DUOFLEX burner

Flexible and robust design

Key benefits
- Robust design
- Low primary air consumption
- Adjustable swirl
- Adjustable air nozzle area
- Central fuel injection

Application
The DUOFLEX burner fires rotary
kilns with pulverised coal or coke, oil,
natural gas or any mixture of these
fuels. The burner may be fitted with
extra ducts for secondary fuels such as
plastic chips, wood chips, sewage
sludge, etc. Standard types are
available for any fuel combination and
a maximum capacity ranging from 20
to 250 MW, catering for even the
largest of rotary cement kilns.
Design
The burner is based on a novel concept
featuring a central duct for gaseous
and liquid fuels placed inside an
annular coal duct which is surrounded
by two concentric ducts that form two
primary air channels, one for radial air
and one for axial air.
The two air flows are mixed before
being injected via the conical air

nozzle. The two outer ducts form a very

rigid supporting structure, minimising
deflection of the burner pipe and
ensuring long refractory life.
The primary air is supplied by a high
pressure fan that yields a maximum
pressure of 250 mbar as standard,
but on request pressures up to 400
mbar can be delivered.
The air nozzle area can be adjusted
within the range 1:2. The axial/radial
air ratio and consequently the degree
of swirl is also adjustable.
These adjustments offer wide scope of
shaping the flame.
Process and function
From a process point of view, a burner
used for heating the burning zone of a
rotary cement kiln must fulfil the following requirements:

The burner must be able to fire coal,

coke, fuel oil and natural gas or any
mixture thereof, ensuring complete
combustion, low excess air and minimum formation of carbon monoxide
(CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOX).
If relevant, the burner must be able
to handle alternative fuels without
requiring change of its original
design. In this way, only minor
modifications to meet the special
requirements must be necessary.
The burner must produce a short,
narrow, strongly radiant flame, as
this is a condition for good heat
transfer from the flame to the material in the sintering zone of the kiln.
Flame formation must be conducive
to a dense, stable coating on the
refractory in the burning zone of
the kiln as well as a nodular clinker
with low dust content and correctly
developed clinker phases.

The burner must use as little primary

air as possible without compromising stability during normal or upset
operating conditions. Primary air is
basically false air, in other words air
that has not been used for clinker
heat recuperation while passing
through the clinker cooler. The
primary air is usually expressed as a
percentage of the stoichiometric
combustion air needed to burn
the amount of fuel fired through
the burner.
Multi-channel burners
Compared to a simple single-tube
burner modern multi-channel burners
offer much better possibilities for flame
shape control because of their separate
primary air channels, allowing for
adjustment of primary air amount and
injection velocity independently of the
coal meal injection.

The burner nozzle is

adjustable both vertical
and horizontally.
Nozzleopen

Nozzelclosed

The most important flame control

parameters are primary air momentum
(primary air amount multiplied by
discharge velocity) and amount of swirl
(tangentially air discharge). A high
momentum will give a short, hard
flame whereas a low momentum will
make the flame longer and lazier. Swirl
will help creating recirculation in the
central part of the flame. This will
stabilise the flame and give a short
ignition distance. Too much swirl
however can cause high kiln shell
temperatures due to flame impingement on the burning zone refractory.
A good swirl control system is therefore
important. The best solution would be
a system where swirl could be adjusted
independent of the momentum.

Traditional multi-channel burners

normally have two air nozzles, one
for axial air discharge and one with
vanes or tangential slots for swirl air.
Swirl is controlled by adjusting the
swirl air amount (or the ratio between
axial air and swirl air). This can be done
in two ways, by dampers installed in
the ducts upstream of the burner or
more effective - by adjusting the air
nozzle areas. Most modern multichannel burners therefore have
adjustable air nozzles.
If all the primary air is supplied by one
primary air fan, momentum and swirl
cannot be adjusted independently.
Adjusting the swirl air nozzle will also
change the pressure at the axial air
nozzle and vice versa. To overcome
this problem many multi-channel
burners have separate fans for axial
air and swirl air. This however does
not solve the problem completely
because the momentum will still
change if swirl air amount is changed.

A constant momentum can only be

maintained by adjusting axial air as
well as swirl air.
Duoflex Swirl Control
The unique Duoflex nozzle design
eliminates these problems. Swirl is
generated by fixed vanes, located
upstream of the air nozzle. Since axial
air and swirl air are mixed before
entering the nozzle, air pressure
and momentum remains almost
unchanged when the axial/swirl air
ratio is changed.
Axial/swirl air distribution is controlled
by butterfly valves installed at the
burner inlet. During operation the axial
air valve must be minimum 50% open
since the axial air is used for cooling
of the burner pipe. Swirl air can be
adjusted from 0-100%. The amount
of swirl is characterised by the position
only. Therefore no separate swirl airflow measuring system is necessary.
Since the swirler vanes are placed in a
low velocity zone the degree of swirl
will be reduced when the air velocity
is increased in the nozzle. The swirler
vane angle is dimensioned in order
to compensate for this, meaning
that an adequate amount of swirl
can be applied without risking flame
impingement on the refractory.
Flame momentum
The crucial parameter of flame formation is the primary air momentum
which may be expressed as the primary
air percentage (% of stoichiometric
air requirement) multiplied by the
injection velocity. Consequently, if the
velocity is doubled, the primary air
percentage may be reduced to half.

