Use of 100% Unconventional Fuel in Cement Kiln - A Case Study

Dr. M.K. Mukherjee 1, M.M. Tiwari 2

1,2
Vikram Cement, Khor, Dist.- Neemuch (M.P.),Pin Code-458470 ,India
1
Present Ultra tech Cement Ltd, Muchipara, P.O.- Rajbandh, Durgapur, West
Bengal, India
2
Present Gujarat Cement works, Vill. Kovaya, Rajula, Dist. Amreli, Gujarat, India

1.0 Introduction

The cement industry, as high energy consumption activity, has always displayed
interest in energy recovery & in alternate fuel [1]. The appropriate selection and
use of a fuel has always been, and still is, a matter of great concern for cement
industry. The current fierce competition in the cement market & the high impact
of fuel costs in the final price of product is forcing industry to look for most
economic mix to fire in the kiln.
Clinker kilns are listed as a methodology for re-use of almost all types of
alternate fuel [2]. Cement kiln effectively traps the acid substances through basic
material being baked inside at high temperature. This import ant capability to
capture combustion products, with an effective de-dusting system, makes
cement kilns suitable for alternate fuel [3], without the fear of adding to
atmospheric pollution (4,5). There are a large variety of fuels that can be fired in
cement kilns.

At Vikram cement, utilization of Indian coal or Import coal was not economical
from any corner to the company due to its high landed cost. Various alternatives
were evaluated. Pet coke (waste of Petroleum industry) from Reliance Industry
Jamnagar was found to be most economical, among all available fuels.

2.0 Background

Use of alternate fuel especially Pet coke introduces sulfur in the cement kiln
system, which enhances the formation of a varied range of volatile compounds.
This volatile travels to cooler parts of the system & deposit there, resulting in
blockage of path & ultimately plant stop. Therefore it becomes imperative to have
careful understanding of the process and undertake remedial measures.

3.0 Remedial Measures

To counter this problem, various alternatives were brain stormed & implemented
to achieve 100% use of Pet coke. Vikram cement started with 10% Pet coke
along with normal coal gradually attaining 67% which at one point of time, looked
to be optimal dose. But with concerted effort and further modification in the
system resulted, in 100% utilization of Pet coke, which are described in following
steps.

3.1 Step-I

Pet coke is having very low volatile matter, therefore poor burning material.
Typical analysis of Pet coke verses other available coal is given in table-I
Description Pet coke India coal Imported coal
Ash % 0.40-1.0 25-40 7.0-15.0
Inherent Moisture % 0.25-0.50 1.5-3.5 1.0-2.50
Volatile Matter % 9.50-11.00 24.0-30.0 25.0-31.0
Calorific Value
8200-8300 4800-5800 6500-7000
(Calorie/gm)
Sulfur % 6.0-7.30 0.5-0.9 0.60-1.0
Normally volatiles help for initial ignition. Therefore to burn low volatile fuel, it
needs more surface area (Finer grinding). After some trial, it was decided to keep
fineness of firing coal 1.5% retention on 90 micron. But existing coal mill was
capable of giving 5% max on 90 micron (design was 15% on 90 micron for Indian
coal which is softer). Pet coke is very hard to grind (Hard grove Index 35-45)
against 60-65 HGI (Hardgrove Index) in normal coal. Therefore without any
modification, it was not possible to get targeted value of fineness in pet coke.

With Pet coke, we targeted 1.5 % residue on 90 micron, which was achieved by
following action:

For 100 % combustion of pet coke at kiln & pyro it was decided to grind finer at
level of 1.5 % retention on 90 micron sieve because due to poor burning
characteristics of pet coke, it require more surface area.
Following improvement job’s were carried out in-house for grinding at level of
1.5% residue on 90 microns.
• In our coal mill, separator RPM was restriction beyond 150RPM, which was
not allowing lower residue. V-belt pulley drive is installed in place of direct
coupled which increases classifier RPM from 150 to 200.

Before Modification Result After Modification

Direct Coupled

Pulley with
Gear Box Motor v-belt drive
Motor
Product (Fine Coal )
Classifier RPM 165 (Max.) residue on 90 µ = 3.5 % d Gear
Classifier RPM 200 Product (Fine
e Coal)
residue on 90 µ = 1.5%
Raw
Raw
Coal
Coal
Feed
Feed
Now at reduced residue, output of coal mill was also reduced resuting in less
availability of ground coke so the less kiln output. But to maintain kiln output
level, coal mill output level also required to be increased.
Reduction in coal mill internal diameter helped optimizing output at required
particle size.

