What Kiln Operator Should Do In Emergency Situation

Fully Understand The Situation Know What Must Be Done During This Emergency Condition

The Decision Taken Must Be Applied Quickly and Properly

Understand the consequences of any action might be taken

Emergency Condition In Any Rotary Cement Kiln Are:

1 2

Red Spot On Kiln Shell Refractory material fell down and lost in any part of the kiln system

3 Burning zone temperature dangerously very high 4 5

Dangerously high kiln inlet temperature Unburned raw material in the kiln outlet and cooler

Emergency Condition In Any Rotary Cement Kiln Are:

6 7

Main burner flame shape is distorted Failure of precalciner burner or burners

8 9 10

Failure of by-pass system

High kiln-hood positive pressure Red-hot clinker coming out from the cooler

Emergency Condition In Any Rotary Cement Kiln Are:

11 12 13 14 15 16

Cooler drive or clinker transportation stopped Snow man in the first stage of the cooler Rush of clinker materials in the kiln Power failure

Loss of kiln feed Preheater cyclones blocking with feed material

Red Spot On The Kiln Shell

Red Spot indicates loss of bricks in kiln different zones Some of this Red Spots can be dealt with and disappear
While other Red Spots will be persistent and will lead to eventual kiln shut down

Red Spot On The Kiln Shell

The danger of operation with red spots especially in very hot countries lead to:
Severe damage to the kiln shell The shell can be punctured in the end

Red Spot On The Kiln Shell

Red spots are diagnosed by:
Visual inspection Temperature over 480C on shell scanner or hand pyrometer Bricks found with clinker either in the burning zone or with clinker on the clinker conveyor.

Red Spot On The Kiln Shell

Action To Be Taken In Case Of:
zone or in the burning zone

A The Red Spot is located in upper transition

Continue normal operation of the kiln

Start cooling this spot with fans Shorten the flame to bring the black feed area under the burner nearer or over the red spot to try to form a new coating inside the area empty from bricks

Red Spot On The Kiln Shell

Action To Be Taken In Case Of:
zone or in the burning zone

A The Red Spot is located in upper transition

Keep the burning zone temperature at its normal range Try in the period after the disappeared of this red spots to have easy to burn kiln feed.

Red Spot On The Kiln Shell

Action To Be Taken In Case Of:
tyre or very near to welding seams in the section of the tyre. Kiln should be immediately shutdown

B Large Red Spot especially if located under the

Red Spot On The Kiln Shell

How to make it never or rarely happen again:
Be sure that there is no excessive overheating of the kiln-burning zone Be sure that flame doesnt directly hit the brick or cause localized coating erosion.

Try to minimize kiln shut down or upset conditions Install a high quality refractory bricks in the kiln & employ proper refractory installation techniques & methods with proper & professional supervision

Refractory fall down or lost in a part of kiln system

Falling of bricks in the following areas are potential reasons for stopping the kiln:

Preheater Areas Kiln Inlet In Kiln before upper transition zone By Pass area before quenching air area Kiln fire hood Kiln nose ring

Refractory fall down or lost in a part of kiln system

Falling of bricks in the following areas are potential reasons for stopping the kiln:

Kiln nose ring Cooling end of kiln shell before the outlet nose ring Cooler walls in the hot zone area of the cooler

Refractory fall down or lost in a part of kiln system

Detection of the area or areas where the brick lining or castables are lost can Rapid rise in the area where the refractory is lost, until it becomes red hot and deformed.

Area parallel to kiln axis, and the shell is very hot or red in this area

Loose bricks are found with clinker on clinker transportation system

Refractory fall down or lost in a part of kiln system

Detection of the area or areas where the brick lining or castables are lost can

Loose bricks are seen with the clinker bed in the burning-zone
Thermal damage to the kiln shell or the steel structure of other areas and eventual loss of that parts with possibility of false air to the system and possibly hot material leakage to outside of the kiln system. The area where the refractory lining is lost will increase on area

Refractory fall down or lost in a part of kiln system How to prevent Refractory fall down
Procedure of installing bricks should be revised and the proper techniques and methods of applying refractory material in the kiln system.

