Energy Conversion and Management 114 (2016) 110–121

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Energy Conversion and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

Thermal energy analysis of a lime production process: Rotary kiln,

preheater and cooler
Hamed Shahin a,⇑, Saeid Hassanpour b, Ahmad Saboonchi a
a
Isfahan University of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iran
b
Isfahan Science and Technology Town, Rayan Tahlil Sepahan Co., Iran

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this paper, thermal energy analysis of three zones of a lime production process, which are preheater,
Received 22 September 2015 rotary kiln and cooler, is performed. In order to perform a proper quantitative estimation, the system was
Accepted 7 February 2016 modeled using energy balance equations including coupled heat transfer and chemical reaction mecha-
Available online 17 February 2016
nisms. A mathematical model was developed, and consequently, the thermal and chemical behavior of
limestone was investigated. The model was verified using empirical data. After model confirmation,
Keywords: the variation of Specific Fuel Consumption (SFC) versus production rate was predicted and the optimum
Rotary kiln
condition was determined. Subsequently, fuel consumption was calculated regarding to altered residence
Lime production process
Mathematical modeling
time inside each zone of lime production process, for a constant output. Results indicate that increasing
Thermal efficiency the residence time inside each zone of lime production process, will enhance thermal efficiency and saves
Residence time fuel consumption. Relative enhancement will be the same for different sizes of limestone. It was found
Fuel saving that a 10-min increase in material residence time inside the preheater or rotary kiln can reduce fuel con-
sumption by around two percent. Whereas, a 5-min increase in material residence time inside the cooler
would be enough to obtain a similar result. Finally, the ratio of air-to-fuel and production rate are chan-
ged in such a way that the same product is achieved. The model predicts that lowering excess air from
15% to 10% leads to a 2.5% reduction of Specific Fuel Consumption (SFC).
Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Determining the more important parameters and their impact
on energy efficiency can play a key role in thermal management
and fuel consumption reduction of any heating process. Nowadays,
mathematical modeling is a widespread method for studying the
thermal behavior of industrial furnaces, and finding ways to reduce
their energy consumption. Examples of related works with this
approach could be found in Refs. [1–11].
A rotary kiln is a type of industrial furnace with applications in
steel, cement, incineration and chemical industries. It is also the
prevalent type of kiln in the lime production process. Numerous
investigations have focused on the mathematical modeling of this
type kiln; however, most of them have only modeled the rotary
kiln section regardless of its up- and down-stream sections
[12–23]. However, the effects of the cooler and preheater, which
have been employed in more modern installations, have seldom
been studied [23–26]. Engin and Ari investigated energy audit in
⇑ Corresponding author at: Isfahan University of Technology,
84156-83111, Iran.
E-mail address: h.shahin@me.iut.ac.ir (H. Shahin).
a dry type cement rotary kiln using empirical data. They analyzed
all three parts (rotary kiln, preheater and cooler) [24]. Mujumdar
et al. presented the integrated model for cement rotary kiln, cal-
ciner, cooler and preheater, and developed a simulation software
titled RoCKS [25]. However, they did not make any comparisons
with experimental data. Söğüt et al. performed an exergy analysis
on the cement production line [26]. In most recent work, Liu et al.
presented the energy flow model for the cement clinker manufac-
turing process [27].
In this paper, a specific integrated model is developed for the
lime production unit at Mobarakeh Steel Complex (MSC), Iran.
For this process, the heat transfer and calcination reaction phe-
nomena have been simulated using 1D thermochemical equations
in rotary kiln, preheater and cooler. Integrated modeling helps us
to consider the effects of upstream and downstream sections in
the thermal efficiency of the process. Comparing calculated values
from model and experimental measurements proves the suitable
accuracy of the model. In the results section, first, the effect of
limestone feed rate on SFC is studied. Next, the effects of material
residence time inside preheater, rotary kiln and cooler on fuel con-
Isfahan
sumption are investigated. Finally, the effect of air-to-fuel ratio on

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2016.02.017
0196-8904/Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 H. Shahin et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 114 (2016) 110–121 111

Nomenclature

A area (m2) e emissivity

a kiln inclination (deg) g thermal efficiency of lime production unit
c specific heat (kJ/Nm3 °C) jf rate constant of flame combustion (1/m)
D diameter (m) t kinematic viscosity (m2/s)
Ff feed rate of fuel (kg/s) q density (kg/m3)
Fij view factor between i and j surfaces r Stephan–Boltzmann constant (W/m2 K4)
fa form factor u mass fraction of CaCO3 in particle
G volume of gas (Nm3/kg) X fraction of wall surface contacts with rotating solids
h heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K) x rotational speed (rpm)
HCaCO3 enthalpy of reaction for calcination (kJ/kg)
k thermal conductivity (W/m K) Subscripts
L kiln length (m) 0 initial
M mass of material (kg) a ambient air
Nelement number of element b bed
Nparticle number of particle c calcination
Nu Nusselt number cnv convection heat transfer
Pr Prandtl number cnt contact heat transfer
Q heat flow (W) eq equivalent
QN net calorific value (kJ/kg) eff effective
R reaction rate (1/s) f flame
Ra Rayleigh number g gas
Re Reynolds number in inner
r radius (m) l loss
SFC Specific Fuel Consumption (Nm3/ton) out outer
t time (s) p particle
T temperature (K) r reaction
u axial velocity (m/s) res residence time
U overall convection heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 k) rad radiation heat transfer
v solids fraction s solid
wfree superficial velocity above the solid w wall
x coordinate in the length direction
y bed depth/kiln radius Superscript
⁄ average of wall and solids
Greek letters
a fraction of original mass of CaCO3 converted to CO2
c angle of repose (deg)