Reduction in 90 micron
residue
20
% Residue

15

10 8

5
1.5
0
Before After

90 MM 65 MM

MOTOR
COAL MILL MOTOR
COAL MILL

GEAR BOX GEAR BOX

BEFORE AFTER

20

14.2
Coal Mill Output

15 13.2
(Ton per hour)

10

0
Before After
3.2 Step-II
Due to difficult burning characteristics of pet coke it is essential to have proper
mixing of air with fuel other wise pet coke will burn on back side at inlet and shall
cause jamming, due to more sulfur concentration at inlet, resulting in lower out
put of kiln and poor quality of clinker. This was over come by increasing flame
momentum. This was done by installing blower in place of primary air fan.

Resulting flame momentum was increased to 2300 % meter/second in Line-I

& I I and 2800 % meter/second in Line-III.

Before After
Description (Primary Air Fan) (Blower)
Flame Momentum (% Meter/Second)

Unit-I & II 1200 2300

UNIT- III 1200 2800

3.3 Step-III
For burning pet coke, Carbon monoxide (CO) has to be < 500 PPM at inlet.
Earlier analyzer position at inlet was such that material was settling on the
analyzer. Therefore area was getting restricted and causing deficiency of
oxygen resulting in jamming. Further due to frequent jamming on analyzer,
availability of analyzer was less so less availability of CO values, therefore kiln
operation was inconsistent. To avoid this phenomenon and to monitor
combustion in the process, high resolution & accurate monitoring system
installed and relocated at new locations, as shown in the figures.

BEFORE MODIFICATION AFTER MODIFICATION

To Pyro-6
To Pyro-6

Kiln-6
FEED BURNER Kiln-6
FEED BURNER

COOLER AIR
COOLER AIR
GAS
From ANALYZER
From Pyro-6
Pyro-6 FEED
FEED
KILN KILN
GAS
ANALYZER (PYROCLONE)
Result: Smooth operation of kiln.
3.4 Step- IV
Volatile constituents like alkali oxides primarily K2O and Na2O through meal, and
sulfate / chloride mainly from Pet coke forms a variety of volatile compounds.
These volatile compounds condense in the comparatively cooler part of the pre-
heater and make the jamming problem more severe. This problem not only
reduces the life of the refractory but also exerts thermal as well as mechanical
stress on the refractories. To overcome this problem, a kaizen has been taken in
which the bricks of kiln riser duct & kiln inlet was replaced by silicon carbide
based castable phase wise. This castable forms a vitreous layer on the
s urface having very low adherence properly. It helped remarkably less
accumulation of coating.
Basically this volatile cycle is governed by sulpher to alkali ratio (Q):
Q = { SO3/80}/ {(Na2O/62)+(K2O/94)-(Cl/71)}
When Q= 1 Equilibrium (Medium hard coating).
Q= >1, Sulpher excess (Hard coating).
Q= <1, Alkali excess (Soft coating).
Q= Sulpher to Alkali ratio
SO3= Sulpher trioxide (%), Na2O = Sodium Oxide (%)
K2O = Potassium Oxide (%), Cl = Chloride (%)

Three actions were taken to reduce volatile cycle

(a) To reduce the sulfur cycle to avoid loss of productivity, combinability
temperature must be reduced. Combinability temperature is the temperature at
which oxides combine to form basic complexes required for cement clinker. This
depends on oxides percentage and various moduli values. At high temperature
sulfur again volatilize from clinker at burning zone & deposit in colder area of the
system. At lower temperature sulfur comes out along with clinker. Combinability
temperature (CT) was reduced at burning zone by redesigning the raw mix and
using formula
Formula: CT (Combinability temperature) = 436+21 x AIR % + 10 x Clinker
LSF + 3 x residue of raw meal on 150 microns + 32 x Clinker AM –20 x Clinker
SO 3% - 250 x Clinker fluoride
Modified raw mix design was as under
Description LSF SM AM Raw mill Residue
on 212 micron
Before 96.2 2.14 0.94 2.7
After 93.5 2.00 1.08 2.4
(LSF : Lime Saturation Factor, SM: Silica Modulus, AM: Alumina Modulus)
LSF (Lime Saturation Factor ) = ( CaO % / 2.8 SiO2 % + 1.2 Al2O3
% + 0.65 Fe2O3 % )
SM (Silica Modulus) = ( SiO2 % / Al2O3 % + Fe2O3 % )
AM (Alumina Modulus) = ( Al2O3 % / Fe2O3 %)
 Results: Before After

Combinability Temperature (0Celcius) - 1430 1400

It was closely monitored.

