Kurt Hofer

Scheuch GmbH, Aurolzműnster/Austria

State of the art for dedusting in the cement industry

Summary: This article provides an overview of the technology used for dust collection and
filtration - cyclones, electrostatic precipitators, fabric filters and hybrid filters - and their current
areas of application in cement plants. The specific requirements for dedusting are explained
and the main suppliers of filter technology for the European cement industry are listed in a
tabIe.

El estado de la técnica del desempolvado en la industria del

cemento
Resumen: El presente artículo describe la tecnología actual de separación y filtrado mediante
ciclones, electro-filtros, filtros de mangas y filtros híbridos, así como sus campos de aplicación.
Se nombran los requerimientos específicos en la filtración y los principales suministradores de
tecnología de filtrado para la industria del cemento europea.

member states of the European Community

1 History of the environmental standard
It should be remembered that before the
Second World War the dust discharge in
the cement industry amounted to about 6 to
8 % of the production, and in the years
following the war it was still 4 to 5 %.
Cement plants in Germany are subject to
the Federal Immission Prevention Law. The
emission limits are laid clown in accordance
with the regulations described in TA Luft
(German Clean Air Regulations). If waste
fuels are used in the clinker burning
process in addition to normal fuels then the
regulations of the 17. BlmSch V (Federal
Immission Control Ordinance) also apply
[1].
The "state of the art" has also been
discussed at the European level since the
80s. BATNEEC (Best Available Techniques
Not Entailing Excessive Costs) were
formulated in 1990. BATNEEC described a
technical level that could be achieved while
maintaining a reasonable cost from ework
and essentially corresponded to the level
described in the German TA Luft. The EU
IPPC Directive (Integrated Pollution
Prevention and Control), which was issued
in 1996, covers all the possible
environmental effects on air, water and soil
caused by the operation of a plant. The
core of this Directive is the BAT (Best
Available Techniques) that are to be used
for protecting the environment. The
have to take the requisite measures to
ensure that no new plants are operated
without approvals based on this Directive.
The same applies for existing plants when
approving substantial changes. Otherwise,
an interim period lasting until November
2007 is scheduled for these plants [2].
When TA Luft 2002 carne into force on 1st
October 2002 attention was focused once
again on the importance of emission
limitation in plants for producing cement.
These new administrative regulations were
also tighter than the requirements of TA
Luft 86 that had applied to the cement
industry until then. The latter had limited the
total dust emission to 50 mg/m3; according
to the new regulations the limit for plants of
the size that applies to cement works is 20
mg/m3stp [3]. When secondary fuels are
used this is reduced to 10 mg/m3stp if the
plant is subject to the 17. BImSch V
2 The filter systems
A wide variety of filter systems are used in
the cement industry. The types depend on
whether they are being used for secondary
dedusting systems (material preparation
with feed and transfer stations, transport
and storage equipment) or for main
dedusting systems with their large volume
flows of hot process gases (after raw meal
grinding plants, rotary kilns, clinker coolers,
cement grinding plants, etc). Parameters
such as volume flow, gas composition and

