Pregrinding Systems ‘5.7 Homogenization of Raw Meal and Storage PYROPROCESSING OF CLINKER 30-47 6.1 Uniformity of Kiln Feed 62 Chemistry of Clinker 63. Pyroprocessing Equipments — Vertical Shaft Kiln & Rotary Kiln 64 Pyroprocessing Systems a) Wet Process b) Various Measures to reduce Moisture in the Slurry Chains Gas Suspension Drier (GSD) Technology Slurry Thinners Filtration ©) Semi Wet Process ~ Slurry Dryer 4) Semi Dry Process — Lepol Grate ©) Dry Process - Suspension Preheater/Cyclone Preheater Precalciner Basic Types of Precalcining Process ‘Types of Calciner 65 Kiln Bypass 7. COOLING OF CLINKER (COOLERS) 48-52 7.1 Inside the Kiln (Precooling) 72 Clinker Cooler a) Rotary (Tubular) b) Planetary (Satellite or Integral) ©) Grate 4) Gravity ("g” Cooler) GRINDING OF CLINKER 53-60 8.1 Grindability of Clinker 82 Grinding Systems a) Ball Mill b) Vertical Roller Mill ©) _ Roller Press 8.3. Pregrinding Systems 9. STORAGE OF CEMENT 61-62 9.1 Storage of Cement in Silos 92. Storage of Cement in Bags (Sacks) 10. PACKAGING OF CEMENT 63-64 10.1. Stationary 10.2 Rotary Packer 10.3 Bulk Loading 10.4 Types of Packagingu 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 7. a) Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers (FIBC) b) Paper Bags (Sacks) TYPES OF DUST COLLECTOR 11.1 Settling Chamber 11.2 Cyclones 113 Gravel Bed Filters 114 Bag Filters 11.5 Electrostatic Precipitators ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 12.1 Basic Formulae 12.2 Specific Power Consumption GLOSSARY - TERMS RELATED TO EQUIPMENT AND PROCESS. CALCULATIONS REALTING TO PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT 14.1. Slope of Kiln 14.2 Angle of Repose of various Materials 14.3 Retention Time of Clinker in a Rotary Kiln 14.4 Degree of Charge (Loading) of a Rotary Kiln 14.5 Maximum Thermal Load (Burning Zone Load) of a Rotary Kiln 14.6 Volumetric Load in a Rotary Kiln 14.7, False Air QUALITY CONTROL 15.1, Chemical Analysis (Conventional and Instrumental Methods) 152 Cement Microscopy 15.3 Physical Testing 15.4 Specifications 15.5 Portland Cements (Basic and Blended) a) Basic Cements b) Blended Cements/Composite Cements GLOSSARY-CHEMICAL RELATED TERMS CALCULATIONS RELATING TO QUALITY CONTROL 17.1 Kiln Feed to Clinker Factor 17.2 Calculation of Theoretical Clinker Composition, Compounds and various Parameters from Kiln Feed 17.3 Bogue Equations for Phase/Mineral Composition of Portland Cement 174. Calibration of Air Permeability (Blaine) Apparatus REFERENCES SECTION-B : SUPPLEMENTARY TOPIC: FUELS 1.1 Coat a) Significance of various Constituents of Coal b) Testing of Coal Calculation of Catorific Value of Coal from its Analysis Grindability Index of Coal €) Other Important Data Pertaining to Coal 4) Storage of Coal ©) Quality of Coal required by the Cement Industry £) Preparation of Coal for Pyroprocessing of Clinker 8) Advantages and Disadvantages of using Coal in a Cement Plant 65-68 69-70 1-74 75-78 79-92 93-94 95-98 99-100 101-135,hh) Utilization of Indigenous Coal in the Cement Industry i) Ways to Utilize Coals High in Ash and Sulphur Contents 1.2 Liquid Fuels-Fuel Oils 1) Specification of Fuel Oils used in Cement Industry 'b) Important Properties of Fuel Oil ©) Caloric Value 4). Storage of Fuel Oil 1.3. Gascous Fuels-Natural Gas a) Composition of Natural Gas 'b) Determination of Calorific Value of Gaseous Fuels 2. COMBUSTION 136144 2.1 Requirements of Combustion 22. Air in the Combustion Process 23 Combustion Process 244 Combustion Reactions 2.5 Properties of Chemical Elements and Compounds Generally Present in Fuels 26 Calculation of Oxygen and Air required for Combustion and Products of ‘Combustion 27 Flue Gas Analysis 2.8 Composition of Air 2.9 Volume relations of Gases 3. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF CEMENT INDUSTRY 145-152 3.1 Impact of Particulate Matter 3.2 Impact of Flue Gases 3.3. Impact of Trace Elements and Heavy Metals 344 World Bank Standards for the Dust Concentrations and Gaseous Emissions 3.5 Noise Level 3.6 Occupational Health Aspect 3.7 Other Safety Precautions 4. SAFETY AND FIREFIGHTING 153-158 41 Safety 42 Fire Fighting 43. Classification of Fires 44 Portable Fire Extinguishers 45 Common Fire Extinguishing Agents 46 Fire Hydrants 5, STANDARD TEST SIEVES 186157 3.1 Nominal Sieve Opening 52 Standard Sieve Sizes 53. Tabulation of Sieve Test Data 5-4 Calculation of Surface Mean Diameter from Sieve Test Data 6. GRINDABILITY 158-165 6.1 Work Indexes for Dry Crushing or Wet Grinding 62 Power required ina Ball Mill 63 Appropriate Size of Grinding Media 64 Percentage Charge of Mill. 65 Circulating Load Grinding Media" ~ 6.7 Hardness of Material 2) Minerals Mohs Sedié-of Hardness “hy Metal, AHBy and RubberREFRACTORY ENGINEERING Brinell Hardness Rockwell Hardness Vickers Hardness Durometer Hardness 166-173 7.1 Various Factors which effect the Life of Refractory Bricks 7.2 Refractory Life Time 73 Refractory Thickness Measuring Meter 7.4 Lining Techniques 7.5 _ Selection of Lining Thickness 76 Type of Refractory required for Rotary Kiln 7.7 Melting Points of Pure Refractory Oxides 78 Characteristics and Chemical Properties of Commonly used Bricks 7.9 Testing of Refractory Bricks 7.10. Brick Sizes and Mixing Ratio Calculation 7.11 Castables 7.12. Plastic Refractories 7.13 Glossary of Common Terms CO-GENERATION 174-175 8.1 Utilization of Thermal Energy from Kiln Bypass 82 Utilization of Pre-Heater Exit Gases 83. Utilization of Exhaust Air from Clinker Cooler 814 Utilization of Heat Lost by Radiation from a Kiln Shell y-PRODUCTS OF A CEMENT PLANT 176 9.1 Recovery of Carbon Dioxide from Cement Kiln Emissions 9.2 Combined Production of Portland Cement and other Products SECTION-C : GENERAL TOPICS CHEMISTRY 177-184 TL Elements and Compounds 1.2 Properties of Important Elements 133 Chemical Formulae and Molar Masses of some Important Chemical Compounds Gnorganic/Organic) 1.4 Hydrogen lon Concentration (pH!) 1's Specific Gravity of Various Acids and Basis at Different Strengths 146 Preparation of Standard Solutions MATHEMATICS 185-191 2 Signs and Symbols / Roman and Ordinary Numerals / The Greek Alphabet 22 Mensuration 2.3 Values of and Other Commonly Used Constants 2.4 Rules for Powers and Roots 215 Rules for Logarithm Calculations 266 Sexagesimal System of Measurement 2.8 Trigonometry a) Trigonometric Ratios of an Acute Angle b) Solution of Triangles ©) Values of the More Important Angles 4) Magnitude and Signs of Trigonometric Funetions ) Trigonometric Tables of Sine, Cosine and Tangent for 0 to 90 Degrees‘THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM UNITS (SI) (LE SYSTEME INTERNATIONAL D” UNITES) 3.1 Base Units / Supplementary Units / Derived Units 3.2. Conversion Factors PROPERTY OF MATTER 4.1 Density 42 _ Relative Density / Density of Gases 4.3 Bulk Densities of Various Materials WATER 5.1 Main Properties 5.2 Quality Requirements for Safe Drinkin 5.3. Composition of Boiler Feed-Water a) Effect of Impurities in Feed Waters on Boiler Surfaces b) Chemicals Used for Water Treatment 5.6 Water for Making Concrete 5.7 Glossary THERMODYNAMICS TEMPERATURE 6.1 Temperature Scales 6.2 International Temperature Scale 63 Colour Seale for Temperatures Water 7. HEAT AND TEMPERATURE 7.1 Linear Expansion 7.2 Superficial Expansion 7.3 Volumetric Expansion (Cubical) 7.4 Thermal Expansion of Liquids 7.5 Expansion of Gases 7.6 Transfer of Heat 7.7 Specific Heat 8. GLOSSARY OF COMMON COMPUTER TERMS 9. COMMON SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS 10. NAME, LOCATION AND ADDRESSES OF CEMENT PLANTS IN PAKISTAN 11. BUYER'S GUIDE INDEX 192-198 199-202 203-208 209-210 211-215 216-221 222-224 228-226 227-235 236-237SECTION-A PROCESS1. MANUFACTURE OF PORTLAND CEMENT 1.1 INTRODUCTION The process of manufacturing Portland cement has passed through various stages of development since prototype of today’s Portland cement was invented by Joseph Aspdin sn 1824. The furnace used by him. was a dome kiln of approximately 11 m im height and’ m in diameter with a production of approximately 15 tons per charge. It took several days to produce each charge. To meet growing demand in the following years, long wet and diy process kilns were installed. Later on, these kilns gave rise to suspension preheater kilns and then in early seventies to precalcination technology. These developments have finally resulted in more production capacity for the same volume of kiln. With preheater kilns, the capacities could not be raised beyond 4,500 t/d, owing to the limitations of higher thermal load in the burning zone, Precalciner kilns are now in operation in various countries, producing more than 10,000 vd of elinker. Associated Cement Companies limited (India) started some years ago, the building of a cement plant at Wadi, Karnataka, which eventually would be world’s largest kiln system with a daily capacity of 12,000 tonnes. in phase one, it started in April 2001, with a daily production of 6000 tonnes. Phase two which is a duplicate of phase one, would be completed later on. There are two preheaters, each preheater system with 6 stage twin strings with an SLC caleiner. Two preheaters towers are located side by side, feeding the same kiln. The size of the kiln is 6 m diameter and 96 m length. The fuel consumption is 710 kcal/kg of clinker. The energy consumption is 85 kWlvt of pozzolan cement. F.L Smidth and Larsen & Toubro Supplied equipment for all sections of the plant. ‘The production of hydraulic cements in the world is presently more than one billion tonnes per year and the demand for Portland cement shall increase rapidly with the rise in the world Population which is presently about six billions. ‘The cement manufacturing process is an energy-intensive process. A substantial amount of thermal energy is needed in its processing and electrical energy is considerably consumed in the grinding of raw materials and clinker. The cost of thermal and electrical energy alone accounts for the major cost of cement production. The production of one tonne of cement clinker requires the combustion of about 80-90 litres of heavy oil or 80-100 cubic meters of natural gas or 130-150 kilograms of coal. An average electric energy consumption for one tonne of cement produced in a suspension preheater/precalciner kiln is 100-105 kWh, though power ranging from 80 to 85 and even to 70 kWh is possible with the latest efficient equipment and machinery. A specific fuel consumption of 680-700 kcal/kg of clinker is being achieved as against 1400-1500 kcal/kg of clinker in the earlier wet kilns. Cement industry is a dynamic industry and the entire manufacturing process is undergoing shly technology advancement. The use of pregrinders, vertical mills, two support kilns having provision of a friction drive in place of year and pinion drive, 5/6 stage preheater kiln system with efficient precaiciners and new generation of clinker cooler having heat recuperating efficiency of about 80% or more shall dominate in future. In the new millenium, a strong trend will undoubtedly be the replacement of conventional fossil fuels by waste materials with residual heat content including hazardous. Also the subject matter of environmental management and the reduction of the amount of CO, generated per tonne of cement by using additives ir cement will be intensified. By adopting clean2 production technology, cement plants hitherto considered as dirty and difficult would be acknowledged as clean and comfortable in the years to come. 1.2 OUTLINES OF PROCESS ‘The manufacturing of Portland cement starts with the mining or quarrying of the raw materials. To reduce raw mix variations, the larger sized materials received at the plant are crushed, homogenized and ground to secure a uniform blend for proper reaction. An intimate xture usually of limestone and clay or other suitable materials is sintered in a kiln at a temperature of 1450-1500°C for a certain time. Pulverized coal, fuel oil or natural gas alone or in combination with waste derived fuel is introduced in its front end for combustion. This product called clinker after cooling is ground with 4-6% of gypsum or other forms of calcium Sulphate, Some specifications allow the addition of other materials during grinding of clinker. ‘The cement is then stored in silos for shipment in bags or in bulk. ‘A functional diagram of the process is given below: PYROPROCESSING QUARRYING FOUIPMENT CRUSHING CLINKER COOLER PRE, HOMOGENISATION ‘AND STORAGE CLINKER STORAGE | ee) CLINKER GRINDING RAW MATERIALS. GRINDING RAW MEAL STORAGE AND HOMOGENISATION CEMENT STORAGE PACKAGING Functional Diagram of a Cement Process1.3 PROCESS AUTOMATION Process automation has been achieved by combining traditional engineering skills with technological innovation. Reliable control programmes have been developed which offer comprehensive plant-wide control of cement manufacturing operations such as quarrying, grinding, kiln operations, despatch and production scheduling etc. PLC installed monitors the measured values as well as those of closed-loop control. Standard software packages are available for the control of various variables of technological process. An automation system such as Summit Series developed by F. L. Smidth Automation is now adopted by many cement plants, Advances in computer technology have greatly enhanced the scope and performance of expert systems. The various expert systems such as LINKman, Fuzzy Logic, BATEXPERT and POLCID which offer comprehensive monitoring, control and optimisation for cement kilns are available these days. The controllers, indicators and recorders of process variables and CCTV monitors the clinker production and reduces the burden on operators while guaranteeing economical production and quality of the final product. Such systems have resulted in significant improvements in kiln stability, fuel efficiency, clinker quality and production. An on-line X-ray fluorescence spectrometer with automatic sampling and transporting system from various stages of manufacturing guarantees continuous testing of the kiln feed and thus ensuring smooth pyroprocessing of clinker in the kiln. In the recent years, a concept of very extensive automation by installing a central robot has emerged and is being adopted to ensure a consistent quality control over the entire process of cement manufacturing, Needless to say, the best equipment in the world will not perform like the best unless the persons in charge of operating them know what they are doing. Automation also needs a lot of training and education to handle the sophisticated system involved. Integrated engineering with common database, standardisation and pre-defined modules are being developed for optimum production and engineering planning,2. CHEMICAL AND MINERALOGICAL COMPOSITION 2.1 PORTLAND CEMENT According to EN 197-1 (Cement Composition, specifications and conformity criteria), ‘cement is a hydraulic binder i.e. finely ground inorganic material which, when mixed with water, forms a paste which sets and hardens by means of hydration reactions and processes ‘and which, after hardening, retains its strength and stability even under water.” ASTM Standard C 219-98 (Standard Terminology Relating to Hydraulic Cement) defines Portland cement as a ‘hydraulic cement produced by pulverizing clinker consisting essentially of hydraulic silicates, usually one or more of the forms of calcium sulphate as an interground addition’ 2.2 PORTLAND CEMENT CLINKER Portland cement and other types of cements are produced from clinker, the manufacture of which involves many operations and heavy equipment Definition of Portland Cement Clinker ‘The following definition of clinker had been given in EN 197-1 (Cement Composition, specifications and conformity criteria). Portland cement clinker is a hydraulic material, which shall consist of at least two-thirds by ‘mass of calcium silicates (C;S and CS), the remainder containing aluminum (Alz0,), iron oxide (Fe,0s) and other oxides. The ratio by mass (CaO/SiO,) shall be not less than 2. The content of magnesium oxide (MgO) shall not exceed 5.0% by mass. ASTM C 219-98 (Standard Terminology Relating to Hydraulic Cement) defines Portland- cement clinker it as a partially fused clinker consisting primarily of hydraulic calcium silicates, : ‘A typical composition of general purpose (ordinary) Portland cement clinker is 22% silica, 4.5% alumina, 3.5% iron oxide and 65% lime, thus totaling to 95%. The balance is 1% free lime and 4% of magnesium, sulphur, sodium, potassium and other minor oxides. 2.3. PHASES/MINERALS IN CLINKER Microscopic, X-ray diffraction techniques and numerous other physico-chemical methods have established the presence of following phases or minerals, also called compounds in Portland cement clinker. ‘The percentage of these phases in clinker can be examined, as laid down in ASTM Standards by microscopical point-count procedure as well as by X-ray powder diffraction analysis. For details, please refer to ASTM designations C 1356-98 and C 1365-98. © Tricalcium silicate, also called Alite 3CaO.SiO, (C;S) > three parts of CaO to one part of SiOz = Dicaleium sili part of SiOs te, also called Belite 2CaO.SiO; (C:S) > two parts of CaO to one5 ‘+ Tricalcium aluminate, also called Celite 3CaO.A1,03 (CsA) > three parts of CaO to one part of ALO; ‘* Tetracalcium aluminoferrite, also called Brownmillerite 4CaO.Al,O; Fe,O; (CAF) > four parts of CaO to one part of ALO; and one part of Fe,0s, Alte and belite comprise the silicate phases, whereas aluminate and ferrite are the matrix interstitial material which was liquid at the clinkering temperature. Alite Silicate phases are dominating and are responsible for the strength development of cement. ‘Alite is an important constituent and is considered the main strength building compound, as it hardens rapidly and provides most of the early strength (in the first 3-4 weeks). In general, the strength of Portland cement is higher with the increased percentage of alite. It undergoes initial and final sets within a few hours. Higher contents of alite in clinker and fine grinding results in rapid-hardening cement. This phase ranges from 40 to 70% in Portland cement clinker. Belite Befite hydrates slowly and is mainly responsible for the development of strength after 3-4 ‘weeks, It is generally believed that cements rich in C;S results in a greater resistance to ‘chemical attack and a smaller drying shrinkage than other compounds. This phase ranges from 15 to 35 % in Portland cement clinker. ‘Tricalcium aluminate It contributes to the strength of the cement paste during a period of one to three days. Cements with low percentage of this phase are especially resistant’ to soils and water cont sulphates. This phase ranges from 5 to 15% in Portland cement clinker. Tetracalcium aluminoferrite Presence of this phase reduces the clinkering temperature, thereby assisting in the manufacture of clinker. It acts as a flux in the burning of clinker. Its presence gives the colour to the Portland cement clinker. Tetracalcium aluminoferrite reacts at a slower rate than tricalcium aluminate and contributes little to the strength of the cement at any age. This phase ranges from 3 to 18% in Portland cement clinker. Given below is the composition of these phases/minerals: Name of compound] Mineral] Oxide / Stoichio-[Abbrevi % of Composition Molar ‘Approx. Chemical | Name ation | CaO | SiO, | ALO; [Fes] Mass Formula Tricalcium silicate — Alte 3Ca0.Si0; GS 7368 2632 ~~ 228315 Dicalcium silicate Belite_ (CaO),-SiO, 65.11 34890 = = 172.238 2Ca0.Si0; (Ca; S104) Tricaleium aluminat_ =~ (CaO).AO) CA 62.26 37.74 = 270.192. 3C20.A1,0) (Cas.Al 00) Tetracaleium Colite (CaO ALO. CAF 46.16 20.98 32.86 485.960 aluminoferrite* FeO) (Cau Alp 4C20.A1,0;,.Fe:0) FeO.) * Actually, the iron-containing phase is a solid solution of variable composition, CyAF seems to be a fair average composition.6 2.4 CEMENT INDUSTRY NOMENCLATURE “The composition of raw materials as well as those of clinker and cement is usually expressed in terms of oxides of various elements present therein. Cement chemists have adopted a shorthand notation using a single-letter symbol to represent a unit of an oxide. FezOs is writen as Fe. CO: as Cand SOs as S. Thus CaCO; is written as CaCO, or as CC. Gypsum (CaSO,.2H,0) is written as Ca0.$03.2H,0 or CS-2H. Oxide. Shorthand Notation Oxide Shorthand Notation ALO; A MgO M CaO c ‘Na,O N CO; tc P20s F, Fe,05 F 10> Ss H,0 H SO; 5 K,0 K TiO, T 2.5 CALCULATION OF PHASES/MINERALS IN CLINKER 1. The theoretical compourid or mineral content of a clinker may be derived from the chemical analysis, using the formulae origivally devised by R.H. Bogue. These formulae provide’ the hypothetical composition of clinker phases based on the assumption that thermodynamic equilibrium is achieved in the kiln as well as the following assumptions, The mineralogical composition calculated by this formula is referred to as the potential one. The results calculated are not accurate especially for alite and tricalcium aluminate contents, depending on kiln conditions and presence of minor elements. Various corrections had been proposed but none of them have so far received any general acceptance. {All the Fe,O3 reacts with CaO and Al,O; to form CAF. ‘The MgO remains substantially uncombined. ‘The Al,O remaining after formation of CAF reacts with CaO to form CyA. ‘The remaining CaO reacts with SiO, forming C,S. Any CaO remained uncombined, reacts with CxS to form C)S 6. The amount of free lime is determined separately and this is subtracted from the total lime present ‘The insoluble residue, which consists of quartz, is to be deducted from the total silica if it is high. ‘The oxides of various components mentioned therein are in percentages by mass. 'A. Applicable for clinker having an A/F ratio of 0.64 or higher and the ferrite phase is assumed to be CAF. 4,071C-7.6008-6.718 A -1.430F 2.867S-0.7544C3S GA = 2.650A-1.692 F CIAF = 3.083F B. Applicable for clinker having A/F ratio is less than 0.64, no CA is formed and a calcium aluminoferrite solid solution expressed as *ss(C,AF+C:F) is formed, os 4,071C — 7,600S — 4.479A ~2.859F Gs 2867S ~ 0.7544C,S GA = 0 *69(CuAF + CoF) = 2.100A + 1.702 F Note: Titanium dioxide and phosphorus pentoxide (110; and P,03) shall not be inctuded with the ALO,3. RAW MATERIALS ‘The selection of the entire process of manufacturing and the equipment/machinery to be installed is mostly influenced by the chemical, mineralogical and physical properties of the available raw materials. Since about 65% of Portland cement clinker consists of calcium oxide, so cement manufacturing plants are usually situated near the deposits of limestone and some times of clay or shale. 3.1 NATURAL ORK IN ‘The number of raw materials required at any one plant depends upon the composition of these materials and the types of cement being produced. Materials used in the manufacture of Portland cement clinker must contain appropriate proportions of lime, silica,-alumina and iron oxides. These four oxides combine to form Clinker according to the following schematic representation. 13C +28 +2A + 1F > CS +C,S + CA + CAF + Free lime (C) Calcareous materials like limestone, marl, chalk or sea shells provide the lime component, shale, sand, slate, and pozzolan provide silica, alumina and iron components. ly 75-80% of calcareous material is present in the kiln feed, remaining being zeous and other additives. A single-component like cement rock containing appropriate proportions of these components ‘or a combination of 4-5 components of calcareous and argillaceous materials is required to manufacture clinker. Raw materials required should be of adequate purity and uniform quality. 3.2 BY-PRODUCTS/WASTE MATERIALS Besides these naturally occurring materials, by-products of some industries given below are also being used as raw materials. Some of these materials such as slag and fly ash are being, tused as cementitious additives to the clinker. SNe. [Wastes [Source [Applications 1. Flyash Thermal power station Pozzolan; part replacement of cement light weight aggregate and raw material Blast Iron and steel industries Slag cement, Supersulphated cement and furnace slag raw material Paper, fertilizer, acetylene Raw material and sugar indusiry. Aluminum indusiries as a corrective material Fly Ash /Pozzolan Pozzolan can easily replace some of the argillaceous material in the raw mix for the production of Portland cement clinker. In case of -fly ash, there is an advantage of heat available from the combustible matter present in it. Fly ash has an alumina and silica-bearing composition besides being used in the raw mix to make up deficiency of clay or marl, Since high calcium fly ash contains a high amount of lime (15-35%), so it could be used to reduce the amount of limestone and also to reduce heat required for producing clinker. This is because a portion of lime is already in calcined state and free of COs,Blast Furnace Slag Blast furnace slag had been used as a raw material for the production of cement clinker since ong, so as to conserve deposits of limestone and clay especially of limestone which in some countries are getting depleted. Blast furnace slag thus can supplement both alumina and lime ‘components, Using of slag would require less heat since the lime in the slag is already available as calcium oxide. Lime Studge Using lime sludge in the kiln feed also requires less heat as a portion of lime is already in calcined state and free of carbon dioxide. Red Mud Red mud available from the aluminum industries is very high in iron oxide and alumina, It is suitable as a fluxing agent for the production of normal clinker or for the production of high iron oxide cement. 3.3 SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS. The above mentioned materials along with a small amounts of other materials called corrective or supplementary materials like bauxite, iron ore, mill scale, laterite, pyrite cinder, and quartz are used to make up the lacking constituent in the final mix. Bauxite THe term bauxite is applied to rocks or earthy deposits in which the main constituent is alumina. Bauxite is rocks of varying composition and contains different amounts of hydrous aluminum oxides, silica and smail amounts of hydrous iron oxide minerals. Laterite It is a sedimentary rock comprising a mixture of various minerals like bohmite, diaspore, hydrogillites, aluminum gel and iron oxides etc. It is a heavy contaminated derivative of bauxite formed by the weathering of alumina and iron bearing minerals. Generally the term laterite describes a mixture, rich in the oxides and hydroxides of iron, alumina and titanium and low in silica, magnesia and alkalies. Iron Ore {ron occurs abundantly in several minerals mainly in the form of oxide, carbonate and sulphide. Iron ores occur in igneous, metamorphic or sedimentary rocks or as weathering products of various primary iron-bearing materials. Gypsum ‘= Gypsum (CaSO,.2H20) or its derivatives ® Hemihydrate (CaSO,.1/2H:0) © Anhydrite (CaSO,) Gypsum or its derivatives is used in the slurry or raw mix to adjust the sulphate content for sulphatisation of alkali oxides or for modification of the CsA phase to produce calcium sulpho-aluminate (C,A;S) which is an important constituent of certain types of expat cements, ive9 faturally occurring gypsum and that available as a by-product in various chemical industries used for the above purposes besides inter- grinding with clinker. Fluxes and Mineralizers ‘These are minor components added to the raw mix in a very small quantity. Fluxes like iron oxides lower the temperature at which liquid phase appears whereas mineralizers accelerate the rate of clinkerization. Calcium fluoride (Auorspar, CaF;) is considered the most effective mineralizer. It lowers the temperature at which the liquid is formed by about 120°C and it reduces both the sintering temperature and the free limercontent. CaF, is normally used in the manufacture of white cement clinker. When using it, rapid cooling is desired to prevent decomposition of the cement compounds. ‘There i no restriction in using mineralizers in cement industry as long as their presence does ‘not affect setting, hardening, strength, expansion and other properties of the cement. The following matefials are also considered as fluxes and mineralizers. (Calcium fluoride (CaF) ‘Sodium fluoride (NaF) ‘Calotum fluositicate (CaSiF,.6H;0) Boric acid (B03) Zine Oxide (210) Cryolite (NasAIF.) eeeeee Mineralizers very commonly used are CaF, and CaSO,, or as mixture of the two. Fluorides of alkali and alkaline earth metals and fluosilicate (SiF,) are also being used. It has been. ‘experienced that by adding calcium sulphate in the raw meal, the clinker produced has higher porosity, which improves its grindability. 34 IMPURITIES/CONTAMINANTS While selecting the raw materials, the following should be kept in view. |. Free silica if present in the raw materials, causes high wear in the crusher and in the i |. Raw materials containing silica must be ground very finely. Free silica acts ‘as an abrasive on the kiln lining and no coating is formed unless there is a reasonable amount of flux, mainly iron. The fuel consumption also increases. Kiln feed should not contain more than 3% of free is percentage mainly depends on the particle size of the free silica and the fineness of the kiln feed. 2. Raw materials containing phosphate, lead and zinc or their compounds should be avoided 3. Te produce white cement, raw materials should contain negligible quantities of iron and other colour imparting materials. Certain constituents, if present in main raw materials, even in small amounts have an adverse effect either on the quality of clinker/cement or on the pyroprocessing of clinker. Magnesia, if present in excessive amount in clinker causes long term unsoundness in cement Produced and hence restricted to 5% in almost all the Standard Specifications for Portland cement. Excessive alkalies (sodium and potassium), if present in excess quantities, result in build-up in the kilns and preheaters, thus effecting the kiln operations. If present more than 0.60% as sodium oxide equivalent (%N + 0.658 %K), causes alkali-aggregate reactions and damage concrete structures.10 Sulphur in excess also causes build-up and the ratio of alkali to sulphate called degree of sulphatisation must be kept between 0.8-1.0. Excess sulphur limits the addition of gpysum in cement which may cause setting problem. Chloride also causes build-up in the preheaters/precalciners and even presence of 0.2% in the Kiln feed may require a bypass. Most standards of Portland cements restrict the presence of chloride to 0.10% in cement so as to avoid serious problems of reinforcement corrosions in ‘concrete. In case, there are excessive amounts of alkalies, sulphur and chloride, then a bypass is generally required. 