TORORO CEMENT LIMITED

DEPARTMENT OF PRODUCTION

TRAINING REPORT

PREPARED

BY

MATEGE JULIUS

CCR OPERATOR

BSc. INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY.

SUBMITTED

TO

MR. KARANJA PETER

(Process Manager)

CC TO MR. NARESH.

(Assistant Process Manager)

12TH OCTOBER -31ST DECEMBER, 2016

 TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................ iv
LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................................. iv
APPROVAL ............................................................................................................................................ v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ...................................................................................................................... vi
ACRONYMS ......................................................................................................................................... vii
ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1
1.1. TCL Location and Historical background................................................................................ 1
1.2. The cement process .................................................................................................................. 1
CHAPTER TWO: RAW MATERIALS AND RAW MATERIAL PREPARATION ............................ 4
2.1. Sources of raw materials and concepts of quarrying..................................................................... 4
2.2. The crushers, and size reduction ................................................................................................... 4
2.3. Pile preparation and pre-blending ................................................................................................. 5
CHAPTER THREE: RAW MILLING. ................................................................................................... 6
3.1. Weigh feeders, raw mix ratios and calibration.............................................................................. 6
3.2. Operation, material and hot gases flow ......................................................................................... 7
3.3. The closed-circuit mill .................................................................................................................. 8
3.4. Grinding aid .................................................................................................................................. 8
3.5. Mill type / charge / capacity and separator types .......................................................................... 8
3.6. KPIs............................................................................................................................................... 9
CHAPTER FOUR: BLENDING SILO AND HOMOGENIZATION .................................................. 10
4.1. Operation..................................................................................................................................... 10
4.2. Silo type, dimensions and capacity. ............................................................................................ 10
4.3. Blending and extraction .............................................................................................................. 11
4.4. Material flow sheet...................................................................................................................... 11
4.5. Homogeneity factor..................................................................................................................... 11
CHAPTER FIVE: COAL MILLING AND STORAGE ........................................................................ 12
5.1. TCL coal mill and its operation .................................................................................................. 12
5.2. Coal fineness ............................................................................................................................... 12
5.3. Coal firing /fuels ......................................................................................................................... 13

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 5.4. KPIs............................................................................................................................................. 13
5.5. Nitrogen PSA plant, fire risks ..................................................................................................... 13
CHAPTER SIX: PREHEATING TECHNOLOGY ............................................................................... 15
6.1. TCL Preheater and its operation ................................................................................................. 15
6.2. Preheater efficiency..................................................................................................................... 17
6.3. Cyclone temperature and draft profile ........................................................................................ 17
6.4. Heat exchange, hot gases and material flow ............................................................................... 18
6.5. Pressure drops and heat losses .................................................................................................... 18
6.6. Cyclone dimensions, and separation ........................................................................................... 19
6.7. The Preheater fan ........................................................................................................................ 19
CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ROTARY KILN AND CLINKERING OPERATION. .............................. 20
7.1. TCL rotary kiln and its operation. ............................................................................................... 20
7.2. 4sp and other kiln types .............................................................................................................. 20
7.3. Material flow and clinker ............................................................................................................ 21
Formation of the Minerals in the Kiln................................................................................................ 22
7.4. Burner momentum/flames ........................................................................................................... 22
7.5. Burner pipe design/ fuels ............................................................................................................ 23
7.6. Raw meal to clinker factor .......................................................................................................... 25
7.7. Kiln brick work and brick wear .................................................................................................. 25
7.8. Kiln seals, tires, rollers and shell radiations ................................................................................ 25
7.9. KPIs............................................................................................................................................. 26
CHAPTER EIGHT: CLINKER COOLING. ......................................................................................... 27
8.1. TCL cooler and its operation. ..................................................................................................... 27
8.2. Cooler types and Dimensions...................................................................................................... 27
8.3. Clinker cooling and heat recuperation ........................................................................................ 28
8.4. Heat losses and secondary air temperature ................................................................................. 29
CHAPTER NINE: POLLUTION CONTROL BY BAG HOUSE AND ESP. ...................................... 30
9.1. TCL bag house and its operation ................................................................................................ 30
9.2. Pollution control and dust collection........................................................................................... 30
9.3. Bag filters, types, and application. .............................................................................................. 31
9.4. ESP power supply and control .................................................................................................... 31
9.5. Material, gas, and heat balance ................................................................................................... 32

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CHAPTER TEN: CEMENT MILLING, STORAGE AND DESPATCH. ............................................ 33
10.1. The cement mills at Tororo cement limited. ............................................................................. 33
10.2. Mill operation, material and hot gases. ..................................................................................... 34
10.3. Clinker storage and feeding. ..................................................................................................... 34
10.4. Material ratios and weigh feeder calibration ............................................................................. 35
10.5. Cement milling.......................................................................................................................... 35
10.6. Packaging plant and cement despatch. ...................................................................................... 36
CHAPTER ELEVEN: QUALITY SECTION AT TORORO CEMENT LIMITED ............................. 37
11.1. Raw materials quality specification .......................................................................................... 37
11.2. Raw mix, clinker, and cement quality ....................................................................................... 37
11.3. Sampling and sampling points .................................................................................................. 38
11.4. XRF analytical methods ............................................................................................................ 39
11.5. Other laboratory equipment ...................................................................................................... 39
11.6. Quality control and assurance. .................................................................................................. 40
CHAPTER TWELEVE: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................ 41
REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................... 43

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 TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Process flow diagram ............................................................................................................... 3
Figure 2: Organization structure of Tororo Cement Limited ................................................................... 3
Figure 3: Material flow around the raw mill silo ................................................................................... 11
Figure 4: Flow diagram of the preheater at Tororo cement limited. ...................................................... 16
Figure 5: Material and energy balances around the rotary kiln.............................................................. 24

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Dimensions of the preheater cyclones at TCL ......................................................................... 19
Table 2: Raw mix quality components................................................................................................... 37

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 APPROVAL

I do approve that this report has been composed on my own after 12 weeks of on-job training
at Tororo Cement Limited. The information putdown encircles the cement plant activities and
the research based on written cement theory.

Signature…………………………..

Date……………………………….

Mr. MATEGE. Julius.

Signature………………………….

Date…………………………………

Mr. KARANJA PETER

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In the very first place, offer my thanks to God for this achievement. I would like to express
my sincere gratitude the entire production staff of Tororo cement limited for their continual
sharing of knowledge and experience at work. That has helped me figure out the focus areas
for my training.

I extend great appreciations to CCR operators who have always listened to my ideas,
embracing some and criticizing others as well as welcoming my questions with willingness to
help. Special thanks go to Mr. Opio Samson for officially witnessing my employment contract
with Tororo cement limited. In the same way, I would like to honor Mr. Olinga Vincent, who
has helped me understand better the cement process.

On another special note still, I extend a vote of thanks to Mr. Karanja Peter, for challenging
and correcting this report. Against the background of his devotion, knowledge, skills and help
he rendered to me during this season of training, I thank him.

Sincere thanks goes to my beloved family and my lovely fiancée Immaculate. Your
encouragement towards my employment is worth. Thanks a lot for giving me financial
support in due time, showing me love, care, and positive words during hard times. May the
Lord, God bless you abundantly!

Finally, I wish to thank my fellow my fellow trainees; Mr. Olupoti Nicholas and Mr. Mukoli
Denis, you’re very smart! Thank you for sharing with all you know and all life has revealed to
you. I will always keep good memories about our time at Tororo cement limited.

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 ACRONYMS
BDC: Bug Dust Collector

BC: Belt Conveyor

BE: Bucket Elevator

LD: Loader dampers

I.C= In Charge

MKT= Marketing

MAN= Manager

SEC= Security

FIN= Finance

T= Training

S&W= Safety and Welfare

HOD= Head of Department

ELEC= Electrical

MEC= Mechanical

P&ACC= INS= Instrumentation

S. = Steel

P. =Packing

GAR = Garage

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 ABSTRACT

Cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently and can bind other
materials together. Cements can be characterized as being either hydraulic or non-hydraulic.
This report is focuses on hydraulic cement, for example Portland cement, which hardens
because of hydration chemical reaction between the anhydrous cement powder and water.
Thus they can harden underwater or when constantly exposed to wet weather. The chemical
reaction results in hydrates that are not very water soluble and so are quite durable in water.
The most important uses of cement are found in production of mortar, and of concrete, a
combination of cement and an aggregate to form a strong building material.

Cement manufacture can either by dry process or wet process. The raw materials for either
processes differ by quantity of moisture contained but carry the same chemical components.
That is limestone and shale respectively. Tororo cement limited is using a dry process to
convert limestone into cement.

Cement plant operation all entails to cement kiln which converts the raw mix to semi-product,
clinker. The different unit operations and unit processes like calcination, melting, heating and
cooling should be subjected to control as they determine the production volumes. A good
operation should be able to protect the personnel and equipment, ensure stability for a long
period of time, quality production and optimization of production with minimum possible
consumption. Hence efficiency. The key performance indicators for the kiln and mills require
attention during the operation exercise in order to observe the above four qualities of a good
plant operation.

In this report, all relevant stages involved in a cement process are discussed in relation to
Tororo cement process and literature review, thus text books and trusted cement websites. The
nature of training mostly involved observations, interactions, and field activities including
operation plus quality control duties. The report is enriched with chapters capturing the
various production areas of interest with a few necessary drawings and illustrations to enhance
understanding.

viii
 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1.TCL Location and Historical background
Tororo cement limited is located in the Eastern part of Uganda about 230 kilometers from the
capital city, Kampala. It is 10 kilometers to the Uganda-Kenya border town of Malaba. Access
from Kampala is by all whether tarmac road and railway. The factory is well served with
infrastructure such as road and railway. The railway siding from Tororo main station serves
the factory’s main areas of production of cement, iron sheets, wire products and raw materials.