Quality of the refractory used in this area should be questioned and investigated

Suppliers should be contacted for help if needed

Refractory fall down or lost in a part of kiln system How to prevent Refractory fall down
Kiln techniques and procedures should be revised and investigated to for any excessive rotating of the kiln during shut down or start up or when it is cold during the shutdown it self. Kiln ovality and kiln alignment should be monitored and checked in the proper time to keep the kiln in proper mechanical conditions.

3 Burning Zone Temp. Dangerously Very High

In abnormal operation condition, the following can be detected

Coating will be dripping off the kiln burning zone wall

Clinker start to balling in the burning-zone and this phenomenon is called sausage
Sliding clinker bed will be found in the burning-zone

3 Burning Zone Temp. Dangerously Very High

In abnormal operation condition, the following can be detected

Burning zone temperature is too high First part of the cooler will have snowman Cooler under-grate pressure will be very high Burning-zone color will be white-faint yellow

3 Burning Zone Temp. Dangerously Very High

Result of such condition will be the following

Rapid failure of bricks in the burning zone will take place due to the loss of coating and excessive heat on the bricks
Red spots on the kiln shell that could be a large area with faint red-hot color, big or small area with red-hot color Thermal damage to cooler plates and kiln hood area components will be very costly

3 Burning Zone Temp. Dangerously Very High

Action that should be taken in such conditions

Reduce fuel rate to minimum until sausage is stopped Increase kiln speed by 0.5 rpm more to help breaking the sausage in the burning-zone.

Increase the air in the cooler hot zone to maximum with creating positive pressure in the kiln hood.

3 Burning Zone Temp. Dangerously Very High

Action that should be taken in such conditions

Reduce primary airflow to control the temperature of the flame When the sausage disappears and the agglomeration disappears, start to restore the condition of the burning-zone to normal again by: reducing kiln speed and increasing the I.D. fan speed while increasing the fuel rate

3 Burning Zone Temp. Dangerously Very High

Action that should be taken in such conditions

Reduce fuel rate to minimum until sausage is stopped Increase kiln speed by 0.5 rpm more to help breaking the sausage in the burning-zone.

Increase the air in the cooler hot zone to maximum with creating positive pressure in the kiln hood.

3 Burning Zone Temp. Dangerously Very High

Action that should be taken in such conditions

Reduce primary airflow to control the temperature of the flame When the sausage disappears and the agglomeration disappears, start to restore the condition of the burning-zone to normal again by: reducing kiln speed and increasing the I.D. fan speed while increasing the fuel rate

3 Burning Zone Temp. Dangerously Very High

How to prevent this phenomenon

The laboratory has to evaluate the possibility to provide mix that have less liquid phase The operator must be more alert to the condition in the burning-zone Evaluate the condition of kiln pyrometer installed in the kiln hood and evaluate the flame position and shape to determine if thinner, longer flame is required since the existing flame may be too wide.

4 Dangerously High Kiln Inlet Temperature Reason for high kiln inlet temp.:
I.D. fan speed sharply increased

Kiln speed decreased and became too low The concentration of sulfur and chlorine in lower most cyclones are very high.
Lack of materials at kiln inlet due to problems in the kiln feed system or the lower most cyclones are blocked by feed materials and dont discharge any to the kiln inlet, or the materials are erratically behaving in flushing waves from these cyclones.

4 Dangerously High Kiln Inlet Temperature Reason for high kiln inlet temp.:
The concentration of sulfur and chlorine may be high in the lower cyclones to the degree that leads to erratic flow of material form these cyclones. This is may be due to either unsuitable by-pass fan speed or due to blocking of by-pass system and/or higher concentration of alkali, chloride and sulfate in the kiln feed
Carbon monoxide exists in kiln exit gas

4 Dangerously High Kiln Inlet Temperature Consequences of such condition are:

The lower most cyclones temperatures increase will lead to blocking of these cyclones by over heated feed material (cake formation) The inefficient by-pass system or blocked bypass system, since there may be a drastic increase in the percent of both of chiorine and sulfate in the lower most cyclones. This will make kiln operation increasingly hard with flushes of material coming from these cyclones

4 Dangerously High Kiln Inlet Temperature Consequences of such condition are:

Damage to the kiln inlet area, dust collector and preheater equipment The fuel can start ignition in the kiln inlet

The kiln will start to be in an upset condition

4 Dangerously High Kiln Inlet Temperature

Action that should be taken in such conditions
Reduce fuel rate and I.D. fan speed to obtain less than 1-% oxygen in the kiln inlet but the fuel rate should not be completely cut, since this may trigger an explosion in the kiln electrostatic precipitator.