3.5 SAMPLING General ‘Sampling is the process of extracting from a large quantity of material, a small portion which ituly is the representative of the composition of the whole material. Sampling is of great importance and should not be underestimated. Correct sampling can always be possible to procure, if proper care is taken during their sampling and otherwise, the chemical analysis may be misleading. If the material is homogeneous in nature, sampling is comparatively simple. In case, the material is bulky and heterogeneous, sampling need to be carried out with great care and by an experienced sampler. All samples should be properly tagged or labelled before their despatch. Getting the correct samples for analysis calls for proper care and scientific skill. If the product is properly ground ‘and well mixed, high degree of precision in the chemical analysis with a limiting error of say 0.03% is possible, when using one gram of sample. Size of Sample ‘The size of the sample varies with the particle size of the material. Reproduced below the relation between maximum grain size and the minimum of sample quantity. Maximum ‘Sainple Maximum ‘Sample Grain Size Quantity Grain Size Quantity Timm 100 g, 20 mm TO kg, 2mm 300 g 40 mm 25 kg Smm tke 50mm 50 kg 10mm 3.2kg ‘Sampling of Bulk Materials In case of bulk materials like coal, iron ore and crushed stone, their sampling procedures are generally prescribed in the standard specification of their analysis. However underlying principle for the sampling of materials in bulk is to select a large number of portions in a systematic manner from different parts of the bulk and then to combine them. While collecting such gross samples from piles, segregation is often experienced and in that case the material hhould be re-mixed before sampling. The surface material should not be used as a sample and it is advisable to dig below the surface. If possible. the sample should be taken, as the material is moving. If the belt speed is high, the bed depth is low, so the sample should be taken over a larger length. in case the speed of the belt is relatively slow, then collecting of a short sample be taken as a deeper bed of material exists. Sampling Procedure Gross samples can be further sub-divided into smaller samples either by hand or mechanically. The most common method is to reduce very large samples by a method called coning or" quartering. This is best done on a flat clean surface. The gross sample is mixed and shoveled into a conical pile. The material is shoveled to the apex on the cone and allowed to flow down the surface carefully. In this way. mixing of the sample is better achieved. The top of the cone is then flattened out and divided into four equal quarters. Opposite quarters are rejected and the remaining two are mixed together. The remaining material is again piled and the above procedure is repeated till the sample of the required quantity is obtained. Alternatively a sample splitter or sample divider similar to that mentioned in British Standard 5309. Method for Sampling Chemical Products Part IV; Sampling of Solid be used. This sample splitter is a box with an open top divided into number of compartments. The splitter is placed over two pans. The material is poured uniformly from the top and is split into bottom two pans. One pan is rejected and the other one is passed through the splitter again. This process is continued until the desired amount of sample is obtained. Splitters are available in many sizes. The Widths of the opening are variable. In general. the splitter with smallest openings through which the material can flow easily should be uscd. The samples meant for analysis need to be crushed, dried and ground. The equipment used for such purposes may indirectly effect the quality of the sample specially its moisture content. Damp materials should be dried in an oven if necessary but it should not change the physical characteristics of the materials. If the material had been heated in an oven, then it should be cooled before testing. Samples having hygroscopic moisture should be oven dried and cooled in a desiccator. 3.6 GEOLOGICAL EXPLORATION OF RAW MATERIALS Limestone and ciay are the major raw materials, which need a detailed geological exploration. Gypsum quarries are seldom operated by the cement works. However the gypsum depostts need to be investigated in the same way as limestone and clay. The object of exploration is to obtain a representative characteristic of deposits with regard to its quality and quantity. To obtain a reliable data about geological, mineralogical and chemical composition, core drilling is a most reliable method to obtain samples. Core D ing, Method Core dritting with double tube core barrel is most commonly used for the limestone and clay deposits. The aim should be to obtain 100% recovery of the drilled materials from each hole. ‘A minimum of 95% recovery should be acceptable. The pressure of water should be kept as low as possible so that the minimum of washing takes place while drilling in the sand, clayey, and louse structure such as porous limestone. In case, the amount of washout is excessive, then air should be used as a flushing media. It is essential to use a cyclone for catching dust iand cuttings. The dimensions of the cores drilled should be 70-80 mm in diameter in case of iimestone, Higher diameters may be useful while drilling porous rocks where washing out of soluble compounds needs to be prevented. ‘The position of the drilling should be maintained by marking on the bore-hole plans and a proper record should be kept regarding the speed of the drilling, loss in the amount of flushing, water, ground water level and the percentage of recovery. The drilling should be so planned regarding position and depth that the samples obtained will provide reliable information regarding the composition of the deposits under exploration, Observation of water levels is recorded during the whole year so as to know any seasonal variations. Sampling of Core Samples Core samples should be cut into halves lengthwise, one half being retained for future reference and the other half to be crushed and ground to prepare representative samples. Percentage ofrecovery should also be mentioned. Core samples obtained from loose textured deposits should be kept in plastic bags. Core boxes should be duly covered and kept along with the record of number of holes and the depth representing them. The cores must be delivered to the laboratory where the analysis is to bbe made without any delay. Testing X-ray fluorescence is very useful for analyzing samples of limestone and clay. The composite samples should be further cross-checked by wet analysis especially for chloride, sulphate and alkali components, detrimental for the process of manufacturing clinker. Quartz and free silica may also be determined on the composite samples. Organic matter present in the limestone and clay tends to undergo oxidation in the preheater/precalciner system and gives rise to ncrustation causing clogging of the ducts. It is therefore essential to check for the presence of organic matter. If the deposits are homogeneous, then the composite samples at every 5/10 meters should be checked for silica, alumina, iron oxide, lime, magnesia and loss on ignition. In case of heterogeneous deposits, the composite samples should be tested for every meter or so. The results of the bore holes should be supplemented by analysing samples collected from the test pits. Mineralogical and petrographic investigations are also necessary. Differential thermal analysis, may also be carried out. These investigations are very essential for siliceous limestone deposits and to ascertain the quartz distribution in the lime matrix. The grain size in quartz may also be checked and if it is high, it may effect the grindability and burnability of the raw materials. Evaluation of Deposits The analyses of core drillings are arranged according to the depth. A profile drawing is made showing the thickness of each stratum of the quarry from end to end or side to side. Deposit modelling is a useful tool for the assessment of raw materials. The entire deposit is divided into a series of three dimensional blocks and each block is assigned with the grade and the variations therein. Now a day various computerised packages are available for precise assessment of the deposits, both with regard to quantity and quality. Reserves of Raw Materials ‘Once the suitability of the raw materials have been determined, it is essential to know the reserves of major consumable materials. The deposits of raw materials can be assessed by various means such as topography, geology, drilling and sampling chemistry and evaluation. It is imperative to have sufficient reserves of raw materials, taking into consideration the expansion programme in the years to come Reserves of raw materials can be either classified as proven reserves and probable reserves. a) Proved (Measured) Reserves: Reserves for which tonnage is computed from dimensions revealed in outcrops, trenches and drill holes and for which the grade is computed from the results of detailed sampling as a result of extensive drilling. b) _ Probable (Indicated) Reserves: Reserves for which tonnage and grade are computed partly from specific measurements, sampling and sufficient drilling. The reserves of calcareous and argillaceous materials should be enough for at least 40-50 years, taking into consideration their yearly requirements (330 days/year) and 30% to take care of mining losses as well as errors in estirtation.3 3.7. PHYSICO-MECHANICAL ANALYSIS Physico-mechanical analysis of the deposits should also be carried out which includes compressive strength, crushability, grindability, density, hardness and porosity. ‘Compressive Strength of vi ious types of limestones (Uniaxial kg/em’) Soft limestone - 200-800 Medium hard limestone 600-1400 Hard limestone 1200-1800 Bulk Densities of Some Minerals Values given for solid materials (Kp/nt’) Name Bulk Density [Name Bulk Density ‘Agate "2500-2700 Gypsum "2300-2370 Barytes 4500 Hem: 4900-5000 Basalt 2700-3200 Iron (Pyrite) 4950-5050 Bauxite 2550 Limestone 2680-2760 Calespar 2600-2800 Magnesite 2800-3000 Chalk 1900-2800 Magnetite 4900-5200 Clay 1800-2600 Marble 2700 Corundum 3900-4000 Ochre 3500 Cryolite 3000 Opal 2200 Diamond 3000-3520 Quartz 2650 Dolomite 2900 Rock salt 2180 Felspar 2600 Sand stone 2140-2260 Flint 2630 Slate 2600-3300 Fluorspar (fluorite) 3180 Soapstone 2600-2800 Granite 2600-2700 Spinel 3350 For grindability and hardness of various minerals, please refer to chapter on grindability. 3.8 CHEMICAL COMPOSITION Chemical composition (%) of raw materials commonly used for the manufacture of Portland cement clinker. splelrfle[™ Brune ae aiso 27240 123 021 008 034 047 012 2410 253 4730 600 150 Ol! 020 003 015 ss a | Lor Rest, 43 36.00 22.10 094 024 0.16 004 - = 2050 73.0 Blast Furnace Flue Dust 155 9.0 595° 65 (17 - : : - @ = Blast Furnace Slag, 1 «81 Of SS Ie - : an ta 378 «MA 10 46L 20 - : 5 : Carbonate (lime) Sludge 280 021 039 5280 10 0.78 0.03 ~ = 40.85 T0268 P0.24 ‘Cement Rock ai, 23 10 462 285 + - : - me - 40 50 «LS 40.0 2.0 - 2 am -stTa[lrf[ec[m[ nik G [Lor Rest Chalke 04 02 03 S480 07 = : + 432 57 08 030 52.00 04 s : - Was China Clay (Kaolin) 960 267 04 32 21. - 6.7 Alkaties and non- determined § 0% 4460 4033 021 + : = : + 13.8 Alkalies and non- determined 0.80 0 0.26% Clay 4417 775° 2.79 1738 335+ + 03 = 20,01 Aalies and non- determined 4.25 4947 9.66 OBL 1235302 = E - - 149s 5740 123 450 64-290 28 LOS 002-103 678 143 4503.92 : - = 60 Coal Ash S94 247-4631 2S OS 23s TOD POS SLI2 WL 165 108 35 - 65 Boe 56 66 175 MG 13 19 10 HO . : Copper Slag 370 1d 4105.0 bos : * : 3052 10.50 $3.02 3.35 110 : : RMB P. Kiln Dust 1.63 464 243 51.03 06 : 18. R20 - 1522 76 20 5608 14 O88 580 37 + 1278 = Feldspar (Soda) 68.0 19.0 010.8070 1S. : 1300 = Feldspar (Potash) 645 180 0.20 100 050 02 160 - - 030 Fluorspar _ 1833 0.78 2.06 45.13 030 : - - 33. 20.85F Fire Clay 446-4033 021 10 - - 1280 10.26 Alkali 0.78 MS 458-250-3022 : - + 80 T210 Alkali 0.20 Fly-Ash 512 256 8S GD = - 86 458 135 66 1200 20 + : - 69 + Fuller's Earth 45.0 110 7 20s - 2 7 - : Gypsum (Natural) 259 0.16 0.10 3203 058. + 4420. om 1855 083 14 2383 100 + M95 = 1422 Gypsum (Chemical/Synthetic) 450 08 0.20 318 09 - 259. Be Iron ore 1521 533 $8.05 3.70 086 036 0.19 1.23, 1313, Toas 11S 663 64.73 245 1.06 045013 0.08 1259 10.40 035 9850 010 01S 002 02 0.03 040 = 2b 319 LOS 63S 7 : 1628 1496 5496 0.74 037 - : . ATs Limestone (High Silica) 14.72 0.11 0.18 4598 109 - a ee a 21 17 10 4130 06 : : - ME 368 18 406 336 0S) - z yy)s A c M. N k | 3 G {Lor Rest Limestone (Low Silica) 0.20 0.50 0.10 $5.50 10 - 43.50 202 0.73 033 5209 1.76 0.12 020 026 0.07 4224 44 25 23 495 05 - 406 1040 092 ORI 4725 130 O04 020 - = 3820 Marble 096 = 0.04 $5.20 070 - : : + 43600 + Marl 60 0062.30 49.10 040 = = = 4040 = 2132 414 164 3932 0.75 : - e+ 2798 1087 308 3012 1.95 - - + 2468+ 3320 822 490 2730 102 - : = + 2459 = Mill Seale 25° Lt 8990 400 : - - = 49 00 00 9958 00 - 3 2 : . . : Oyster Shells 116 0.33 0.08 S482 028 - - - + 43320 + Pozzolan 300 240 233 300 «1.0 5 = - : . 2003 “498 439° 09 1.77 307) ~ = 2 - Pyrite Cinder ino 38 6750 14 Se : : -_ & - 63 21 867 002 O1 = : - 26 Red Mud 66 48 40 40 07 40 07 - + 12.6 10% Mn and 4%P River Mud and Silt 4956 1632 528 9.14 038 - - OS 1502 + 5586 15.00 440 7.20 0.74 - 3 - - Ta8 6502 19.74 «7.22 082 «205 =~ - - 650 - Sand 700 150 50 08 02 - - - - 86 8220 629 217 3.11 058 089 0.10 002 0.003 40° - 3 1.75 038 1.20 024 + - : : 158 9820 0.60 0.10 0.20 005 ~ : - - : : ‘Sea Shells (Washed) 15) 04 (12 S228 07 : 7 ae 1608 5.98 5.18 6.00 : : - 2% - wo 7.7 320 220 - : 2 - 82 1289 682 456 1.60 - : - 136 = 35 58 LT 2S) 14 2B = 0H 3.9 REQUIREMENT OF RAW MATERIALS About 1500-1600 kg of raw materials are required to produce one tonne of Portland cement, ‘The average amount of materials required to produce one tonne of Portland cement are 1.2- 1.3t of calcareous material like limestone and marl and 0.3-0.4t of argillaceous material like clay and shale. Also 0.05-0,06t of natural or synthetic gypsum is required per tonne of Portland cement. 3.10 PROPORTIONING OF RAW MATERIALS Raw Mix Designs ‘The qualitative and quantitative compositions of the clinker compounds are closely bound up with the proportioning of the slurry or raw mix. Their formation also depends on factors such16 as fineness of the slurry/raw mix, their homogeneity, impurities, degree of burning and rate of cooling of clinker. Computing of mix design, depending upon the number of raw materials, requires long calculations and this job had been facilitated by adopting specialised computer programme. Most of the raw mixes are comprised of three or four raw materials. Every time, one raw ‘material component is changed, proportioning must be redone. While computing mix designs, it must be remembered that the proportions of various raw materials worked out are only theoretical and without any consideration for dust rejected, if any, as well as for the coal ash absorption while firing coal in'the kiln, A computerized program of raw mix designs is available on a separate CD. ‘Loss on Ignition During pyroprocessing, due to evaporation of water, burning of organic matter, decarbonation of calcareous materials and decomposition of sulphate, partial vapourisation of chloride and alkali salts, about one third of the original mass of dry materials is lost during burning in the kiln. This is known as loss on ignition. Theoretically clinker composition is calculated on free loss on ignition basis (ignited basis). 3.11 CHEMICAL RATIOS/PARAMETERS FOR KILN FEED AND CLINKER To monitor and control the production of clinker, certain ratios or parameters have been established on the basis of theoretical considerations and practical experience. These parameters are ratios between the principal clinker oxides. Parameters [Empirical formula Limiting [Significance Values Tydravtic c 1.82.2 Trexpresses the combining ratio of basic Modulus (HM) | {SHA+T)H(F*Ma)} oxide of lime tothe acidic oxides of silica, or alumina and iron in the raw mix or clinker. Hydraulic Ratio Higher this ratio, higher is the burning (HR) {temperature and vice versa. This parameter is seldom used these days. Lime Sauration 2) C/Q28S411A+ 088-095 _Itisthe measure ofthe amount of ee CaO Fator 0.7F) AR<0.38 Ordinary that isnot combined with silica, alumina b) C/28s+16sa+ Portland and iron Q3S)AR> Ogg8 cement An increase in ine stration factor © (GiozsM) /Oas+ __ require high burning temperature and thus ene wesh) Mezo 0951.00 for requires more fuel. C3S content increases 4) (CHLSOM)/(2.85+ 704 and C3S content decreases. Tikaeodsh wbao ama wine andr ta 0 ©) LSP as per British cement gonsumption of about 80+ woe consemsion of aha 40 Kel of. 1) (C-0.7S)/(28S+ —0.75-0.80 for Aigo linker produced from high LSF 124+ 0.65F) tow heat result in moe free lime and the cement orth becomes relatively unsound and slow setting Lime saturation factor less than 0.90 indicates to an easy burning, cement” Parameters [Empiical formula Tiniting [Significance Values Silica Modatas = 027 for “The higher he silica vaio, Rgher Is the (SM orsilica [ANTHEM normal. baring temperature and high fuet Ratio (SR) Portland consurption Dificul to form coating cement Radiation from the ki shells quite high 9:10 for When the silica modulus decreases. the white cement amount of guid formed jn the burning Zone increases. The burmabilty i improved which leads to less fuel consumption. Low silica ratio often leads to ing formations Alumina Aw 15:25 Higher alumina ratio means low FeO ‘modulus or Fe(Mn) content, Results in hard burning and needs ‘Alumina ratio ‘more fuel. Clinker produced has relatively (also calle iron higher heat of hydration and tendency to rmodilus) develop high eaey strength Lower ratio means higher FeO, content. Increases liquid phase and clinkering temperature range is decreased. {A small percentage of ron oxide to Siligeous raw mix renders it easier 0 fs Irthis aio is oo Tow and aw meal svithout any re silica, then elnker is sticky and balling is high Note: Inall the above parameters. n case concentrations of Tip and MnO» are relatively high. then TiO, is to be added to Al,O3 and MnO, to FeO Liquid Phase a) 1338 °C(A/F ratio less 1,38) = 85 A-5.22 Fe MINK by AL 1338 °C (A/F ratio ‘more than 1.38) = 6.1 PHMENEK, ©) At 1400°C = 2.95 A42.2 PEMANEK 4) At 1450°C = 3.0 A225 FAMENEK LISCAFL3SCAFHM aNtK Inall the cases, M present is no more than 2% Coating value or index: AR20.64= GA, 4CAAFH0.2 C.S¥2F, ARK 0.64 =GF+ CF + Silicie acid ratio SIA TiO; to be added to Al,O; if TIO, concentration is relatively high 25-26% at 1450°C 20.25 3545 Higher temperatures give higher contents of liquid and lower temperature results in lower contents, A clinker with about 25% liquid phase is generally considered an {deal for kiln fining. Liquid phase lower than 19% means that coating is minimal and may deteriorate ‘more rapidly due to thermal damage. ‘A value less than 20 indicates scarce coating and value of 25 and. above shows ‘an excessive coating which chokes the ‘burning zone and hence considered highly undesirable for stable kiln operations. This ratio is a guideline for the formation of coating. Lower value increases the ring formation whereas with higher values, there isa tendency forthe abrasion of coating, Silici ratio should not be confused with silica ratio discussed earlier.18 Parameters Fieal formula ing [Significance Values (GSTIGARGAY Vary easy 2 The bamability of the raw meal is the This formula has been Easy -3 relative ease or diflieulty by which kiln ‘modified to acount for the Difficult 5 feed is converted to clinker. favourable influence of M The higher the contents of CS with and N+K, corresponding lower contents in CAF and (CS) (CAF + CA M GyA. the harder the efinker to burn and + N+K) thus burnability index becomes higher. The burnability becomes worse with ising CyS content of the produced clinker whereas inereased amounts of CA ‘and especially of CAF improve it. Burnability 100 (lime saturation factor) 110-115 Clinker is diffieutt bum with higher factor + 10 (silica modulus) —3 burnability factor whereas with lower (M#N+K) bbumability factor, clinker is easier to burn Free Lime Contents after firing at 1400°C and 1500°C % free lime at 1400°C = 0.31 (LSI =100)+2.18(M,-1.8) +1.73(Q45)+0.33(C125)+0.34(Aq) % free lime at 1500°C ~ 0.21 (LSI 100)+1.59(M,-1.9) +0.40(Q45)+0.22(C125)+0.08(Aq) where LSF = 100 (lime saturation factor) M, silicate modulus Q45. = % quartz found in the material coarser than 45 microns C125 = %residue of calcite on a 125 jim sieve Aq non-quartz material coarser than 45 jum temperature for raw meal con and 1. Older. ining four main oxides as determine by Abdul-Moula °C = 1300 + 4.51 CyS ~ 12.64 CAF ~ 3.74 GA Relationship between the free lime content and potential phase composition for raw meals. fired to 1450°C (heating rating 10°C/minute): Free lime (% CaO) = 6.77 + 0.05 Cs ~ 0.56 CAF4. CRUSHING AND PREHOMOGENIZATION 4, CRUSHING When the basic raw materials originate from the quarries, they are blasted and crushed. Generally they are crushed, depending upon their nature, either in primary or secondary and some times in tertiary crushers till they are crushed to the desired size, These crushers operate in open circuit but in some cases, the crushed material is screened and the undersize is passed ‘on directly. ‘The size of crushed material gencrally ranges to about 25 mm in case of cor:-ventional ball mills and up to 125 mm fed to vertical mills. The present trend is to use feed material in boulder up to 1.5 m’in size and ina single pass to reduce them to the desired size. Mobile Crushers During the last 30 years or so, the primary crushing units installed are fully mobile, self propelled and operate near the quarry faces so that these could be fed direct from the rock pile ‘The secondary crushers are usually static. ‘The operations of trucks/dampers had been reduced considerably. The crushed material from these crushers could be easily transported by a series of belt conveyors. With the introduction of steel cable-reinforced belt, conveyors can handle the crushed materials at a faster speed. Mobile crushers have their own integral mechanism for travelling. Crawler tracks that may be either set longitudinally or transversely, rubber tyred wheels, on rails and walking pads are the commonly deployed systems of travelling systems. In case, the mining operations take place in frequently changing areas or at several places, then rail-mounted mobile crushing unit or a semi-mobile crushing plant can be deployed. Such crushing plants are available in individual modules for fast and easy movement. Sclection of a Crusher It depends upon the properties of the materials sich as its hardness and fracturing strength, its structure, moisture and stickiness. The proportion of highly abrasive material such as quartz, which is liable to cause heavy wear of the crushing equipment, the maximum size of the feed to the crusher as well as the particle size of the crushed material need to be taken into consideration. The surface moisture of the materials must be taken into account also, especially in case of materials like marl, clay or limestone mixed with clay. Capacity of Crusher and the Quarry Equipment ‘The quarry and crushing plant is assumed to work either in one or two shifts of 8 hours per day and 320 days in a year. Primary crushers are commonly designed to operate 75 % of the available time because of the interruptions in the supply of material, which is unavoidable in such type of operation. 2 REDUCTION RATIO It is defined as the ratio of average feed particle size to the average product particle size. In practice. the ratio of the maximum linear dimensions of the largest particles of the material before and after crushing is calculated,20 The linear dimension of the crusher feed is 800 mm, and that of crushed material is 25, then reduction ratio is 800 / 25 = 32. Energy Consumption in the Size Reduction According to Kick, the energy required is proportional to the reduction in volume of the particles concerned. Power in kilowatt-hours to crush a short ton (907.2 kg) having 80% of the feed passes a mesh size in d, mm and 80% of the product passes in mesh of d) mm. Pp = 0.3162 wi( 1d; — 1d, ) where P is the gross energy required Example: Power required for crushing limestone having 80% passing a 50mm sieve and product desired is 80% passing 3mm sieve. Capacity of a crusher = 200 tonne/hour Work index of limestone 12.74 di = 50mm d,=3 mm 1.0123 is conversion factor from short ton (907.2 ky) to tonne (1000 kg) Then _— _ P = 200 x 0.3162 x 1.0123x 12.74 (1/V3 ~ 1/50 55.27 kWh 43 TYPES OF CRUSHERS Primary (Coarse) a Jaw crusher-single toggle jaw and double-toygle jaw crusher (Blake). b. Gyratory crusher-Gates, Features of the above crushers: © Primary and gyratory crushers are suitable to crush | m* down to 95% minus 85 mm size Crushing is achieved mainly by compression Particularly suitable for very hard and abrasive rock ‘The moisture content of raw materials must not exceed 10% Jaw crusher has a reduction ratio 4:1 whereas gyratory crusher has a reduction ratio of 4:1 as a coarse dnd 6:1 to 10:1 as a fine crusher Secondary (Fine) a Hammer crushers (single rotor and twin rotor), also called impact mill. b. Cone crushers. © Impact crushers (blow bar with one or two rotors), also called impact mill,a Features of the above crushers: Crushing is achieved by impact and attrition ‘These crushers may be with or without grizzly Suitable for medium hard to hard limestone and marl having low content of abrasive Moisture content must not exceed 8% Impact crusher is best suited for reducing brittle material also Reduction ratio 50:1 to 80 or 100:1 Roll Crushers Features of the above crushers: ‘* Crushing involves compression, tearing and attrition * Suitable for wet and sticky raw materials like soft lime stone, chalk and clay and having moisture up to 15% * Reduction ratio 3:1 to 5:1 4.4 PREHOMOGENISATION Prehomogenisation may be divided into two groups: 1. Single material 2. Multi-component Single Material In this case, each raw material is stacked and reclaimed separately. This method is relatively ‘more suitable but requires more than one storage system. Multi-Component In this case, prehomogenization of two to more materials, generally for the main components i.e. limestone and clay, if these are highly variable in composition. In this method, the main raw materials are intermixed in the same stockpile. This requires that raw materials are correctly proportioned in terms of chemical composition before stacking and that the ig stacked is carefully monitored. The stockpile is built with a composition that is below the final proportioning at the raw mill, by adding limestone together with minor corrective materials. The advantage of this method is that only one main raw material is required for correction. Prehomogenization of coal used for firing is also being done, in case there are great variations in the grades of coal received 4.8 BLENDING BEDS When the raw materials are highly variable in composition, it is very essential to even out those variations in composition by stockpiling them in blending beds also called mixing beds. Here the incoming material is deposited in thin layers of one or more variable raw materials. In case, the moisture content of raw materials is too high for proper operation of the blending bed, then moist raw materials have to undergo preliminary drying Rotary dryers are especially suitable for this purpose. In some cases, wet materials while bring crushed are dried by a combined crusher/dryer. utilizing gases from the kiln or from a separate furnace.2 Blending beds serve more particularly to prehomogenise the crushed raw materials besides Providing a buffer stock of about one week kiln feed between the quarrying operations and raw meal grinding. A blending bed is not necessary if the materials are of uniform composition directly suitable for the burning process. In a blending bed, the incoming crushed material is deposited in relatively thin layers on a stockpile. A blending bed consists of two stock piles, one of which is being built up while the other is being reclaimed and passed on to the grinding units. The blending beds are usually covered to avoid rainfall and to suppress fugitive dust, Blending Effect Blending effect of a homogenising stacker/ reciaimer system is generally determined as the ratio of standard deviation of incoming and outgoing material. Blending effect = S, / S, where S, and S, are standard deviations of the incoming and out going materials respectively. Blending effect up to 12 is possible with present day mix bed blending technology and automatic sampling stations. A blending effect up to 8:1 is quite common. The homogenizing or blending effect can be attained by stacking the materials in a large number of layers and subsequently reclaiming these layers. A blending bed is generally built of 100-500 layers. Generally the blending effect is closely linked to the square root of the number of layers. a) Stacking Methods These blending beds are builtin the form of longitudinal or circular piles. Lougitudinal Stockpile The length to widih ratio, for an effective homogenization should be 4:1. It is a stacking system with a rectangular base and trapezoidal cross-section, which disposes incoming raw material longitudinally. Circular Stockpile Iris a stacking system with a round base, central column and with a trapezoidal cross section. For stacking and reclaiming the main raw materials, two possibilities exist, either the combination methods or the segregation method The most commonly used longitudinal stacking methods are 1. Chevron The material is deposited by the stacker moving to and fro over the central line of the pile. In case the material crushed is of unequal size, then coarser particles may roll down the slopes and thus causing an accumulation of coarse particles in this area called, end cones.2. Windrow ‘The material is deposited in the form of longitudinal stripes side by side and one