The company of Tororo cement limited was established in 1952 by British colonial
government to manufacture cement from the abundantly available limestone in the area
(Tororo). The company known as the Uganda cement industries (UCI) was administered as
Parastal Company, under the umbrella of Uganda development corporation (UDC). In
1995,the government of Uganda, divested from UCI, which was acquired by the present
owner who re-branded the company as Tororo cement limited(TCL) .The share stock of
Tororo cement limited are privately held currently after it was privatized. Tororo cement
limited is the largest manufacture of cement in Uganda in cement production. Besides cement
TCL also manufactures steel products used in the construction industry, including steel bars,
galvanized fence wires, corrugated sheets and nails among other items.

Vision

Strive to exceed the expectations of our valid customers through sustainable growth and high
valid performance.

Mission

To produce and market consistent valid building material with force effectiveness and to build
customer confidence by meeting the requirements with increased market share and a safe
healthy work environment for our employees.

1.2.The cement process

The raw materials of limestone, clay, sandstone, and pozzolana are readily available in the
neighboring areas of the plant. Gypsum, bauxite, plus grinding aid, are imported. The sources
of power and heat energy are hydroelectricity power (HEP) and coal, which is used in the

1
burning of the raw meal into clinker in the kiln. Diesel is another fuel used in the lighting of
the kiln before coal is introduced. The two fuels are also imported. Limestone (calcium
carbonate) and other materials containing appropriate proportions of calcium, silicon,
aluminium, and iron oxides are crushed and milled to a fine flour-like raw meal. This is
heated in a kiln, first to dissociate calcium carbonate to calcium oxide with the evolution of
carbon dioxide, and then to react calcium oxide with the other components to form calcium
silicates and aluminates. The two are partially fused at material burning temperatures up to
1450̊ ⁰C. The reaction products exit the kiln as a black nodular material, clinker. The clinker is
finally inter-ground with a small proportion of gypsum (to control the rate of hydration)
yielding a fine product which is referred to as cement. The raw materials such as limestone,
clay were pre-blended and homogenized which is done by further reducing quantity variation
from the quarry. Stacking and reclaiming are done to ensure homogenization of the raw
materials and are further grinded in the ball raw mill to increase surface area of the raw
material for proper heat transfer in the pre-heater. This also ensures correct potential
chemistry of the clinker. The raw meal from the ball raw mill is fed through the pre-heater to
ensure decomposition of limestone to lime and removal of absorbent water in the raw material
which is thereafter fed in the kiln as kiln feed for Clinkerization. The clinker that’s produced
is grounded in a given proportion to produce the two types of cement at TCL namely the OPC
(ordinary Portland cement) and the PPC (Portland pozzolana cement).

2
Figure 1: Process flow diagram (Extracted from CEMEX HANDBOOK pg.1)

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

MKT MKT I.C I.C I.C MAN MAN PLANT

HRM K’LA T’RO CIVIL STORE SEC FIN MAN
PUR
I.C MED CARE

HOD P. PLANT
HOD S. PLANT

PRODUCTION
HOD P & ACC
HOD MINES

HOD ELEC

HOD GAR
HOD MEC
I.C S & W

HOD INS

MAN
I.C T

Figure 2: Organization structure of Tororo Cement Limited

3
 CHAPTER TWO: RAW MATERIALS AND RAW MATERIAL
PREPARATION
2.1. Sources of raw materials and concepts of quarrying
Limestone which is the major raw material is extracted from the Tororo quarry and the
Amudat quarry in Karamoja by blasting the rock. It is thereafter tested to validate that the
rocks has the desired calcium carbonate content before being brought to the factory by dump
tracks. For purposes of effective blasting, explosive chemicals like ammonium nitrate are
used.

Pozzolana is extracted from Mt Elgon area and so is iron ore and clay though the later is
tested to determine whether it has the required silica content. Gypsum is a natural form of
calcium, which occurs as dehydrated calcium sulphate. (CaSO4.2H2O). Addition of raw material serves
a role of regulating setting time of cement. This is possible due to its water of hydration which renders
it a lower affinity for water. This material is imported. Other than limestone and pozzolana, clay,
sandstone, and iron ore also constitute the mix of raw materials.

2.2. The crushers, and size reduction

The crusher machine used is of Impact type with hammer mills which is the preferred type for
limestone with up to about 12% moisture content. This allows reduction ratios up to 80:1.
Within the quarry (TCL) are two crushers that serve to reduce material size. A crushing
machine consists of primary and secondary crusher, screening station, material storage section
and the conveyor system for material transport. The stones are put on the hoppers which are
down ward slopping by the use of trucks and they proceeded to the apron feeder which as flat
to control the rapid flow of the bolted stones into the primary crusher. The primary crusher
breaks the stones by means of the teeth against the mantle which when reduced to the required
sizes below 30 millimeters. The oversized particles are conveyed into the secondary crusher
which is a hammer mill closed circuit with a double check that finally produces a 10 mm
diameter. This reduced particles are driven into the cute, and onto the belt conveyor to
transport them to the banker in form of piles. During crushing, water addition is a requirement
to ease the crushing and absorb dust as well. For effective milling, the relation average
particle size should be ¼ the size of the largest grinding media (steel ball for a ball mill).
Monitoring of crusher operation is effected by controlling the following factors:
Production rate (tones/hour)

4
 Operating time (hours)
Involuntary downtime (hours)
Feed moisture (as a percentage)
The well reduced particles are transported to the stacker/reclaimer house for Preblending.

2.3. Pile preparation and pre-blending

The materials from the crusher are taken to the reclaimer and stacker yard by trucks. The
recipient hopper has an apron feeder at the bottom so that the discharged material can be
conveyed along belt BC-1A and BC-1B to BC-2 to stacker machine. Tis machine bends the
material before delivering to the boom conveyor. The boom conveyor makes two chevlin piles
of different materials (6000T per pile). This process is called pre-homogenization and these
piles are the stored materials.

The reclaimer machine consists of a halo pane, chain scrappers and bucket scrappers. The halo
pane brings the material nearer to the bucket while the bucket scrappers scoop materials. Any
material carried by scrapper buckets is poured into BC-3 or BC-4 depending on whether the
direction or position of the reclaimer machine. It carries the mixture of clay, low grade or
high-grade limestone through a system of conveyor discharge into a cute then to BC-5 to BC-
6 along which there was an electrical magnetic separator which removed all magnetic
materials. Material then goes to BC-7. This is sub-divided into two; BC-7A and BC-7B. BC-
7A discharges into two hoppers, one for high grade limestone and the other for low grade
limestone using forward and reverse mode respectively. And BC-7B discharges into two
hoppers, one for clay and the other for fluorspar using reverse and forward mode respectively.

5
 CHAPTER THREE: RAW MILLING.
The premixed raw materials are temporarily kept in hoppers 1, 2, 3 and 4 although the fourth
hopper us currently not under use. The first two hoppers store limestone mix of both high
grade and low grade. The third hopper stores silica containing material which can be either
clay or sand stone for supplementation purposes. At the cutes of these hoppers are weigh belt
feeders where the tonnage weight of the flowing material is taken into account.

3.1. Weigh feeders, raw mix ratios and calibration

A weigh feeder is a machine that is used to measure the amount of materials flowing per
given time. Therefore, weigh feeders measure the amount of material that enter the raw mill.
For a good raw feed, below are the mix ratios and their significance.

Silica ratio (SR)

This is an indication of raw-mix burnability. When this ratio goes high, it results into hard
burning. This is because of the very high melting pint of silica that is in existence against
negligible melting pint lowering of the few existing alumina and iron. Eventually, the hard
burning leads to flashing of the rotary kiln. SR is mathematically described by the equation
below.

SiO 2
SR 
Al 2O3  Fe 2O3

Alumina ratio (A/F)

This ratio increases the speed of reaction between lime and silica. It should also be controlled
with care; when it is very high, there is much liquid phase and so unnecessarily larger
granules of clinker are formed. These granules have a destructive impact on the liner bricks of
the rotary kiln and even the clinker cooler. Moreover, a high ratio of A/F is associated with
flash setting of cement due to high C3A minerals. A/F ratio is described mathematically by
the equation below.

Al 2O3
A/F 
Fe 2O3

6
Lime saturation factor (LSF).

This has a relationship with combinability (C3S) and dificulty to burning (free lime). The higher the
LSF value, the more ther combinabilty and also the more the free lime.

𝐶𝑎𝑂 𝑥 100
LSF=
2.8 𝑆𝑖𝑂2+1.18 𝐴𝑙2𝑂3+0.65 𝐹𝑒2𝑂3

In order to obtain a good level of raw mix for C3S, fineness, uniformity, presence of
mineralizers (Alumina, iron), and accepting some C2S are key since total combination is
hardly achievable.

Calibration

The calibration exercise performed on the weigh feeders is purposed to prepare the devices for
accurate operation. Calibration can be done by running some quantity of material on the
feeders, collecting it and weighting it again. This enables comparison of the weighed results
and the feeder reading.

3.2. Operation, material and hot gases flow

In order for material to be a kiln feed for clinkerization it must be finely ground so as to
increase the surface area of the material and therefore to ease heat transfer. This kind of
grinding is done in the raw mill. In a ball raw mill, various sizes of the steel balls were aligned
for impact range from 80mm-20mm in diameter and the bigger ones were always at the mill
inlet and smaller balls were near the mill outlet. The inside wall was made of classifying liners
made of steel. Size reduction is done in the region with bigger balls and finish grinding in the
region with small balls usually at the diaphragm end. The fine material of specific surface area
is the sucked by a fan, and then elevated up for separation. The ball mill are works on three
principals; arm of gravity, ball charge and centrifugal force. The mechanism of grinding is a
combination of compressive forces and attraction forces between the balls and material as
they both fall together during the mill rotation/drive. In most cases, the raw materials contain
a certain moisture content from the stacker/reclaimer house. Ball mills can handle material of
up to 8% aggregate moisture content. This is only possible when the mill is equipped with a
drying compartment or adequately air swept with hot gas (2.5-3.5M/sec above the ball

7
charge). The hot gases therefore are allowed to enter concurrently with material although
turbulence is effected as the mill rotates.