Increases kiln speed and feed rate Dont open any door in the kiln inlet area, so no fresh air will be introduced into the kiln system.

4 Dangerously High Kiln Inlet Temperature

Action that should be taken in such conditions

When the temperature of the kiln inlet starts to be normal, Then

Return the kiln operation to normal operation conditions First start to increase fuel in very slow steps Start in the same time increasing the I.D. fan speed in the same slow steps Check the kiln inlet area, especially the gas analyzer equipment

4 Dangerously High Kiln Inlet Temperature

How to prevent such condition from occurring

The kiln must not be operated without feed for more than 10 minutes Kiln operator must look routinely to the trends or curves of the different instruments monitoring the condition of the kiln inlet area. The performance of measuring devices in the kiln inlet should be periodically examined.

4 Dangerously High Kiln Inlet Temperature

How to prevent such condition from occurring

During upset conditions, start up and shutdown time, kiln operator should give more attention to the conditions of combustion of the fuel, main burner performance, feed rate flow condition, feed system performance, kiln inlet temperature, I.D. fan speed and how much it is suitable for prevailing kiln conditions
Keep the by-pass system in good operation condition with suitable fan speed

5 Unburned Raw Materials in the Kiln Outlet or

in the Coolers
When the kiln-burning zone suffers from onrush of partially burned raw feed, the following will take place:

Black feed area under the main burner flame is greatly advanced in the direction of the kiln nose ring area. The burning zone is blacked-out When the kiln hood area become black and dusty Red grate in cooler and the temperature of the grates will become increasingly high

5 Unburned Raw Materials in the Kiln Outlet or

in the Coolers
When the kiln-burning zone suffers from onrush of partially burned raw feed, the following will take place:

Rapid increase in the temperature of the material discharged from the cooler

Decrease of secondary air and tertiary air temperature

Cooler drag-chain for transporting of under grate dust and spillage will be either over loaded or amp very high.

5 Unburned Raw Materials in the Kiln Outlet or

in the Coolers
Reasons behind this phenomenon are :

One or more of lower most cyclones filled up with materials and suddenly released, while the kiln was on a maximum speed. The breaking of ring formation and the trapped material before it are suddenly released. When there are bad kiln operation practices or bad operator behavior, the feed flow to the kiln may be so erratic to the degree that can cause such condition

5 Unburned Raw Materials in the Kiln Outlet or

in the Coolers
Consequences of such conditions :
Damage to the cooler components and internal parts may take place with very bad results such as damage to the driving units or bearing damage for the movable parts. Flame will disappear or completely extinguished in the burning-zone. Temperature in the clinker conveying system will be in some instance dangerously high with eventual damage to this system on the long run. This condition in the kiln may indirectly lead to excessive heating of the kilnburning zone. Since impaired visibility of the burning-zone may make the operator try to clear it, by heating it up in the way that leads to overheating of this area in the kiln.

actions that should be taken during this 5 Different condition are :

Stop kiln feed. Immediately stop the kiln and turn it on the auxiliary drive or minimum speed according to the gravity of the situation. Start to reduce kiln main burner, and I.D. fan speed according to the normal practices and slowdown procedure to keep the kiln inlet temperature under-control. Reduce the speed of cooler different drives to cope with the new situation, and switch to manual control, to control the temperature of the materials in the cooler to cool down. Adjust cooler airflow to obtain maximum cooling from the cooler without creating positive pressure in the kiln hood.

Inspect the cooler under grate if possible before start up the kiln again.

Start to heat up the kiln in the normal procedure until you have the proper condition in the kiln different parts.