upon another, so that the coarse particles have little chance to segregate. In this method, many small stacks are formed. The objective is to avoid the segregation of the coarse particles and ensuring more uniform distribution of the fine and coarse particles across the pile. During the recent years, circular blending beds have been increasingly adopted to eliminate end cone problems. Circular blending beds are prepared by using chevron or windrow ‘methods. The stacking and reclaiming equipment swivel about the central tower and both the operations proceed continuously. b) Reclaiming Methods The reclaiming of the blending bed is accomplished by removing transverse slices on the face of the stacked material by the following equipment. Bridge Type Reclainers On the bridge is mounted a raking device whose sweeping movements cause the materials to the belt conveyor. This is most suitable for chevron stacking method. It recovers from a much greater cross section area and thus greater mixing of the raw materials is achieved. Bucket-Wheel Reclaimers {i comprises one or more of bucket wheels operating with a raking down device for reclaiming the material It is most suitable for windrow method of stacking It tends to cause more variation in the material being reclaimed but in case of windrow stacking, this effect is not so significant because of the its cross sectional material arrangements.4 4.6 | AUTOMATIC SAMPLING AND ANALYSING A precise control over the chemical analysis of the materials being fed to the blending, bed is very essential. A sampling point is installed between the crusher and the blending bed for controlling the composition of the blending bed. Whereas the main flow of crushed material is delivered to the blending bed, a sample is collected automatically at regular intervals and is despatched from the sampling station to the laboratory where it is automatically received and analysed by an X-ray analyser. The analysis data is fed to the computer which prints out the individual material analysis and blending bed integration. Full Stream Analyser Another system in practice for continuously analysing 100% of the material going"to the mixbed, though costly is Full Stream Analyser (FSA). It provides elemental analysis of the bulk material based’ on the principle of Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis (PGNAA). The Gamma rays generated in the system impinge on sodium-iodide scintillation detectors, producing light impulses that are amplified and processed photo-electrically to form a spectrum. This spectrum is resolved into the constituents of the material. The PGNAA analysis technique results in the analysis of the raw materials passing through the analyser. High frequency of analysis and the short time lag between blending and analysis, result in most accurate control over the composition of the blending bed. By reducing the variability in the raw meal composition, variability in the process is thereby reduced. This results in more consistent quality of clinker and more stable kiln operation. By adopting this technique, the sampling which is a difficult job is avoided.28 5. GRINDING OF RAW MATERIALS The purpose of grinding the raw materials is to ensure that all the particles are ground just sufficiently fine to obtain the necessary contact between the various components of the raw mix and permit the subsequent chemical reactions to go to completion in the kiln. The more the raw mix is finely ground, the greater is their surface area and so the sintering becomes easier, Control of particle size is very important, as their sintering rate is roughly proportional to the inverse of their sizes, 5.1 FEEDING OF RAW MATERIALS ‘The prehomogenized parent mix is delivered to the feed bins of the raw mills by the reclaimer belts. The maximum allowable feed size varies with the type of grinding equipment. In case of ball mills, the maximum size of the feed is limited normally to 20-25 mm. Vertical roller mills can be fed with a feed size of up to 100-125 mm, ‘The necessary correcting compounds are also stored in feed bins. Raw meal samples are taken from the discharge end of the mills before going to the continuous homogenizing silos. The periodic samples collected are despatched to the laboratory and analyzed. A computer actuates the weighing feeders to carry out the necessary adjustments in respect of correcting materials. Thus a fully automatic closed loop control of the raw mix composition is available. The necessary parameters for controlling the composition are also fed to the computer, 5.2 DRYING OF RAW MATERIALS Drying of raw materials is effected either in rotary dryers or flash dryers or in mills equipped with simultaneous drying and grinding system. Drying of raw material is also effected by using hot gases from the kiln preheater and or from the clinker cooler. During stoppages of the raw mill, the preheater and cooler gases are cooled to about 150°C in a spray tower and are bypassed to the electrostatic precipitator. When the kiln is out of operation, hot air at a temperature of 1000-1200°C can be supplied from a heat generator. In case the moisture in the raw materials exceeds its normal limits during the rainy period, then hot air can also be supplemented from a generator. 5.3 FINENESS OF RAW MEAL. The optimum fineness of raw meal for achieving optimum kiln operation and quality of clinker is mainly influenced by the mineralogy of raw materials. Coarsely ground raw meal would result in hard burning, consuming more fuel and having an adverse effect on refractory life and result in high free lime content. Excessively ground raw meal may result in lower operating temperatures in the kiln but may reduce the output from the kiln as a result of higher dust losses by entrainment in the exhaust gases. Typically, a residue of 15-16% on a 90 41 sieve is desirable. The limits of fineness differ from one plant to another, The particle size of the raw meal significantly influences the reaction speed in the kiln, as the fineness increases. so the reaction speeds. The saving in fuel arid better quality of cement may adequately compensate the increases in the energy spent in the fine grinding of the raw materials.26 5.4 PROCESSES OF GRINDING Two processes are used for the grinding of raw materials i.e., wet or dry. ‘The first process is used when the raw materials are ground wet (wet process) in which 35- 40% water is used during the grinding operation. The other process is dry grinding in which grinding of raw materials is done in dry state. Nowadays, wet process has gone into obsolescence and dry method is predominately used. In the dry process, the raw materials after being crushed are stored in different bins and ground in different types of drying and milling system to less than 0.5-1.0% residual moisture to a fineness of 15-16% on 90 41 sieve. This limit of moisture shall ensure a good flow of raw ‘meal in the air slides and silo outlets, 5.8 GRINDING SYSTEMS ‘There are many factors, which influence the choice of a suitable grinding system such as feed size of the raw materials, their grindability, moisture content and abrasive properties. a) Ball Mill There are two systems of grinding: Open circuit Closed circuit Oven Circuit Grinding Ball Mil Feed { } Product Open Cireuit ‘The raw materials are fed to the mill by the various feeders and pass through the mill only once. The product is not subjected to any classification. The materials are ground to the required fineness within the mill itself and conveyed to the storage silos. Closed Circuit Grinding bet Mit Feed Classifier Product Product Closed Circuit In this system, the materials ground is classified into a finished product as well as a coarser fone, which is partially ground. The finished product goes to the silos whereas the partially ‘ground material is returned to the mill. In case of closed circuit system, coarse material passes through the mill twice or even several times depending upon the hardness of the materials. The mill in this system is not loaded by unnecessary grinding of the material which had already been ground sufficiently fine. On the other hand, a larger amount of energy is spent in separating the fines from the coarse materials by air separator or air classifier. In case of straight grinding, there is only one machine but in case of closed circuit, quite extensive equipment and auxiliaries are required which are quite” complicated and costly. Due to avoidance of over-grinding and prevention of agglomeration of fine particles and ball coating, the capacity of a mill is about 20-30% more in a closed circuit when compared to open circuit and energy consumption will be considerably low.27 Air-Swept Mill To Filer —— cyclone Separator Get Rewwn — Fines (Product) Hot Gas Drying-Grinding in Air-Swept Mill In these mills, drying and grinding is done simultaneously by kiln exhaust gases supplemented or substituted by hot air from a heat generator. Raw materials having up to 10-12% moisture content could be effectively dried and ground. It has a drying compartment for drying the feed materials and grinding compartment for the ‘combined coarse and fine grinding. The material is fed into the drying compartment, from where it passes into the grinding compartment. Kiln exit gases fed into the mill supplies the heat for drying the material. The ground material is swept out with the gas stream into a separator, where itis separated into the fine (finished product) and oversize particles (tailings), which are returned to the mill for further grinding. The fine material is diverted to the raw meal silo. Though ball mills are relatively simple to operate, but they have very high energy consumption and very high noise levels. Moreover, this system of grinding requires a feed size of 20-25 mm. The power required is on the average 25-30% more than in case of roller mil, so ball mills are now being replaced by vertical roller mills. b) Vertical Roller ToFiter Product’ Fines ‘Separator Feed Hot Gas » Elevator Roller Mill Working as a Drying Grinding Unit28 Vertical roller mills had been «sed mainly for the grinding of raw materials because of lower power consumption, better drying capabilities. compaciness, lower noise level and ability to accept larger feed size. These mills are quite suitable for drying and grinding of all types of raw materials except the extremely hard materials having a high percentage of quartz. A typical schematic representation of a vertical roller mill is shown below. There are many variants of roller mills having the same basic features. It accomplishes four operations in a single unit ie. secondary crushing, grinding, drying and classifying Grinding rollers usually 2-4 numbers with shafts travel on a material bed spread over the arinding table. When the table rotates the material is comminuted by a combination of compressive and shearing forces caused by the weight of the rollers. Rollers and the grinding tables used therein have various shapes. Air or hot gases passes through openings in a ring surrounded the table. The ground material is transported by the gas stream into a dynamic classifier. The fine fraction goes with the gas whereas coarse fraction is returned to the table for further grinding, The drying of the materials takes place between the table and classifier. Tramp material is to be removed, otherwise it may damage the grinding surfaces. Roller mills can be used for the grinding of raw materials having as high as 20% moisture content Saving in power consumption is generally about $ kWhvt of raw meal. Among the various advantages of roller mills are their smaller dimensions and lower capital cost as compared to ball mills, In the early years, the service life of the grinding elements were a bottleneck, but in the recent years, their service life has increased considerably by using highly wear resisting materials such as alloyed cast iron, hard facing alloyed steel, chilled cast alloy and ceramics linings. During the recent years, high efficiency separators having separation efficiency of over 80% had been installed as against earlier separators having efficiency of 60-65%. By installing these high performance separators, particle size distribution and lower residues are achieved which improve the burnability of the raw meal. °) Roller Press In the recent years, roller press has been introduced for the grinding of raw materials, limestone, coal, blast furnace slag and clinker. It is mostly used in combination with the existing ball mills for increasing the output of the mill and for lowering the energy consumption (more details in chapter on grinding of clinker). 5.6 PREGRINDING SYSTEMS Various pregrinding equipment are used in combination with a ball mill to increase the grinding capacity of existing equipment as well as to reduce the power consumption. These include roller press, hammer mill, vertical shaft impactor and impact crusher. Please refer to Chapter Grinding of Clinker. 5.7 | HOMOGENIZATION OF RAW MEAL AND STORAGE ‘An intimate mixing of the ingredients is essential to ensure consistent quality of cement and for ensuring steady burning conditions in the kiln besides increasing the refractory life. ‘Actually the raw meal heterogeneity results in degraded clinker. A mixing bed does not hhomogenise the raw material to the extent that it can be fed direet to the kiln after grinding, so subsequent homogenising is necessary which is achieved by means of a continuous raw meal homogenisation.‘The raw meal is pumped into blending silos where itis subjected to homoge that the kiln feed is of unvarying correct chemical composition. Blending silos may be either continuous oF batch (intermittent) type. The continuous types of blending silos are common, efficient and less expensive than batch type but satisfactory performance depends on design and operation (aeration, proper inlet and outlet discharge). Nowadays, blending and storage of raw meal is done in a continuously operating silo where the raw meal can be supplied and kiln feed extracted from the same silo simultaneously. The silo is usually designed for a capacity corresponding to three days consumption of raw meal. In these silos, the blending occurs on extraction through a series of orifices in the base with {luidization. The raw meal is fluidized by air and mixed by agitation or inter-mixing of layers during removal from the storage silo, guaranteeing a homogenization factor of 10:1 or a deviation of less than one percent of lime saturation factor. Blending is achieved by computerised synchronization of mul discharge valves.30 6. PYROPROCESSING OF CLINKER Pyroprocessing is the heart of a cement plant. It is very energy intensive operation and has a ‘major impact on the economics of the entire plant. Many technological developments have been made to make the pyroprocessing systems more fuel and energy efficient. 61 UNIFORMITY OF KILN FEED Cement manufacturing is a thermochemical process. It is of utmost importance that the kiln feed is of constant and specified chemical composition which results in stable kiln operation. Stable kiln operation results in: Higher clinker production rate © Lower fuel consumption/kg of clinker ‘* Improved refractory life and lower refractory cost © Increased kiln operating time Uniform kiln feed is defined by the standard deviation of various parameters of kiln feed. The standard deviation is based on the evaluation of a statistical series of measurements. The number of samples should be at least 20 and be taken continuously every hour. Given below are the maximum allowable standard deviation limits found necessary for stable kiln operation. Parameters of kiln feed Maximum allowat ime saturation factor (LSF) 1.0 (1% of LSF corresponds to Calcium carbonate (CaCO;) 02 ‘a modulus (SM) & Alumina modulus(AM) 0.1 ‘An increase of 1% CaCO, will increase the C3S content by 13% and decrease CS content by about 11.5%. On-line X-ray fluorescent unit with automatic sampling and transport system guarantees continuous testing of the raw meal feed to the kiln, thus ensuring smooth pyroprocessing in the kiln, A consistent quality of kiln feed is to be maintained. Any hard burning of reduces the output and increases the fuel consumption and so should be avoided. Kiln Feeding ‘The raw meal from the silo is fed to the kiln either by pneumatic or by mechanical bucket elevator. If the feeding is pneumatically, de-aeration of the feed is desirable as the entrained air increases load on the exhaust fan and may reduce the kiln output. The pneumatic conveying system consumes about | unitit of kiln feed as against 0.25 univt of kiln feed by a bucket elevator. The flow of feed to the kiln must be closely controlled to 1% so as to ensure its steady operation. The dozing of the kiln feed is effected through a mixing tank and load cell. The feed rate is linked to the kiln speed to ensure a constant supply of feed in the kiln. 62 CHEMISTRY OF CLINKER ‘The process involved in producing clinker remains unchanged in all the pyroprocessing systems. Within the pyroprocessing units. the process of producing clinker is accomplished in four zones. 1 Dehydration 3 Clinkering a Calcination 4 Cooling, A charge of raw materials whether ground with water (slurry) or in dry pulverized form travels downward from the feed end undergoing many reactions, Some of the reactions likeu expulsion of free water or combined water and carbon dioxide may take place before feeding to the kiln. Various arrangements exist today for drying, preheating and partially calcining the raw materials. Calcinator and Concentrator, Lepol Grate, Suspension Preheater or Calciner are some of the equipment installed. Clinkerisation Kiln feed while passing through the kiln undergoes chemical reactions in succession and finally reaches a zone called burning zone. In this zone. which is a few meters from the outlet end of the kiln, kiln feed is heated up to the clinkering temperature and becomes viscous. This is called clinkerisation, a process of liquetying of the clinker compounds. The clinkering temperature as measured by optical pyrometers varies for different raw materials from 1400- 1500°C, though it may fall outside these limits. This is the temperature to which clinker has to be burned of a good quality. Lower burning temperature may be possible if the raw materials contain fluxes and mincralizers. Temperatures above 1500°C are harmful for the refractory linings, The actual flame temperature is difficult to measure as it depends on the speed of combustion and other factors and is usually reported up to 1700°C. The temperature in the burning zone is regulated so that the product consists of a sintered ‘material but not a fused one. Too low temperature causes insufficient sintering and too high temperature results in a molten mass or glass; the product in either case being valueless as a cement. At the clinkering temperature. chemical combination occurs to form crystalli products in a viscous liquid. A clinker with about 25-30% of liquid in the mix is generally considered an ideal raw meal for kiln lining, fuel saving, rapid CS formation and an economical clinker grinding. The liquid phase allows chemical reactions, which occur both at the surfaces of solids and in the liquid are completed in a relatively short time. On further cooling in the cooling zone. a solid matrix is formed which contains small crystals. The crystalline materials formed are C;S and C,S while the surrounding matrix contains CyA and CAAF, this mixture of compounds form a cement clinker. Chemical Reactions iu a Rotary Kiln ‘The sequences of chemical reaction are identical in wet, semi-wet, semi-dry or dry process. Sr.[Approximate [Sequence of reaction No.|temperature °C 1 100 Evaporation of free water of Kiln feed 2 500 and above Water of hydration and hydroxyl water begins to be slowly driven off slowly 3 600-700 Dissociation of magnesium carbonate 4 900 and above Dissociation of calcium carbonate Above this temperature, combination between lime, silica, alumina and iron compound start. 5 800-900 Formation of C35, 6 1095-1200 Formation of CyA and C,AF 7 1250-1280 Commencement of liquid formation, depending upon the raw mix 8 1280-1450 Formation of C:S which appears at 1260°C with gradual formation of more C;S. Between 1370 to 1450°C, free lime completely disappears. Formation of clinker compounds stands completed. The kinetics of the reactions are strongly influenced by the temperature, mineralogical nature of the raw materials, fineness to which the raw material is ground, percentage of liquid phase formed and viscosity of the liquid phase3 Quality of Clinker ‘The cli ker is normally in the form of black, glistening and hard nodules usually i dinmeter. It a emerges from the kiln at a temperature between 1200-1400°C. Neither, there Should be too much dust and nor size of clinker should be too big as in this case too slow Cooling will occur in the cooler, thereby increasing the temperature of clinker. The nodules Aehich are well sintered are easier to grind than dusty or pumice type nodules. ‘A good quality clinker should have a minimum content of free lime (1 to 2%). Free lime refers to the lime left over after the formation of the calcium silicates and the calcium aluminates. ‘Analysis of clinker for free lime content, though it gives a good indication of how well, the Glinker had been burnt but it is time consuming, An X-ray diffractometer has proved very liseful for determining free lime content in clinker in place of wet analysis. Litre Weight ee tetthod of quality control is the periodically weighing a clinker sample from the cooler discharge. In this method, the clinker sample is passed through selected screens say 1Omm and Smm and that retained on ‘Snim is allowed to fall through a prescribed distance in a 1000m! container. The weight of the clinker called litre weight, indicates how well the clinker hes been burnt (bulk density of the selected size fraction of the clinker). A well-burned clinker has a litre weight of 1200-1250 grams, Hard-burned clinker has a relatively low free lime Content and high litre weight. Also the clinker produced has large size of alite crystals, felatively more dense and darker in colour. Under burning ot soft burning produces a clinker raving a relatively low litre weight and high fiec lime, which ean be the cause of expansion in the cement, The size of the clinker is small (dustier) and more porous and the colour is lighter, more nearly brown, Colour of Clinker colour of ordinary Portland cement clinker i ‘sles from the ferrite phase as well as MgO taken up in solid solution with the ferrite phase. ‘The brown colour tends to be at the core du to presence of ferrous ion in the ferric pemtnix If ferric fons are present in the ferrite, then the clinker would be black in colour. Alite, telite and aluminate phases are colourless uniess impurities are taken up in solid solutions. is urey to black with a greenish tint. It ‘Also clinker with black external shell and yellow and brown interior are observed. These may be caused by a partial reduction of iron with subsequent re-oxidation which has not penetrating beyond the surface, Over burning of the clinker gives a black colour on the surface and deep yellow colour inside. The normal greenish colour of Portland cement reducing conditions éxist locally at any point in a kiln, even the general atmosphere may be oxidising one. Reducing conditions accelerate the decomposition of alite. It is related to the presence of ferrous ions in the lattice. These ferrous ions arc incorporated in the CS phase, imparting a brown colour. Clinker produced under reducing conditions yields cements of low compressive strength due to impaired hydraulic activity of the modified CS. Reducing conditions in thi presence of pai it fuel in the feed from poor combustion and/or coarse coal. The Quality of clinker produced may be inferior Clinker produced is typically brown rather than Qlack, The burning of clinker requires an oxidising condition, 1-2% oxygen in the exit gases “otherwise its setting and hardening is effected due to inadequate oxygen in the kiln gases. White cement clinker is produced from raw materials fh Timit of 0.2-0.3% of Fe;05. Above this limit, iron take jn'a yellow colour. Other transitional metals like chromium and manganese should be present ian as these meals make their own contributions to the clinker. Chromium imparts green colour whereas manganese gives brown colour to the clinker ker may be considerably changed, if 1c kiln can also occur due to the presence of fuel in the feed or the lly burnt iaving very little iron, with an upper up in belite and-aluminate will result6.3 PYROPROCESSING EQUIPMENTS. Vertical Shaft Kiln Rotary Kiln Vertical Shaft Kiln Filling Chute Sha Kiln Clinker Conveyor ois Se Vertical Shaft Kiln Vertical furnaces used for burning lime more than 2000 years ago, were in the form of shaft kilns. Their operations involved strenuous physical labour and also the clinker produced was of variable quality. It contained under-burnt material which was sorted out by rejecting a portion of it. Also the capacity of such kilns was quite limited, Vertical shaft kilns thereafter had been largely used in many countries like China, Vietnam, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri-Lanka and Eastern Europe. In China alone, out of total of 9000 cement plants during the year 1997, 8500 were vertical shaft kilns. In India, during the year 1996-1997, there were 316 mini cement plants. The output from vertical shaft kilns ranges from 10 to 400 Ud. These days, the vertical shaft kilns are being replaced with rotary kilns of higher capacities with precalciner system. ‘The shaft kiln consists of a vertical cylindrical steel barrel. Fuct in the form of anthracite coal/coke breeze or any other solid fuel with volatile matter less than 6-8% is mixed with dry raw meal and sometimes with rejected clinker in a mixer where 8-15% of water is sprayed. The mixture of fuel with raw meal called black meal is formed into nodules of 10-12mm in a pan nodulizer and fed into the vertical shaft kiln through a rotary feeder across the cross- section of the shaft kiln. Rice husk ash from rice mills and boiler ash and fly ash from thermal power plants could be added in black meal to the extent of 5%. Unbumt coal particles in the black meal contribute some heat. In some cases, fuel along with the raw materials is ground * and then nodutized. Nodules fed to the vertical shaft kiln undergo drying preheating. calcining, sintering and Clinkering and thereafter its cooling as the nodules travels down the shaft. Air for combustion is supplied from the lower end of the kiln by means of blower, cools the clinker and thereafter -g0es up to the burning zone, The clinker is discharged from the kiln via a rotary or roller grate bby means of high pressure extraction devices and stored in an open space.34 The clinker is then ground with gypsum to make cement. The temperature of the clinker discharged from the kiln ranges from 60-80°C. The quality of clinker produced is generally ‘more variable than made in a rotary kiln. A vertical shaft kiln 2.75m in diameter and 9m high can produce 175 Ud of clinker, with fuel consumption of 875-900 kcal/kg of clinker. These days, only a small proportion of Portland cement clinker is manufactured from shaft kilns, In the recent years, high cost of thermal energy has been reduced by using rice husk and ash from boilers and fly ash, Even addition of mineralizers like calcium fluoride alone or in combination with gypsum had been tried, Heat consumption could be brought down to about 800 kcal/kg of clinker as by using such mineralizers, clinker is formed at a lower temperature. Vertical shaft kilns are providing an effective way to recycle electrostatic precipitator dust by admixing it to the kiln feed to manufacture clinker. A great deal of automation had been introduced in the recent years by installing. various instruments for controlling the supply of the air, rate of feed, proportions of raw meal and fuel and can be accurately controlled by automation. The reliability of vertical shaft kilns has substantially improved over the last few years, The gaseous and particulate emissions in these plants are well below the permissible limits. An advantage lies with a vertical shaft kiln is that it may be shut down with fire banked as may be in areas having adverse weather such as heavy rainfall. These kilns can be re-lighted very conveniently after a shutdown of 2-3 weeks. Low initial cost, less ground space for its installation, limited machinery, less relining in the kiln, less power consumption, less man power are some of the notable features in its favour. Rotary kilns have replaced the shaft kilns, though in some cases they had lower thermal and power consumption than rotary kilns. Higher rates of production and low fuel consumption achieved with the preheater and precalciner kilns made the shaft kilns obsolete for the burning of clinker. Rotary Kiln : General Features of Rotary Kiln ‘A rotary kiln consists of a stee! cylindrical tube 3-8 m diameter and 50-250 m long internally lined with refractory bricks and slightly inclined to the horizontal in between | in 20 and | in 30 and rotated about its axis slowly at the rate of I-4 rpm. Depending upon the length, the kiln shell rests on two or more supports provided with a set of carrying rollers. The spacing of the supports along the kiln tube will depend upon the arrangement of the tyres (riding rings) on which the kiln rotates. The kiln is maintained in position by thrust rollers. It is rotated by girth gear driven by an electric motor. Instead of girth gear drive, oil hydraulic systems are also used. It has also an auxiliary drive to serve as a standby arrangement in the event of power failure, otherwise the kiln shell would be damaged by the one-sided action of the charge of the hot material or for rotating the kiln when repairs are being carried out. An internal combustion engine either diesel or petrol is provided for the turning or barring which drives the kiln either directly or through an electric motor. ‘The raw material either in the form of slurry or dry powder or partially calcined is fed at uniform rate into the upper end of the rotary kiln. The materials undergo chemical changes in succession as these pass down-wards to the discharge end by the combination of rotation and inclination of the kiln, Kilns are lined with several types of firebricks. Starting from feed end, with 25-30% alumina to around 45% in the calcining zone. Nearer the buming zone, bricks contain 70-80% alumina culminating with dense magnesite, dolomite or chrome-magnesite or magnesite-spinel bricks35 in the burning zone. A protective coating from the clinker minerals is formed on the hot face of the bricks in the burning zone, which prevents excessive thermal stresses and chemical reaction with the refractory bricks. This coating also reduces the heat losses from the kiln shell by lowering the thermal conductivity of the lining, Rotary kiln is a sort of counter-current heating device for the combustible gases passing through it and the material travelling downward from its feed end. Fuel either in the form of pulverized coal, oil or gas and waste material either singly or as multi fuel is introduced at the lower end (outlet) of the kiln. It is preheated by the secondary hot air from the cooler and temperature goes up to 1400-1 500°C, the hottest zone in the kiin. Incipient fusion takes place in this zone where calcium silicates and calcium aluminates are formed in the resulting clinker. Clinker is discharged at the lower end where the fuel is injected and quickly cooled by coolers. It is thereafter stored and ground with gypsum to form cement Clinker is generally stored in a clinker silo of ample capacity. At some cement plants, another silo is reserved to store the unburned clinker produced at the beginning of the kiln operation The exhaust gases from the kiln are used for drying and grinding of coal and raw materials and thereafter released ta the atmosphere after eliminating dust present in it by a suitable dust collecting equipment Modern kilns are being equipped with a kiln shell temperature monitoring system which can display the entire temperature profile as expanded thermal images. Hot spots when ever appear can be quickly detected. Kiln operations involves several inherent time-lags and to control them an automatic “fuzzy logic” or expert system had been developed and installed. Such a system secks to mimic the decision-making process of a bumer. An increase in production by 3%, saving in thermal and electric energy by 2-3% and an increase in the lining, life of refractory had been obtained by such expert systems. The duration of passage of the material through a rotary kiln varies with its length, inclination and speed of rotation but it is usually in the following range, depending upon the type. An approximate retention time for burning the kiln feed in various systems is as follows © wet kilns 180 minutes © dry kilns 145 minutes ‘+ suspension preheater kiln 50 minutes precalciner ki a 30 minutes To day, the modern kilns have only two supports and have a number of features, which were not present in the earlier kilns. These include a tangential tyre suspension, a self-aligning kiln support and a hydraulic friction drive. A two-support kiln has a length to diameter ratio of 10- 12 and a material loading of 5.0-5.6 tpd/m’. Rotary kiln may be considered as one of the world’s greatest invention, producing billions tonnes of clinker to meet the concrete demand in the world. Nearly all the-Portland centent clinker is produced these days in rotary kiln system. There are approximately 2000 Portland cement kilns in the world. Modern rotary kilns include a multi-stage cyclone preheater and a precalciner with tertiary air-duct. These days, a single pyroprocessing system is capable of producing more than 10,000-12,000 Ud of clinker Replacing rotary kiln as the sintering step in the process of pyroprocessing has not been so far possible, Manufacture of clinker by means of stationary reactors using fluid bed technology (Stationary and circulating beds) sol-gel process and plasma arc furnaces have not yet proved commercially viable. However, till to date the rotary kiln still remains the key element in the cement manufacturing process36 64 PYROPROC! ING SYSTEMS There are two basic systems for manufacturing Portland cement clinker: wet and dry. There are further two variants of these basic systems, semti-wet and semi-dry. ‘These may be classified as under 1. Wet process with internal installations such as chains, crosses and segments. 