(b) Further kiln speed was increased from 4.5 to 5.5 to help sulfur to combine
as sulfates in clinker,& coming out of the system, so as to reduce further
cycle in the system. sulfur

(c) Pet coke needs more time for proper combustion. In Pyroclone area, it was
found that approx. 5 seconds time required for complete combustion to avoid
CO (carbon monoxide) formation.

Retention time was enhanced by increasing pyro clone height by 20 meters.

This has given enough time for pet coke to burn properly in the system to avoid
any reducing atmosphere, as shown in the figure.

BEFORE MODIFICATION
180 O BOW

Lower
Stage Tertiary Air
Cyclone

Kiln Gas

AFTER MODIFICATION

Pyrotop
Compact

Increased retention
time by increasing 20
meters height
Lower
Stage
Tertiary
Cyclone Air

Kiln Gas
3.5 Step- V

Sulfur circulation by use of 100 % petcoke in the process may affect adversely
due to higher sulfur in fuel, higher output or any process / raw mix variation.

TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL AIR BLASTER & GAS

ANALYSER TO AVOID JAMMING PROBLEM.

GAS
ANALYZER

CALCINER

TWO POINT FIRING

WITH SEPARATE
GRINDING OF
COKE. AIR BLASTER

22 NOS OF AIR
BLASTERS INSTALLED
IN JAMMING PRONE
AREA

KILN

KILN INLET
GAS
ANALYZER

These may cause jamming in the process path . It is necessary here to clean the
area continuously . To avoid & control such happenings, following job was
initiated Series of air blasters installed in jamming prone areas.

• High Pressure Pump installed for removing coating.

• Sulfur vaporization factor in the process is maintained below 2 % and it is
monitored at increased frequency.

With all these changes and actions unit was able to implement 100 % pet c oke
with increased productivity and desired quality. Figure of pet coke consumption
% is as under.

Description % pet coke use

Year 2002-03 67.63
Year 2003-04 80.78
April’2004 89.67
May’2004 100.00
June’2004 100.00
July’2004 99.23
August’2004 100.00
September’2004 94.26
October’2004 87.84
November’2004 100.00
December’2004 88.83
January’2005 83.42
February’2005 100.00
March’2005 87.48
Year 2004-05 94.03

Due to strategic decision of using one Indian bituminous coal rake per month,
percentage of pet coke was reduced from month of october’2004.

4.0 Savings

There was a huge tangible and intangible saving on use of petcoke, which is
summarized as under:

Tangible:

Description Year
2003-2004 2004-2005
Saving due to pet coke use (Indian Rs.In Lacs) 309.34 634.05
Intangible:

• Elimination of sweetner grade limestone usage in raw mix. Earlier sweetener

grade limestone was bought to compensate quality while using high ash
Indian bituminous coal.
• Enhancement of mine life reserve due to reduction in mines cut of grade
quality.
• Conservation of natural resources like lime stone, Gypsum & Coal.
• Reduction in CO2 emission due to low carbonate limestone utilization

5.0 Conclusion

It is evident that in the present scenario where fossil fuel is becoming more
scares raw material, use of alternative fuels is essential. Use of pet coke in the
cement kiln creates lot of disturbances, effecting productivity & quality, if not used
properly.
However paper clearly demonstrates that careful examination of problem and
systematic implementation of remedial measures definitely absorb 100% Pet
coke without affecting process and quality.
Apart from saving of fossil fuel, it further reduces use of natural resource like high
grate limestone due to negligible ash in pet coke & gypsum consumption due to
part of the sulfate coming out of fuel. Use of these fuels also protects our
environment by less emission of greenhouse gases, thus saving our motherland.

6.0 Reference

[1] Cinti G : Utilizzo di residui combustibili nel forno rotante per la produzione di
clinker da cemento. Proceedings "La gestione degli impianti di termontilizzazione
dei rifiuti problemi e soluzioni Bolobna, 141-154, 1994, (In Italian)"
[2] M C Gregor M: Emerging Technologies for utilising waste in cement
production, world cement, January 1994,49-51.
[3] Hansen E.R. : Tyre power is fire power, Rock Products, April 1992,29-31.
[4] Deussner M : Clinker burning with reduced Nox Emission. World cement,
December 1995, 52-58.
[5] Rose , D & Brentrup L : Effective Emission reduction when using secondary
Material at the seggenthal cement works in Switzerland . Zement - kalk -
Gips,4,1995,204-214 .