30 ALTERNATIVE FUELS

Drying RDF at Souselas

To increase its use of alternative fuels, particularly refuse-derived fuels (RDFs), Cimpor
installed a new RDF dryer at its plant in Souselas, Portugal. The new set-up enabled the
cement producer to lift its thermal substitution rate at the plant from two to 34 per cent.
n by Francisco Leitão, Cimpor, Portugal

C impor’s Souselas plant is located in

central Portugal and began production
from a single 0.5Mta dry-process line
in 1973. At present the works has three
production lines, giving total clinker and
cement capacities of 2.4Mta and 3.4Mta,
respectively. Due to the current cement
demand, the plant is only operating Line 3.

Co-processing at Souselas
Co-processing started at the Souselas plant
in 2010, following a long period of tests
© A Terceiro Dimensão

and trials. The first alternative fuels (AFs)

used were liquid hazardous wastes from
the petrochemical industry, introduced
through the kiln burner. The initial thermal
substitution rate (TSR) reached two per
cent.
The installation of an RDF dryer enabled Cimpor’s Souselas plant in Portugal to considerably
Two years later, the plant started increase its alternative fuel use
co-processing refuse-derived fuel (RDF),
simultaneously at the precalciner and kiln
burner. The E4.8m project included the As a result, the plant’s maximum TSR RDF dryer project
following key equipment: was lifted to 33.9 per cent, a level limited To increase the TSR at the main burner
• truck unloading dock station by the RDF chlorine content. While petcoke of Kiln 3, Cimpor decided to install a RDF
• three steel silos, 1500m3 each accounts for 66.2 per cent of the plant’s dryer that uses the excess hot air from the
• dosing system and 10tph mechanical heat contribution and hazardous liquids clinker to dry the AF before sending the
transport to the precalciner represent 5.8 per cent, around 28.1 per cooled air to the existing cooler stack and
• dosing system and 5tph pneumatic cent of the plant’s heat is generated by the dried RDF to the kiln by conveyors.
conveyor to the kiln burner. RDF. In addition, the reliability of the RDF
transport system to the main burner would
Table 1: key equipment at Cimpor’s Souselas plant be improved by replacing a pneumatic
conveyor with a drag chain conveyor.
Type Description Capacity
The installation’s engineering,
supervision, equipment supply,
1 Dragon Hammer (tph) 650 commissioning and training was entrusted
Crushers
1 Krupp (tph) 1200 to Germany-based Stela Lax Huber while
2 Fives-Lille (tph) 120
local company Farmec carried out the
Raw mills erection of the dryer. The total erection
1 Polysius – VRM (tph) 315
period was six months (26,000h) and
2 Fives-Lille – four-stage preheater (tpd) 1550
Kilns there were zero lost time injuries (LTI)
1 Polysius/FLSmidth – four-stage calciner (tpd) 4250
during this time. The cost of this project,
Coal mills 2 Polysius – airswept (tph) 18 which was co-financed by the EU Portugal
2 Fives-Lille – ball mills (tph) 110 2020 (FEDER) programme, was E3.84m,
Cement mills
2 Polysius – ball mills (tph) 110 split between the dryer (E1.86m) and the
transport (E1.98m).
3 Haver & Boecker (bags/h) 2400
Packers
1 Ventomatic (bags/h) 2400
Dryer specification
Palletiser 3 Beumer (bags/h) 2400 The installed Stela BT 1/6200-12 low-

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 ALTERNATIVE FUELS 31

Figure 1: the Stela RDF dryer “To increase the TSR at

the main burner of Kiln 3,
Cimpor decided to install
a RDF dryer that uses the
excess hot air from the
clinker to dry the AF before
sending the cooled air to
the existing cooler stack
and the dried RDF to the
kiln by conveyors.”

temperature belt dryer has a length of

12m, a width of 6.2m and is designed to
dry a range of RDFs. The belt is slightly
porous to allow a hot air stream to pass
Gas ducts transport the air from the cooler’s bag filter to the dryer from top to bottom.
The conveyor belt is fed by two screw
feeders, parallel to the belt. To create a
uniform RDF layer along the conveyor, the
screw-to-belt height is adjustable between
70-140mm.
The new dryer installation was
designed for RDF with a maximum feed
rate of 10tph (maximum 40 per cent
moisture) and an output of 7tph (15
per cent moisture), reflecting a water
evaporation rate of 3tph (see Table 2).
Therefore, the dryer enabled the plant to
raise the RDF feed to the kiln’s main burner
from 2.5tph (with 30-40 per cent average
moisture content) to a maximum of 7.5tph
(with a 15 per cent moisture content) and
as a result, allowed a RDF TSR of up to 40
Table 2: main dryer specifications per cent.
To ensure that the dryer is free from
Dryer type BT 1/6200-12
leakages, rotary valves were installed
RDF/MSW without foreign bodies (loose, at the dryer entrance and exit. The dry
Product
not frozen, dust-free, 10˚C) material is discharged by means of a rotary
Bulk weight – wet (kg/m3) 100-250 screw and a valve.
Average retention time in active zone,
6-30
adjustable (min) Air circulation
Bed depth (mm) 70-140 (130 commissioning) The dryer’s gas circuit consists of a variable
speed fan, two isolating air flap valves
Drying temperature (˚C) ~90
at the dryer inlet and outlet as well as a
Dryer input capacity – 40% moisture (tph) 10.0 multi-louvre adjustable valve installed in
Dryer output capacity – 15% moisture (tph) 7.0 the duct between the fan and the stack bag
Water evaporation (tph) 3.0 filter.
Active drying zone (m ) 2
~74.4 Hot air from the cooler’s bag filter fan
Belt dimensions (m) 12 x 6.2 exits and enters the dryer’s gas mixing
chamber in its upper part. Fresh air enters
Fresh air (no dust)
the dryer through to the two flap valves.
Temperature (˚C) 40
Relative humidity (%) 30-70 In the mixing chamber, the hot air is
mixed with fresh air to achieve an average
Dust emission – wet (mg/Nm3) <20
temperature of 75-85˚C across the top