2. Semi-wet process with external heat exchangers, termed as “slurry dryer”, “concentrator” and “calcinator”, 3. Semi-dry process with Lepol grate. 4. Dry process with internal heat exchangers like chains and ceramics heat exchangers. 5. Dry process with preheaters such as suspension preheater. 6. Dry process with precalciner. a) Wet Process \ ses Rotury Kiln Cooler In this process, the ground material in the form of slurry is fed to the kilns by pumps. The first rotary kilns were wet process kilns. They are simple to install and operate but being too long 150-200m, require many supports TThis process is expensive to operate because of the nced to evaporate 30-40% water content by mass from the kiln feed, added during the grinding of raw materials. 1% of water in slurry requires about 15 kcal of heat for its evaporation per ky of clinker. A considerable portion of fength of the kiln serves for driving out the water contained in the slurry. This system has the highest heat consumption as compared to others. The exit gas temperature is low but the volume of exhaust gases is relatively high because of higher fuel consumption and evaporation of water. High capacity ID. fans are required. Also the heat losses through the walls ofthe kiln are relatively high due to large specific surface of its shell, Dust cannot be fed back to the slurry due to its sedimentation and only way is to feed it by insufflation into the flame via burner pipe Wet process consume large quantities of fuel, so many newer designs to reduce the heat consumption as well as dimensions of the kilns gave rise to many designs mentioned below. Wet process had been superseded and seldom adopted as a new production line of clinker. Wet kilns had been gradually converted and modernized in view of energy conservation, capacity utilization and environmental improvement. bd) _ Various Measures to Reduce Moisture in the Slurry Different Patterns of Chain Systems37 Installing chains for better heat transfer system had been used almost worldwide in long wet and dry kilns. A part of the kiln at its feed end is fitted internally with festoon and double hung, garland chains. In 1970-1980s, spiral chains began to replace them. Chains abstract the heat from the flue gases and transfer to the kitn feed. It is possible to lower the temperature of flue ‘gases to the order of 150-180°C. A reduction of 10°C in the temperature of flue gases results in a saving of 10-12 kcal/kg of clinker. A significant reduction of dust emissions through entrapment is also possible. By properly designing and installing the chain system, 10-15% saving in fuel, 6-10% reduction in dust losses, 10-15% increased kiln output and lower exit gas temperature ranging about 200-250°C are achieved, To protect the chains from the severe temperature conditions, to which they are exposed, they are made of stainless steel. Chains had been reported to wear at an approximately rate of 100 g/t of clinker. Since chains dry the slurry, they are often classified as mechanical de-watering device. Gus Suspension Drier (GSD) Technology During the recent years, hot flue gases from the kiln had been used for drying the slurry by a Gas Suspension Drier Technology. This technology is in principle an entrained fluid bed in which the material is re-circulated. This system increases the output of the kiln and the necessity of installing chain system in the wet kiln does not arise. ‘Slurey Thinuers Slurry thinners can be used in wet kilns to reduce kiln feed moisture, thus reducing the energy required for the evaporation of moisture. Ligno-sulphates, tri-polyphosphates, silicates carbonates and other surface active agents. Additionally because of moisture reduction, an increase in solids per unit volume in the kiln feed allows an increase in production. Slurry thinners are fed into the raw mills, Slurry thinners are surface active agents and are quite effective in reducing moisture from 40% to 30%. The effects of slurry thinners depend much on the physico-chemical properties of the slurry. The choice and dosage of the slurry thinners vary with the raw materials and need to be determined experimentally. Presence of sulphate and chloride ions in the water may reduce the efficiency of some slurry thinners. Also presence of gypsum in the raw materials or clinker dust may cause immediate and excessive gelling so must be avoided. Lignosulphate is used on a wide scale, 0.3-0.4% of it can reduce the water content in the slurry by 3-4%. During visits to cement plants in U.S.A, it was gathered that a) _Atone plant, using of sodium tri polyphosphate resulted in the reduction of moisture from 36% to 30%. b) At another plant, tetra sodium pyrophosphate was being used and that resulted in the reduction of moisture from 42% to 37%. Filtration The slurry filters may be cither rotary vacuum filter or filter press. A new type of rotary pressure filter had been developed in the recent years. The filtration of slurry can be improved by means of filter aids such as milk of lime (0.2% by mass on the dry raw meal) or filtering at 50°C by preheating the slurry with steam. The choice of the system depends upon the slurry filterability and characteristics of the cake. Slurry moisture normally about 35-45% by mass can be reduced to about 18-20% in the filter cake produced depending on the mineralogical properties of the raw materials. About 45%of chloride and water soluble alkalies are removed by the process of filtration. The cake obtained after filtration thereafter can be preprocessed in the kill in various ways,38 L ‘Cake coarsely commuted or extruded directly fed to a long wets kiln with modified internal fittings ic. chains, crosses and heat exchangers. 2. Cake is pelletized and introduced on the Lepol grate. 3 This de-watered material is dried to below 1% moisture in a special flash drier utilizing the heat from the exit gases of the kiln or in some instances from the cooler cooling process. The material dried in this way is fed to suspension preheater and burnt to clinker, ©) Semi Wet Process ~ Slurry Dryer Calcinator Slurry Dryer In this process, there are no internal chain fittings in the kiln. The kiln exhaust gases and dust from the kiln passes through a slowly rotating drum called a slurry drier, concentrator or ‘calcinator installed up-stream of the kiln. This preheater consists of a number of compartments formed by grates in the upper end of the kiln. The compartments, which may take 4-5 meters of the kiln length, are charged with loose ring shaped bodies for the transfer of heat from the kiln gases to the slurry. As the slurry passes through this preheater, its moisture content is reduced from 30% to 7%. The slurry preheater also acts as a dust collector since the dust collected reinains inside the kiln. d) Semi Dry Process ~ Lepol Grate | —> Material Flow —+ Gas Flow Grate Rotary Kiln Cooler In this process, a travelling chain grate (Lepol Grate) enclosed by a casing is installed behind the rotary kiln. The grate conveys the pelletized raw material to-wards the feed end of the kiln. Raw meal is prepared in the form of small nodules (10-15 mm in diameter) by the addition of 8-10% of water in a pelletizer. Flue gases from the kiln are utilized to heat a layer of the pellets spread out on the traveling grate. In a double pass system, the kiln gases pass twice through the bed of the pellets, first through a heated portion of the pellets and then through the moist pellets. These nodules are partially calcined and fed to the rotary kilns. The temperature is dropped from approximately 1000°C to about 150°C. Thus in a double pass system, almost all of the heat available in the waste gases is used effectively in preheating and calcining the kiln feed. Fuel consumption is reduced and the length of the actual rotary kiln is fairly short, nearly two thirds of ordinary kiln, since no preheating zone and only a part of the calcining zone is required.39 ‘The gases are discharged at 120-150°C to the atmosphere. The exit gases contain very little dust since most of the dust is retained in the bed of the pellets which thus act as a filter bed. The exit gases are passed on to the electrostatic precipitator before being emitted to the atmosphere through a stack. The low temperature and high water content of the exhaust gases (from the pellets) becomes more favourable for attaining high efficiency performance of the electrostatic precipitator. In case, the raw materials contain high content of alkalies and chlorides, some of the dust is discharged. A reduction in their circulation is thus possible which minimizes the operating, problems. This process can also be used for cement works operating on a wet process if the slurry can be de-watered by filtration. Slurry is de-watered by mechanical treatment to about 18-22% residual water depending upon the mineralogical properties of the raw materials. The filter cake is passed on to a noduliser that forms it into small sausage-Iike nodules, which are fed to the grate instead of pellets. Precalcining the pellets before their entry to the kiln is also possible by designing a secondary firing in the preheating chamber. ©) Diy Process Wet process kilns could be converted to dry process and the heat used for evaporating 35-40% water in the slurry could be saved. The dry process utilizes a dry kiln feed rather than slurry. ‘The raw materials are ground and mixed in dry state. Raw meal is heated progressively while going the through the kiln. Early dry process kilns were short and without any chains as there is no necessity of evaporating large amount of water. The waste gases produced in this case have far higher temperatures (800-900°C) than in case of the wet process. In the past, the substantial quantities of waste heat in the exit gases from such kilns was used in the boilers to produce steam for driving a turbine to generate electric power. The power so generated was often sufficient for all electrical needs of the plant. In one modification, the kiln had been lengthened to nearly the extent of long wet-process kiln and chains were added. Chains used ‘were heat resistant alloy, compatible to meet oxidizing, reducing and corrosive atmosphere of the kiln, Refractory heat-recuperative devices, such as crosses, lifters and trefoils had also been installed. So equipped, the long dry kiln was capable of achieving good thermal efficiency. Other than the need for evaporation of water, its operation is similar to that of a ong wet kiln, Dry process is mostly useful when the raw material contain alkalies and chlorine in excessive amounts. Such kilns had been installed mostly in the countries where fuel is cheap as in oil producing countries. The exit gas temperatures of a long dry kiln with chain installations range between 350-400°C and these are used to dry the moisture while grinding the raw materials having 8-10% moisture without any additional heat uspeusion Preheater/Cyclone Preheater TOEP |+—Raw Meal Feed Preheater Bumer, _ Rotary Kiln crassa} Citker 4-Stage Preheater Kiln0 ‘Substantial energy can be achieved by reusing the exit gases from the kiln to preheat the kiln feed, evaporate moisture present therein and to partly calcine it. A major type of modern dry process kiln developed on this principle is the suspension preheater system. Preheater is the dominating structure of a rotary kiln. In this process, the dry kiln feed (having less than 1% moisture) passes through the preheater, a series of cyclones and riser pipes (generally consisting of four cyclone stages) where itis separated and preheated several times. Several manufacturers of cement machinery and equipment supply kilns with suspension preheaters in varying designs. A common characteristic of all the various designs is that there is an intensive heat exchange between the kiln exhaust gases and the kiln feed. This heat transfer is very efficient and rapid as each particle is in contact with the gas stream over its ‘entire surface area. Since the material is finely divided, the gas to material contact area is very large. The heat exchange takes place for the most part in the gas duct and only a little in the cyclones, Retention time of the raw meal in a four-stage cyclone preheater i.c., from the feeding point to the rotary kiln inlet is approximately 30-40 seconds as against one hour in case of wet process. During this period of time, the raw meal is preheated from about 50°C to about 820°C, whereas the gases are cooled from 1100°C to 340°C. In the bottom stage at this ‘temperature, calcination of kiln feed begins. The preheater product, a partially calcined (about 25-30%) kiln feed then is discharged into a conventional but short rotary kiln where calcination is completed and the material upon reaching the burning zone is converted into clinker. The exact degree of calcination of kiln feed when entering the rotary kiln is difficult to measure. This is due the presence of already much more decomposed feed material contained as dust in the kiln exhaust gas which mixes with the fresh feed in the preheater. ‘The temperature of the exit gases which is about 320°C for a 5 stage preheater is efficiently used for drying the raw materials or coal during their grinding. After the dust is separated by a suitable dust collector, the exit gases pass out to the atmosphere. Electrostatic precipitators are generally used, which due to the presence of water vapours in the exhaust gases (corresponding to a dew point of 45 to 60°C) offer good separating conditions in the electrostatic precipitator. Suspension preheaters reduce emissions by feeding the raw mix through a series of cyclones against an upward gas flow. Cyclones may be either singly or doubly mounted depending upon the kiln size. The more the number of stages in a preheater, the higher is the thermal efficiency of the system. Generally there are four stages but may extend to five or six. The number of stages is to be erected normally depends upon the drying requirement of the raw materials and coal to be ground. ‘The number of cyclone stages in the preheater should be such that hot air from a furnace is not required during the normal operation to supplement the heat required for drying purposes. The lower is this requirement, higher are number of stages in a preheater. Approximate relation between moisture content and number of cyclone stages is shown in the graph. 20) v4 1 Moisture (%) 34s No. of Cycione Stages41 If the moisture content is more than 20%, then number of stages may be kept | or 2 and in case of moisture content is below 5%, then the preheater may be designed for 5 or 6 stages. ‘The number of stages in the preheater is seldom more than six, as with higher stages, the Pressure drop would be more and higher capacity fans would be required. Pressure drop in the system can be reduced by proper design of the cyclones, which ensures lowest possible power ‘consumption by the exhaust fan. An increase in production capacity up to 20 % had been obtained. A table given below shows typical heat balances for a 4000 Uday system burning bituminous coal for four, five and six stage preheater with no bypass. Heat Balance (kcal/kg) (Ref. Temp. = 0°C) TStage | SStage | 6 Stage Fieat in gas and dust exiting preheater 185.1 154.2 138.1 Radiation losses in kiln and preheater 577 618 65.2 Heat of reaction 385.0 385.0 385.0 Heat to evaporate water 46 46 46 VDZ cooler loss 103.5 108.4 nos. Heat of clinker at ambient temperature 53 53 33 Heat in raw meal, fuel and air 32.6 32.2 322 Total (kcal/kg clinker) 708.6 687.1 676.8 Source: ‘The Modern Pyroprocessing System by Steven W Miller, Fuller Company, Bethlehem, USA, ih NCB International Seminar, New Delhi, India For a six stage preheater, it can be seen that the total expected fuel consumption is 677 kcal/kg clinker. With a five stage preheater, this value increases by 10 kcal/kg clinker and with a four stage preheater it, increases an additional 22 kcal/kg clinker. Each extra stage will result in 30- 50°C lower exit gas temperature, A graph given below shows the exhaust gas temperature with number of cyclone stages. 600 300 200 Exhaust Gus Temperature (°C) 4100: o 12 3 4 5 No. of Cyclone Stages Improvements in the Design of Suspension Preheater A trend these days is to install low pressure cyclones so as to ensure lowest possible power ‘consumption by the exhaust fan, The reduction in pressure drop is partially achieved by larger inlet and outlet areas for a given cyclone and partially by providing more space for the gas2 flow in the top part of the cyclone. Cyclones designed for low pressure drop ensures better heat transfer between gas and feed particles. By using low pressure drop preheater, a saving of about 20-25 kcal/kg of clinker is possible by installing a 5 stage preheater as compared to the conventional 4 stage preheater. A further saving of 10-15 kcal/kg of clinker could be possible if 6th stage is installed. ‘The capacity of suspension preheater kilns without precalcination ranges from 300 to 4500 Ud. Lower capacity kilns have heat requirement up to 800 kcal/kg of clinker, whereas for large capacity kilns, this requirement is about 700 kcal/kg of clinker. Also the length of such kilns is approximately 50 to 96 m with diameters of approximately 3.0 to 6.0, considerably shorter than that of conventional kilns. The length to diameter ratio of these kilns is thus approximately 14:1 to 16:1. For the same diameter, output of such a kiln is, about 1.6 times than a long dry kiln and about 2.5 times that of a wet kiln. Raw Meal Feed Preheater Precaiciner Hot Air from Cooler BUmet Bummer Rotary Kt ‘Cooler linker 4 Stage Precalciner Kiln Precalcination Technology ‘The term precaleination is applied to a process in which the kiln feed underaaes almost complete calcination before it is fed to the rotary kiln by means of a bumer between the preheater and the kiln feed. The calcination process is very energy intensive requiring about 60% of the total heat input for a modern pyroprocessing system. Ina conventional wet or dry type kilns, the calcination of raw meal takes place in the rotary kilns. In case of Lepol grate or suspension preheater, partial calcination is done there and remaining calcination is completed in the kiln. In a 4 stage suspension preheaters, calcination level is about 20-35% only. Calcination beyond this level up to 90-95% can be achieved in a precalciner. Basically all the precalciner systems available to-day consists of a separate ‘combustion chamber called ‘precalciner’ at the back end of kiln between the proper rotary kiln and last stage of the preheater cyclones This combustion chamber is relined with heat resisting, bricks and fuel is burnt there. Raw meal is fed into the system and progresses through successive heat exchange cycles in the riser ducts and subsequent separation in the cyclones of a suspension preheater system in the conventional manner. However from the stage preceding the last stage cyclone, it is discharged in the precalciner. The calcined material is passed on to the last riser duct where it is discharged into the rotary kilns. Calciner is fired with 50-60% fuel and gets 90-95% calcined before entering the kiln tube. The reason for still carrying out 5-10% calcination in the kiln is to ensure that in case of extremely high temperature in the precalciner may not fuse the kiln feed and thus may cause plugging in the cyclones.ae Al the major cement machinery manufactures in the world have their own patents on their designs of “Precalciners”” and there are more than 2 dozens of variant developed so far. ‘Application of the precalciner technology enables the specific capacity of the kilns to be raised up to 2.5 times that of the conventional suspension preheater kilns of the same size A significant reduction in the thermal load of the kiln burning zone is experienced as 60% of the total fuel is burned in the calciner and 40% is burned in the kiln. Burning of 60% of the total fuel in the calciner and that too at a lower temperature, the generation of NO, is at much lower level than encountered in a preheater kiln. Since the kiln has to do only sintering or burning of the kiln feed and relieved of the calcining ‘operation, thus causing a reduction is the size of the kiln. A shorter kiln reduces the heat losses due to reduction in radiation and convection through the kiln shell and also the power for the kiln drive is corresponding low. This has made it possible to increase the production for a given kiln size, Sizes of the rotary kiln in different systems for an output of 2000 t/day System Length Diameter Wet 200 m 5.6m Dry 162 m 54m Suspension preheater 64m 4.6m precalciner 40m 4.0m Source: Design Criteria of Short Rotary Kilns with Precalciner by Dr. rer. nat. A. Wolter, KHD Humboldt Wedag AG, Cologne, Germany. ‘An increase in production from the existing kilns also possible but that depends upon the auxiliaries and up stream units and may vary 25-40%, Basic Types of Precalcining Process <= or See exit 05 — feet Cyctone preheater sith second Cyclone swith Secondary t Rotary: kita Cooter Cooler Combustion air passes ‘Combustion air passes through through kiln (Partial) a tertiary duct (Total)44 Partial Calcination In the suspension preheater of standard design, a secondary firing is located in the hot gas duct between the kiln inlet and cyclone stage 4. With this arrangement, approximately 30% of fuel of the total fuel required can be used for calcination. ‘This system is nowadays used in only in exceptional cases such as in plant conversions. The ‘combustion air for the calciner is drawn through the rotary kiln. Ata higher kiln feed, increase in CO may result due to incomplete combustion. This system is not sometimes considered to be a true calciner as the resulting degree of calcination is rather low, only about 35-40% as against 90-95% in the other system with separate tertiary duct. This process permits a bypass up to 15-20% from the exhaust gases. ‘Total Calcination The hot combustion air required for precalcining is drawn from the grate cooler and transported to the secondary firing by a separate duct lying outside of the kiln called tertiary air duct. 60% of the total fuel is fired in the calciner. This process is particularly advantageous when using raw materials with high alkali and chloride contents. These compounds which ‘concentrate in the kiln exhaust gas, can be partially or wholly removed by a bypass from the kiln exhaust gases. ‘Types of Caleiners ‘There are essentially two types of calciners commonly used these days, in line calciner (ILC) and separate line calciner (SLC). The main difference between these two types of calciners is that with ILC, the kiln exit gases pass through the calciner while with the SLC system, the exit ‘gases does not pass through the calciner. Inchine Cé In-line calciner kiln system is generally equipped with a single string preheater with 4 to 6 ‘cyclones with the calciner vessel built into the riser duct. The combustion air is drawn from the grate cooler through a tertiary air duct and mixed with the kiln gases at the inlet of the calciner. As a result of this mixing process, the residence time of the fuel particles is increased land good burnout is ensured. The gas temperature in the ILC vessel and lower cyclone stage reaches about 900°C. Coal with high ash content can be easily burned in the calciner as the temperature is low and ash is well mixed with raw mix. This calciner is ideal for burning, ‘waste fuels such as tyres and wood chip etc. To reduce the amount of volatiles recirculating in the in-line calciner kiln system, a kiln gas bypass can be installed which can extract up to 100% of the exhaust gases. ieparate Line Calciner (SLC) ‘A separate line calciner kiln system can be equipped with four/six stage, double/triple string, preheaters. The precalciner is installed parallel to the kiln riser duct. The combustion air is drawn from the grate cooler and used for combustion in the calciner. Kiln and calciner exhaust gases do not mix as they are conducted through separate ducting. The calciner is designed for high residence time and is suitable for high temperature calcination of low volatile coal, petroleum coke and anthracite. With SLC system, it is possible to have three preheater strings. A maximum production of 5000-6000 vd is possible with one string, so the maximum production with an SLC calciner with three preheater strings could be achieved to the extent of 15000-18000 vd. Advanti saleiner System Since the fuel consumption in the kiln is only 40%, the volume of the air which is drawn through the kiln is accordingly reduced. The gas quantity through the rotary kiln is much45 smaller i.e, smaller gas speed and so less dust will be carried by the gases to the preheater, ‘The better preparation of thermal load in the preheater and lower advancing speed of the meai in the kiln allows to increases the rotation speed of the kiln. The temperature of tertiary air should be close to 900°C for better efficiency which is possible with the modern kilns. The efficiency of the precalciners rises as the heat transfer is improved by increasing the number of stages. In the precalciner, as far as possible, flameless combustion is aimed. Precalciners present the possibility for the utilization of waste fuels because of low temperature prevailing there. So this system offers favourable conditions for the burning of so called alternative fuels such as scrap motor tyres, wood products, cheap fuels of lower quality such as coal with low calorific value and a high ash content and some type of combustible wastes. Waste fuels containing chloride could be used advantageously in the secondary firing without negative impact in terms of environmental emissions, as these could be controlled by a bypass system Precalciner system gained popularity over the long wet and dry kiln process as well as the grate and suspension preheater processes due to the following advantages. Increase in clinker capacity Improved refractory life Improved control and kiln stability Reduction in alkali, sulphur and chloride bui More efficient bypass Ability to burn low grade and waste-derived fuel Reduction in NO, emission Lup Technical Parameters for Principal Types of Pyroprocessing Systems ‘Suspension | Precalciner Wet Dry | Perheater | (Sstage) (S stage) Length to diameter ratio 35-40 28-40 14-16 10-12 Fuel consumption(kcal’kg of clinker) 1400-1500 1100-1200 750-800 700-750 Volumetric load (tpd/m’ (day) 0.48-0.75 080-095 2.33.3 2.85.6 Kiln revolution (rpm) 08-15 10-18 16-27 3.0-4.0 Exit gas temperature®C 150-220 350-500 290-320 300-350 Heat batance of pyroprocessing systems including coolers is available on a CD. One drawback of the preheater/precalciner kilns is the build-up or clogging at the lower cyclone, ducts and kilns inlet, which lead to operational problems. These build-ups are due to condensation of alkalies and sulphur on the feed because of intimate mixing with the hot gases in the preheater. The most harmful is the presence of chlorides which drastically raise the volatility of-alkalies. To alleviate this problem of build-up, some of the kiln exit gases are bypassed to reduce their concentrations. 