1
1 dedusting of a crusher using a cyclone
temperature, dust loading, filter area
loading and differential pressure as well as
ultimately the collection efficiency needed
to achieve the required clean gas content
have to be used for selection of the correct
technology.
2.1 Cyclones
Because of its simple structure and simple
mode of operation the centrifugal separator
in the form of a cyclone (Fig. 1) is the most
widely used dust collecting unit for which no
filter medium is necessary. The raw gas
enters tangentially, spirally or axially via
guide vanes into the cylindrical upper part
under which is located the cyclone cone
with a swirl container. Due to the rotating
flow the dust particles are moved radially by
the centrifugal force to the outer wall of the
cyclone. The gas flow is directed radially
3 Diagram o fan electrostatic precipitator
(Graphic: Elex)
2
2 Dedusting of a klinker cooler with cyclone,
heat exchanger and fabric filter unit
inwards towards the clip tube and the clean
gas outlet and opposes this outward
movement. This means that heavy particles
are carried right to the outside and are
collected, while very light particles follow
the gas flow inwards and remain in the
clean gas flow.
In the cement industry cyclones are used
almost exclusively as preliminary
separators for filtering collectors, e.g. as
shown in Figure 2.
2.2 Electrostatic precipitators
Electrostatic precipitators were developed
in the 50s and 60s for use in the cement
industry, especially for dedusting kilns.
They are characterized by the fact that they
can be used for gas temperatures up to
about 400°C and for high moisture levels
4 Electrostatic precipitator at Nedmag
Industries, The Neaderlands (Photo: F.L.
Smidth Airtech
 5 Fabric filter unit at the raw meal mill of a
cement plant (Photo: MikroPul)
[4].
With this filter system (Figs. 3 and 4) the
dust-laden flue gas enters the precipitator
horizontally through gas distribution baffles
and at the same time is divided into several
"lanes" formed by the walls of the earthed
collecting electrodes. In the centre of each
"lane" there are discharge electrodes to
which a high negative voltage is applied
and which ionize the gas by corona
discharge. As they flow through the system
the dust particles become negatively
charged through collision with the gas ions
and are then deposited on collecting
electrodes. The coating of dust that has
gathered on the collecting electrodes is
periodically cleaned off by a rapping
mechanism; it falls into the dust collecting
hopper and is removed by a screw
conveyor. To avoid any adhesion to the
7 Pulse-Jet-Filter for rotary kiln dedusting at
Union Cement, United Arab Emirates
(Photo: GE Energy, BHA Group)
3
6 Diagram of a reverse air filter
(Graphic: GE Energy, BHA Group)
discharge electrodes these are also
cleaned by their own rapping equipment.
With appropriate design it is possible to
achieve clean gas dust levels < 20 mg/m3.
Electrostatic precipitators are easy to
maintain, but this is not possible online and
can only be carried out when they are
switched off (offline). The most important
factors for the collecting efficiency are the
residence time of the gas in the precipitator,
gas temperature, strength of the electric
field, dust loading, CO concentration and
conductivity as well as the shape and area
of the electrodes.
2.3 Fabric filters
Nowadays fabric filters (Fig. 5) are the most
frequently used filter system, so the range
of types of fabric filter is very diverse.
Depending on the geometric shape of the
8 Diagram of a pulse jet filter
(Graphic: Scheuch)
filter medium a distinction is made between
bag, pocket, cartridge and sintered lamelIa
filters. The majority of filters used in the
cement industry are pulse jet bag filters with
compressed air cleaning, although reverse
air filters are used occasionally.
The main advantage of the fabric filter is its
collection efficiency, which is always very
high even when the process parameters
change. This is particularly true of the
"startup and shutdown" operating phases of
the kiln, clinker cooler and cement mill as
well as during changeover from
interconnected to direct operation and when
CO peaks occur [2].
2.3.1 Reverse air filters
The main difference between reverse air
filters and pulse jet filters is way the filter
bags are cleaned. With reverse air filters
(Fig. 6) the flow passes through the filter
bags from inside to outside. The dust
particles are collected on the inner side of
the filter bags. The bag surface is then
regenerated by flushing the filter bag from
outside to inside for a long period at low
pressure. In this design .the adhering filter
cake is detached from the bag surface by
the scavenging flow (reverse air). Reverse
air filters are mainly used in America for
large volume flows. Because of the filter
size the operating and capital costs are
usually higher than for pulse jet filters and
electrostatic precipitators [2] as the
permissible area loading is substantially
lower than for pulse jet filters.
2.3.2 Pulse jet filters
In pulse jet filters (Figs. 7 and 8) the flow
passes through the filter bags from outside
towards the inside so that the particles are
collected on the outside of the bags. To
clean a raw of bags the associated
diaphragm valve is opened by an electronic
control unit for a pulse time of less than 0.2
seconds and the compressed air from the
compressed air reservoir passes into the
individual filter bags. The compressed air
flows through the filter bags from the inside
outwards. The caked dust adhering to the
bag is broken up and drops off. Depending
on the level of the storage pressure in the
compressed air reservoir this is referred to
as high-pressure dedusting (3 to 6 bar) or
low pressure dedusting (1 to 3 bar).
2.4 Hybrid filters
4
9 Diagram of a Irbid filter
(Graphic: Elex)
The hybrid filter is a combination of
electrostatic precipitator and bag filter, e.g.
