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Introduction
1
Nomenclature
A
Aint
= area, m
= ratio between the load element internal area and
external area, m/m
= specific heat, J/kg.K
cp
h
= convective heat transfer coefficient, W/m.K
k
= thermal conductivity, W/m.K
m&
= mass flux, kg/s
m& reactions= mass flux associated with clay reactions, kg/s
Qreactions = energy rate associated with clay reactions, J/kg
T
= temperature, K
x, y, z = dimensions in x, y and z directions, respectively, m
X, Y = element dimension in x and y directions, m
Greek Symbols
= surface emissivity
= Stefan-Boltzmann constant, W/m2.K4
= specific mass, kg/m3
= kiln base thickness, m
Modeling
The model is based on the application of the mass and energy
conservation equations in the integral form, for a three-dimensional
geometry. The domain was discretized into finite volumes and the
equations where applied to each volume following a finite volume
methodology (Maliska, 1995).
Subscripts
e
load element
ee
load element external area
fe
frontal face of a load element
g
gases circulating inside kiln
ie
load element internal area
in
inlet flow of the control volume
ix,iy,iz generic element of the kiln: x, y and z directions
le
load element lateral area
out
outlet flow of the control volume
ref
reference
rfe
element frontal area involved in radiation exchange
rle
element lateral area involved in radiation exchange
rse
element top area involved in radiation exchange
se
top surface of a load element
0.68
0.85
63.30
14.70
21.85
3.55
23.20
0.65
0.85
0.50
Numerical and Experimental Thermal Analysis of a Tunnel Kiln used in Ceramic Production
(1)
+ he (ix , iy , iz ).Aie . T g (iz ) Te (ix , iy , iz ) + hee (ix , iy , iz ).Aee .(Tg (iz ) Te (ix , iy , iz ))
Initial
Parameters
Combustion
Routine
Gas Flow
Estimate
Main Program
Convection
Coefficients
Property
Values
(2)
Component
/Property
k
[W/mK]
cp
[J/kgK]
[kg/m3]
Load (clay)
1.0
1,000
2,000
0.93
Vermiculite
0.07
835
100
Common brick
0.72
835
2,083
0.93
Refractory brick
1.50
960
2,645
0.57
Ceramic fiber
0.17
980
280
0.07
300
380
Energy Balance
Thermal
Reactions
Geometry
Results
Figure 4 shows the temperature for a point inside the load in the
heating and firing regions. Uniform grids with different numbers of
elements, from 150 to 2,000 in the longitudinal direction, are used.
The results indicate a similar behavior for grids with 500 or more
elements, with no substantial changes for a finer grid. As a
consequence, the grid with 500 longitudinal elements was adopted.
A similar analysis was carried out in the transversal directions inside
the load, resulting in a 25 x 25 element grid. Such a grid required an
execution time of 1.3 hours using an AMD 2.0 GHz processor with
1.0 GB RAM. The finest grid represents a calculation time of 12.2
hours. This long calculation time represents a restriction in the
discretization of the domain, especially when different materials are
used lengthwise.
ABCM
Numerical and Experimental Thermal Analysis of a Tunnel Kiln used in Ceramic Production
with the material and the car. In order to reduce the temperature
gradient inside the load, some additional injection point of air can be
provided. Also, a more ventilated load, with more space between
pieces, can be adopted.
The temperature gradients shown in Fig. 5 and 6 must be
quantified to prevent failures inside the kiln, resulting in a poor
quality material after the firing process. A different and even worse
consequence occurs when material failure reaches the load stability
the stack can collapse total or partially, blocking the car
movement. The gradient limit supported by load elements must be
tested previously in a laboratory, according to the clay used.
Temperature [C]
1150
1100
1050
1000
150x25x25
950
500x25x25
900
1000x25x25
850
2000x25x25
800
10
15
20
25
1200
30
Production
[m2/day]
500
750
1,000
1,250
1,500
Production
[kg/s]
0.13
0.19
0.25
0.31
0.38
6.84
7.02
7.02
7.02
7.56
1.65
1.65
1.65
1.65
1.65
0.065
0.070
0.110
0.130
0.155
1.65
1.65
1.65
1.65
1.65
12.1
11.6
7.7
6.6
6.0
Natural gas - NG
[Nm /h]
Air excess - NG
Sawdust
[kg/s]
[%]
Temperature [C]
1000
Figure 4. Temperature within the load for the central part of the tunnel kiln
for different numbers of grid elements.