3.3. The closed-circuit mill

In this system, all ground materials are led into a separator and classified into refined powder
(products) and coarse powder (return powder). The coarse powder is recycled back into the ball mill
for regrinding with newly-fed raw materials, whereas the powder product is taken into silos for
storage. This kind of technology is associated with the following advantages: Grinding capacity
increases, grain size distribution of refined powder becomes sharp, refined powder temperature is
reduced, power consumption rate decreases, and the abrasion of liners and balls is suppressed.

3.4. Grinding aid

The process of feeding the raw mill with the material is done with addition of grinding aid that
helps in the binding smaller particles in bigger ones for grinding (agglomeration of small
particles reduced). Use of grinding aid is a preventive measure for agglomerations of material
during material flow. The grinding aid (flosper) being used is tetraethyl ammine.

3.5. Mill type / charge / capacity and separator types

In general, there are two types of mills that is the ball mill and roller press mill. Roller mills
can typically handle raw materials with an aggregate moisture of up to 15%, while the ball
mills up to 8%. Normally, drying is effected by ducting part of the kiln exhaust gas through
the mill with inlet temperatures of up to 300oC. It follows that a high drying requirement may
be inconsistent with maximizing the thermal efficiency of the kiln; generally five and six
stage preheaters are only employed where subsequent drying by the exhaust gas is minimal. In
the same ways, separators are of two types; the static and dynamic separators. The later has
cyclones in the periphery and a separator fan plus a rotating element in the center causing the
centrifugal force. Hence the principle of centrifugation. The separator fan distributes fine
(light) material into the cyclones while the coarse (heavy) material falls off at the center for
recycling. Charge F, of a mill is the grinding capacity of a mill. It takes into account the
amount of grinding media capable of causing the grinding impact and it is a function of
specific charge, bulk weight and volume of the compartment of that mill. Capacity as used in
mills refers to the amount of material that can be ground by a mill in a given period of time. In
summary, Tororo cement limited is using a ball type of raw mill, it has dimensioned 3.8m

8
(diameter) by 7.0m (length) with 80TPH (capacity), 770T (ball charge) and a dynamic
separator situated above.

3.6. KPIs
KPIs are key performance indicators. At raw mill unit, performance can be indicated by the
temperatures of raw mix exiting the mill, speed of rotation of the raw mill, raw mill down
time, and charge, power consumption of the raw mill. And the amount coarse material in the
recycle stream.

9
 CHAPTER FOUR: BLENDING SILO AND HOMOGENIZATION
The blending silo at TCL is a turbulent continuous flow silo with a capacity of 5000 metric
tons, and dimensions of 32m by 10.7m. It has two routers that keep blowing air through the
falling material and cause good turbulence. Hence effecting the blending exercise. In its
design, the silo has six extraction gates named A, B, C, D, E and F that connect each to an air
slide. The air slides converge at a cute in the center. The gates are set to operate in a
programmable logical control (PLC). This control allows two opposite gates to open at once
while closing the four. Gate A, opened with D, B, opens with E and C, opens with F, for
extraction of material. The cone shaped bottom of this silo provides a good repose angle that
aids material flow into the gates. The extracted material then moves with air as the medium of
transfer (through air slide) to the bucket elevator and finally to the feed bin for temporal
storage before preheating. This kind of design ensures homogeneity even during material
extraction.

4.1. Operation
Turbulent mixing can be operated batch-wise or continuously. The former involves either a
filling cycle corrected progressively to average the target mix, or a sequence of filling,
mixing, sampling and analyzing, correcting, remixing, and then feeding to kiln. Continuous
blending involves simultaneous feeding of the silo, and discharge to preheater.

4.2. Silo type, dimensions and capacity.

There are two major types of silos for blending purposes that is turbulence mixture and
controlled flow. In turbulence type, the material is tumbled about by the injection of high
volume air through air-pads on the silo floor while in controlled flow, sequenced light aeration
of segments of air-pads cause layers of material in the silo to blend by differential rates.
Controlled flow silos may have multiple discharge chutes, or an inverted cone over a center
discharge within which the meal is fluidized. Compressor power consumption is
approximately 1.5 - 2.5kWh/t for turbulent mixing (air merge) and yet for controlled flow,
inverted cone can consume 0.25 to 0.50kWh/t whereas multi outlet consume 0.10 to
0.13kWh/t according to Bartholomew; ICR; 9/1995, pg. 66. For a more stable and
economical silo construction, the ratio of diameter to height is 1:3. Capacity varies from silo
to silo as a function of the silo dimensions.

10
4.3. Blending and extraction
Modern blending silos are generally of continuous, controlled flow type with each silo having
capacity of more than 24 hours kiln feed and yielding a blending ratio of 3-5; older silos are
more like 2-3. Note that a given silo will show a lower blending efficiency if the feed is itself
consistent. Apart from power savings, the effective capacity of a CF silo is some 20% greater
due to the higher bulk density of meal which is not heavily aerated. Blending silos should be
monitored by blending ratio (silo feed/silo product) and compressor power draw (kWh/ton).

4.4. Material flow sheet

Feed
Storage Bin
To preheater

Bucket Bucket
elevator Blending elevator
silo

From raw mill

separator

Figure 3: Material flow around the raw mill silo

4.5. Homogeneity factor
Homogeneity factor accounts for the even mixing of the raw mix in relation to a given
reference material or chemical component. Mathematically, it is described by the equation
below.

Hf = Q.[(Si2 – Y2) / (So2 – Y2)] Where, Hf is homogeneity factor for material of quantity Q.

Y is the standard deviation of attributable analysis errors.

Si and So are the standard deviations of the silo feed and discharge respectively.

For silo efficiency, the homogeneity factor should be at a value of 5 and above.

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 CHAPTER FIVE: COAL MILLING AND STORAGE
5.1. TCL coal mill and its operation
The working mechanism of the coal mill at Tororo cement limited has a rated capacity of
14TPH. The design parameters of this mill include dimensions of length 6.32m and diameter
2.6m, mill fan flow is 52800 m3/hr., fan pressure is 600mmWG, maximum temperature is
130oC. Being a ball type, the mill is not different from that of any other ball mills as raw mill
and cement mill. Material that comes from the coal yard is stored in a bin above the mill.
Before the material enters the mill, it goes through a weigh feeder so that the exact amount of
coal is established. Material is conveyed to a hopper that leads to the mill inlet. Also coming
into the inlet are hot gases coming from the preheater into the first chamber of the coal mill.
The role of the hot gases is to dry the coal and to facilitate the flow of material through the
mill. There is a diaphragm that separates the two chambers. Material passes through the
diaphragm and moves to the grinding chamber where there is grinding media of various sizes.
The balls range in size from 20mm to 50mm. The larger balls are responsible for size
reduction while the smaller ones for fine grinding. The combined effort of a fan and the hot
gases moves the material to a separator. The smaller particles are conveyed to another storage
bin while the larger particles return via a screw conveyor to the mill for further grinding.
Material from the storage bin flows to the kiln by the force of the Pfister which provides
velocity and controls the flow of the coal. The thrust from the air blowers provides an
additional force for the transportation of the coal through a pipe to the kiln for firing.

5.2. Coal fineness

The specific surface area of coal is important in the burning of clinker. If coal is very coarse, it
can result into incomplete combustion of the fuel. Hence generation a lot of carbon monoxide.
Also, a lot of air would be required in such a scenario. The kind of flame produced then
becomes really weak and the kiln is liable to quench. Therefore, coal should be milled to as
much fineness as possible.

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5.3. Coal firing /fuels
Coal firing on rotary kilns is done either by direct, semi direct or indirect fired systems. In a
direct –fire system, the coal is first dried, ground and immediately conveyed into the burning
zone for firing. This system is easier to control, and safer but it has a challenge that too much
cold primary air is required to effect the firing. This makes the direct system inefficient s
compared to the indirect system. In the indirect coal firing system, the coal is dried and
ground in a mill that is separate from the kiln. The ground coal is stored in a large silo from
where it is withdrawn at metered rates to the primary air pipe. In this system, the mill doesn’t
have to run all the time as the silo may have sufficient stock of coal for a long time. The other
advantage is that the system can be used to fire two kilns using the same mill. There are two
sources of energy used for combustion in the kiln at TCL. Diesel is used during the start of
the combustion process in the kiln because it has a higher calorific value than coal. After a
temperature of about 700oC is achieved, coal is slowly introduced, a process known as coal
firing. Both diesel and coal are fed to the kiln through a burner pipe.

5.4. KPIs
There are a number of checks and balances that have been put in place to ensure that the coal
mill is running at its optimum capacity. These are;

 The output of the coal mill

 Its power consumption
 The fineness of the coal that has been milled
 The rate of wear of the charge

5.5. Nitrogen PSA plant, fire risks and mitigation

The adsorption gas separation process in nitrogen generators is based on the

phenomenon of fixing various gas mixture components by a solid substance called an
adsorbent. The process is brought about by the interaction of the gas and adsorbent
molecules. This technology is very useful for producing high purity nitrogen. The
operating principle of a nitrogen generator utilizing the adsorption technology is based
upon the adsorption rates featured by various gas mixture components upon
temperature and pressure factors.