with the configuration shown in Figure 9.
The electrostatic precipitator section acts as
a preliminary collector (separate hybrid
filter) or is integrated into the row of bags.
This combination of electrostatic
precipitator and fabric filter is intended to
utilize the specific advantages of the two
systems. Specifically, it is a matter of
reducing the pressure drop in the fabric
filter section by preliminary electrostatic
collection including ionization, or
alternatively of reducing the requisite fabric
filter area while retaining the same pressure
drop. A higher filter area loading would be
possible with this combination due to the
residual dust loading. However, the
preliminary collecting stage (electrostatic
precipitator) is shut clown if CO peaks
occur and the bag filter then has to deal on
its own with the same volumetric flow with a
substantially higher dust loading. The
structural expenditure for both systems is
correspondingly higher.
3 Areas of application for filters in the
cement industry
To uphold a neutral point of view in this
product review the author has made use of
the comments in the IPPC BAT Reference
Document [4] in the following information -
referring to possible uses and application
limits.
The cement manufacturing process into
four areas:
- preparation of the raw material,
- clinker production,
- cement grinding,
- packaging and transport.
In these areas there are essentially three
main sources of dust emission: the raw
 10 Cement manufacturing process with the respective dedusting plants (Graphic: Scheuch)
mill/kiln system, the clinker cooler and the
cement mill. Different dedusting systems
were used in the past for these three main
sources of emission, but now only
electrostatic precipitators and fabric filters
can meet the increased requirements.
So-called secondary units (volume flows of
2000 to 30000 m3/h) - such as for crushing
and grinding raw materials and for transport
and storage - also generate substantial
quantities of dust for which the filter plants
must be chosen and tailored with equal
care. The trend here is towards dedusting
solutions that are decentralized, compact
and installed directly at the source of
emission.
For the principal causes of dust emission,
the so-called main units (volume flows up to
1500000 m3/h), there are however a
number of further process parameters that
have to be taken into account and
overcome.
The areas of use of the different filter
technologies in cement manufacture (Fig.
5
10) are listed in Table 1 and will be
described briefly below.
3.1 Kiln and raw mill
In the past the kiln and raw mill were
usually dedusted by an electrostatic
precipitator. Nowadays collectors with
efficiencies of up to 99.99% are used.
However, under specific operating
conditions such as high CO concentrations,
starting and stopping of the kiln plant or
during changeover from interconnected to
direct operation, the electrostatic
precipitator has a lower efficiency, while the
efficiency of a bag filter is not detrimentally
affected.
Because the maximum temperature that
filter bags can with-stand is currently 260°C
and to achieve adequate conductivity of the
dust the exhaust gas must be conditioned
both for bag filters and for electrostatic
precipitators. This means either
conditioning with water using a gas
conditioning tower or direct injection into the
ducting, or else cooling the exhaust gas in a
fresh air mixing chamber. In this area of
application the key data are dust loadings
of up to 80 g/m3stp (up to 900 g/m3stp if there
is no cyclone after the raw mill) and an
exhaust gas temperature after the
preheater of between 280 and 400°C.
3.2 Bypass
If there are excessive quantities of alkalis a
bypass is often provided to protect the
process and the quality during the clinker
production or when secondary fuels are
used for the burning process. About 5 % of
the kiln exhaust gas with the highest
possible content of alkali/ chlorine is drawn
off near the kiln inlet, then cooled from
about 1000 to about 240°C and fed to a hot
gas filter. Alkali compounds are condensed
by the cooling and can therefore be
removed from the kiln process.
3.3 Clinker cooler
In normal operation the dust loading is 5 to
30 g/m3stp but dust burdens of up to 100
g/m3stp can occur during upset operation.
The temperature of the clinker cooler air
drawn off is normally 230 to 280°C, but
during surges from the rotary kiln (upset
operation) the exhaust gas can reach
temperatures of up to 400°C. In the past
clinker coolers were dedusted almost
exclusively by electrostatic precipitators.
With the increasing use of bag filters an
6
upstream air/air heat exchanger is used so
that inexpensive polyester bag material can
be employed. The filter is then designed for
an operating temperature of about 130°C
and can therefore be operated with a lower
volume flow. The hot exhaust air from the
clinker cooler is passed through pipes in the
heat exchanger that are cooled externally
by axial fans and ambient air and only
require their full capacity during upset
operation.
3.4 Cement mills and classifiers
Heavy demands with respect to dust
quantity (up to 1000 g/m3) and dust
finenesses of 2800 to 6000 Blaine are
placed on filter plants after cement mills
and classifiers. The rising grinding capacity
of vertical mills now requires filters for up to
900000 m3/h. Pulse jet filters are typical
process filters and are the only type used
nowadays for new capital projects; the use
of electrostatic precipitators is now confined
to existing plants.
3.5 Coal grinding plants
Very strict demands and safety standards
have to be fulfilled by the filter plants for
dedusting coal grinding plants used for
preparing solid primary fuels. These include
high pressure shock resistance air-
tightness and fulfillment of the ATEX Zone
22+20 Directive. Pulse jet filters are future, which in turn places increased
therefore normally used. demands on the filter technology.