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 32 ALTERNATIVE FUELS

The Stela RDF dryer installed at Cimpor ‘s Souselas plant

of the belt. The two fresh air flap valves dryer fan speed in line with a predefined 180bar). The water is introduced by four
control the belt temperature (setpoint set point. CCR-controlled injectors, operated for one
85˚C). The moist air that emanates from The dryer conveyor has a wet and a dry hour at least once a week.
the dryer is returned to the cooler stack. cleaning system. The dry cleaning system The project also involved the upgrade of
The RDF moisture is continuously operates with a high-pressure radial fan in the existing RDF pneumatic transport from
controlled at the exit of the dryer by a continuous operation. It is located inside the RDF dry silo to the kiln main burner
microwave sensor. This sensor is located the mixing chamber, which injects hot air (~160m). This included the installation of
at the discharge screw and its operation to the belt’s outlet. The “cleaned” material two new stainless steel apron feeders with
is monitored in the central control room leaving the belt is sent to the discharge variable-speed drives and a new by-pass
(CCR). The final moisture content is screw. The wet cleaning system operates valve. The position of the existing dosing
adjusted by a proportional integral and discontinuously. Filtered fresh water is system, compressor and rotary valve was
derivative (PID) system, which controls the compressed in a high-pressure pump (150- readjusted.

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 ALTERNATIVE FUELS 33

Figure 2: project milestones of the RDF is a bottleneck and as such, the

dryer’s capacity is higher than the volume
of RDF in the kiln system.
July 2015 Signing of contract for main equipment The dryer’s fully-automated process
control ensures easy operation and
May 2016 Civil works, mechanical and electrical engineering, erection control in line with all EU environmental
requirements (emissions, odours, noise).
17 October 2016 Kiln firing In addition, the dryer’s long-lasting
components support low maintenance
17-24 October 2016 Cold commissioning of dryer and transport system and negligible maintenance costs in its first
year of operation.
24 October 2016 Hot commissioning of transport system
All equipment was easily integrated into
the existing process chain and supported
2 November 2016 Hot commissioning of dryer
by a modular structure which allowed for
simple installation.
21 November 2016 Successful performance test of dryer and transport system
As a result of the installation of the
dryer, Cimpor’s Souselas plant is helping
to reduce the company’s reliance on fossil
The start-up and the • all PID switched on fuels and improve its carbon footprint
performance test • RDF moisture variation (sampling by considerably increasing the share of
As shown in Figure 2, the hot every two hours). alternative fuels in its fuel mix. In addition,
commissioning of the dryer started on 2 the company is supporting Portugal's
November 2016, some 16 months after the Conclusion efforts to reduce its waste volumes
signing of the equipment contract. This The new dryer at Cimpor’s Souselas works going to landfill, providing a positive
stage optimised the following operating enabled the cement plant to dry a range contribution to the country’s environment
conditions: of RDFs. At present, the chlorine content and its people. n
• air flow at dryer inlet: 119,400Nm3/h
(75 per cent of the maximum gas flow)
• air temperature at dryer inlet: Table 3: results of the dryer performance test
80-84˚C. In this set-up (< 85˚C) cold air
dampers do not open. Parameter Contract value Acceptable value Achieved value
(24h average)
• dryer fan fixed at 90 per cent speed
• multi-louvre damper opened at 15 per RDF feed rate (tph) 7.5 (H = 40.0%) ≥5 5.0 (H = 38.3%)
cent. RDF final moisture (%) 15 20 8.2
The results of the performance test are Dust emission (mg/Nm ) 3
≤20 20 0.5
shown in Table 3. The RDF wet feed rate
was 7.5 per cent and not 10tph, due to the
limitation on the kiln input chlorine. Total Figure 3: moisture content during dryer commissioning
water evaporation was 2.5tph.
During the commissioning stage, the
dryer operation was relatively stable.
40.0
However, due to the characteristics of the
39.0
RDF, the reduction in moisture was limited
35.0
to a moisture content of eight per cent.
37.0
Process conditions were as follows: Inlet moisture (average) = 38.3% 30.0
• average dryer fan speed: 98 per cent
• multi-louvre damper (average): 15 per 35.0
25.0
Outlet moisture (%)

cent open
Inlet moisture (%)

33.0

“The company is 20.0

supporting Portugal’s 31.0

15.0
Outlet moisture (average) = 8.2%
efforts to reduce its 29.0
10.0

waste volumes going

to landfill, providing a
27.0 5.0

positive contribution to 25.0

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
0.0

the country’s environment Inlet moisture Inlet moisture - average Outlet moisture Outlet moisture - average

and its people.”

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