13
  The biggest advantage of the PSA technology is its ability to produce high
purity Nitrogen, up to 99.9995%.
 The operating costs of this type of technology are much lower. The net cost of
nitrogen produced by nitrogen generators is significantly lower than the cost of
bottled or liquefied nitrogen.
 Generating nitrogen is a sustainable, environmentally friendly and energy
efficient approach to providing pure, clean and dry nitrogen gas.

There is a fire risk that is associated with fine coal. To ensure that this hazard is well
mitigated, Nitrogen gas is pumped to the fine coal storage bin. Nitrogen has properties that
help prevent coal from burning.

Initially carbon monoxide was used to serve the same purpose but it proved to be too costly to
sustain.

Due to the abundance of Nitrogen in atmospheric air, separation of Nitrogen from the rest of
gases and storage on site proved to be less costly than the alternative.

14
 CHAPTER SIX: PREHEATING TECHNOLOGY
6.1. TCL Preheater and its operation
Tororo cement limited is using a single stringed four stage cyclone preheater system that is
suspended and targeted to achieve a conversion of over 40% of the raw feed (80 TPH) to
clinker. The inner walls of the cyclones were designed /aligned with refractory bricks which
were able to withstand high temperature and absorb heat.

The preheater has a solid flow meter which measures the amount of preheater (kiln) feed
being fed per unit time (flow rate). There is a by-pass which provides an alternative route if
the main route to the solid flow meter is blocked. The meal is fed downwards so as to fall on
the dispersion plate inside the riser duct and disperses by aid of the hot gases.

This aids material transport through the cyclones, riser ducts and even feeder pipes. The feed
from the feed bin is divided between cyclone one (twine cyclones 1a and 1B). The twine
cyclones feed cyclone three while cyclone two feeds cyclone four. The preheater ID fan that
ran at speeds ranging between 150-900rpm.

The blasters use compressed air at high pressure to push down the solid material stacked on
the walls downwards. Hence periodic cleaning of the system.

In the pre-heater, the four major chemical processes that occur in down the preheating
operation include; evaporation of free water (>100oC), evolution of combined water (>400oC),
calcination (>800oC) and some clinkerization (>900oC).

15
 PH exhaust
350oC
750mmWG

Twine Cyclones
o (1A & 1B)
Feed (50 C)

550oC
500mmWG (320oC)

700oC
300mmWG
Cyclone 2
Hot gases through
riser ducts

(500oC)

900oC
150mmWG Cyclone 3

(670oC)

Cyclone 4
Material flow through
feeder pipes

1000oC
Kiln inlet 50mmWG
(860oC)

Rotary Kiln

Figure 4: Flow diagram of the preheater at Tororo cement limited.

16
6.2. Preheater efficiency
Preheater efficiency can be best described as the preheater ability to convert the fed raw mix
into clinker with the minimum possible heat energy supply. In order to achieve this efficiency
the material flow down the preheater should be delayed as much as possible thus allowing
more contact time for material with heat. There are three major factors that affect the
preheater efficiency

Precalcination. Precalcination is the addition of a second firing point and combustion

chamber at the base of the preheater with separate ducting of hot air from the clinker cooler
through a “tertiary” air duct. This system allows an approximate doubling of production from
a given rotary kiln size. A preheater system with a precalciner therefore is more energy
efficient than that without the precalciner. Most precalciner preheater systems are capable of
achieving up to 90% while preheaters without precalciner can only achieve up to 40%
conversion of raw mix to clinker.
Number of stage cyclones in the system. Preheater efficiency increases with increasing
number of stage cyclones, and the opposite is true for decreasing number of cyclones. For
example, TCL preheater (4stage) is more efficient than a three stage cyclone system.

Number of strings in the system. Preheater system can be single stringed, double stringed,
triple or even quadruple stringed systems. A single stringed preheater system is less efficient
than a double stringed preheater system.

6.3. Cyclone temperature and draft profile

The temperature profile generally increases down the preheater tower. The hot gases sucked
by the PH fan introduce high temperatures which keep on decreasing upwards on meeting
cooler material as detected by thermocouples. In each cyclone, the temperature is dependent
on three factors.

To start with, the kiln firing (TPH of coal) has a directly proportional relationship with the
temperatures of the preheater cyclones keeping other factors constant. Secondly, increasing
feed rate is associated with temperature drop inside the cyclones if the firing is kept constant.
This is because there is much of the low temperature material against a small quantity of heat
energy. The other factor is speed of the preheater fan (rpm). Supposing the kiln firing and feed

17
rate to preheater are maintained, increasing the PH fan speed causes a temperature raise along
the preheater tower. This is due to the fact that more heat is introduced into the cyclones
through the sucked gases.

The draft profile generally decreases down the preheater. The PH fan introduces this draft
from the top and it can be increased in the preheater cyclones increases by increasing PH fan
speed and kiln firing as these two are associated with pressure raise. Likewise the temperature
profile, the draft profile decreases with increasing feed rate to the preheater if all other factors
are kept constant.

6.4. Heat exchange, hot gases and material flow

Heat exchange is achieved by the contact of material and heat flowing in a countercurrent
flow within the preheater cyclones. The hot gases from the kiln rise upwards (860oC-350oC)
from cyclone 4 to the twine cyclones at Tororo cement limited. These lose their heat energy to
the material that enters the preheater at about and flowing downwards. In the same way, the
material fed keeps on gaining the heat energy and its temperature raising (50oC-.860oC) down
the preheater.

6.5. Pressure drops and heat losses

Pressure drops in the preheater are associated with leakages in the feeder pipes, riser ducts or
even the unnecessary opening of the cyclones. Lowering of the PH fan does cause pressure
drops since the sucking force weakens. Another factor that can result into pressure drops is
blockages. These can be in the feeder pipes or rise ducts whereby flow is interrupted. In the
same way, these blockages and leakages can as well result into heat losses. Since the preheater
heat is only introduced by the hot gases from the kiln, decreasing the kiln firing (TPH of coal)
is causes heat losses along the preheater.

18
6.6. Cyclone dimensions, and separation
For efficient preheater designing, cyclone dimensions increase down the preheater. This
ensures increasing heating in the downer cyclones as the heating space grows bigger. Taking
an example of Tororo cement preheater, the above statement can be illustrated by the
dimensions in the table below.

NO ITEM Radius, r Height, h

1 CY 1A 1.475 7.775
2 CY 1B 1.475 7.775
3 CY 2 2.5 8.15
4 CY 3 2.5 9.05
5 CY 4 2.5 9.15
Table 1: Dimensions of the preheater cyclones at TCL

Separation in the preheater cyclones occurs due to the centripetal force caused by the raising
gases. The force concentrates in the center of the cyclone and only finer particles are kept
around the center. At the walls of the cyclones are the coarse particles. This kind of separation
helps in enhancing homogenization and the well homogenized mix is all moved down to the
kiln inlet.

6.7. The Preheater fan

All kilns, by definition, have a capacity limitation or “bottleneck” (according to Sec 14.4 of
CEMEX), which is most commonly the preheater induced draft (ID) fan. Increasing fan
capacity is always possible but may lead to excessive pressure drop or inadequate dust
collection. Nevertheless, it is an alternative which may be cost effective, as it is described in
most subchapters here.

19
CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ROTARY KILN AND CLINKERING OPERATION.

7.1. TCL rotary kiln and its operation.

Tororo cement limited uses a four stage preheater rotary kiln system whose dimensions are
54m by 4m in length and diameter respectively. The kiln has got 3 kiln tires and rollers that
aid rotation, support, and positioning of the kiln. It also has 2 seals from either ends for false
air elimination. It has got a refractory lining of bricks composing silica and alumina
compounds to safeguard the kiln shell. The main drive is rated 190KW by 1600RPM DC (kiln
speed 2.25rpm). The kiln capacity is 1080TPD of clinker, with a raw meal to clinker ratio of
1.55. Based on this ratio, the feed rate can be approximated to 70TPH. This rate however is
hardly achieved mainly due to raw material chemistry resulting from low quality of limestone
in the quarry. On average, 40% conversion of raw mix to clinker is achieved in the preheater
whereas the 60% is achieved in the kiln. The major source of heat energy is coal, and diesel
which is used to light the kiln. The maximum temperature inside the kiln should not exceed
1450oC for good refractory service life, shell protection, and good product quality (liter
weight of 1150-1400L/wt.). TCL kiln has a residence time ranging between 45-60minutes.
This is the time it takes from the time feed is introduced in preheater to the time it drops into
the cooler as clinker. There is a negative draft as result of PH fan outweighing the ESP fan.
This draft is what enables secondary air to flow upwards through the preheater system.
The three common techniques for burning clinker in the rotary kiln involve the following:
 Maintaining a constant kiln speed while varying the fuel rate to counteract the
temperature changes in the burning zone.
 Maintaining a constant fuel rate while varying the kiln speed to hold the burning zone
temperature at the desired label.

 Varying the kiln speed, the fuel rate or both to maintain the desired burning zone
temperature.