800
1500 m
1250 m
600
1000 m2
400
750 m2
500 m
200
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Temperature [C]
60
69
78
86
95
104
113
121
130
Figure 6. Temperature distribution inside the load in the cooling zone end
(production rate of 750 m2/day).
Table 4. Car frequency, load residence time and cooling rates for several
production rates.
Average
Average dT/dt
Load
Time to
dT/dt for fast
maximum
T>1100C
T=570C cooling
temperature
zone
Production/
Car frequency/
Car velocity/
Cycle duration
2
[C]
[hour]
[C/s]
[C/s]
30
0.042
42.9
1.116
6.43
-0.024
-0.038
750
45
0.063
28.6
1.118
5.98
-0.022
-0.043
1000
60
0.083
21.4
1.122
4.87
-0.028
-0.044
1250
75
0.104
17.2
1.120
3.75
-0.040
-0.044
Temperature [C]
1000
500
800
Aint = 2.0
Aint = 1.0
600
Aint = 0.5
Aint = 0.1
400
1500
90
0.125
14.3
1.129
3.30
-0.048
Aint = 0.03
-0.050
Aint = 0.01
200
Aint = 0.001
Tg
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Figure 7. Temperature distribution inside the load, for several internal area
ratio values.
Table 5. Energy recovered at the dryer and energy remaining in cars and
load, as a function of internal area ratio (Aint).
0.03
0.1
0.5
1.0
2.0
2.91
0.84
0.03
0.00
0.00
0.02
0.01
0.00
0.00
0.04
0.04
0.03
Recovered at
dryer
7.42
8.42
[%]
Numerical and Experimental Thermal Analysis of a Tunnel Kiln used in Ceramic Production
1200
Temperature [C]
1000
Insulated
Non Insulated
[kW]
[%]
[kW]
[%]
14.2
2.4
113.9
19.0
53.1
8.8
164.3
27.3
27.8
4.6
18.4
3.1
0.1
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
388.2
64.6
266.7
44.4
114.7
19.1
34.8
5.8
2.7
0.4
2.7
0.4
600.8
100
600.8
100
800
600
400
200
Load temperature non-insulated kiln
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
[C]
100
150
200
Fuel economy
[%]
5.4
9.6
13.8
[C]
100
150
200
Fuel economy
[%]
2.1
3.6
5.3
Experimental Results
For a period of one year from the start of operation, several
experiments with different ceramic products were performed in the
kiln. The goal was to demonstrate the capacity of the kiln to fire
these products using biomass and natural gas. The most frequently
produced part was a particular brick, with the operation conditions
listed in Table 9. The typical production level was lower than those
simulated above, as can be seen in Table 3. As a consequence, the
specific consumption in these tests was higher than the normal level
for this kind of kiln. As an example, the specific consumption for a
mass production rate of 0.19 kg/s (Table 3) is around 3160 J/kg. The
tunnel kiln consumes less energy, depending on the production and
dimensions. Remmey (1994) indicates a specific consumption of
around 2300 J/kg. The firing temperature can also affect the specific
consumption.
Table 9. Operation conditions of the kiln used during the test period.
Production
0.125 kg/s
4020 unit/day
1000 C
3470 kJ/kg
197.6 Nm3/day
14.0 m3/day
20 %
1000
Tg - measured
900
Te - simulated
800
Temperature [C]
Tg - simulated
700
600
500
400
Acknowledgments
300
200
100
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
References
Conclusions
This paper presents the results of a thermal simulation model for
use in the design and operation of a tunnel kiln. A simulation
strategy allows one to verify the influence of a single variable in the
kiln behavior, while other variables are kept constant. Thus, the
effect of a determined set of parameters can be analyzed
theoretically, without interfering with the kiln operation. In this
regard, numerical simulation represents an important tool, with very
low cost, to aid in the gaining of an understanding of the phenomena
involved in the firing process, and also in the design process. It can
be very effectively applied in research on kiln operation.
Considering the simulation algorithm, a special feature
concerning the grid construction must be emphasized. Tunnel kilns
are very long and have a large cross-sectional area. A fine grid
inside the load is mandatory to reveal the temperature field and to
estimate the temperature gradient. But the complete kiln
discretization generates a lot of elements and equations to be solved,
ABCM