Material inlet

Preheater

Rotary kiln
Primary air
& Fuel

Secondary
air
Cooler

Fig. 1. Schematic view of the lime production process.

112 H. Shahin et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 114 (2016) 110–121

specific energy consumption of the lime production process is radiative modes, and after reaching calcination temperature, it will
estimated. be decomposed to lime (CaO) and carbon di-oxide (CO2). The ther-
mal energy produced by a natural gas burner is mainly consumed
in the calcination reaction. Reaching the outlet of the rotary kiln,
2. Process description the material is discharged into the cooler where lime is cooled
and the secondary air is preheated.
As shown in Fig. 1, the MSC lime production process consists of
three zones, preheater, rotary kiln and cooler. Table 1
Limestone (CaCO3) is charged into the preheater and heated Operating condition.
with the counter current combustion products. Then, preheated
Limestone feed rate (ton/h) 34
materials enter the rotary kiln. Rotation of the cylindrical kiln Final calcination (%) 95
and its inclination forces the materials to move slowly with homo- Secondary air flow rate (Nm3/h) 20,000
geneous temperature to the kiln outlet. A gas burner resides at the Primary air flow rate (Nm3/h) 4000
end of the rotary kiln. Limestone absorbs heat by convective and Fuel (NG) flow rate (Nm3/h) 2340
Fuel heat value (kJ/Nm3) 36,000
Preheater capacity (ton) 70
Kiln inclination (%) 2.5
Kiln rotational speed (rpm) 1.5
Inner kiln diameter (m) 3.1
Outer kiln diameter (m) 3.75
Kiln length (m) 38
Cooler capacity (ton) 11.7
Calcination temperature (°C) 750
Specific Fuel Consumption (SFC) (Nm3/h) 68.82
Particle size (mm) 30

Table 2
Model validation.

Item Actual Predicted Error

value value (%)
Final calcination (%) 94.6 95 0.42
Preheater outlet material 762 787 3.28
temperature (°C)
Rotary kiln outlet material 968 1029 6.30
temperature (°C)
Cooler outlet material temperature 124 128 4.84
(°C)
Secondary air Temperature (°C) 768 756 1.56
Rotary kiln outlet gas temperature 950 947 0.32
Preheater outlet gas temperature (°C) 356 370 3.93
Rotary kiln residence time (min) 85 89 5.86

Fig. 2. The rotary kiln solution algorithm.

Fig. 3. Heat transfer mechanisms in the rotary kiln (Q1 = heat from flame to
exposed bed, Q2 = heat from flame to exposed wall, Q3 = heat from exposed wall to
exposed bed, Q4 = heat from freeboard gas to exposed bed, Q5 = heat from exposed
gas to exposed wall, Q6 = heat from covered wall to covered bed, Q7 = heat loss to
surroundings). Fig. 4. The rotary kiln solution algorithm in each element.
 H. Shahin et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 114 (2016) 110–121 113

3. Mathematical modeling while the solution is converged. A computer code is developed

For solving the three sections of the lime production unit, the
algorithm of Fig. 2 is used. All three sections should be solved
simultaneously. At first, the preheater equations are solved which
need two boundary conditions, material and gas inlet tempera-
tures. Material enters the preheater with ambient temperature,
and the inlet gas temperature is initially estimated. After calculat-
ing the outlet material temperature and calcination, the rotary kiln
equations are solved by estimating the inlet secondary air temper-
ature then the preheater inlet gas temperature has been updated.
Finally, the cooler section equations are solved considering the
inlet secondary air temperature, inlet material temperature and
calcination boundary conditions. The above procedure is iterated
for the simultaneous numerical solution of these three parts. The
solution algorithms of each section are described below. At first,
the rotary kiln solution algorithm is described in Section 3.1. Then,
the cooler/preheater solution algorithm is described in Section 3.2.
3.1. Rotary kiln solution algorithm
Rotary kiln is subdivided into elements in the kiln length direc-
tion. Fig. 4 shows the effective modes of heat transfer at each ele-
ment, which are conduction, convection and radiation. In each
element, temperatures of bed, combustion gas, inner wall and
outer wall are calculated using energy balance equations. Heat
from hot gases is transferred to bed surface and rotary kiln inner

Fig. 5. The preheater solution algorithm.