7.2. 4sp and other kiln types

The kiln at Tororo cement limited is a suspended 4 stage preheater system. This system can be
modified to five stage or even six stage based on the heating requirements and target
temperature of the hot gases. This type of kiln is related to the grate preheater kiln.
Grate Preheater Kiln

20
Polybius introduced this system during the 1930s and achieved a dramatic reduction in
specific fuel consumption from the wet process. Nodulized feed is conveyed on a travelling
grate through which the hot kiln exhaust gas is passed, originally once but, in a later
development, twice. The material was preheated to approximately 900oC before entering the
kiln while the exhaust gas was cooled to below 1500oC, humidified for dust collection, and
filtered by the material bed to a low dust concentration. The other kiln types include long wet
kilns, long dry kilns and vertical shaft kilns.
Long Wet Kiln
Long wet kilns were predominant until the appearance of cyclone preheaters in the 1950s.
They are now obsolescent though they may still justify their existence in areas where market
demands are only a small production capacity, and where fuel is cheap.
Long Dry Kiln
Long dry kilns differ from wet kilns primarily in raw grinding, handling and in their lower
specific fuel consumption. They have curtain chain systems inside for heat exchange and dust
detrainment rather than for conveying. Usually, 6-7 diameters of curtain chain are employed
below about 2 diameters of bare shell at the feed end; approximately half is hung in rings
perpendicular to the kiln axis and the lower half is hung in a spiral arrangement.
Vertical Shaft Kilns
Shaft kilns originally constituted the only available technology from the beginnings of lime
burning which can be traced at least to Greece in the 5th century BC. Since the beginning of
the 20th century they have been largely superseded by rotary kilns. Traditional shaft kilns
were basically holes in the ground using mixtures of un-ground feed roughly mixed with solid
fuel and burned in batches with natural draft. The lack of feed homogeneity together with
non-uniform ventilation gave rise to widely varying temperature and oxidizing conditions so
that quality was low and erratic.

7.3. Material flow and clinker burning

Material flow involves the chemical reactions that led to the formation of clinker which is the
major component of cement. Clinker contains minerals that are not real compounds but form
as a result of solid and liquid phases combining together.

21
The important oxides, lime and silica have high melting points therefore iron and Alumina
help to bring about fluxing during clinkering. Fluxing is the lowering of the melting points of
calcium oxide and silicate by addition of aluminium oxide and iron oxide since calcium oxide
and silicates had melting points of about 2000 0C and 3000 0C respectively. The fluxing is
necessary since the kiln has a maximum of 1500 0C of heat produced.

Iron and Alumina melt very fast to form liquid phase which makes it easy for the calcium
oxide and silicate to react leading to the formation of sintering process. Sintering process is
where the calcium oxide and silicate reacts to form precipitates. After precipitation, nodule
formation termed as clinker occurred because the liquid phase acts as a binding medium.

Formation of the Minerals in the Kiln

In cement language, the following letters meant:

 C- Calcium oxide
 F- Iron oxide
 A- Aluminium oxide

Fe2 O3 + Al2 O3 + CaO C4 AF

Then Al2 O3 + CaO C3A

C3A and C4 AF goes into liquid phase and contributes less towards strength of cement .C3A
reacts with water (with a lot of heat of hydration) and determines setting time of cement. That
was why gypsum is added to offset it (return the reaction).

At about 1100 oC, the lime reacted with silicates to form CS.

 C + S ----- CS
 C + CS ----C2 S (Belite)
 C + C2 S ----- C3 S (Alite)

7.4. Burner momentum/flames

In kiln operations, it necessary to make necessary adjustments of the burner momentum to suit
the kind of burning in question. The burner and flame play an important role in product

22
quality and refractory service life. A higher flame temperature means high production
capacity and efficiency.
There are three types of flames; a long lazy flame, a short bushy flame, and a compact
medium length flame. The long fame is associated with loss in production capacity, loss of
product quality, and loss of efficiency. The short flame is associated with refractory damage
and slow reacting clinker products. Therefore, the compact medium length flame is a good
tradeoff between refractory service life, product quality, and production capacity. This flame
should be approximately three-times the kiln diameter.
Adjusting the flame forward or backward shifts the burning zone accordingly. Basically, this
can be achieved in the following ways: Adjusting position of the burner pipe, PH fan speed
adjustments, and
Flame adjustments by changing the fractions of axial central and radial air (PA)
Parameters affecting the flame include fuel characteristics, primary air and secondary air, and the
burner design

7.5. Burner pipe design/ fuels

Key Parameters of burner design include: Number of circuits, primary air quantity, ejection
velocities, minimum velocity, back pressure, and specific impulse diameter.
The fuels in the cement industry for which the burners are designed include:
Solid Fuels: Coal, coal tailings, petroleum coke, wood (charcoal), tires, and municipal waste.
Liquid Fuels: Furnace oil, diesel, liquid waste, and coal slurry.

Gaseous Fuels: Natural gas (95% methane) and landfill gases are the commonest.
These fuels are evaluated using the parameters of their calorific values or heating values.
Heating Value (HV) of a fuel is the quantity of heat generated from 1 unit (kg, lb., ton, m3,
liter) of that fuel, measured in kcal/kg, Btu/lb., MJ/ton, MJ/m3, kcal/liter. It can be
approximated from the fuel composition.

23
 Products
Mp1 Mp2 Mp3
Raw material in
MR1 MR2 MR3 Wastes
Mw1 Mw2 Mw3
Rotary Kiln
Stored material Energy in
Ms1 Ms2 Ms3 Product
Stored energy Ep1 Ep2 Ep3
Energy in
Heat, electrical, Es1 Es2 Es3
chemical and
work Energy in wastes
ER1 ER2 ER3 Ew1 Ew2 Ew3

Energy loss
EL1 EL2 EL3

Figure 5: Material and energy balances around the rotary kiln

The law of conservation of mass forms the basic material balance relationship.
Mass In = Mass Out + Mass Stored, where mass stored is the loss of ignition in the kiln.
Considering zero wastes, Raw Materials = Products + Stored Materials. ΣmR = ΣmP +

ΣmS

ΣmR = Total Raw Materials, ΣmP = Total Products and ΣmS= Total Stored Products.

If there are no chemical changes occurring in the plant, the law of conservation of mass will
apply also to each component, so that for component A:
mA in entering materials = mA in the exit materials + mA stored in plant. Just as mass is

conserved, so is energy conserved in food-processing operations. The energy coming into a

unit operation can be balanced with the energy coming out and the energy stored.
Energy In = Energy Out + Energy Stored
ΣER = ΣEP + ΣEL + ΣES , Where, ΣER = ER1 + ER2 + ER3 + ……. = Total Energy Entering

ΣEp = EP1 + EP2 + EP3 + ……. = Total Energy Leaving with Products

ΣEL = EL1 + EL2 + EL3 + ……. = Total Energy Lost to Surroundings

ΣES = ES1 + ES2 + ES3 + ……. = Total Energy Stored

24
Energy balances are often complicated because forms of energy can be interconverted, for
example mechanical energy to heat energy, but overall the quantities must balance.

7.6. Raw meal to clinker factor

Raw meal to clinker factor
100 − 𝑎𝑠ℎ 𝐴𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
100 − 𝐿𝑂𝐼
Ash absorption = % of ash in fuel * specific fuel consumption
Specific fuel consumption = kg of coal / kg of clinker.

7.7. Kiln brick work and brick wear

Kiln brick work can be for refractory or for insulation purposes. A common refractory system
consists of bricks that are shaped to fit curvature of the shell or just in thin wedges laid in an
arch pattern to make complete kiln shell lining. These bricks are composed of chemical attack
and heat resistant materials that are often alumina and silica compounds. The other
refractories are packed and cast refractories. Another form of brick work is the two-brick
system that aims at having insulating bricks against the steal shell before refractory bricks are
fixed. In all these bricks, those with a high alumina content are fixed in the region near the
flame, and vice vasa. The refractory wear is mainly caused by chemical attack and sudden
changes (rises) in temperatures. Thus, they should always be inspected and periodically
replaced to avoid high heat losses associated with thin (worn) walls. This refractory lining can
be protected in operation by enabling coating. This is only possible by operating the kiln for
low refractory face temperatures from burning zone to the kiln tip. i.e., low primary air,
avoiding flame impingements, under feeding, unnecessarily low kiln speed, and excess fuel
use.

7.8. Kiln seals, tires, rollers and shell radiations

The rotary kiln without a precalciner is operated with primary and secondary air. Any other
form air must be eliminated from the kiln because it can have a negative effect on the flame.
For this reason, the kiln has got two seals which are always situated at either ends. Their role
is to prevent false air from entering the kiln. During kiln pushes, lower the kiln speed in order
to reduce fine clinker input in the cooler. Never run the kiln with positive pressure as this

25
result in troubled kiln operating conditions as: Fine clinker in nose ring resulting to wear of
kiln seal

Kiln rollers and kiln tires work together for kiln rotation. Each roller has a shaft that enables it
to aid rotation. Kiln tires do protect the round shape of the rotary kiln and help balance the
kiln load on the rollers. The rollers have an additional purpose of positioning the kiln. If in the
upper position, friction is reduced by lubrication to move it down and the opposite is true
when it is in the lower position.
Shell radiation can be monitored by the shell temperatures. These temperatures can be
measured using a shell scanner. The highest temperatures are usually found around the
burning zone. Abnormally high temperatures (480-600oC) are an indication for a hot spot
(deep red color on the shell) whereas a red spot can occur at temperatures above 650oC on the
kiln shell. The red spot appears as a very bright red color that appears with shell bulging and
warping.
Visual indicators for these spots on the shell are shell scanner sharp and rapid shell
temperature increase to above stated level. This condition must be prevented as it can warp
and damage to kiln shell

7.9. KPIs
The key performance indicators of a cement kiln include clinker temperatures, kiln speed
(rpm), kiln down time, kiln shell spots and residence time.

26
 CHAPTER EIGHT: CLINKER COOLING.
8.1. TCL cooler and its operation.
Tororo cement has a grate cooler positioned below the kiln outlet, with dimensions of 3.75m
wide x 20 m long. The main function of this cooler is to cool clinker so that to protect clinker
transport system, and recuperate the heat contained in that clinker as heat recovery from
secondary. Hence increasing kiln thermal efficiency and fuel saving. It has a clinker breaker at
the cooler outlet for clinker size reduction thus clinker can be transported easily on the
conveyor system. It also has two cooling air fans which bring in cooling air carried by means
of fan outlet damper. The fan speed is constant so it is necessary to change the position of the
damper to reduce or to increase the air moved by the fan.