6S KILN BYPASS Alkalies, chlorine and sulphur which are of volatile nature, enter the kiln as secondary components from the kiln feed and the fuel burnt. Their compounds are partly or wholly volatilised in the burning zone of the kiln, Their volatility in the kiln depends on the temperature, residence time of the kiln feed, particle size and nature of the ches mineralogical composition.46 Potassium oxide volatilises more than sodium oxide. Under conditions prevailing in the kiln, the alkalies react with the sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide and chlorine contained in the kiln ‘gases and form alkali sulphate, carbonates and chlorides. As they travel from the burning zone towards the colder zones, condense upon the kiln feed material, kiln dust and the refractory lining, first the alkali sulphate, then alkali carbonate and finally the alkali chlorides. The alkali compounds, which are precipitated on the kiln feed, are carried back along with it through the kiln and again volatilized in the burning zone. In this way, an internal alkali cycle is formed. If these components reach a sufficient concentration, they can have a negative impact on the flow characteristics of the kiln feed. The concentration of these components in the circulating ‘gases depend’on temperature, composition of kiln feed and flame characteristics. As a result, coatings or build-ups at various locations in the kiln preheater system are found. The most effected area are kiln inlet, smoke chamber, meal pipe and burning zone. They also stick to the kiln walls in the form of ring. The presence of chlorine increases the volatility of alkalies and for this reason the chloride content in the kiln feed must be lower than 500 ppm and the gas ‘temperature at the kiln inlet must be kept lower than 1 100°C in order to prevent such coatings. Highly volatile thallium halides also build-up an internal cycle due to the vaporization and condensation process, The following substances are considered as undesirable when exceeds the magnitude mentioned below: ‘+ Alkalies (KO and Na,O) with total inputs of 10-20 g/kg of clinker. ‘+ Sulphur as SO; with total inputs of 10-30 g/kg of clinker. * chlorine (Cl) with total inputs of 0.4-0.8 gikg of clinker. Given below are the melting temperatures of alkali compounds. Eutectics have even lower melting temperatures. Compound | Melting Point °C Compound | Melting Point °C NaxSO« 884 NaiCOs 851 K2SO, 1073 K,CO; 894 ‘NaCl 800 ‘Na,O 971 Kel 770 K,0 707 The alkali sulphates are partially decomposed in the sintering zone and have relatively low volatility. They enter the clinker as sulphates. The alkali sulphates and chloride in case of preheater kiln condense on the kiln feed particles in the major part in the riser duct. Continuous circulation of volatile matter (alkali sulphates and chlorides) may form unfavourable build-ups because of the formation of eutectic liquid phase inside the riser pipe which get choked and results in unstable operation of the kiln, If the degree of sulphatisation of the alkalies is less than 100 percent, then substantial amounts of SO; which are not combined with alkalies may be present. A large excess of SO3 can lead to gradual build-ups and eventual plugging. If the sulphur input is high, then calcium sulphate is formed mostly soluble anhydrite of double salts, which have lower melting points than the alkali sulphates. Installation of Bypass System Bypass system is installed in preheater and precalciner kilns. When the raw materials or fuels contain an excess amount of chloride, alkali or sulphur, a bypass system is necessary to withdraw some of the kiln exit gases. The principle of the bypass system is to extract a proportion of kiln exhaust gases from the feed end housing for quenching with either with” ‘more air or water spray to 150-250°C entering a dust collector. The cooled and clean gases are then discharged to the atmosphere. Location of bypass should be such that maximum amount of volatiles are extracted with the minimum of gas volume. Bypass system is normally located at the kiln inlet. The dust bypassed is either discarded or used in the process. In case of preheater system, 20-30% of the kiln exhaust gases are bypassed, whereas with precalciner. a bypass up to 100% of the kiln exhaust gases is achieved. In case of precalciner, 4 smaller bypass is required to create the same effect as in case of preheater kiln, the quantity. of volatile matte is about half than that of preheater, so the heat lost is half of required for preheater kiln. Owing to high temperatures of bypassed gases (about 1000°C), 1% of bypassed gases increases heat consumption by 4-5 keal/kg of clinker in case of preheater kilns and about 2-3 kcal/kg of clinker in case of precalciner system. Also additional energy is consumed amounting to about 2 k/WH per ton of clinker. The dust discarded is approximately 1% of ‘mass of raw mix per 10% bypass volume. Typically bypass arrangements can extract 10-50% of the kiln exhaust gases. 10% bypass may reduce the concentration of about 50 % for chlorine, about 10% for potassium, about 5% for sodium and about 20% for sulphur, Automatic control of the bypass is possible basing upon the analysis of the hot meal. During the recent years, air-lancers and high pressure air and water blasters had been deployed to dislodge the build-ups. All of these systems are dangerous and may even involve damage to refractory. Elimination of such build-ups with high pressure carbon dioxide cartridges had been carried out quite satisfactorily. Use of special refractory such as aluminum zircon-silicate hhad been also recommended to reduce alkali build-ups in kilns.48. 7. COOLING OF CLINKER (COOLERS) Cooling of clinker occurs in two steps, inside the kiln and inside the cooler.” 7.1 INSIDE THE KILN (PRECOOLING) Cooling of the clinker starts a few meters short of dis end of the kiln, still part of the burning zone called precooling zone. The temperature in this zone ranges from 1300-1450°C and residence time of clinker between the burning zone and the nose less than 4 tes. Such a fast rate of cooling influences the properties of the clinker, causing disruptions in the erystal structure of belite and enhancing its hydraulic activity. ‘The precooling zone in the kiln can be changed by adjusting the burner nozzle or by varying the shape of the flamé On leaving the hottest zone, the clinker cools to about 1250°C. Then it is air quenched by cold secondary air as it leaves the kiln and enters the coolers. It has been observed that the best clinker is obtained by cooling slowly to 1250°C followed by rapid cooling. ‘The rate of cooling also effects the state of crystallization, the reactivity of clinker phases and the texture of clinker. Slow cooling results in the formation of larger and less reactive alite crystals and its partial transformation into belite and free lime. In case of rapidly cooled clinker, the alite crystal is smaller in size and offers less grinding resistance. Rapid cooling assists in the quality of clinker, even a fairly high MgO content will not adversely effect the soundness of cement. 7.2 CLINKER COOLERS Hot clinker at a temperature of 1200-1250°C discharged from the outlet end of a kiln is to be cooled down to less than 100°C for its further grinding. The rotary kilns in the beginning did not have any arrangement for the cooling of clinker. The hot clinker was dumped in the open storage yard for cooling. Later on, clinker coolers became an integral part of every clinker burning system, for the following reasons. 1 Clinker coolers serve as heat exchangers and cool the clinker from 1200°C to the lowest possible temperature, with air consumption of 0.9-1.0 Nm’/kg of clinker i.e. the amount of air required for the combustion in the kiln. Any excess air from the cooler not needed for combustion has to be vented to the atmosphere at high temperature. The clinker thereafter becomes suitable for subsequent handling, storing 2 Recuperates the heat from the hot clinker by exchange of heat with ambient air which is thereby preheated before entering the kiln or precalciner as combustion air. 3. Rapid quenching of the clinker is beneficial for its grinding and also imparts desirable properties to the cement so ground. 4 Since big clinker nodules cool much more quickly than small ones, the heat transfer performance of any clinker cooler will depend upon considerably on the particle size distribution of the clinker. In case of smaller size clinker particles, the dust cycle increases which reduces the performance of the clinker.49 a) Rotary (Tubular) Rotary Kiln Rotary Cooler The rotary cooler is the oldest type of clinker cooling device used with the rotary kiln. It consists of an inclined revolving steel cylinder located usually underneath the kiln. About 70% of its length from the front portion is internally relined with refractory material and fitted with lifters made of heat resisting and wear-resisting cast steel. These lifters raise and cascade, advance the hot clinker through a stream of cooling air drawn in from the open outlet end of a rotary cooler and increase its efficiency. It is supported on two points along its length and rotated by a separate drive. Negative pressure in the kiln induces suction of cold air through cooler, extra fan is not required. The temperature of clinker leaving the rotary cooler ranges from 150 to 250°C, which can be further reduced by spraying water into the cooler. Another way could be the installing of dams coupled with tumbler in the cooler to increase the residence time of clinker. The temperature of secondary air ranges from 400-700°C. Heat losses through the shell of the cooler amount to 20-25%. Cooling air amounting to about 0.9 Nm'/kg of clinker is usually required, The recuperation efficiency is about 55-70%. Dust emission is very low in such type of coolers since no excess air containing any dust is produced. Sound emission is partially muffled by the kiln foundations, Rotary coolers are limited to kilns of smaller capacities. Also such kilns require an effective seal at its hot end which needs a great deal of maintenance The level of the kiln and the preheater need to be raised for the clinker to fall by gravity into the cooler inlet. b) Planetary Coolers (Satellite or Integral) Rotary Kin cooing Tubes Planetary Cooler {mn this type of cooler, a series of relatively small metallic cooling tubes or cylinders (9-10) or even more are fixed as satellites around the discharge end of the kiln. They'revolve with the Kiln around its axis without any separate drive. The clinker after passing through the hottest50 zone in the kiln falls through a grizzly to the clinker transport, while coarse clinker and lumps are discharged at the side to a clinker crusher. About 25-30% of length of these tubes in hot portion is generally internally lined with refractory material, In these tubes, chains or flights are fitted which transfer heat from the clinker in a counter-current way to the cold air drawn through them, The entire air that passes through these tubes enter the kiln and is used for combustion as secondary air and there is no excess ait to be vented to the atmosphere like kate coolers and no dust collectors are needed. There are no moving parts in these types of coolers and also no fans. It is the simplest system for cooling the clinker. Such types of coolers are not suitable for precalciner kiln system, which needs hot air from the cooler. Planetary coolers similar to rotary coolers have a limited cooling air requirement, of the order of 0.85-0.90 Nm/kg cliiker, depending on the fuel consumption of the kiln. The rate of clinker cooling depends on kiln speed and rate of cooling is usually slow as compared to grate cooler, because of the longer precooling zone in such a kiln, The temperature of the clinker ex cooler is higher usually 120-150°C. This temperature could be further reduced either by spraying water into the outlet ends of the rotating tubes from nozzles mounted on the discharge end housing or by water discharged from a circumferential duct rotating with the cooler. Outside water spray may accelerate the surface corrosion. It was observed during visit to one cement plant, a pipe of about 150 mm in diameter was running peripherally through which cold air was passed. This air was blowing on the cooler’s ends and thereby reduced the heating up of cooler inlet ends. The temperature of secondary air is about 800-850°C and the heat losses by radiation and convection are about 25%. This type of cooler has a recuperation efficiency of 65-70%. Planetary coolers are simple to operate but wear of inlet elbows due to great attrition by the clinker is a common problem. Suitable protective measures need to be taken against excessive noise due to the raitling of clinker in the tubes. High mechanical and thermal load being involved, such coolers requires a sound design and special construction. ° Grate Cooler SECONDARY ‘AIR RECOVERY Vit AMBILNL AIR. t ey ret he AMBIENT AIR CLINKER BREAKER Grate Cooler Grate coolers comprise a series of horizontal or slightly inclined reciprocating perforated plates which move the clinker forward in the form of a bed. Air is injected through the underside from a series of fans with individual control of pressure and volume. The air used to cool the clinker becomes highly heated and is used as a secondary air in the kiln. A portion of this air is used in the precalciner kiln where it is used in the calciner by means of tertiary air1 duct. About 75% of the sensible heat recuperated from the clinker is returned to the precalciner as preheated air for combustion. and The grate coolers can be used for kilns having large output as much as 10,000 vd and above and cooling of clinker to very low temperature of 65°C above ambient or even less. The grate cooler needs about 2.5 Nm’ of air to cool 1 kg of clinker as against 0.9 Nm’ of air required for combustion of fuel required, whereas rotary and planetary coolers operate without excess air. ‘The excess air needs to be vented to the atmosphere, thus causing a loss of about 150 kcal/kg, of clinker. These losses could be further reduced by reducing the cooler's excess air Fequirement. The excess air from the grate coolers can also be dedusted by gravel bed filter and used for drying raw materials, granulated blast furnace slag, or coal or for heating fuel oil or for producing electricity. ‘The grate cooler technology has undergone great changes in the recent years. High pressure aeration and strong jets by air beams and other changes have resuited in a noticeable improvement of heat recuperation. Air beam system prevents the possibility of cooling air bypassing the clinker layer. The pulsation effect, an increase of pressure and volume, loosens the clinker to prevent snowmen and to distribute clinker in the kiln discharge area Cross-Bar cooler recently developed is reported to have more heat recovery, lower cooler losses and reduced power consumption compared to planetary coolers, rotary coolers and traditional grate coolers with air beam technology. Cross bar coolers have no movable grate plates. There is no fall through of clinker and an undergrate clinker conveying system is not required. A static layer of clinker protects the air distribution plates against heat and wear. Reciprocating cross bars work on the same principle as the reciprocating cooler grates. The cooling and conveying functions are completely separate, This cooler has been reported to achieve improved thermal efficiency, lower cooler losses and reduced power consumption. The following are some of the salient features of this cooler: a) All grate plates are placed in fixed po: false air. b) Each grate plate is equipped with individual airflow control. The under grate pressure is much lower than in the traditional coolers, resulting in saving of energy. ©) The cooler is constructed in identical module for ease of installation. Different configuration patterns are possible to install, depending on the production from the kiln ion and making the cooler very it with no Modern grate cooler has specific loading from 50-56 tpd/m* and is more reliable, require less maintenance and more thermals efficient than before due to continually improved design features. Since large pieces of clinker and coating can not be effectively cooled, clinker crushers are incorporated. The crusher used these days is roll crusher instead of hammer crusher used earlier. These days, grate coolers are equipped with scanning system for continuous monitoring of their operations. Grate coolers have sound emission problems in the area of the blowers. A sound muffling is to bbe applied to these blowers. A sound muffling cladding of the cooler in the space underneath the burner platform is also required. Control of grate coolers is quite complex, whereas it is not so in case of satellite coolers. Cooler fans are the major consumers of energy and usually high efficiency backward curved fans with Variable Frequency Drives are installed. As a result of various refinements, the volume of cooling air has been reduced to 1.5-2.1 ‘Nm*/kg of clinker as against about 2.5 Nm’/kg. The standard cooler losses have beén reducedfrom 120-130 kcal/kg of clinker to 90-110 kcal/kg of clinker. The recuperating efficiency has gone up to 78% as against 74% earlier. The tertiary air temperature is 110°C and that of secondary air is 950°C. 4) Gravity Cooler (G-Cooler) Clinker Feed ONS =! air PAK) Cooling Air oovee Gravity Cooler (G- Cooler) G-Cooler is a heat exchanger which utilizes gravity to move the clinker through a cooler. When installed directly behind a grate cooler, it functions as a recuperator. It is suitable for the afier cooling of clinker from 500°C to a final temperature below 100°C, absolutely dust free and virtually without any exhaust air. The specific capacity of this cooler amounts to 10 vm"day. 5 A suitable air cooled breaker is required at the discharge of the recuperator to reduce the over sizes particles of hot clinker before being fed to a static membrane g-cooler. In this cooler, the clinker descending slowly is cooled down by air passing through numerous cooling tubes, The is heated from 60-100°C, while the clinker is cooled down to below 100°C. Air consumption is in the range of |.2-1.5 Nm’/kg of clinker. A countercurrent effect is obtained without any direct contact between clinker and coolit ig air. Wear on these tubes is slight because of the low speed at which the clinker falls. There is very little maintenance required in such coolers. This cooler is ideal for new plants where dust laden exhaust air is not required {as well as can be installed while increasing the capacity of existing production lines. In the later cases,a number of standard modules depending upon the desired reduction in temperature are installed.8. GRINDING OF CLINKER 8.1 GRINDABILITY OF CLINKER ‘The yrindabitity of Portland cement clinker depends upon predominately on the clinker mineral phases and on its burning and cooling conditions. A higher content of alite (CxS) is associated with better grindability, whereas a higher content of belite (CS) is associated with poor grindability. Hardness is less important than brittleness and C,S cracks more readily than GS. Hornain and Regourd using a Vickers micro-indenter, determined the following values of brittle indexes. C$ = 4.7, GA = 2.9, C2S and C,AF = 2.0 It is thus concluded that clinkers with a high lime saturation factor are ground more easily than those with a low lime saturation factor. It has been found that a clinker relatively easier to grind should have less than 24%-25% of C2S and CS to C.S ratio not less than 2.1-2.2. Also linkers produced from a silica ratio less than 2.4-2.6, as well as those containing higher contents of free lime and MgO are easier to grind. Clinker become more difficult to grind as the amount of alkalies and sulphur increases. A dense clinker nodule produced by a higher liquid content (more than 24-25%), hard burning, or a combination of these will be difficult to grind. Also coals fired clinkers as difficult to grind as compared to gas or oil fired clinker. Clinker with high content of small pores would be easy to grind. Fine clinker less than 3mm and larger sized clinker more than 25mm are usually harder to grind than normal. There are other factors which effect the grindability of clinker such as its density and weathering in the atmosphere. Grinding of Portland Cement The clinker and gypsum are ground to a fine, homogenous powder having specific surface of 3000-5000 cm’/g. The amount of calcium sulphate to be added to the clinker depends on the target_of sulphate level which depends upon the limits laid down in the respective specification and the sulphate content in the clinker. The latter is derived from the sulphur present in the raw materials and fuel used for burning. Addition of 4-5% of calcium sulphate to the clinker may increase the 28 days strength of cement by 10-15%. Gypsum (calcium sulphate dihydrate, CaSO,2H,0), hemihydrate (partially dehydrated gypsum, CaSO, .1/2H,0) or anhydrous calcium sulphate, CaSO) or mixture of them is used for inter-grinding with clinker. Gypsum and anhydrite are found naturally and used for controlling the setting time and hardening rate of Portland cement. Synthetic or by-product calcium sulphate available from some industries is also being used for grinding with clinker instead of natural gypsum or its derivatives. 82 GRINDING SYSTEMS. ‘The k est consumer of electrical energy is a cement plant is the grinding cement a) Ball Mill Ball mills with two compartments and in closed circuit with separators are used predominately for the wrinding of clinker. High efficiency separators liad been developed in the recent years in order to reduce the circulation load in the grinding system. High efficiency separators are equipped either with cyclones for the collection of the product or a jet pulse filter Evena4 including the power for the separator and the attached fan, power constmption by closed circuit system is 10-15% less than by the open circuit system. ‘The ball mill is divided into two chambers by slotted diaphragms. partly filled with forged iron, (normal and hardened) white east iron and chromium alloy steel balls. The charge of grinding media is typically about one third of that needed to completely fill the miil and the material being ground. ‘The grinding media is of different sizes and optimised with respect to the granulometry of the clinker being fed and the fineness of cement to be ground. The finer the cement ground, smaller the size of the ssindi modern mill. the diameters of the grinding media range from about 90 mm at the inlet (o about 15 mm at the discharge end. An acoustic feed control system usin optimum operations of the cement mill. a microphone is considered useful for Operation of the Mill Possible causes for decrease in the mill production are: a) Increase in the size of the material fed b) Increase in hardness of the material fed ©) Inadequate/worn-out charge or its wrong size 4d) Broken diaphragms or grates €) Choking of diaphragm slots and outlet grate 1) Inadequate air supply 8) Improper separator adjustment Grinding efficiency is also reduced due to coating on the liners and balls as well as agglomeration of particles specially grinding cement to a Blaine more than 3200 em*ig. Use of grinding aids considerably minimise this agglomeration ‘The temperature of the cement ground should not be higher than 110-120 °C as at high temperature, the cement is more susceptible to delayed stiffening or false set, High temperature of the cement ground is prevented by water injection in the mill or by spraying water on its shell, It was observed while visiting cement plants in U.K. that deposition of sludge and rusting of the shell was avoided by applying some rust proof paint, Water is sprayed in the mill from the outlet diaphragm and sometimes water is injected in the first chamber if the clinker temperature is high and there is not enough ventiation in the second chamber. During the recent years, an automatic water injection system had been installed by some cement plants in which change in temperature is continuously monitored by a pyrometer probe and water injection is regulated accordingly. An air-cooled heat exchanger may be Usefull o coo! the cement while conveying it to the storage silo Ball mills are simple to operate but consume a considerable amount of energy, besides have high noise level. The efficiency of ball mills is very low, about 2% of the power input is actually used for size reduction, the balance is simply wasted as heat, wear, vibration and noise. Distribution of energy in a ball mill is reproduced below: Energy Distribut ~T- Bhergy Consumption, % Bolt friction a3 Gear losses 80 Heat losses from drum 64 Heat absorbed by air circulation 310 Heat absorbed by produict 47.6 Theoretical energy of size reduction ____06 ~ Total 979 Source: Crushing and Grinding by G, C. Lowrison, Butterworths, London.58 In the recent years, various circuits have been introduced incorporating hammer mills, roller press impact crusher and roller mills for pregrinding ahead of ball mill. Please refer to pregrinding systems During the recent years, efforts had been made to improve the efliciency of clinker grinding, by installing high etficiency separators and new designs of mill internals. Thus a considerable ‘merease in production ata reduced energy cost had been achieved High Pe paraton Recently developed high performance compact air separators provide separation efficiency of over 80% as against 60-65% of earlier designs. Narrow particle size distribution of cement results in improved strength and thus for the same compressive strength of cement, its surface area may be reduced, thereby saving in energy consumption. With modern air separators, the fineness of the product of the mill can be quickly and accurately controlled. High efficiency separators reduce the amount of fine particles recirculating in the mill and thereby result in less agglomeration. furmane New designs of milt internal Mill internals have been designed so as to impart maximum angular lift to the ball charge for efficient crushing and avoiding the slippage of grinding media to save energy loss. A recent trend is to use rectangular stepped liners of the boltless type in the first chamber and boltless ¢lassitying liners in the second chamber. These classifying liners are not so effective unless feed rate is constant. Also circulation load more than 150-200% will tend to cause reverse classification Ball mills are predominately used for grinding of clinker along with a number of supplementary cementitious additives like fly ash, slag and pozzolan to make blended cements. In case moist materials like slag are ground, then separate drying chamber is flanged (o the mill, Ball mills are more useful when grinding cement to higher surface area. Vertical roller mills and roller presses are now replacing ball mills as they are more efficient in energy consumption and have less noise level. Also such mills have compact designs A significant difference of up to 20% in kWhit can be achieved by optimum control of clinker grindability. A more finely ground cement increases the energy. The grinding of cement from 3000 to 3500 cm’/g (Blaine) may require an extra energy of 4-5 kWhit. Energy consumption 1s approximately linear to about 3000 cm"/g (Blaine), above which it increases progressively per unit increase in surface area as cushioning effect becomes more pronounced. Power for grinding cement to any specific surface of cement may be calculated approximately form the energy consumed at a known specific surface. Suppose energy consumed while grinding cement in a closed system at specifi surface of 3000 cm’/g (Blaine) is 38 kWhit. Energy required for grinding to 3500 em’/g is = 38 x (3500/3000)'*. 