The primary air consumption will

normally be in the range of 6-8%,
corresponding to a primary air
momentum of approximately
1250-1780% m/s. The adjustable air
nozzle is ideally suited for adapting
the momentum to the conditions for
attaining the best flame shape.
The burner in a rotary kiln functions
as an injector, the purpose of which
is to draw the secondary air coming
from the cooler into the flame in
order to make the fuel burn as close
as possible to the centre line of the
kiln. This explains why the momentum
of the burner is the parameter that
determines flame formation. A higher
momentum means faster mixing and
a shorter and hotter flame.
Divergent feeding of fuel and primary
air should be avoided as it inevitably
leads to wider flames and higher
temperatures on the inner surface of
the burning zone. Good coating
formation is only possible if the inner
surface is cold enough for the liquid
to solidify upon contact.
The use of a narrow flame in a cement
rotary kiln is extremely important
since a divergent flame that impinges
upon the lining will strip off the
coating, resulting in very high kiln
shell temperature and short refractory
life. Flame impingement upon the
material charge will increase the
evaporation of sulphates, which
usually leads to increased coating
formation in the kiln riser duct.

Adjustable for
alternative fuels
In order to explore the economical opportunities on the waste market to the
maximum a high degree of freedom is
desired when adjusting the kiln feed
rates of various alternative fuel types.
On the other hand are the requirements that the heat input to the kiln
remains stable, that the firing of the fuels
does not have a negative impact on
the clinker quality and that the coating
profile in the kiln remains unchanged.
The combination of the quest for
optimum flexibility and the desire to

maintain steady kiln operation conditions puts high demands on the kiln
burner which - to the extent possible
- must be capable of compensating for
the variations of the alternative fuels
introduced into the kiln.
These demands are met by the superior
flame control of the DUOFLEX construction, and the ability of operating
with a narrow flame provides for the
best possible burnout of the waste
particles in the flame itself, so ensuring
that the particles do not land in the
charge or on the coating.

Precise momentum control

Since good flame formation in the kiln

permits operating with very little excess
air and without the formation of CO,
a burner operating with correct flame
momentum despite the higher flame
temperature will result in less formation
of NO than a low momentum burner
operating with more excess air.
Practical experience has shown that
the formation of a strong, stable, short
and narrow flame requires a momentum of minimum 1400-1600% m/s
dependent on fuel type. A flame
momentum below this range will result

in too long a flame, high kiln shell

temperatures above the burning zone
and in the kiln back end as well as
unstable kiln operation with a too long
and cold burning zone thereby permitting undesirable clinker crystal growth.
The two different kiln temperature
profiles, before and after introducing
the DUOFLEX burner, clearly show the
huge effect on both coating formation
and kiln shell temperature. NO lining
repairs were made while exchanging
the two burner installations.

The very easy adjustment of the nozzle

area and the different air flows,
helped by clear position indicators,
make it possible to find and maintain
any precise setting during operation
as well as between the different
production campaigns.
The DUOFLEX burner normally
operates with 6-8 % primary air but
is designed for maximum 10% as
standard and on request up to 15%.
This will in all cases provide the kiln
operator with the necessary tool to
quickly stabilise any upset conditions.

Momentum control, example

Calciner kiln:
Burner output:
Max. momentum:
Momentum required:

7000 tpd
118 MW
8.7 N/MW (at 12.5% PA)
5 N/MW

1. Reducing nozzle area:

Air flow:
8195 m3/h (6.9% PA)
Air pressure:
278 mbar
Power consumption:
80 kW

2. Reducing nozzle pressure:

Air flow:
11120 m3/h (9.3% PA)
Air pressure:
140 mbar
Power consumption:
102 kW

Savings by reducing nozzle area instead of pressure:

Power:
22 kW
Fuel: 2.4% PA y 2.4x0.75 = 1.8 kcal/kg clinker y 12.6 Mcal/24H

Primary air fan

300

1. Reduced nozzle area

Reduced momentum
5 N/MW
278 mbar
8195 m3/h

Max. nozzle area

250

Max. momentum
8.7 N/MW
254 mbar
14911 m3/h

mbar, kW

200

150

2. Max. nozzle area

Reduced momentum
5 N/MW
140 mbar
11120 m3/h

100

Increased power consumption

y 22 kW
50

Increased air flow

y 2900 m3/h

2,5

7,5

10

12,5

Flow 1000 m3/h

15

17,5

20

22,5

DuoFlex

Traditional burner

Kiln shell temperature

MAX/MIN

DUOFLEX

Traditional burner

400

300

200

100
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Copyright 2013 FLSmidth A/S. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. FLSmidth is a (registered) trademark of FLSmidth A/S. This brochure makes no offers, representations
or warranties (express or implied), and information and data contained in this brochure are for general reference only and may change at any time.

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DK-2500 Valby
Copenhagen
Tel: +45 3618 1000
Fax: +45 3630 1820
E-mail: info@flsmidth.com

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Fax: +1 610-264-6170
E-mail: info-us@flsmidth.com

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C 03-13 400-26-ENG

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