Clinker cooling is achieved by forcing ambient air upward through the material as it is
conveyed through the length of the cooler by reciprocating action of the grates. The grate line
consists of many perforated grate plates arranged in overlapping rows. The alternate rows are
movable and are connected to a wheel mounted frame which is moved back and forth on its
tracks by a crank type drive that drives the grates. In normal operation, the cooler is running in
auto to keep a constant under grate pressure, and air flow in order to control the secondary air
temperature.

The key techniques for clicker cooling operation include the following:
 The speed of the grate suggests the residence time of the clinker inside the cooler.
 The air flow distribution under the grate compartments to determine heat recuperation and
cooling of the clinker bed.
 Raw feed or extremely fine clinker should be avoided in the cooler as this can result into
cooler overheat, damage, and resistance to air flow. In case of this condition, the kiln speed
should be decreased to reduce the clinker input to the cooler and control the heat.

8.2. Cooler types and Dimensions

Reciprocating Grate cooler
This type of cooler comprises a series of under-grate compartments with separate fans which
allow individual control of pressure and volume of injected cooling air. There may be up to 8
under-grate compartments and two or three separately driven grate sections. The coolers are

27
defined by width and length of each grate in series. Under-grate pressures are higher in the
first compartment than in the last compartment.
Rotary coolers
These are simple rotating drums which lift the clinker to fall through the incoming
combustion air stream effecting heat exchange. These coolers are small in size and limited to
small kilns.
Planetary coolers
These comprise a ring of tubes attached to the kiln shell and turning with the kiln, which serve
as multiple rotary coolers. These coolers can cause mechanical problems on the kiln, they tend
to complicate flame aerodynamics, and it is difficult to balance clinker flow to the cooler
tubes.
Rotary and planetary coolers are less effective than grate coolers, being limited in cooling air
to that which can be consumed in the kiln for combustion.
Peters G-Coolers
The G-Cooler comprises a number of standard modules stacked vertically as required for
temperature reduction and horizontally according to throughput.
Clinker from the primary cooler and clinker breaker enters the top of the G-Cooler and settles
at a rate of about 5cm/minute with heat exchange to air cooled. There is no direct contact
between clinker and air so that no dust collection is necessary, which is an advantage.
For increasing cooler capacity, enlarging an existing grate cooler will probably be of lower
cost. However, where space or downtime are constrained, the G-Cooler may be attractive.

8.3. Clinker cooling and heat recuperation

The first purpose of the clinker cooler is heat recuperation. In order to achieve this purpose,
the following must be observed as much as possible.

 The depth of the clinker bed should be near 15 inch water gage in order to get good heat
recuperation from the clinker in cooler (according to fan capacity).
 The cooler fans flow should be maintained in such away to have enough capacity of air
through the clinker bed and to insure proper cooling of the grates and the clinker load inside
the cooler.
 Cooler settings should be such that bed grates, cooler drive unit, clinker crusher, cooler wall
and clinker conveyors system cannot become overheated.

28
The second function of the cooler is to cool clinker before discharge. The acceptable
discharge temperature will depend upon downstream equipment and cement quality
requirements. Where cooling is inadequate the options can be either to extend the grate cooler
or to add a G-cooler.

8.4. Heat losses and secondary air temperature

Heat loss lowers the cooler efficiency. Heat is lost by conductive heat transfer in which
clinker loses hear to the grate plates, through shell radiations on the cooler walls, or any
outlets on the cooler. The convective heat transfer however enables clinker to lose its heat to
the cooling air. The amount of heat extracted from the cooling clinker determines the
secondary air temperature in the system.

The cooler thermal efficiency can be determined using the relationship below.

𝑄𝑐 − 𝑄𝑙
𝐸 = 𝑥 100
𝑄𝑐
E: Thermal efficiency of cooler (%)
QC: Heat content of clinker, cooler in (kcal/kg)
Ql: Total heat losses in cooler (kcal/kg)

29
 CHAPTER NINE: POLLUTION CONTROL BY BAG HOUSE AND ESP.

9.1. TCL bag house and its operation

The bag house at Tororo cement limited collects kiln feed dust which escapes with the
preheater gases (raiser ducts), for dust removal before the gases are released into the
atmosphere. The quantity (TPH) of material collected is a function of feed rates and preheater
drafts (PH fan). Hot gases transport in and out of the bag house is aided by the bag house ID
fan. The speed (rpm) of the BH fan depends on the kiln speed and it as well determine the
suction force imposed on dust material. The house comprises eight bag dust collectors
(BDCs). Each of these dust collectors comprise a number of filter bugs of fabric material that
effects the dust collection. The bag system consists of a blower, a dust filter, a filter cleaning
system, and a dust receptacle or dust removal system.
Operation of the bag dust collector

The BDC has a powerful central suction force throughout a large system of ductwork that runs
to the specific area of the facility where material transition or airborne dust is generated. The
suction pulls the dirty air through the duct work system, eventually leading it to the dust
collector. It also has a number of solenoid valves that control the flow of high pressure from
the pressure cylinder on top. This kind of pressure is obtained from air compressed at about
6bars. At different intervals, a current is allowed to flow into the solenoid valve causing
magnetization to occur. Eventually, the magnetic field aids opening of the valve, thereby
blasting compressed air to remove dust from the fabric bags. The blast enters the top of the
bag tube, temporarily forcing the flow of dirty air at very high pressure. The shock of air then
causes a wave of expansion to travel down the fabric. The flexing of the bag thereafter closes
and discharges the dust cake, while the valve becomes demagnetized again. Respectively, it
takes about 0.1 seconds and 0.5 seconds for the air burst and shock wave to travel down the
length of the bag and due to its rapid release; the blast of air does not interfere with
contaminated gas flow. Finally, dust is collected in the BDC hopper as clean gas/air is excited
by the fan. This whole process is automatic within the bag dust collector.

9.2. Pollution control and dust collection

Pollution in a cement plant can be generalized to air, water, solid, and noise pollutions.
Cement plants are primarily concerned with air emissions. The temperature of discharged

30
cooling water should be subject to control. Solid waste is mostly confined to kiln brick wastes
which are made from chemicals that can be toxic to humanity. For control purposes, used
refractory may be incorporated into kiln feed (after crushing and grinding) other than sending
them to landfill. Noise originates primarily from mills, fans/compressors and conveyor
systems. Noise affecting plant workers can be controlled by ear protective wears. Noise
beyond plant boundaries is best considered at the design stage but can also be mitigated by
wall fencing, insulation and sound attenuators for fans. On noise still, quarry blasting is a
specific problem which must involve charge design and timing to minimize disturbance to
neighbors.
Air pollution control is focused on particulates, CO, SO2, NOx, etc. CO is formed by the
incomplete combustion of carbonaceous materials. Oxidation to CO2 takes place in the
presence of excess oxygen at temperatures above about 680oC. CO in stack emissions is
usually attributed to overall deficiency of oxygen in the burning zone or to poor fuel/air
mixing. NOx is formed during fuel combustion by oxidation of nitrogen compounds in the
fuel (fuel NOx) and of the nitrogen from combustion air (thermal NOx). Thermal NO
increases with flame temperature above 1200oC, with retention time, and with increasing free
oxygen.

9.3. Bag filters, types, and application.

Bag filters differ by the kind of filter material. The two common types are woven fabric and
needle felts. Woven fabric filters employ bag shaking or reverse air flow for cleaning. Needle
felts are cleaned by reverse air pulse. The ratio of air volume flow to cloth area should be 0.5-
0.9m/min (1.6-3.0ft/min) and 1.7-2.3m/min (5.5-7.5ft/min) for woven fabrics and needle felts
respectively. Pressure drop is typically 150-250 mmH2O and efficiency 99.95%. The normal
fiber is polyester which can operate up to 150oC, while polyamide can be used to 230oC and
glass fiber to 280oC.

9.4. ESP power supply and control

Electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) comprise an array of discharge wires at 50-100kV negative
potential and earthed collecting plates. Pressure drop is about 15-20 mmH2O and power
consumption 0.2-0.3 kWh/1000m3. Efficiency is typically 75- 80% per field so that a 4-field

31
unit should capture up to about 99% of entrained dust. Efficiency varies with particle size and
operation is described by the Deutsch formula:
n = (1 – exp. (-w.A/Q)) x100
Where n is efficiency %, w is particle migration velocity (m/s), A is area of collecting plates
(m2) and Q is gas flow rate (m3/s). Migration velocity, w, depends on dust resistivity,
particle size, field intensity, gas viscosity, plus other design parameters and should range
0.07-0.10m/s. Moisture, chlorides and sulfides reduce resistivity of basic dusts. Inlet gas
should be limited to about 3% in cooler exhaust; gas temperature should range between 120
and 150oC, though ESPs can be designed for higher temperatures.

9.5. Material, gas, and heat balance

All material collected by bag house is added to the stored material in the raw silo while some
hot gases are used for drying raw materials during milling. In the same way, clinker dust is
added to clinker silo. Therefore, in this kind of closed loop system, it is considered to be a
zero loss of material. The stack and flue gases however are liable to escaping with heat
energy. A heat balance should be constructed for the preheater, kiln, and cooler. The heat that
goes into the bag house is vied as exhaust gas heat losses.

High exhaust heat loss may be minimized by:

Reduce losses due to CO formation by the following actions
 Good combustion in the main burner to avoid reducing conditions in excess oxygen.
 Sufficient air-fuel mixing and good retention time for complete combustion.
Reduce preheater exhaust gas quantity by the following actions
 Maximizing heat recuperation from the cooler.
 Avoiding over-burning with consistence in kiln feed chemistry, feed rates and fuel rates.
 Minimizing false air at kiln seals and preheater ports.
Reduce preheater exhaust gas temperature by the following actions.
 High cyclone efficiency so that hot meal is not carried up the preheater.
 Maximum heat recuperation by control of air flow, clinker distribution and clinker size.
However, heat and material balances in a cement industry is mainly carried out around the
preheater, kiln, and cooler as the main units where material and energy flow in large volumes.