1.5 is an average power factor which may vary trom 1.6 to 1,75. ‘The energy consumption for is reproduced below: inding cement varies according to specific surfaces and a graph» kwnt Cement 3 2000 3000 4000 000 000 Blaine Energy vs Specific Surface em’/g (Blai ie) The output of a cement mill decreases when grinding to higher specific surfaces. A graph regarding output of a cement mill at different specific surface based upon grinding capacity index is reproduced below: 4500 2 4000 a e_ £000 | a Specific Surface cm’/g (Blaine) vs Output Given t, tons per hr at s, surface Output factor for s: Find ty tons per hr at s2 surface a Output factor for 5) ames used during the grinding of clinker to decrease the energy requited to achieve a given fineness of cement or for higher outputs from the mills Grinding aids are mostly organic surface active agents which get physically adsorbed on the Treshly formed clinker surfaces during the grinding process. They are used to reduce the material agglomeration during the grinding of clinker. A grinding aid reduces the residence time of the ground fine particles in the cement mill. It also helps in the separation capability of the separator. ‘They are also used to reduce the pack set, a phenomenon observed during Urawing of cement from storage silos.37 The following grinding Germany + Vriethanolamine © Fahylene glyco! + Propylene glycol Mixtures of these and other grinding agents are sold under various trade names such as TDA, HAE2 and 109 B ete. is are commonly used in Germany and U.S.A. A Triethanolamine and calcium salts of li = in sulphonic acid. © 2-methyl, 2-4 pentane diol Coal and gypsum are also good grinding aids. Grinding aids are added to the mill feed in aqueous solution. A small positive displacement pump or simple system of gravity flow from a tank may be conveniently adopted. Triethanolamine and diethylene glycol are considered the most suitable grinding aids. The quantity of grinding aid required is 100-500 g/ton of cement ground. Sulphate/sulphite lye black liquor from paper plants which are rich in lignin sulphonates had been reported to be a potential grinding aid for improving clinker grinding efficiency, particularly while grinding cement having specific surface around 3300 cm’/g (Blaine) and above. Their usefulness is greater while grinding too fine cement. It has been established that grinding aids do not impair the long-term behaviour of concrete made with such cements. A saving in energy of the order of 5% in clinker grinding which amounts to 2 kWhut of cement is possible. Actual tests need to be conducted so as to find its justification. During the recent years, composite grinding aids had been developed which significantly increase the strength of cement, b) Vertical Roller Mill Vertical rollers mill had been used mainly for grinding of raw materials and coals. In the recent years, roller mills have been used for grinding petroleum coke, blast furnace slag, pozzolan and clinker. It accomplishes four operations in a single unit, secondary crushing, grinding, drying and classifying. A typical schematic representation of a vertical roller mill is shown below. There are many variants of roller mills having the same basic features. Variable classifier drive Gas flow with finished materia Feed Classifier blades material Pressure frame Grinding roller Ported air ring Grinding track Firor not gas Hydraulic tension Bevel spur cinder gearbox58 The clinker is ground and after its discharge from the grinding table is lifted by air to the dynamic classifier where grit and product are separated. The product is collected in a jet pulse filter and conveyed to the silo. The coarse fraction is returned to table for further grinding. The following advantages have been reported while grinding clinker: + Narrower patticle size distribution of the cement + Lower power consumption * Lower grinding temperature (50-60°C) and shorter residence time of materials which results in lower dehydration of gypsum ‘Among the various advantages of roller mills is their smaller dimensions and lower capital cost as compared to ball mills These mills offer 20-25% in overall power consumption when compared to conventional ball mills. The rate of wear for rollers and table is quite significant and so not commonly installed for the grinding of cement. However Vertical roller mills had been used for drying and grinding slag, Such mills are superior for grinding slag in a tube mill after drying in a rotary dryer. The power consumption of vertical slag roller mill is less than 40 kWivt as against 70 kWIvt, while grinding slag to a fineness of 4000 Blaine. Roller mills can also be used for separate grinding of pozzolan or granulated blast furnace slag, When grinding and drying granulated blast furnace slag, abrasiveness of mill feed can be reduced by removing iron liberated during the grinding process. These are removed magnetically from the external material circuit. °) Roller Press Roller press also known as high pressure material bed comminution are being used for the disintegration of clinker. High EMfciency +o! Feeders Separator = om Precipitator Roller Press Roller Press Finish Grinding with Rolt Press Solid materials are’ comminuted by subjecting them to high pressure compressive force between two rollers rotating in a opposite direction. This resulls in microcracks in the particles and generation of fines. If roller press is operated in closed circuit with a disintegrator and a classifier, a ball mill may be eliminated. It consumes only 30-50% of the electrical energy as compared to a ball mill. A uniform consistent quality similar to cement produced in a ball mill has not been achieved. ‘The cement produced has a slightly higher normal consistency, indicating demand of slightly ‘more water as compared to the cement ground in a ball mill. This is probably due to the fact that cement ground in roller press with the same Blaine value shows less residue on 90 sieve, ‘This tendency of higher water demand is compensated by higher compressive strength in concrete. The temperature during grinding is lower than experienced in a ball mill and thus dehydration of gypsum is very rare, Roller presses are used in various circuits, together with ball mills as well as without ball mill8.3. PREGRINDING SYSTEMS As the energy efficiency of a ball mill is quite poor, pregrinders of various kinds are nowadays very common. Roller Mill veers | pot igh Rotter Mil [i aoe : Precipitator a Ball Mill Circuit with Vertical Pregrinder A vertical pregrinder and a closed circuit ball mill integrated with a high efficiency separator is a common cement grinding system. Pregrinders similar in design to vertical roller mill are installed ahead of mill but without any classifier. The coarse ground material is fed to the ball till or to the separator of the ball mil circuit. It is also possible to control the feed size to the mill by integrating a screen into the system. Use of the pregrinder enhances grinding capacity and reduces power consumption. A prewrinder executes about 15-20% of the total grinding work in the system Roller Press Feeders ca a rate EG] Precipitator Roll Press Pregrinding Circuit Roller presses are being used as a pregrinding in a variety of circuits in conjunction with a ball anill to decrease the energy consumption. These can be easily installed in front of the existing bail mills. This system increases the capacity significantly and decreases the energy consumption. Specific power consumption ranges 55-80% of the power consumption of an ‘ordinary ball mill. 30-40% increase in the capacity of the ball mill is quite typical Single Stage Separation Feed first passes through a hydraulic roller press for precrushing before entering the ball mill. ‘The commination in a roll press takes place under high pressure, resulting in micro cracks in the particle and generation of fines. Material is fed into the gap between the rolls and the crushed material leaves as a compacted cake, which is passed on to a ball mill. Particle sizeoo from a roller press causes very high wear on the conventional classifiers. High efficiency separators now installed have been found quite useful. Exit air carrying the product from the separator is vented to the electrostatic precipitator from where collected product is sent to the cement silos. ‘Two Stage Separat A roller press is more advantageous if there is two stages separation. In this system, the flakes from the press are disintegrated and preseparated. Particle size larger than e.g. 2mm are recycled to the roller press and particles smaller than 2mm are fed the separator for the ball mill. A high efficiency separator installed can do disintegration, preseparation and separation together. This is a simplest layout for the optimum grinding operations. The mill may be only ‘one compartment mill and having small size grinding media as the feed is having a maximum size of approximately 2mm. In another system, cement is ground separately in high pressure roller presses and ball mill and then the cement is mixed before feeding to the storage cement silo. In this way, the resulting cement quality presents no problems to the cement users. A power saving of about 42% including auxiliaries had been reported in case of a roller press as compared to power consumption by a ball mill Horizontal Impact Crusher (HIC) Feeders Seren T° nic Precipitator Ball Mill Circuit ith Horizontal Impact Crusher A very simple system is the installation of horizontal impact crusher to increase the grinding performance of a ball mill. The HIC system reduces the size of the clinker, which is supplied to the ball mill through precrushing and separation by vibrating screen. Precrushing is mainly achieved by means of collision between the fresh clinker and the material bed, which has built up on the wall. Big size balls are not required in both the chambers because the product from the HIC is very fine. ‘An increase in production by about 20% and a reduction of energy by about 7-10% is possible. Also this system has low noise and dust emissions. Source: 1. Technical Information, Application of Venvical Roller Mills for Clinker Grinding by Dr. Heinz-Ulrich Schafer, September, 1999 Locsche 2. Technical Information, Vertical Roller Mills for Cement Production, by Dr, Heinz-Ulrich Schafer, November, 1999 Loesche.ot STORAGE OF CEMENT ‘Cement ground from the cement mills is stored in silos, which serves as a buffer between production and despatch, By storing cement in silos, quality of cement is improved by leveling, ‘Out variations in chemical composition and physical properties. Freshly ground cement is not normally despatched. SILOS Storage silos are either of concrete or steel structure. The capacities of these silos depend upon the production capacity and despatch of the plant. Generally, they are designed to hold about 4-5 times the daily output of the cement grinding plant. Types of Silos Segmented or compartmented silos, the bottoms of which are so constructed that no bridging is caused and no dead zones are formed which may lead to the hardening of cement. Also they are aerated to ensure a regular flow of cement. Some times, lances are installed with compressed air to break the lumps. 9.1 STORAGE OF CEMENT IN SILOS ‘Normally these silos are weather proof, properly ventilated and ideal for the storage of cement in all climates without having any detrimental effect on its quality. However, over a longer period of storage, the cement may be effected due to condensation in the silos, atmospheric moisture and carbonation. Deterioration in quality is indicated by the presence of lumps, increased loss of ignition, reduction in specific surface, decrease in compressive strength, particularly early one and change in setting time. Presence of hard lumps shows an excessive loss of ignition and these lumps should be screened and discarded. In case of any doubt about the reclaimed cement, it should be te-tested. Loss on ignition is a fair guide indicating the deterioration in quality and most of the specifications stipulate a maximum limit of 4% (There is little possibility of serious deterioration up to this limit) Portland cement would retain its cementing quality indefinitely, if it does not come into ‘contact with moisture. Thus it should be stored in a location, dry and airtight as far as possible. If the cement has a temperature of 70°C or below, there will normally be no problem during, storage in the silo. Higher storage temperature and longer storage periods of the cement in the silos, may intensify the lump formation especially when the contents of tricalcium aluminate ‘and potassium sulphate in cement are higher. The water, without which these reactions can not take place, becomes available primarily from the added gypsum. Other sources of water such as cooling water sprayed inside the mill, water coming from the moist blast furnace slag or water absorbed by the clinker during storage in open air or the moisture absorbed from the air during pneumatic handling and conveying also plays a part. The phenomena of lumps formation is reduced if free lime content is higher than 2% and calcium sulphate content of ‘cement is less than 5.0%. “The storage temperature should be low enough (below 60°C) to prevent further dehydration of gypsum, Above about 70-80°C, dehydration of gypsum and release of a substantial amount of combined water may result in a loss of early strength. Signs of gypsum dehydration after 20- days storage even at 40°C had been reported by some investigators. For this reason, to reduce the release of water from the gypsum, it is advisable to substitute anhydrite for gypsum or a mixture of anhydrite and gypsum. Using hydrophobic cement, in which a water-repellent chemical is added while grinding ordinary Portland cement clinker can minimize the rate of deterioration of cement by atmospheric moisture during long storage.a Lump Formation If the cement is exposed to humid air, the cement solidifies and forms lumps. This phenomena of lump formation also causes bridging in the silos. It is due to the combination of water released from the dehydration of gypsum present in the cement with tricalcium aluminate, gypsum or hemihydrate on forming ettringite and/or syngenite (BCaO.Al,O;.CaSO,.31H,0 and K;S04.CaSO,.H,0). if the clinker contains K,SO,. The last- named substance has needle shape crystals which cause felting/matting or binding the individual cement grains, thus giving rise to lump formation in the cement. ‘Cement in a paper bag stacked at the bottom of a row may form into lumps and these can be avoided by using polythene coated paper or film so as to minimise the absorption of moisture. The formation of lumps could be eli ‘# Ingress of moisture to the silos should be as little as possible The amount of water sprayed in the cement mill must be duly controlled. Also avoid feeding of wet clinker The temperature of the cement stored in the silos is kept below 60°C Reduce the gypsum content or substitute with anhydrite Change the composition of the cement i.e less CsA and less alkalies Compressed air introduced into the silos for aeration purposes must have water taps and in extreme humid season, airlines should be fitted with air dryers and the compressors with after-coolers Check periodically the structures for possible leakage of water, especially welded joints In regions of pe may be required ated or minimized if the following factors are kept in (ent high relative humidity, proper insulation of the storage silos Pack Set ( Set) ‘This is another problem faced by the cement manufacturers as well as by the customers. It is a tendency of the cement in dry form to appear to have set, offering resistance to the flow of the cement, thus making the discharge from the silos or the bulk carrier quite difficult. Generally it is recognized that the surfaces created during the grinding of Portland cement clinker have areas with unsatisfied electrical forces. The active surface causes inter-particle attractions resulting in agglomeration and pack set. Use of grinding aids has almost eliminated this problem. Grinding aids get absorbed on the surfaces of the cement particles and reduce the Surface energy, so that no bond remains to attract other particles and cause agglomeration and pack set. ‘The bridging effect can be broken down by agitation in the silos by a short pulse of aeration using a small quantity of air at high pressure. The consolidation material moves and thus the cement in the silos is loosened up. Using Air Blaster Cannon System, the problem of pack set of the cement can be done away with. Acoustic Cleaners are available these days which have proved efficient in eliminating such blockages. These Cleaners are high energy, low frequency Sound waves that create pressure fluctuation within the particulate deposits. Once dislodged, air stream removes the blocked material. 9.2 STORAGE OF CEMENT IN BAGS (SACKS) Cement stored in bags under normal condition may undergo a significant loss in strength after about 4-6 weeks and considerably earlier, under adverse conditions or high humidity. Rapid hardening cement under goes loss in early strength much earlier say after a month or so. Blast furnace slag cement also under goes rapid deterioration due to atmospheric moisture and carbon dioxide, so it is essential that the bags containing the cement should be stored properly. Special moisture resistant bags are used for rapid hardening cement, oil well cement as well as for those cements, which are meant for shipment by sea.10. PACKAGING OF CEMENT Cement extracted from the storage silos is fed to the packing machines from where packing in sacks, bays and in bulk is done. The cement silos should have a blower extraction system to reduce power consumption. Packing machines are of two types. 10.1 STATIONARY Stationary packing machine (in-line packer) has 4-6 filling spouts mounted stationary side by side. The cement is poured into the bag through the filling spout after the operator places bag on it. This type of machine has a limited capacity. 10.2 ROTARY PACKER These packers have 6-16 spouts which are mounted on the bottom of a cylindrical container on a vertical shaft. The operator puts bags on each spout and opens the valve of the spout into the bag. An electronic weighing system automatically weighs each sack and controls the filling operation, ‘These days to save manpower and reducing operating costs, automatic bag placer, automatic truck loader, shrink wrapping and palletising are being practiced in some countries On-line check weighing for automated weight correction and bag rejection system are being deployed at the packing plant. A weighing accuracy of +150 g can be achieved. Each packing machine is equipped with a dust evacuation system on both sides of the filling spout, so that the dust is sucked directly from the filling area. 10.3. BULK LOADING Bulk cement is delivered in road tankers as well as in railroad cars. Covered barges and ships are also used for this purpose. Care should be taken while loading different types of cement to avoid any confusion over the types of cement, required in a particular tanker. Also to avoid any contamination with foreign substances, tankers should be thoroughly cleaned before their refilling, 104 TYPES OF PACKAGING In jute growing countries, jute bags are mostly used for packaging cement whereas in some countries, kraft paper bags and high-density polyethylene or polypropylene bags arc being used, These days, the bag is usually made of one, two or more plies of paper, plastic film and woven fabrics or of a combination of these. The bags can be sewn, pinch bottomed or most popularly, the pasted valve type. It is possible to make the paper bags(sacks) using only two plies of paper due to the paper’s strength, An optimum amount of porosity is kept for the expelling of air, instead of perforating the sack. Packaging of general-purpose cement is also being done in 25 kg bag replacing the usual 50 kg or 40 ky bag. Packing of special cements like white and coloured cement is being done in Tg, 2 kg, 5 kg and 10 kg bags, as the requirement of these special cements is low. a) Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers (FIBC) Such containers have a capacity of I to 3 tons and are available for single use or multiple use, ‘These containers can be handled by slings or forklifts. They are getting into use in theos developing countries for supplying cement in bulk. The use of big bags offers difficulties While unloading from a truck as well as emptying the cement from the bag itself Material of Constr Flexible bulk containers comprise a woven polypropylene outer ply and a polyethylene liner. High strength polyethylene, nylon, rubber coated nylon fabric are also used. Such bags are adequately protected trom moisture. However, these bags should be protected from solar radiation due to fimited ultra violet stability of such bags, b) Paper Bags (Sucks) In the past bags used were of jute, paper. woven fabrics, sewn bays, pasted bags and so on. ‘These days. the bag is usually made of one, two or more plies of paper, plastic film, woven fabric or of a combination of these. It ean be sewn, pinch bottomed or most commonly of pasted valve type. The paper bags generally consist of three plies. Two plies are also being used provided they are strong enough to withstand any breakage during the subsequent handling, Cement is generally hot and may be hot as 100-110°C at the time of filling. The packaging medium must withstand such high temperatures without any deformation or melting. Also the bags should not burst during the various operations of handling and dropping from certain heights, ‘The bags used should have also a certain amount of porosity for the entrapped air to escape. Perforation of paper bag for expelling the air will weaken it up to about 20%, Paper is a hygroscopic material and its moisture content tends to reach equilibrium with the prevailing relative humidity of air. Any change in the latter causes a parallel change in the ‘moisture content of the paper. The strength of the paper depends upon its moisture content and thus upon the relative humidity of the air and is maximum when the paper bags contain the Proper amount of moisture. As a rule, the bag’s moisture content should be about 7-8% corresponding to relative humidity of 45-65% at about 20°C. If the moisture content is below this limit, the bays become dry and get ruptured during its filling, When the users encounter excessive breakage, investigations usually show that the bags were stored in dry room. Bails of paper bags should be opened and spread out before using, to allow absorption of moisture. The best method is to install automatic air conditioning equipment or a humidifier in the storage room or wet floors to keep the humidity and the temperature of the air at the optimum values. Precautions for the proper storage of bags so as to avoid unnecessary burstage during the filling operation as well as subsequent handling. * Always use bags on “first-in first-out’ basis that means olds bags should be used before those received later on * Store the bags upon arrival in a humid room for 24-48 hours before using * Always stack the bales so that the air has an opportunity to circulate as freely as possible around them © Never stack bays in hot, dry room, or near heating unit or in hot weather and in direct suntight11. TYPES OF DUST COLLECTOR Four types of basic dedusting equipment are used in the cement industry i.e settling chambers, cyclones, fabric bag filters and electrostatic precipitators. Dust collected in most eases ean be reused in the process. To meet the emission standards, sometimes combinations of such equipment is used, depending upon the intensity and temperature of the effluents. Wet washers and scrubbers using water as an active element to precipitate dust particles are not used in the cement industry due to difficult handling of the wet dust. The efficiency of the dust collectors is worked out as the ratio of quantity of precipitated dust to the total quantity of dust introduced into them. 11.1 SETTLING CHAMBERS ‘The settling chamber is the simplest form of gas cleaning device. It depends upon the size of the particles, their density and shape as well as density and viscosity of the yas. In this system, the dust is removed by reducing the velocity of gas or air stream. The gas is directed from the dust gencrating equipment into the large volume settling chambers where the velocity drops low enough to let large dust particles fall due to gravity. Bgcause of a simple construction, settling chambers are the lowest in cost and with low dust efficiency. The efficiency of such settling chambers is in the range 30-70% while handling dust of a cement plant, Generally settling chambers are used only to reduce the dust load ahead of more efficient dust collecting equipment such as glass bag filters or electrostatic precipitators. 11.2 CYCLONES In this system, the dust is centrifuged by means of centrifugal force. Cyclones are only suitable for the separation of coarse dust. In the cement industry, cyclones are used for applications with rotary kilns, grate coolers, crushers, dryers, grinding mills and conveyors. They are low in cost and highly efficient. Their operation is normally trouble free as there are tno moving parts. They are available in different diameters and the large cyclones can remove dust particles larger than about 20y. A multi-cyclone, combination of small units installed in series can remove particles as small as 5p in diameter. ‘The collecting efficiency of the cyclone is about 80%, whereas that of multi cyclones may reach an efficiency of 90%. These cyclone are mainly used at present as scalping devices ahead of higher dust content (more than SOg/m’) and abrasive dust contents, separating units mostly with fabric bag filters. These are generally used for separating the dust from cooler waste air from grate coolers, 11.3 GRAVEL BED FILTERS The gravel bed filter is mainly used for dedusting of excess air from the grate coolers. A part of the air is utilized for drying coal and raw meal, the rest is discharged to the atmosphere. It has a filter bed of almost round and uniform size of about 2-5 mm diameter of quartz granules with rough surface lying on fine wire mesh in a casing generally of circular shape. These quartz grains are highly wear resistant and there is no significant loss of wear in the bed when the dust is removed. This type of filter has high efficiency (greater than 97%) under conditions of high temperature ie. above 150°C when bag fillers may not be useful. Gravel bed filler can withstand66 temperatures up to about 450°C and so particularly useful in the case of hot clinker which is highly abrasive and quickly deteriorates the multi-cyctones.. The granular bed has to be cleaned at regular intervals, compartment wise, by means of air in reverse flow, in conjunction with agitation of granules by rotating agitator arms. The pressure drop is rather large and thereby involves high operational cost 114 BAG FILTERS Bags filters are generally used for the de-dusting of crushers, mills, material-conveying system, silo discharge and loading of cement as well as waste air from grate coolers. Two principal types of filters used are woven fabrics and needle felts made from synthetic polyester fiber, Teflon, glassfiber mats and filter elements are also used. Woven fabrics employ bag shaking oF reverse air Now for cleaning, whereas needle felts are cleaned by reverse air pulse. Selection of various materials for filtering is determined by their properties and applications, The polyester ean operate up to 150°C whereas polyamide can be used up to 230°C and glass fiber to 280 C-"The use of glass bag filters was observed in a cement plant in USA as back as in istics. ‘The temperature of the kiln exhaust gas was 320°C. Since the glass fibers can not stand conventional mechanical shaking device due to its low flexural strength, a SONO Clean system was in operation, The bags ware shaken by the sound waves from sound generators. Special filters are used in case of coal dust collecting system because of explosion of fire. In order to avoid the explosion as is in the case of electrostatic precipitator due to presence of unburned carbon or reducing conditions, anti-static bags should be used. The primary advantage of a bag house is its greater dust retaining ability as compared to elvetrostatie precipitator. As air pollution continues to be tightened around the world, the hoive of filtering system with respect to dust emissions is becoming increasingly important Ihe dust collecting efficiency of such filters is up to 99%, depending upon the choice of filter fabric, titration velocity, method of cleaning and cleaning eyele etc, Such filters can remove particles in the range from 1 to 10q diameters ant years, fabric filters have been increasingly installed either new one or for converting the existing ESP into a pulse jet baghouse. Baghouse offer several advantages © Fabric filters easily mect 20-25 mg/Nm’ emission requirements. ‘+ ESP trips, when the CO content goes beyond 0.6%. During the time of tripping, the particulate emissions take place whereas the operation of bag house is not dependant ‘upon the CO value © Emissions from fabric filters are not influenced by inlet gas conditions, such as, temperature, humidity, dust concentration and particle sizing unlike emissions from ‘electrostatic precipitators * Fabric filters are provided with fabrics that can operate continuously at 250°C. This high temperature does not require the gases to be cooled down considerably to a temperature of 150°C as in case of electrostatic precipitators and so no need of a water conditioning system + Amodern well-designed baghouse is easy to maintain on line There are two types of fabric filters used in cement industry:- Reverse air baghouses and pulse jet baghouses.o Reverse Air Baghouses The exhaust guses pass into the hays through holes in a cell plate Noor at the top of a hopper Dust collects on the inside of the bags. The clean gas leaves at the top of the compartments. A. compartitent is periodically taken off-line and cleaned by a reverse flow of clean gas from other operating, compartments, The reverse flow detlates the bag, causing the dust cake to drop into the hopper from where the dust is carried away by an air slide. Reverse air bag houses have a gentle cleaning system suitable for woven fiberglass bags. Pulse filters are used mostly for dedusting of conveyors, cither centrally placed or as individual installation, Jet pulse filters are made up cf number of modules, arranged in one oF two strings. Each module may consist of 20-50 bags. Pulse jet baghouses typically incorporates a hopper entry. In this system, the bags are hung, from a tube sheet at the top of the casing. Gases pass through the bags from outside to inside and the dust is deposited on the outside of the bags. The dust collected is removed periodically by a pulse of compressed air injector placed on the top of the bags. The compressed air inflates the bags causing the dust cake on the bag to fall down the hopper. The cleaned gases pass out through the top of the bags from a hole in the tube sheet. Pulse jet filters are designed for continuous operations. ‘The air injected for cleaning is for a very short time, so cleaning of the bags does not affect the operation, The pulse jet bazhouses, should have multiple compartments in order to perform on-line maintenance so that kiln docs not need to be stopped for maintenance. The dust collecting efficiency of such filters is up to 99%, depending upon the choice of filter fabric, filtration velocity, method of cleaning and cleaning cyele ete. Such filters can remove particles in the range from | to Lop diameter sizes. Pulse jet baghowses ate also available in low pressure in which compressed air used in this type is at 30-10 ps.i as against 80-90 p.s.i for high pressure type. ILow pressure pulse jet baghouses have longer life as compared to high pressure jet type baghouses having filtering velocities. ILS ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATORS rostatic precipitators