4 Trends and outlook Literature

The main suppliers of filter technology for [1] Duda,WH.: Cement data book, Band 1,
cement production that are known to the 3. Auflage 1985.
author are listed in alphabetical sequence [2] Schneider, M.; Hoenig, V; Hoppe, H.:
in Table 2. The filter manufacturers must Anwendung der "Best Available
adapt to present and future market Techniques" (BAT) in der deutschen
requirements in order to be able to provide Zementindustrie, ZKG INTERNATIONAL 53
competitive products. This market - the (2000); No.1, pp. 1-11.
cement industry in the widest sense - does [3] Raemmele, M.: Fortschrittliche
not in fact make any large technological Filtertechnik in der Entstaubung von
leaps but is experiencing continuous Zementwerken, CEMENT
onward development in various regions: INTERNATIONAL 6/2003, pp. 64-72.
- reduction of the specific energy [4] IPPC BAT REFERENCE Document
requirement (currently about 3000 kJ/kg "Best Available Techniques" for the
clinker), cement industry, December 1999.
- automation of the process to reduce the
cost of supervision, FUENTE: ZKG International
- increased use of secondary fuels, Vol. 57, No. 12, p.46-54
- reduction of CO2 discharge, partial
replacement of clinker by blast furnace
slag, fly ash, etc,
- increased plant availability.
- increased kiln capacities, shutdown of
smaller uneconomic lines,
- amalgamation of the manufacturers.

This result in the following requirements for

dedusting plants:
- reduction of the energy consumption
through low filter differential pressure,
pipework routing that assists flow and
low compressed air consumption for
bag cleaning,
- optimization of the filter media with
respect to service life, fine dust
collection, temperature resistance and
manufacturing costs,
- larger filter volumes for increased kiln
capacities and larger grinding
capacities,
- reduction of the number of filters, e.g.
by combined kiln and clinker cooler
filter,
- more decentralized filters (top-mounted
hopper filters) instead of central filters
with many pipelines.

The EU Directive 2000/76/EG, which forms

the basis for implementation into national
law such as TA Luft and 17. BImSch V for
Germany, has caused a reduction in the
emission values. This means that where
there is predominant use of secondary fuels
in cement kilns it will be necessary to
maintain a limit for dust of 10 mg/m3stp in