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 CHAPTER TEN: CEMENT MILLING, STORAGE AND DESPATCH.

10.1. The cement mills at Tororo cement limited.

Cement milling at TCL involves grinding of clinker with gypsum and other additives to fine
powder, thus increasing the surface area for reactions. This is achieved using two cement
mills. TCL has two cement mills; that is to say, mill I and mill II. The materials used in this
section included imported clinker, Tororo clinker, gypsum and Pozzolana, for producing two
categories of cement (OPC and PPC).The imported clinker boosts the production capacity of
the plant and add quality to the locally produced Tororo clinker which is not of high quality.

Imported clinker and Tororo clinker for cement mill I are fed from a hopper in the clinker
yard and carried by a belt conveyor to their respective hoppers, while gypsum and pozzolana
are fed by cranes to their respective hoppers.

For cement mill II, Tororo clinker is directed from the clinker bin by a belt conveyor through
bucket elevator to its hopper. Imported clinker, gypsum and pozzolana are fed from different
underground hoppers and carried by tunnel belt conveyors to the bucket elevators which then
lift them to their destined hoppers.

Material from these hoppers is emptied through weigh feeders which are designed in such a
way that the amount of material per unit length of the feeder was known. The speed of
material in the weigh feeder is controlled from CCR. This enabled the proportion of each
material to be determined before mixing. All the weigh feeders release their material on to a
belt conveyor. A grinding aid is also added at this belt to prevent agglomeration and to
prevent material from sticking on the surface of the steel balls. This material is then directed
to the mill for grinding. However for mill I, the material from this belt is first taken to a short
bucket elevator to raise it to a height above the mill, so that the material freely falls into the
mill by gravity.

Unlike raw mill, the cement mills are divided in to two chambers. The steel balls are
segregated in such way that the big balls are in the first chamber as the small ones are in the
second chamber. The working of the cement mill is exactly the same as that of the raw mill.
The material is dried by heat internally generated in the mill unlike the raw mill where hot
gases are needed for material drying. After grinding, any dust particles are sucked to a BDC

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through an outlet connection. The rest of the material passes through an air slide and a bucket
elevator that leads it to the separator for classification. The coarse particles from the separator
are returned back to mill for regrinding as the fine particles are sucked to the tangentially
attached cyclones. The fine material from the cyclones and the BDC are conveyed through
various air slides connecting to bucket elevators, which then carry it to the cement silos for
storage and dispatch.

10.2. Mill operation, material and hot gases.

The operation of cement mills is similar to that described for raw mill. In a cement mill of ball
type, various sizes of grinding media are aligned for impact ranging from 100mm-15mm. The
inside walls are made of classifying liners hardened steel. Size reduction is done in the region
with bigger balls and finish grinding in the region with small balls usually towards diaphragm.
The fine material of specific surface area is the sucked by separator fan, while part of it with
nibs is elevated up to separator by bucket elevator system. In the ball mills, the three key
principals are, arm of gravity, ball charge and centrifugal force. Since cement milling
generates heat in the mill, there is no need of having a stream of hot gases into the mills. The
generated hot gases however can accumulate and become disadvantageous to the mill
operation by way of heating gypsum and changing the entire chemical reaction of cement. In
that case, the suction (separator fan damper) must be increased in order to free the mill from
the excess gases. On the other hand, increasing feed in this case can lower or maintain a
specific desired temperature at which good milling can should be done.

10.3. Clinker storage and feeding.

In a cement plant, clinker must be stored in dry conditions so that it does not get damp or wet.
Damp clinker can get stack into the mill and even hike specific power consumption. Hence
high production costs. Therefore, clinker silos must be well designed to protect the material
from any rain fall. The clinker yards also should be well furnished in order to prevent any
moisture contact. Feeding of hoppers for temporal storage can be achieved using conveyer
systems of pans and belts depending on the material in transport. However at the bottom of
the hoppers, there are weigh feeders that take the flow rates into account. From weigh feeders,
material can run on conveyer belt to the mill inlet. The flap valves in the mill inlet work to
regulate the material flow.

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10.4. Material ratios and weigh feeder calibration
The calibration exercise performed on the weigh feeders is purposed to prepare the devices for
accurate operation. During this exercise, a certain quantity of material on the feeders is
allowed to run, collecting it and weighting it again. This enables comparison of the weighed
results and the feeder reading. In order to determine the flow rates on the weigh feeders, a
certain mass (Kg) of feed material is allowed to flow on the feeder for a unit time (1 minute).
The weight is taken and scaled up to TPH unites. This gives information about the amount
flowing at a given period of time. Any necessary adjustments can be made based of feeder
belt speed or opening of hopper discharge in case of constant speed feeder belts. That way, the
ratios are controlled for clinker, gypsum, additives and grinding aid. The material is collected
and can be done by running some quantity of material on the feeders, collecting it and
weighting it again. This enables comparison of the weighed results and the feeder reading.

10.5. Cement milling

Cement milling refers to the grinding together of clinker with some 2-3% gypsum for set
control, and other additives mostly pozzolana, as appropriate for performance and permitted
by specification. Finish grinding involves the largest unit consumption of power in cement
manufacture and it needs to be optimized. Two-compartment (chambers) ball mills in closed
circuit with separators can be used. The diaphragm separating the mill chambers allow the
first to be charged with large media appropriate to raw clinker while the second contains small
balls which more efficiently achieve fine grinding. Typically, the first chamber covers about a
third of the overall length of the mills. The first compartment is primarily to break feed clinker
nodules which are up to 30mm; lifting liners and balls from 45mm up to 90mm are employed
to effect impact. Clinker which passed into the second compartment is typically less than 2-
3mm; second compartment balls range from 15 to 40mm. Like in raw milling, the quantity of
balls, the type and condition of the shell liners, and the mill speed determine the power draw
of the mill. Ball mills typically operate at about 75% of critical speed and about 30% of
volumetric charge loading.
Clinker grindability is largely governed by clinker chemistry and burning conditions so that
kiln and finish mill are to be considered together. The principal cause of hard grinding is the
presence of excessive belite (C2S) in clinker; conversion of belite to alite (C 3S) would
maximized if silica is not present in raw mix as coarse quartz, if the lime saturation factor is

35
high (97-99%), if the liquid phase is relatively high (>24%), and if the silica ratio is relatively
low (<2.5). It should also be noted that higher K2O (>0.5%) are associated with ease of
grinding though this might be due to the incidental correlation between alkalis and clay; clay
being of fine particle size, it is a desirable raw material. For purposes of milling cement, it is
important to avoid variable or hard burning of raw mix as these could result into large alite
and, worse, large belite crystals which cause poor grindability.
These large crystals, have a tendency of causing dusty clinker unlike normal clinker which
must contain less than 2% -1mm size particles.

10.6. Packaging plant and cement despatch.

Dispatch involves packing of the processed cement product in to bags and loading them for
transportation. The process of packing is done using an automated machine called a rotary
packer (Tororo cement limited).

During the process of packing, the cement fed in the silos is extracted through silo gates to a
first bin. The product is passed through a vibrator which helps in cleaning it before it is passed
to the second bin. It is then passed to the rotary packaging machine. The packaging machine
has different discharge points where the product bags are fitted one at a time as it was rotated
in a continuous motion. The bags are then loaded in to the available transport means. The
filling spout is telescopic and had a conically tapered nozzle to seal against the tank opening.
The filler comprise a central cement delivery pipe surrounded by an outer suction tube which
vented at least 1000m3/h and is ducted to a dust collector. Load weight is determined either
by tear and load weights of the truck (preferably on dedicated truck scales under each loading
point), or by loading from a hopper on load cells which is itself weighed before and after
loading and could be programmed for a specific delivery.

In despatch still, all sacks are often date-marked. This can give a means of tracing the
cement's history in the event of subsequent complaint. It is possible for complaints to be
received of hydrated or low strength cement which could be years old. Records allowing the
tracing of questioned shipments to silo and production are also advisable.

36
CHAPTER ELEVEN: QUALITY SECTION AT TORORO CEMENT LIMITED

11.1. Raw materials quality specification

The major raw material of cement is limestone and its quality should be considered right from
the source. In the quarry at TCL, low grade and high lime stone are specified to be 39-43%
lime and 44-47% lime respectively. Any limestone with percentage composition below 39%
should be rejected as it outlies the specification for good quality raw material. Similarly, the
quality of other raw materials and additives should be source prioritized. Necessary quality
control measures like sampling and testing are effected to ensure the material in question lies
within specified limits. In general, moistly materials are disadvantageous for such a dry
process and therefore necessary preparations should be addressed for such materials.

11.2. Raw mix, clinker, and cement quality

Raw mix quality is positively related to mixing ratios. The mixing proportions of silica, iron,
alumina, lime, and other oxides determine the raw mix quality. Hence product quality in the
end. Very high iron in the mix can result into flax mixing, which hinders complete burning,
whereas very high silica can cause hard burning. Excessive liquid phase can result into shell
spots. In order to achieve quality of the raw mix, Tororo cement limited has the following
target mix proportions.
Raw mix component Percentage
SiO2 12.5
Al2O3 4
Fe2O3 3.5
CaO 41
MgO 2.5
K2O 1.2
Na2O 0.3
SO3 0.05
Table 2: Raw mix quality components
Liter weight (as referred to clinker quality) is the weight of clinker filled into a container of
capacity one liter. The standard liter weight is 1100g to 1500g.