are normally installed to clean the dust laden waste gases from pyroprocessing system, These units are now increasingly used for cement mills where the fabric filters used for dust collection purposes get choked up by the water injected for cooling sment. Electrostatic dust precipitation is based on the principles of utilizing the forces set rically charged bodies when they are passed between two electrodes connected to a -tension supply of direct current. The dust laden gases flow through a chamber usually in the horizontal direction, in which it passes through high voltae electric fields formed by alternate discharge electrodes and plate type collecting electrodes. Under the action of electric ficld, the dust particles electrically charged fly to the collecting electrodes and are deposited, The dust is dislodged from these electrodes by rapping and drops dows the receiving hoppers at the bottom of the precipitator casin ‘The most important operating parameters that effect the efficiency of such precipitators are © Flow and temperature of gases © Relative humidity © Dust resistivity of the particulate matter Dust resistivity between 10” and 10"! ohm-cm iy most favourable for higher separation celficrency. Water, chlorine and SO, reduces the resistivity of dust8 10, : , i 100 20 10" 7 60 40 10" Dust extraction efcency % 8 30 20 Electrical Resistance of Dust obm-em 10 10"! ao LL I i I 838 8 100 2000000. Gas Temperature tC Gas Temperature t °C 100 Figure 1 Figure 2 High gas temperature and moisture content affect the resistivity of typical kiln dust whtich has unfavourable effect on dust collection. Cooling the gases with evaporative cooling tower (water conditioning) to 150°C reduces the resistivity of the dust and thereby performance of electrostatic precipitator is improved. The moisture content of the flue gas is increased by injecting finely atomised water droplets in the conditioning tower and also temperature of the incoming gases is reduced which results in reducing the volume. An electrostatic precipitator can have optimum efficiency at a gas temperature below 130°C and about 15% moisture (Figures 1). Dust extraction efficiency also depends upon temperature of the gas (Figure 2). The precipitator’s efficiency drops down to almost 75% of its required level in the 200°C to 350°C temperature range. Electrical precipitators can also be designed for high temperatures and can attain an efficiency of 99.97%. Dust level below 20 mg/Nm’ is possible to achieve. It is essential that the units be properly maintained in order to achieve this collecting efficiency over longer periods. Larger units are necessary to remove the finest particles, as the velocity at which the particles migrate is proportional to the diameter of the particle. In the recent years, pulse energisations in which pulses of short duration are superimposed upon the DC voitage have been deployed. With a suitable choice of basic voltage and superimposed pulses, the field strength of the electrodes can be increased and at the same time, the average current density be reduced, resulting in saving of electrical power consumption, It is advisable to install a cyclone before the precipitator, if the dust content is high. This has the added advantage of still removing 80% of the dust in case, the precipitator goes out of, operation. Electrostatic precipitators are not suitable for handling flue gases containing carbon monoxide, as an explosive mixture may form and damage the equipment. Optimum CO control devices are used which automatically switch off the high voltage equipment and earth the electrode system as soon as a certain CO value is exceeded in the waste yas. In this way. the risk of explosion in the ESP is reduced. In the recent years, an increasing number of cement plants are installing fabric filter as the emission control equipment for the kiln exhaust gases in place of ESP. The installation cost may be quite similar but there is a significant difference with regard to operation and maintenance costs, The pressure drop across the fabric filters is higher than in the ESP.69 12. ELECTRICAL ENGINEERIN 12.1 BASIC FORMULAE P power (watts) v Electric potential (volts) L current (ampere) R Electrical resistance (ohm) P vi v 1 V=IR P therefore = IR1 = PR a ergy output in a given time ower output Efficiency (n) = Energy output ina given time _ power output Energy input in asame time power input Direct Current Three Phase Current vAv3 =—— x7 kW = aoe 1000 1000 where V is voltage, A is amperage and cos @ is Power factor. Power factor is a measure of inefficiency and shown by cos @ where @ is the phase angle between voltage and current. 12.2 SPECIFIC POWER CONSUMPTION ‘Typical specific power consumption in a dry plant is about 100 kWh/t of cement (quarrying of raw materials to packing of cement). By adopting various productivity optimisation steps, this could be brought down to 85-86 kWh/t of cement. Section Unit Consumed (kWh)/t of Cement Crusher and mix bed 18 Raw mill 170 Coal mill, Kiln & Cooler 332 Cement mill 318 Packing Plant 1s Total: 85.0 ‘The amount of electrical energy consumed by a cement plant is a function of the plant utilisation factors, the process quality requirements and the system losses. If electrical energy is to be reduced, it must be done by paying due attention to major areas:- «As a result of poor operating power factor and efficiency, some motors may be ‘operating at tinder their design capacity. By monitoring with a motor optimisers can an effective use of input power to cope with the actual load needed under variable load conditions could be possible to achieve ‘The motors should operate at higher load factors ie more than 80 % during the normal operation Peak power tariffS should be utilised to the maximum as considerable savings could be possible by shutting down the major energy consuming equipment in the designated peakhours Preventing of idle running of equipment by providing interlocking arrangement and operating them with a PLC system Ensuring operational availability of various continuous running equipment by the preventive predictive and condition monitoring system approach, for maintaining good performance of the plant and machinery.70 Minimising ingress of false air in to the raw mill, kiln, cooler and coal mill circuits. High Energy Consumption of Grinding Mills By installing pregrinding equipment, considerable saving in energy could be possible. Various configurations that could be adopted had been highlighted in chapters on grinding . Air Compressors If there are number of compressors operating simultaneously to supply air on intermittent basis, it may be possible to re-arrange the pipe connections so that the usage of some compressors is increases and the others are stopped. Use optical sensors and/or time switches for an automatic control of bulk of the lighting, leaving some safety lights to be manually switched off. Fans and Pumps Power consumption per ton of cement could be reduced by installing variable speed drive Mostly fans and pumps run at full speed. Variable speed results in saving in energy from 10- 50%. Variable speed control could be achieved by installing D.C motor, variable speed coupling, pole changing motor and frequency control system. Frequency control system is of recent development. A three phase motor speed can be controlled by varying its frequency through a frequency inverter. The power consumption of cooler fans accounts for about 70% of the overall power consumption of the cooler section. Power consumption of the cooler fans could be reduced by installing an optimum system for their air flow. The flow of air can be controlled by a throttle control, vane control and speed control. The absorbed power will be highest when the fan is driven at a fixed speed and the flow rate is controlled by means of a damper (flap on the outlet). Throttle control is achieved by a flap on the fan inlet. The absorbed power will be lowest when the flow rate is controlled by varying the speed of the fan by high efficiency variable speed A.C motors. A power consumption pattern for the three control is reproduced below: ‘Operation “Throttle Control ‘Vane Control ‘Speed Control point Power Power Power (kW) |) (kW) |). (kw) |) 7 $9.17 100 89.17 100 89.17 100 i 9 88.6 64.4 72.2 37.6 42.2 m 62 69.5 468 525 Tas 125 t 100 a) Zz) z 20 a Volume ow V in %4¢—<—<— Source: Venti Oelde GmbH Germanyn 13. GLOSSARY - TERMS RELATED TO EQUIPMENT AND PROCESS Acoustic mill feed control: An electronic ear, which monitors the feed rate of the mill, basing upon the changes in its noise level. Additive: A material added to slurry during grinding to work as slurry thinners or to clinker during its grinding as grinding aids. Certain additives are also used while grinding special types of cement. Air deficiency: The lack of required amount of air or oxygen for achieving complete combustion of fuel in the pyroprocessing of clinker. Air false: Undesired infiltration of air in the system. Air filters: Air cleaning devices for removing the particulate matter present in the air. Air lift: An elevating equipment used for transporting slurry or dry powder upwards through pipes by means of compressed air, Air primary: It is that air which is mixed with the fuel in the burner pipe. The amount of primary air may be 5-15% of the total air necessary for the complete combustion, depen: upon the burner design, fuel used and firing system Air quenching cooler: A cooler in which hot clinker passes over mo is forced to cool the clinker. grates while cold air Air secondary: Air introduced into the kiln for combustion in addition to the air in the main burner pipe. Secondary air supplies the remaining oxygen required for the complete combustion. It usually comes from the recuperation of heat from a clinker cooler. Air separator/Classifier: An upright cylindrical vessel with internal rotating blades, which separates various sized fractions of ground materials by centrifugal forces. Fine particles are discharged as product and oversize returned to the mill as tailings. Air-swept mill: A mill in which the finely ground particles are removed by a stream of air passing through it Air tertiary: Air introduced in the calciner, coming from the clinker cooler by exchanging heat of clinker by a special tertiary air duct. Autogenous mill: A mill in which large lumps in the feed crushes the smaller lumps and by doing 0, reduction in size occurs. Auxiliary kiln drive: Stationary engine, usually diesel or gasoline, to be connected to kiln drives in case of power failure, Ball mi media simi forizontal, cylindrical, rotating mill, lined with liners and charged with grinding, to tube mill but the ratio of length to diameter is 1.5 to I and less.n Beneficiation: Improvement of the chemical or physical properties of a raw material or coal by the removal of undesirable components or impurities. Blending: Combining the contents of two or more raw materials, bins, tanks or silos to adjust the composition of the final product. Blending continuous: The mixing of ground raw materials in a silo where fresh material is being added and the mixed one is withdrawn at the same time after being properly homogenised for feeding to the ki Blinding: The choking of the openings in a screen by the material being screened. Burner glasses: Special glasses for viewing the burning operations in a kiln. Blue or green glasses containing cobalt stop the passage of intrared rays, Bypass system: A system installed for removing undesired amounts of sulphur compounds, chlorine and alkalies from the kiln system during pyroprocessing of clinker. Calcinator: An equipment for drying and preheating the slurry through intimate contact with hot kiln exit gases, passing in counterflow through a vessel charged with heat-exchanging, elements. Calibrate: To determine and correct for errors in the readings of a measuring device. Cement cooler: Equipment for cooling the cement to a temperature below 60-70°C after discharge from the mill. Chain system: A system of chains suspended in the feed end of wet or dry process kilns to promote heat transfer to the slurry and evaporation of water by recuperating heat from the flue gases, Charge: The quantity of grinding media in a grinding mill Circulating load: The proportion of separator tailings to fresh mill's feed. Often stated in percentage. Clinker breaker: Hammers or rollers installed at the discharge end of a clinker cooler to break lumps of clinker for more rapid cooling. Clinker cooler: Equipment used to cool clinker by air such as rotary, planetary and grate, Closed Circuit Grinding: Grinding system in which the mill product is passed to a separator so that fines may be removed from the circuit and oversize (tailing) is returned to mill for further grinding, Cooler vent fan: Fan used to remove excess air from the cooler. ‘Comminution: Progressive reduction in size by crushing and grinding, Compartment Mill: Tube mill in which partitions are used to divide the mill into two or more compartments charged, with varying sizes of grinding media.B Cycling: Alternate surging of load in a kiln resulting in an irregular supply of material Damper: A set of adjustable louvers in a flue duct used to regulate the draught. Diaphragm: Partition used to separate chambers in the grinding mills. Draft: The pressure difference that causes a current of air or gas to flow through a kiln, chimney, flue duct or other closed system. The draft may be natural or induced (forced) available without a fan or with a fan. Draught gauge: Usually a manometer for measuring the static pressure of the gases passing through a flue duct Dust chamber: The chamber or housing at the feed end of a kiln where coarse dust is collected. Dust collector: An air cleaning device to remove heavy particulate matter from flue gases. before being discharged to the atmosphere. Economizer: A system in which heat from the exhaust gases of the b the feed water for the boilers. rs are utilized to heat Electrostatic dust precipitator: Equipment for arresting particulate matter present in the flue gases. The dust particles are electrically charged and migrate towards collecting electrodes and then discharged by rapping. Endothermic: ertai 18 to a reaction which occurs with the absorption of heat. Exothermic: Pertaining to a reaction which occurs with the evolution of heat. Excess air: That proportion of the air entering the kiln which takes no part in the burning process and passes from the kiln along with the waste gases. Flash caleiner (precalciner): An installation for rapidly increasing the temperature of the raw meal to achieve its almost complete decarbonation. Flint pebbles; Hard pebbles of approximately spherical shape formerly used for gri white cement. Grovel bed filters: Abr resistance granular filtering system installed for clinker coolers. Impinge: To strike directly upon (as a flame may impinge on the load in a kiln). Insufflation: Practice of adding dust to the kiln firing system a bumer pipe. Kiln bedding: The degree of filling by the load in a rotary kil internal area of the kiln. , normally 8 to 12% of the Kiln air seal: Seals installed around the inlet and discharge ends of a kiln to prevent infiltration of false air. Open circuit grinding: Grinding arrangement whereby material passes through a mill and. ground to the desired fineness in one pass, without any classification and regrinding."4 On-line: Installing a measuring or analysing equipment on the process stream, Opposite is off-line. Orifice: A mouth-like or throat-like constricted opening in a pipe or duct, Pitot tube or Prantel tube: Apparatus for measuring the velocity of flow of air or exhaust gases. Preheater: Installation for counter-current heating raw mix or slurry prior to entering a kiln calcining or burning zone. Puffing: Uneven combustion process in the kiln resulting from incorrect balance between operating parameters. Prehomogenisation: Stacking and reclaiming of crushed raw materials to reduce fluctuations and ensure homogeneity Pressure, absolute: The sum of the gauge pressure and atmospheric pressure. Pressure, gauge: Pressure measured from atmospheric pressure as a base. At aimospheric pressure, the gauge pressure is equal to zero. Pyrometer: Apparatus for measuring high temperatures in the burning zone of rotary kilns or in exhaust gases, includes electrical thermocouples, optical and recording pyrometers. Rod mill: A type of grinding mill charged with rods of assorted diameters. The length of the cylindrical shell is between 1,5 and 2.5 times its diameter. jing rings: Steel rings that rest in rollers and support the kiln, Shell scanning system: A system for monitoring shell temperatures of the kiln for kee check on its refractory. ga Tramp iron detector: Magnetic drums designed to collect tramp iron. It is a fixed magnet assembly around which rotates a drum cylinder. These devices are available with several magnetic configurations. Drums provide continuous and automatic removal of tramp iron. Tromp curve: A curve showing the separating efficiency of a classifier. Thrust rollers: Rollers used to control horizontal movement of the kiln tyres on the rollers. Tube mill: A rotary cylindrical shell internally lined with liners and charged with grinding media, having length to diameter ratio between 3 and 5. Suspension preheater: A system of cyclones and riser pipes in which kiln feed is preheated in contact with kiln exit gases. Tempering air: Introducing cold air to hot kiln flue gases to reduce their temperature for protecting draft fan.5 14. CALCULATIONS RELATING TO PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT 141 SLOPE OF KILN Rotary kilns have slopes from 2 to 6% to the horizontal but mostly between 2 and 4%. Lower kiln slopes require higher number of revolutions and permit higher degree of kiln load. Fraction ofan [Inch foot] nvm _|m/m(slope)| % slope | Slope in | Angular degrees inch per foot degrees 18 0.125 104 0.0104 «1.040.596 46" us 0.250 20.8 0.0208 208.192 31" 38 0375 313 0.0313, 3.131.793 35” 2 0s 470.0417, 4.172.388 17 5/8 0.625 S21 0.0521 5.212.982 5s” 3/4 0.75 625 0.0625 6.253.576 39-34"-34" 78 0875 729 0.0729 729 4.169 4°-10'-8" 1 1 833 0.0833 «8.334.762 4°-457-43" Tan 45° = — 1 = 100% slope Tan"1 = 45° Tan'm/m = slope in degrees (decimal units) Example Find the slope in degrees when the slope is 1/8 inch/foot (r/m=0.0104) as mentioned in the above table. Tan" 0.0104 0,596 degree 0.596 degree 0%-35'-46" Angles of Slo Angle of inclination(degree) (vertical to inclination horizontal) horizontal) in 3.36 15 Vin 1.43 35 shin 2.7 20 Hin 1.2 40 1in2.15, 25 Hin 10 45 Yin 7 30 14.2 ANGLE OF REPOSE OF VARIOUS MATERIALS Mat ‘Angle of repose Mat “Angle of repose in degrees in degrees Cement 20-30 Gypsum (crushed) 40-45 Clay (wet) 15-30 Limestone (blasted) 35-40 Clinker 35-40 (crushed) 35 Earth 30-45 Raw meal 35-45 Granulated blast furnace (dry) 25-30 Sand (dry) 25-35 (wet) 30-40——_Sand (moist) 30-45 Gravel 40-45 Sand (wet) 15-3016 14.3 RETENTION TIME OF CLINKER IN A ROTARY KILN It depends on length, diameter, slope and variables such as presence of rings, brick thickness and stickiness of the clinker. U.S. Bureau of Mines formula 1ITx YOxL T ‘SDN Where T= retention time in minutes. © = Angle of repose of material in degrees. For raw materials in a kiln, it is taken as 40 degree L = length of kiin in meter S = slope of the kiln in degrees D diameter of the kiln inside bricks in meters N =. speed of the kiln (rpm) Example Data Angle of repose 40 Length (L) 65m Slope (S) 2.29 degree Inside diameter of kiln 4.0m Brick thickness 0.200 m ‘Therefore diameter of kil inside bricks (D) = 3.6m Speed of the kiln (N) = 2.5 rpm Retention time in minutes (T) = 35.31 minute without coating The retention time shall increase with the magnitude of coating and ring formation. Approximate retention time for various types of kilns are Wet kiln 180 minutes Dry kiln 145 minutes Suspension preheater system 50 minutes Suspension flash calciner system 30 minutes 14.4 DEGREE OF CHARGE (LOADING) OF A ROTARY KILN ‘The degree of kiln charge in a kiln can be estimated by using the following equation. 32xT Degree of charge = D'sR Where T = daily production vd effective internal diameter of kiln in the burning zone S=% slope of kiln R = revolution per minute Example Data Kiln daily output (T) = 2000 t Effective internal diameter of kiln in burning zone (D)=3.4 m Diameter of kiln-2 x brick thickness-2x thickness of coating ~ 4.0-2x0.200-2x0.100” where 4 nv is the diameter of the burning zone thickness of coati Slope (S) = 3.4% Revolution per minute (R) = 3 ind 0.2m is brick thickness and C1 m is the Degree of kiln charge = 1845 Gay Kilns with higher slopes has higher degrce of fillings. Precaleiner kilns have higher degree of filling than the conventional kilns, Precaleiner kilns have about 22% load as compared to about 10-12% in earlier kilns. Higher the speed of kiln, the lower is the degree of filling Operating the kiln at higher speed reduces the tendency of ring formation, 14.5 | MAXIMUM THERMAL LOAD (BURNING ZONE LOAD) OF ROTARY KILN It shows the burning zone load in a kiln per m® area of the kiln inside the lining. It is calculated as F x G.C.V x effective area (kiln diameter-lining thickness). Fis the fuel rate/ir and G.C.Y is the gross calorific value of fuel Example Data Diameter ofkiln = = 4m Lining thickness 0.2m Fuel rate in the kiln 6000 ke/h G.CN of fuel 10000 keal/ke, Effective area (4.0-0.40)' x w/4 = 10.18 m® 6000 x 10000 Kiln thermal load = = = 5.89 x 10° keal/h/m? 10.18 Fuel burnt in the calciner or riser is excluded. 146 VOLUMETRIC LOAD IN A ROTARY KILN It is expressed in production (tpd) per m? volume of the kiln inside the lining. It is calculated Output per day / Volume Example Data Length of kiln 60m Diameter of kiln inside lining 3.6m Effective area (4.0-0.40)? x m4 = 10.18 mi? Volume 610.80m’ Output/day 2000 Volumetric load ‘Output per day / Volume = 3.27 tpd/m’, Volumetric loading up to 5.6 tpd/m® is possible from precalciners kilns 14.7 FALSE AIR The oxygen content of the exit gas is generally used for firing control, but it is easily falsified by leakage of extraneous air which may occur al along the system via the cyclone preheater and grinding/drying plant to the outlet side of the precipitator. It is very essential to reduce this false air.8 Air leakage should be kept to a minimum by effective sealing of all unnecessary openings. ‘These openings reduce the capacity of induced draft fan, require extra power to drive it and lower the temperature. For every 0.1 kg of false air, oxygen content of the gases will rise by 1.1 %, the temperature of the gases will rise by about 18 °C and the heat consumption shall tise by 18 keal/kg of clinker. Volume of Air at the kiln seals may be calculated as below: 1. Amount of air unfiltered/hr by an empirical formula sitive pressure in the kiln (in mbar). 10,000 x area of gap in m? x With the help of the following curves, it is possible to estimate the volume of air being infiltrated at kiln inlet seals with an annular gap of | mm over the entire circumference of the seal. In case of clearances of more than | mnt, the volumes of infiltrated air is to be multiplied by the corresponding width in mm. 3200 raw! 2400) 2000] 1600} 1200] wo eI 400 Fy Ingress of air V (cubie meter at 1013 mbar and 0°C) —> 0} ot 2 3 4 8S 6 7 8 9 WO Negative Pressure p (mbar) Volume of Air at the Kiln Inlet Seal under varying Operating Conditions1» QUALITY CONTROL A well-equipped works laboratory and trained staff are very essential to exercise quality controi over the entire manufacturing process as well as to maintain the desired quality standards of cement being produced. Now a days; a great part of the necessary quality contro! tasks starting from sampling to statistics evaluation is carried out by a fully modern laboratory automation. This automation control has been achieved by using on-line methodologies. CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND PHYSICAL, PROPERTIES OF PORTLAND CEMENT Portland cements have to comply with certain properties required of hydraulic cements such as setting and hardening in a specified time, developing strength in the mortar or concrete made with it to the specified limits. The standards promulgated in various countries contain specifications for the chemical composition as well as for the physical properties desired of Portland cements. Most of the countries have either developed their own specifications or adopted those of advanced countries. They cover both chemical and physical requirements. Some specifications prescribe a wide variety of types whereas, other specify several classes of strength development for each type. CHEMICAL COMPOSITION Requirements for the chemical composition in respect of various types of Portland cement are laid down in the standard specifications. Mostly, they comprise of LSF or major chemical compounds like C38, C28, CsA and C,AF besides SOs, MgO, loss on ignition and insoluble residue, 15.1 CHEMICAL ANALYSIS BY CONVENTIONAL AND INSTRUMENTAL METHODS Sampling of Cement ‘The sampling of cement for chemical analysis is carried out according to the procedures prescribe in the standard specifications i.e. EN196-7 and ASTM C-183. In general, by means of a sample splitter or by quartering, the representative sample shall be reduced to a laboratory sample of at least 100 g for chemical analysis Conventional Method of Analysis Wet ‘chemical analysis is considered the most accurate method for determining the chemical constituents of raw materials, clinker and cement. ‘These methods are time consuming and even with the most up-to-date technique, the time required for carrying out analysis is 4-6 hours. Wet chemistry requires highly skilled workers as well as high grade of chemicals and very sensitive balances. Methods for the chemical analysis of Portland cement are mentioned in several specifications. Specifications EN196-2, EN196-21 and ASTM C114 are mostly followed in various countries. ASTM C114 prescribes methods for referee, optional and rapid techniques. Wet chemical analysis is not used for automatic process control in modern cement plants. It is used80 for providing reliable and accurate primary standards for instrumental methods of chemical analysis, It is also used for cross checking and confirmation of results as and when required. Complexometric Methods of Analysis Ethyienediamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) disodium salt is a complexing reagent. This reagent forms soluble polydentate complexes with many metal ions. By proper control of pH and by masking interfering elements by suitable reagents, lime, magnesia, alumina and iron oxide in raw meal, clinker and cement are determined. The time taken is less than by conventional analysis, Accuracy of Results In order to ensure accurate results, blank determinations are done for each constituent of the coment. For carrying out blank determinations, all reagents are added without taking the actual sample. The difference between check determinations shall not exceed 0.2% for silica alumina, calcium oxide and magnesium oxide and 0.19 for other constituents, Generally data of chemical analysis should be accurate to two decimals. Results of analysis in excess of 100% ate arithmetically reduced to 100%, each constituent being proportionally reduced. If the total of the constituents is less than 100, in this case, the constituents are not proportionally increased to 100 but the difference is shown as rest, Wet chemistry used for many years as the prime technique of chemical attalysis had been replaced with instrumental analysis. X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and atomic absorption are being widely used, Instrumental Methods X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy It is an instrumental method of qualitative and quantitative analysis of chemical elements based on the measurement of intensities of their X-ray spectral lines emitted by secondary excitation. X-ray spectrometer is used to determine the oxide analysis of raw materials, raw mixes, clinker and cement. It is the most important tool for carrying out chemical analysis in the laboratory. It has high capability with simplicity, reliability and speed. There is a matrix effect due to self-absorption, mineralogical and in-homogeneity of the sample and that is taken care by using internal standards previously prepared with the standards approximate in composition to the unknown excitation, Modern XRF spectrometers are now available, precaliberated for _universal “standardless” multi-element analysis required in the quality control laboratory in the cement industry. Any sample can be analysed with the uniform precalibrated programme but the results are only approximate. Raw meal, clinker and cement samples prepared by the powder method, by using wax or starch provides good analytical performance but in order to achieve reproducible and consistent results, fusion technique is recommended. The fusion technique provides uniform matrix for elements and can even be used satisfactorily for analysing blended cements without additional calibration samples. However sample preparation by fusion technique is more expensive, more complex and time consuming. In case of fusion technique, the samples of clinker and cement are mixed with a mixture of lithium tetraborate and lanthanium oxide to form a glass bead. Lanthanium oxide is a heavy absorber and reduces the matrix effects. The clinker or cement sample is ground to 150, sievean and traces of metallic iron are removed by a magnet. | g of sample is mixed with 9 g of freshly ignited lithium tetraborate and I ¢ of lanthanum oxide. The dry powder is transferred to platinum-gold dish (95-59%) and placed in a fusion apparatus at 100°C for 10 minutes. ‘The fused bead is then subjected to X-ray analyzer. Such analysis is never of greater accuracy than a wet chemical calibration analysis for adjusting the apparatus. Errors inherent in the apparatus as well as influences of the matrix and of the preparation of the sample material may increase the deviation in the analytical results from those obtained by the wet chemical method. ap Powder Diffraction Analysis ‘This analysis is now commonly carried out on the material ground very fine by u cyclohexane as a grinding aid. Powder sample is compacted before feeding to the diffractometer. An X-ray diffractometer is used for determining the X-ray ditirscwion pattern of a crystalline Powder. From the diffraction pattern, the phases present in Portland cement clinker and Portland cement are qualitatively identified and the portion of each phase is quantitatively determined, Besides four major phases (Bogue), periclase (magnesium oxide) is also determined. X-ray diffraction system is also useful for determining free lime content in clinker in place of its determination by chemical methods which are not so accurate as the results obtained includes portlandite and calcium carbonate. XRD is the only technique available to provide a truly accurate measure of free lime content of a sample. Knowledge of free lime is critical for optimizing the quality of cement and fuel efficiency of the burning process. It can identify whether free lime is due to under burning of clinker or a chemical imbalance. Too much free lime adversely effects the quality of cement and too little indicates higher kiln temperatures and more of fuel consumption. A standard test method for the above analysis had been laid down in ASTM designation C 1365-98. Rieiveld Analysis The quantitative determination based on the Rietveld refinement is a quite new technique. The ic principle of this method is the comparison and refinement of observed X-ray pattern with pattern calculated from the structure data of all phases. The results obtained are more accurate than the Bogue calculations. It can also estimate Gypsum, Semihydrate and Anhydrite as well as Calcite, Portlandite, Quartz, Free Lime and Periclase for precise quality and process control. X-ray Spectrometer with Integrated Diffractometer Recently X-ray spectrometer had been developed with integrated XRD capability. Separate instruments are no longer required resulting in significant savings from increased operator efficiency. A combination of elemental analysis by XRF and structural analysis by XRD is achieved without compromising either XRF or XRD performance. Thus both quantitative and qualitative information is available for constituent phases in routine production and for trouble shooting. Given below are the important phases that have direct influence on chemical parameters set forth for kiln production and quality control. Phase Name Significance CaO Free lime Kiln temperature and quality contro! MgO periclase Quality control Cacos limestone Specification Control CaSO, 2H,0 Gypsum Dehydration during gypsum CSICS Alite/Belite Clinker grindability and quality control GA Aluminate Setting time and heat of hydration. CuAF Alumino-ferrite Colour of clinker82 Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry Atomic absorption spectrometry is a sensitive and fast method. Correct determination of major ‘elements present in cement is possible with this technique. The sample solution is atomized in the flame. The energy absorbed from a spectral lamp for each element is determined in turn to vaporize the atoms of the sample. Light of a specific wavelength from a hollow cathode lamp is beamed through the flame and monitored by a multiplier tube. The amount of absorbence detected by the photo-multiplier tube gives the concentration of the individual elements. ipectrophotemetric Methods These methods are widely used for the estimation of minor elements like TiO, Mn;Q and POs, lame Photometer Flame photometer is used for the estimation of alkalies (sodium and potassium oxide) in raw materials, clinket and cement. It is based on the measurement of intensity of the light emitted when a metal is introduced into a flame .The wave length of the colour indicates the element present and intensity of colour gives the concentration of the element present. 