5 How to prevent Such Condition:

Inspect the situation and look for indication that you are over-feeding the kiln
The burner is not giving the proper amount of fuel to the maximum feed the operator will give to the kiln. In the same time put into consideration the speed at maximum feed.

5 How to prevent Such Condition:

This study should also look for the situation of the grate cooler especially for the temperature of the tertiary air and the secondary air temperatures. This will, in the end, give clear idea about how to achieve kiln operation stability in relation to these conditions previously mentioned.

The operator behavior should be continuously followed and he should be advised to make frequent visual inspection of the burning-zone in order to be able to learn how to detect any sign of an impending problem related to such formerly explained case

5 How to prevent Such Condition:

This study should also look for the situation of the grate cooler especially for the temperature of the tertiary air and the secondary air temperatures. This will, in the end, give clear idea about how to achieve kiln operation stability in relation to these conditions previously mentioned.

The operator behavior should be continuously followed and he should be advised to make frequent visual inspection of the burning-zone in order to be able to learn how to detect any sign of an impending problem related to such formerly explained case

6 Main Burner Flame Is Distorted

Reason for such condition
When the kiln burner is not well adjusted or the mechanical parts are not in proper conditions.
When the electrical instruments of the kiln main burner may cause faulty control of the burner.

When the burner tip part is blocked by oil fuel and dust or it is damaged When the burner pipe bottom is worn out due to falling of protective castable and primary air is escaping from this opining in the bottom of burner pipe

6 Main Burner Flame Is Distorted

That can be indicated by the following phenomena

Irregular flame shape and unusual flame shape

Flame is fragmented in a way that will permit for part of the flame to impinge on lining. This takes place, especially in the area of burning zone nearer to cooling zone in the kiln outlet.

6 Main Burner Flame Is Distorted

Possible Consequences:

Thermal damage to kiln burning-zone, kiln shell and kiln hood refractory and kiln mantel door especially if backfire happens in the kiln burning-zone during this period. Possible red spots on kiln shell, if this phenomenon is disregarded and neglected. Thermal damage to nose ring segments

6 Main Burner Flame Is Distorted

Action To Be Taken: Inspect burner pipe for damage especially in the bottom area where the secondary air loaded with dust from cooler will hit the pipe in great speed. If the burner flame is so distorted that is greatly impinge on the lining of the burning zone i.e. bricks, the kiln should be shutdown immediately. If the burner condition can permit for adjusting it during operation without danger of aggravating the burner condition, then the burner must be adjusted in way to provide for smooth operation until a scheduled shutdown is decided to repair the burner pipe.

6 Main Burner Flame Is Distorted

How To Avoid Such Case:

During any regular kiln shutdown, burner pipe must be inspected and repaired in the best possible way. The price of neglecting the burner pipe or to economize in the spare parts will be lost production or lost kiln linings and the final result will be again lost production.
Try to provide the best protection for the burner pipe. Burner pipe is one of the most troublesome parts of the kiln section that can give hard job for the kiln manager if he neglects the process of casting it. Buy the best castables and anchor available for the burner pipe.

6 Main Burner Flame Is Distorted

How To Avoid Such Case: Investigate the process of casting the burner pipe and the techniques used in this process.

The primary air fan must be programmed in a way that provide for its operation at least two hours after the burner is stopped.
Never pull out the burner pipe after kiln shut down, but continue with the primary air fan for cooling and dont take out the burner pipe from kiln hood before four hour after kiln shut down to protect the castable on the pipe from taking unnecessary thermal shock.

Failure of Precalciner Burners

Reason for Such Case
Interlock with the uppermost (top) cyclones temperature. In order to protect the I.D. fan impeller and shaft from overheating, this interlock is activated in the kiln system.

The gas temperature of the precalciner vessel rises to >1000C

The gas temperature of lower most cyclones that receive gas and materials from the precalciner rises to >1000C.

Failure of Precalciner Burners

Reason for Such Case

The temperature of the fuel decreases less than 65C.

If the kiln feed system is stopped for any reasons mechanical electrical or extraction problem.

Failure of Precalciner Burners

During Kiln Shutdown, the following area should be taken care of:

Kiln Feed System

Kiln fuel station and heating system

Burners valve trains