37
For purposes of quality clinker, it is important to avoid variable or hard burning of raw mix as
these could result into large alite and, worse, large belite crystals which cause poor
grindability. These large crystals, have a tendency of causing dusty clinker unlike normal
clinker which must contain less than 2% -1mm size particles. Quality clinker should be porous
and have minimal free CaO and MgO minerals. The former renders non hydraulic properties
while the later renders expansivity of cement product.
Cement quality is best described by four properties; that is natural/standard consistency,
setting time, expansion, and compressive strength of the product. Natural consistency (NC)
refers to the amount of water which is required to produce a paste of standard consistency
(workable paste). It should be between 25 to 35% water to product ratio for a good quality
cement. Setting time refers to the time taken for the cement to harden. This property is
examined as initial and final setting time which should about 150minutes to 250minutes
respectively for PPC and the values should be lower for OPC. Compressive strength is the
maximum possible force (Mpa) that the product can support unbroken. For a standard mix of
mortar with, this force should be as high as possible (above 30MPa). Good quality cement
should not expand at all. However in circumstances of poor material chemistry, product
expansion should not exceed 10mm.

11.3. Sampling and sampling points

Sampling is the process of picking representative material such as cement, pozzolana,
limestone, clicker and others from different points for analysis. Random sampling, whereby
the material is picked from different parts of the heap is used. Samples are prepared in so
many ways but generally the following steps are followed.

 Quartering
 Crushing
 Grinding

Quartering. This is where the whole sample is divided into four equal part and they are
discharged diagonally with the other part was kept and also divided for four equal parts and
discharge diagonally and its continued for four times. This ensures that equal and uniform
sample of the material is collected for analysis and also it aid in mixing of the material.

38
Crushing. If the samples are big in particle size such as clinker, limestone, gypsum; they are
taken to the lab crusher for size reduction before sampling.

Grinding. The cement that is prepared for analysis is prepared using grinding mill in the
physical laboratory. Grinding of cement is sometimes done by the use of the grinding
machines that make uniform mixer as well as use of the pulverizer to produce the powder of
the required sample.

11.4. XRF analytical methods (X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometer principle).

The sample to be measured is loaded into the spectrometer and excited by the x ray beam
coming from the x ray tube. An incoming x ray photo strikes an electron, the electrons breaks
free and leaves the atom void. This void is filled by an electron from a higher energy level.
The electron releases energy (fluorescence) as it drops in form of an x ray photon. The
spectrum of the tube is composed of characteristic wave length of the anode elements and the
continuum. The emitted radiation from the sample is composed of the tube spectrum the
sample. The reflected beam is guided onto a dispersive system called in our case goniometry;
this goniometer produces spectrum of lines which are in relation with the elements included in
the measured sample. However, XRF strictly measures intensity, the concentrations are
obtained only once the instrument has been calibrated, and it should be stressed that an XRF
quantometer which is an accurate comparator. The accuracy of the final analysis entirely
depend onto the quality of the standard samples used for calibration, the intensity
concentration relationship, and is generally linear but in some cases the curve can be of
second degree.

11.5. Other laboratory equipment

These include blain machine used in the determination of specific surface area of cement
product. It is situated in the testing laboratory. A pilot ball mill is used in milling of product
for physical laboratory tests. In this lab still, there is a flexural strength and compressive
strength testing machines. The muffle furnace in chemical laboratory is used for ignition in
order to determine the quality property LOI of both raw mix and product. There is a mass
spectrometer in the chemical lab, which is intended to perform mass spectrometric analysis of

39
product and raw mix, although it currently down. Another lab equipment found in the
chemical lab is the oven for controlled drying of lab glassware.

11.6. Quality control and assurance.

The term quality control refers to validation of product while quality assurance refers to
verification of the process that produces the product under control. The two are go hand in
hand to ensure that the cement produced met the required standards. Tororo cement limited
had three which included; testing lab, physical lab and chemical lab.

Testing Laboratory

Testing lab effects specific tests of final product and raw materials. The tests carried out
included the Specific surface are (Blain) of cement, Percentage residue of raw materials,
Sampling and sample preparation of raw materials.

Physical laboratory

Physical lab deals with testing of finished products (cement) and concerns physical properties.
The activities carried out included sample preparation, testing for setting time, testing for
expansion, compressive strength and natural consistency. The other extension of physical lab
is the XRF analytical section.

Chemical Laboratory

The chemical lab effects practical work of analysis on both raw materials and the products.
The following are the common experiments which training involved:

Experiment to determine percentage of silica (SiO2).

Percentage moisture.
Percentage content of Ash, Pyrites, Na2O and K2O.
Determination of mixed oxide (R2O3) from the molten filtrate of SiO2
Determination of lime (CaO) from filtrate from the filtrate of R2O3
Determination of MgO from the filtrate of R2O3.
Determination of loss on ignition (L O I)
Determination of SO3.

40
 CHAPTER TWELEVE: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Having made studies of the process field and trusted reading resources, a number of
conclusions and recommendations can be drawn. The cement manufacture starts in the quarry
with the extraction of raw materials, primarily limestone, and their transport to the plant.
Quarrying may be effected either by ripping or by drilling and blasting. In either case the
recovered material needs to be of
Consistent quality. The principle, mode of operation, and construction of mills are key
determinants of the impact effected in the milling process. The ease of milling depends on the
material chemistry and kind of mill used.

Blending silos are prone to internal build-up of dead material, particularly if raw meal is wet
or if aeration is defective, and periodic (1-2 years) internal inspections and maintenance are
necessary. As raw meal is liable to solidify if left inactive (during a kiln shut-down for
example), blending the silo may require emptying or recirculating when not in use.
The stored material inside the silo is usually having low temperatures (room temperature) and
yet it should be fed into the preheater at above 60oC.This sets a challenge in material flow and
so, raising temperatures of this material is necessary. Since cold material hardly flows, I
recommend that silo inside temperatures be raised by a stream of hot preheater gases to about
45oC. It is important for a manual gate to be accessed outside for purposes of manual work
regarding repair, and blockages.

In preheater of TCL (without precalciner), the feed is 20-40% calcined at the kiln inlet. Riser
firing increases this, and addition of a precalciner allows up to 90% calcination before the
meal enters the kiln. Although calcination could be completed in air suspension, this should
be avoided as the endothermic dissociation of limestone, which buffers material temperature
at 800 -850oC, is followed by exothermic formation of cement compounds and an
uncontrolled temperature rise in the preheater can easily lead to catastrophic plugging.
Moreover, its specific fuel consumption (997kcal/kg) is very high compared to the modern
kilns with that are designed to consume 700kcal/kg and below with precalciner technology.
Preheater exhaust temperatures increase with decreasing stages of the system.
Since heat is required for drying raw materials at TCL, using 5 or 6-stages of cyclones, is not
a viable venture as the higher stages can result into exhausts at much lower temperature

41
(200 oC and below). I however recommend Precalcination technology and redesigning the
cyclone vessels in order to improve energy efficiency and increase productivity. By installing
a precalciner system and redesign of cyclone vessels, pressure drop will be reduced with
efficiency improved; the exit gas temperatures, static pressures, and specific fuel consumption
will be reduced. Hence improved system.
Excess coal firing can result into incomplete combustion of coal in the kiln end and finally
cause build ups in the preheater cyclones.

The law of heat transfer is highly appreciated in kiln operation; the kiln speed (retention time)
enables aid a high rate of heat transfer. Hence efficiency. Similarly, the kiln for efficiency, the
kiln feed (percentage fill), kiln speed, PH fan speed, and flame have got a relationship that
must be examined during operation.

However, kiln speed variations should be avoided as much as possible in normal operation as
it create variations in the material loading of the kiln and eventually can lead the kiln into an
upsets. In the same way, overfeeding should be avoided if the other operating parameters
don’t favor such feed rates in order to prevent kiln flash and quenching.

A critical factor in under grate reaction is the average particle size of the clinker in the cooler.
A fine clinker bed impose more resistance against air flow, when the under grate pressure
increases, the fan has to use more force to push the air through this kind of bed. This condition
must be avoided. The secondary air temperature should be as stable and as high as possible to
get the best recuperation from the clinker and improve the fuel efficiency of the kiln.

It is recommended that cooling fan damper open at 60% as necessary. Maximum air flow is
when the fan damper reached about 88% open.

Material with reduced particulate content of 40-100mg/Nm3 and below favors bag-houses
over ESPs. Explosion with unburned fuel can occur in ESPs and Bag houses, unless anti-static
bags are employed for bag filters. Conditioning of kiln exhaust gas is necessary before dust
collection. The exhaust gas from many kilns is used for drying raw materials and this process
serves both to cool the gas and to raise its humidity before dust collection. The gas
temperature should be below 170oC for both bag-houses and ESPs1.

42
 REFERENCES

Cement plant operations handbook (CEMEX HANDBOOK) for dry process plants by
Dr. Philip Alsop, pg.12-16.
Available and emerging technologies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the
Portland cement industry.
Prepared by the
 Sector Policies and Programs Division
 Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards
 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
 Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711

Hose & Bauer; ICR; 9th Ed, 1993, pg. 55.

Quality Assurance of Cement from Production to Construction Presented by K.K.Choil
14/02/2006

http://ncalculators.com/area-volume/silo-volume-calculator.htm (30th/10/2016 @ 10.00am).

http://www.dimensionsinfo.com/dimensions-of-a-silo. (5th/11/2016 @ 10.00am)

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/density-materials-d_1652.html. (3rd/11/2016 @
10.00am).

www.tororocement.comhttps://www.google.com/maps/@0.659778,34.159219,2267m/data=!3
m1!1e3?hl=en-US.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tororo Cement Limited.

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