2 CEMENT MICROSCOPY The application of microscopy for the study of clinker is now wide spread as a valuable tool, first introduced in 1970 as Ono powder method. Most of the cement companies are not using this technique, as it requires a skilled operator to prepare the clinker sections for microscopic ‘examination and then to interpret the microscopic slides. In Portland cement, clinker is not a homogeneous substance but a mixture of several minerals or solid phases. All of these minerals have certain characteristics of their own and a study of polished section quickly reveals their distribution, crystal size morphology. It is very useful for the study of clinker rings, build-ups, and effects of contaminants such as alkali, sulphur, dust and their recycling in the kiln, The presence of free lime and porosity of clinker could also very accurately be determined by microscopic examination of polished etched samples of clinker and cement. Cement microscopy visually reveals some of the deficiencies prevailing during the cement ‘manufacturing process, which could otherwise not be revealed by the conventional analytical methods. Microscopic evaluation of clinker shows whether the kiln feed water slowly and kly quenched. Both the nose ring problem and the snowman build-up can thus be ed. It can also provide an insight into the understanding of reaction mechanism of cement and conerete and can guide about the behavior of various additives in cement. The strength of cement can be predicted by microscopic study of cement paste. Actually, it is now a compliment to chemical analysis by X-ray diffraction and mineral identification by X-ray diffraction and adopted in ASTM specifications I is also quite helpful in scientific research in the manufacturing of Portland cement. It is not a new technique but only developed in the recent years by the oil well cementing industry. Oil and gas wells require the use of some very specialized additives to achieve the necessary performance. A study by microscopic technique had been found a great benefit so as to study the respond of various additives, their effects on thickening time and compressive strength. Actually by using cement microscopy, some of the inconsistencies in the properties of cement could be diagnosed very quickly by means of simple and not very expensive equipment, ASTM C 1356 covers a standard test method for the quantitative determination of major and minor phases in Portland cement clinker by microscopical point-count procedure. By this method, percentage volumes of phases like C38, CxS, GA and C,AF along with free lime, periclase and alkali sulphates are measured.83 This test involves the following steps: a) Preparation and polishing of samples with series of yraded diamond paste b) Etching with a special chemicals. ©) Examining the samples with a reflected light microscopy. Magnification for most clinker would be from 200x to 50x. 15.3 PHYSICAL TESTING The main parameters that determine the quality of coment produced from a grinding process are (a) Fineness (b) particle size distribution (c) water demand (d) compressive strei specified by the relevant standards. These parameters are interrelated. It is conventional to determine fineness by Blaine apparatus. Blaine fineness may contain particles in a varying range fiom | to 100 microns. Fineness The eness cun be determined, |. By sieve analysis on one or more sieves or by a complete particle size analyer. Sieving Test The standard sieves mostly used are BS-170, ASTM-1/0 and European 4900. Sieving by Alpine sieves is limited to 30 microns. Below this level, the sedimentation method is suitable. Particle tion The surface area and particle size distributions have a major effect on strength, setting time and more particularly on water demand. The strength development of Portland cements is not only affected by the fineness but with high slope of the particle size distribution of the cement. Cements with the same specific surface arca but with narrower particle size distribution having a larger portion of finer particles develop higher strengths. Two cement samples having identical specific surface may have different particle size distribution. The particle size distribution is determined by using RRSB (Rosin-Rammiler-Sperling-Beundt) diagram, Automatic methods have been developed in the recent years for determining the particle size distribution by scattering a light beam through a range of angles, depending on particle size. By employing a laser, the light intensity is converted to a particle size distribution. Sedigraph or a similar instrument using the laser beam is now commonly used. 2. Determination of the specific surface area Depending upon the type of the grinding unit, cement can have quite different specific surface values in spite of same amount of residue on a certain sieve. Specific surface is expressed as. m’/kg or cm’/g. General purposes Portland cement is usually ground to 3000-3500 omg, whereas rapid-hardening Portland cement to 4000-5000 cm*/g, Methods for determining specific surface i) “Air Permeability Method (Lea-Nurse and Blaine) ii) Optical Method (Wagner Turbidimeter) Air Permeability Method This method was specified in the British Standards but the same had been omitted in the European Standards as no limits of fineness had been prescribed therein. This method wasa based on the fact that the resistance to airflow by a bed of compacted cement depends on its specitic surface Blaine Method (ASTM In this method, a known quantity of air is passed through a bed of cement at a steadily diminishing rate and not at a constant rate as in the case of Lea and Nurse method mentioned above. The fineness of cement is determined by measuring the time required for passing a ‘given volume of air through its porous bed. The time is compared with the time taken for a Standard sample having known specific surface arca. Details of this.m 1n be found in ASTM Standard C204 This method is comparatively simple, speedy and thus mostly adopted for control purposes. ASTM specifies a Standard cement sample for its calibration, whereas it could be calibrated quite conveniently by a standard sample of sand. Standard cement sample is not recommended for using it again, whereas sand is the least effected by storage and can be used repeatedly. In Germany, Standard sand samples are available having fineness of 2800 and 4000 em’/g. ‘The cssential requirement for obtaining reliable measurements in that it should be possible to | produce a bed of powder of specific depth and cross-section in which the porosity, ie. the ratio of the column of pore space to the total volume of the bed, remains constant. Manual measuremeiit of specific surface area by the above-mentioned method gives rise to ‘errors due to sampling, weighing and compaction of cement sample to a constant volume, An automatic apparatus for determining the specific surface area of cement had been developed in recent years and is being used in many cement plants, thus yielding quite accurate and speedy results. Automated Blaine measurements by Blaine meters are now getting into use. ‘The repeatability ranges in the magnitude of 25 cm/g, which is very satisfactory. Currently in several cement plants, on-line particle size analyzer is being used. This system is controlled by a PLC. It starts automatically with the mill. The online display of the specific surface is a valuable aid for the operating staff which helps to optimize the grinding operation. Optical Method (ASTM) In this method, the concentration of particles of cement in suspension at a given level in kerosene, which is chemically inert with respect to cement, is measured using a beam of light. ‘The percentage of light transmitted and hence the areas of particles are being measured by a photocell, The results can be used to determine the specific surface area of the cement and its particles size distribution. Further details of this method can be found in ASTM Standard C 115 In ASTM Standards C 115, both the Blaine and Wagner turbidimeter methods had been specified. The Blaine method is most commonly used but in case of dispute, the Wagner ‘method is deemed to govern. Wagner turbidimeter is also calibrated by a sample of Standard ‘cement having known specific surface area. Specific surface area in case of Blaine and ‘Wagner are both expressed in m’/kg or cm/g but the value are obtained from entirely different relationship and are not comparable, Generally the surface area by Wagner is 5/9 x surface area by Blaine. Specific surface area determined is not identical with a true specific surface area of the cement sample. ‘The turbidimeter gives generally consistent results but under-estimates the surface area of particles below 7.5 microns. The specific surface area thus determined by Wagner method is Tower than an air permeability method for the same reason. It has been established by many researchers that the specific surface results as determined by air permeability methods (Lea88. and Nurse and Blaine) are about 1.8 times higher than those of turbidimeter method, (varying 1.5-2.1), depending on the fineness of cement and its gypsum content. 3. Setting Setting time is a relative term, which is used to designate the time required for a cement water mixture to stiffen and to become hard. Initial set It indicates to the beginning of noticeable stiffening in the cement paste. Final set It indicates that the cement has hardened to the point at which it can sustain some load. ‘The time from the addition of water to the initial and final set is known as the setting times. Methods specified in most of the specifications for determining the setting times of cement are: i Vicat Apparatus ii, Gillmore Needle Testing of setting time in European Standard BS EN 196-3 is by Vicat apparatus. In this standard, only initial setting time has been prescribed. Setting time is determined by observing, the penetration of a needle into cement paste of standard consistency until it reaches a specified value. ASTM C 150 prescribes two methods for the determination of setting time. 1, Vicat Needle 2. Gillmore Needle Setting times are determined by observing the penetration of special needles into the cement ‘paste, For details, reference is made to C 191 and C 266 specifications respectively. The setting times determined by the Gillmore Needle are longer than those determined by Vicat ‘Apparatus. There are various other methods to determine the setting time either by measurements of electrical resistance with the wheat-stone bridge or measurements of potential difference with the aid of copper-lead electrode, but such methods are only meant for research purposes. In practice, setting times determined by either of the methods mentioned above are quite satisfactory for controlling the quality of cement. There are however, in use automatic needle devices for recording the setting time of cements. In case of some special cement such as oil well, the determination of setting times is carried at high temperatures and pressure and change in viscosity denotes the setting time called thickening time. Early stiffening Some times abnormal setting behaviour or early stiffening of the cement paste may be observed. These are known as flash set and false set. Flash Set (Quick Sev ‘The flash set occurs in cements having high CyA content and also in cements though low in CsA content but high in alkalies or in cements ground without gypsum or with insufficient amount of gypsum. Flash set is prevented by increasing the quantity of gypsum in the cement to control the hydration of CsA.86 Ina flash set, the cement paste becomes rigid and can not be re-mixed. Appreciable heat is evolved doing the flash setting and the cement is unsuitable for use. False Set It is early stiffening that generally occurs within the first few minutes after mixing cement with water but without the evolution of much heat. The prime cause of false set is the dehydration of gypsum ground during the grinding of clinker in a cement mill at a relatively high temperature (120°C). Also by inter-grinding too hot clinker with gypsum may result in false set of cement. Standard Test Methods for testing early stiffening of Portland Cement by Mortar and Paste have been prescribed in ASTM Standards, 4, Soundness ‘This term is used to indicate freedom from, or degree of volume change and warping or crack formation of a cement paste as determined by standards tests involving the boiling or steaming ‘of neat pastes for standard periods at stated ages. Methods used for determining expansion are: Le-Chatlier Test In European Standards BS ENV 196-3, a Le-Chatelier test after the name of its inventor has been laid down, This test detects unsoundness due to both the delayed hydration of free lime and the formation of ettringite. Autoclave Test This test is more severe test than the Le-Chatelier test. Steaming under high pressure and high temperature is rigorous enough for the hydration of crystalline MgO present in the cement. Under these conditions, the crystals of free lime above 20 pin size, which do not hydrate completely in boiling tests, are also hydrated. ASTM C 151 specifies an autoclave test to detect the delayed expansion caused by the hydration of CaO or MgO or both when present in Portland cement, The autoclave test is influenced by the CsA content, higher is this value, more is the expansion. ‘There does not seem any direct relationship between the expansion in the Le-Chatelier and expansion in the autoclave test, It is considered that cement does not pass the autoclave test unless its expansion by Le-Chatelier test is either zero or less than 0.25mm. In the cement, free lime (CaO) and periclase (MgO) hydrates to their oxides. The hydrated oxides occupy larger volumes than the original oxides, so they cause expansion during their hydration. Generally, the effects of unsound cement may not be apparent for some considerable period of time but usually manifest themselves in cracking and disintegration of the surface of the concrete. Main reasons for high lime contents in clinker are: i) The proportion of the lime in the raw mix is kept too high. i) Under-burning the raw mix, even its composition may be correct. Insufficient grinding of the raw meal, poor homogenization and insufficient temperature or holding time in the kiln-burning zone is some of the main causes. iii) Free lime greater than 1.5% indicates poor control of burning process.87 Special methods are in use for the last twenty years for an accurate and rapid analysis of free lime by the conductometric method. X-ray diffractometer is very useful for determining free lime in clinker. Measures to reduce expansion due to free lime and periclase In case, clinker produced is having excessive free lime, it should be stored separately and weathered. It should be used in small lots with the normal quality of the clinker. The damper, the atmosphere in which the cement is stored, the greater and quicker is the effect of aeration. Following measures may be taken to minimise the expansion: i. Addition of iron ore to the raw mix reduces the autoclave expansion of cement, An increase in the ferric oxide content of clinker raises the ferrite phase. The ferrite phase in clinker tends to retain some magnesia in solid solutions, so an increase in the ferrite phase of clinker means that less magnesia is available in the form of crystalline form. ii, Higher temperatures in the kilns would decrease the amount of free periclase in the clinker, as more MgO is incorporated in other clinker phases. Grinding the cement very fine. ‘The presence of active siliceous materials like blast furnace slag, trass and fly ash would stabilize the magnesia rich clinker due to partial blocking of the periclase hydration. v. By adding calcium fluoride to the raw meal, more uniform distribution and smaller crystals of periclase take place. 5. Strength ‘There are two standard methods of testing the compressive strength of cement: One uses mortar, the other concrete. Mortar In earlier British Standard 12, both mortar and concrete tests were carried out in accordance with BS 4550 Part 3. According to the Specifications for mortar cubes, moulds having each side 7.60cm is filled with 1:3 mortar with 10% water and compacted on a vibrating machine. ‘The Standard sand used was Leighton Buzzard. Flexural and compressive strength European Standard EN196-I prescribes a method for determination of the compressive and optionally the flexural strength. The method uses mortar prism with dimensions of 40mm x 40mm x 160mm. ‘The mortar consists of a mixture of cement, standard sand and water in the proportion of 1:3:0.5. The mortar is prepared by mechanical mixing and is compacted in a mould using a standard jolting apparatus. The specimens after the required storage in moist atmosphere for 24 hours and in water for the required age is broken in flexure into two halves. Each half is tested for strength in compression. In many specifications, specimens are subjected first to the flexural tests, subsequently the prism halves are tested for compression strengths. However, in many countries, the flexural strength is no longer specified. ASTM In ASTM C 109, the test moulds used are 5.08 cm in size, and the cement sand ratio is 1:2.75, using Ottawa sand and the water cement ratio is 0.485 for all types of Portland cements and 0.460 for air entraining Portland cements.88 Loading Rate Generally speaking, an increase in the rate of loading yields higher strength results. The effect of loading rate may produce strength differences upto 100%. This is applicable both for compressive strength as well as flexural strength. The control of rate of increase in loading in is specified in the relevant standard specification, 15.4 SPECIFICATIONS 18 European Countries promulgated the European Standards EN 197-1. Cement-Composition, specification and conformity criteria- Part 1: COMMON CEMENTS. It covers 25 classes of basic (standard) and blended cements. Methods of testing cement had been covered by the following standards: EN 196-1 Determination of strength EN 196-2 Chemical analysis of cement EN 196-3 Determination of setting time and soundness EN 196-4 Quantitative determination of constituents EN 196-5 Pozzolanicity test for pozzolanic cements EN 196-6 Determination of fineness EN 196-7 Methods of taking and preparing samples of cement. EN 196-21 Determination of the chloride, carbondioxide and alkali content of cement. ‘Chemical Properties Property Test reference Strength Requirement* class & (mim) Loss on ignition Clause 7 of EN 196:Part2: Allclasses <3.0 (€5.0 if calcareous minor constituent included) Insoluble residue Clause 9 of EN 196: Part 2: Allclasses <1.5 (65.0 if minor constituent included) Sulphate Clause 8 of EN 196: Part2: Allclasses <3.5 (expressed as SO) Chloride Clause 4 of EN 196: Part 21 Allclasses <0.10** + Requirements are given as percentages by mass of the final cement. ** BS 5328; Part I and BS 8110: Part | give recommendations for the maximum total chloride content of the concrete mix for various applications. Physical Properties Setting Time The initial setting time determined in accordance with EN 196: Part 3 shall not be less than 60 ‘minutes for the strength classes: 32.5N, 32.5R, 42.5 N and 42.3 R whereas for strength class 52,5 N and 62.5 N, it should not be less than 45 minutes. Sounduess The expansion determined in accordance with EN 196: Part 3 shall not be more than 10mm. Compressive Strength The compressive strength, determined in accordance with EN 196: part 1 shall conform to table given below:Strength Early strength Standard strengih_ class day T day 28 das Nimm? Nimm? Maximum 32.5 > = 16 325 32.5R 10 : 525 42.5N S10 z 25. 425K 520 : 25 52.5N >20 : ns 62.5N 220 : : ropean Standards EN 197-1 places primary emphasis upon the 28-day strength, 2. The standard strength of cement is the compressive strength determined in accordance with EN 196: Part 1 at 28 days, Four classes of standard strength are covered: class 32.5, class 42.5, class 52.5 1nd class 62.5, The classification of cement according to standard strengih is indicated by the figure 32.5, 42.5, 52.5 0F 62.5. 3. The early strength of cement is the compressive strength determined in accordance with EN 196: Part | at either 2 days or 7 days. Two subclasses of carly strength are defined for standard strength lasses 32.5 and 42.5, a class with ordinary carly strength and a class with high early strength, ASTM Standay Methods of testing cement had been covered by the following standards: C109 Compressive strength of cement mortars Cil4 Chemical analysis CIIS Fineness of cement by Turbidimeter C151 Autoclave expansion C183 Practice for sampling and the amount of cement C191 Setting time by Vicat Needle C204 Fineness by Air Permeability Apparatus * C266 _ Setting time by Gillmore Needles C359 Test method for Early Stiffening of cement (Mortar method) C451 Test method for Early Stiffening of cement (Paste method) C465 Processing additions in the manufacture of Portland cement C917 Evaluation of cement strength uniformity C1356 Quantitative determination of phases in Portland cement C1365 Proportion of phases in Portland cement. American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) has prescribed Specifications for Portland cement vide C150 covering eight types of Portland cements. Details of these cements along with their chemical and physical requirements are reproduced below: Classification of various types of Portland cements Type For use when the special properties specified for any other type are not required. Type IA Air-entraining cement for the same uses as Type I, where air-entraining is desired. Type Il For general use, more especially when moderate sulphate resistance’ or ‘moderate heat of hydration is desired. Type lA ——_Air-entraining cement for the same uses as Type Il, where air-entrainment is desired. Type IL For use when high early strength is desired, Type IIA Air-entraining cement for the same use as Type Ill, where air-entrainment is desired. Type IV For use when a low heat of hydration is desired. Type V For use when high sulphate resistance is desired.90 Standard Chemical Requirements Cement Type Tand 1A |iandta[iit mata] IV | V Silicon dioxide (SiO,), min, % > 20.0 = ers ‘Aluminum oxide (Al,03), max, % 60 - : - Ferric oxide (Fe,0;), max, % : 60 : 6s Magnesium oxide (MgO), max, % 60 60 6.0 60 60 Sulphur trioxide (SO), max, % When (CsA) is 8% or less 3.0 3.0 35 2323 ‘When (CA) is more than 8% 3.0 - 45 = * Loss on ignition, max, % org 3.0 3.0 25 30 Insoluble residue, max, % OAS 0.18 0.75 075 0.78 Tricalcium silicate (C3S) max, % - - - 3 OC Dicalcium silicate (C,S), min, % : - 400 Tricalcium aluminate (CA) max, % - 8 Is 7 3 Tetracalcium aluminoferrite plus - : u - 25 twice the tricalcium aluminate (C,AF+2(CsA)) or solid solution (CiAF + CF), as applicable, max, % Standard Physical Requirements = ‘Cement Type Tia naam [aa Tv. Air content of mortar, volume % Max 2 2 2 Mm RB 2 BR I Min - 6 = 6 - 6 = - Fineness, specific surface, m¥kg, : {alternative methods) Turbidimeter test, mi 160 160 160 160 - = 160 169, permeability test, min 280 280 28) 20 - - 280 20 Autoclave expansion, max, % 0.80 0.80 08) 040 080 080 080 0.80 Strength, not less than the vi.lues shown for the ages indicatec. below: Compressive strength, MPa (psi) 1 day - ee 120 100 (1740) (1450) 3 days 120 100 100 8 240 190 - 80 (1740) (1450) (1459) (1160) (3480) (2760) 160) 7 days 190 160 179 140 - - 70 150 (2760) (2320) (2470) (2030) (1020) G9) 28 days - ee ee e170 21.0 (2470) (3050) Time of setting (alternative methods) Gillmore test: Initial set, min, not less than 6 60 60 6 6 60 60 60 Final set, min, not more than 600 600 600 60 600 600 600 600 Vicat test Time ofssetting, min,notlessthan 45 45 45 45° «4545455 Time of setting, min, not lessthan 375 375 375375 «375 «375 «375-375,a” 18.8 PORTLAND CEMENTS (BASIC AND BLENDED) a) Basic Cements Chemically, Portland cement consists mainly of four oxides: such as silica, alumina, iron oxide and lime. Lime constituents nearly two-thirds of the cement, silica about one-fifth, while alumina and iron oxides are present up to one tenth of the entire mass. They constitute about ‘90% the cement by mass and generally referred as the “major constituents”. The remaining 10% consist of magnesia, sodium and potassium oxide, manganese oxides, phosphorous Pentaoxide, titania and gypsum, referred to as minor or accessory constituents. The term minor refers to the quantity of these constituents present in Portland cement rather to their importance. They have significant effect on the properties of cement particularly of magnesia and alkalies. natural pozzolan or pulverised-fuel ash or filler. The term filler means any natural or artificial inorganic mineral materials other than blast furnace slag, natural pozzolan or pulverised fuel ash e.g. calcareous materials. Minor additional constituents shall be limited to 0-5% (m/m), -excluding the amount of calcium sulphate and additive. ‘These minor additional constituents should not promote corrosion of the reinforcement or impair the properties of the cement or of mortar or concrete made from the cement. Additional constituents generally used are: Pouolan ‘The term pozzolan includes both natural volcanic materials having pozzolanic properties as well other natural and artificial materials such as diatomaceous earth, calcined clays and shales. Pozzolan are not themseives cementitious but develop these properties upon forming compounds in the presence of moisture with calcium hydroxide at ordinary temperature, Elyash Fly ash is obtained used from coal fired power generation stations. Fly ash is collected by electrostatic precipitation of fine particles from flue gases from furnaces fired with pulverised coal, Fly ash is principally an alumino-silicate material in the form of small hollow glass spheres. Fly ash has good pozzolanic properties but very little or no cementitious properties. ‘Silica Fume (Micro Silica) a fume also called condensed silica fume consists of very fine spherical particles with a content of amorphous silica, It is obtained as a by product in the production of ferro silicon alloys and silicon. It is highly reactive pozzolan and very effective filler due to its high fineness, about 50 times greater than that of cement. Granulated Blast Furnace Slag Granulated blast furnace slag is a glassy granular material obtained by immediate quenching and rapidly cooling of blast furnace slag during the smelting of iron ore in a blast furnace. Granulated blast furnace slag develops hydraulic properties when suitably activated by lime and alkalies present in the Portland cement. Eiller Fillers are specially selected natural or artificial inorganic mineral matters other than blast furnace slag, natural pozzolan or pulverised fuel ash, such as calcareous materials which after