Fig. 6. The pie diagram of the energy balance for the control volume.
114 H. Shahin et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 114 (2016) 110–121

Fig. 8. Effect of material feed rate on SFC.

The left-hand side of Eq. (1) is heat generated in an infinitesimal

element. The first term in the right-hand side is heat storage
because of temperature variation. The second term is radiation
heat transfer to bed surface and rotary kiln inner wall. The last
term is heat absorbed by CO2.
hrad;g is determined by Eqs. (3) and (4) for flame or combustion
gas radiation to bed surface and rotary kiln inner wall respectively
[29].

4
hf ;b ¼ ðef eb Þrð T f  ðT  Þ Þ=ðT f  T  Þ
4
ð3Þ

4
hg;b ¼ ðeg eb Þrð T g  ðT  Þ Þ=ðT g  T  Þ
4
ð4Þ
Part of the heat which is radiated to inner wall is conducted in
axial and radial directions. The radial conduction heat transfer is
calculated by Eq. (5) [30].
dQ l ¼ ðT w;out  T w;in Þ  lnðDout =Din Þ=ð2pkeff dxÞ ð5Þ
The other part of heat is transferred to bed with radiation, and
contact heat transfer. The radiation and contact heat transfer coef-
ficient from the inner wall to bed are calculated by Eqs. (6) and (7)
Fig. 7. Axial (a) temperature profile of gas and material and (b) calcination respectively [29,31].
percentage in rotary kiln.
hw;b;rad ¼ ew ð1  eg Þeb ððT w Þ4  ðT b Þ4 Þ=ðT w  T b Þ ð6Þ
h i1=2
wall by radiation and convection. In an industrial furnace the con- hw;b;cnt ¼ 1:13 keq qeq C eq =t ð7Þ
vection heat transfer could be neglected in comparison with the
radiation heat transfer if its temperature is high enough [28]. Fur- The radial conduction heat in wall of rotary kiln is transferred to
thermore, due to bed reaction, the CO2 is produced, and is added to ambient with radiation, and free convection heat transfer. The
combustion gas with bed temperature and absorbs heat from com- radiation and free convection heat transfer coefficients are calcu-
bustion gas. Therefore, the energy balance for combustion gas can lated by Eqs. (8) and (9) respectively [32].
be written as Eq. (1) [29]. By solving this ordinary differential  
equation the axial variation of combustion gas temperature along hw;a;radi ¼ eShell r T 2w þ T 2a ðT w þ T a Þ ð8Þ
the kiln length is calculated.
F f Q N jf expðjf xÞdx ¼ F f Gg qg cg dT g þ dAx hrad;g ðT g  T  Þ hw;a;cnv ¼ Nuka =Din
8 ," 9
_ CO2 cCO2 ðT g  T b Þ
m ð1Þ <  169 #278 =2
1 0:559
¼ 0:6 þ 0:387 Ra6D 1þ k =D ð9Þ

Here, T is given by, : Pr ; a in

T  ¼ vT b þ ð1  vÞT w ð2Þ
 H. Shahin et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 114 (2016) 110–121
In bed, the received heat increases the material temperature
and calcination. When the temperature of material become above
the calcination temperature, reaction is occurred. Consequently,
CO2 gases are produced and blend to combustion gas. Reaction
heat is expressed as Eq. (10) [33]
Q r ¼ M0 HCaCO3 R ð10Þ
Also, the energy of bed decreases due to emerging the CO2 from
bed. The heat that emerges with CO2 is calculated by Eq. (11) [33].
Q CO2 ¼ M 0 aRcCO2 T b ð11Þ
The reaction rate R is proportional to the inverse of square of
particle size, which is given by Eq. (12) [33]. In fact, the material
Fig. 9. Effect of material feed rate on (a) exhaust gas temperature and (b) outlet
material temperature.
115
has the various shape and particle size. The volume-based particle
size is used in Eq. (12) which is defined as the radius of the sphere
that has the same volume as a given particle.
 
R ¼ ð3v K CaO =ðHCaCO3 qCaCO3 ÞÞ ðT  T c Þ=r 2p ð12Þ
Distribution of axial calcination is calculated from Eq. (13) [33].
du
u ¼ R ð13Þ
dx
Material axial velocity depends on the rotary kiln residence
time. There are some equations for rotary kiln residence time in
the literature [29,34–36]. The equation which is in good agreement
with operational condition of rotary kiln under study is expressed
as Eq. (14) [37].
Fig. 10. Effect of rotary kiln residence time on (a) fuel flow rate and (b) efficiency.
116 H. Shahin et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 114 (2016) 110–121

Fig. 12. Effect of preheater residence time on efficiency.

Q i ¼ U  dA  ðT s;i  T g;i Þ ð15Þ

where
  .
dA ¼ A=Nelement ¼ N particle  4  p  r 2p Nelement ð16Þ

and
 qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
U ¼ ðNu  kÞ=ð2r p Þ ¼ f a 2 þ Nu2lam þ Nu2turb  K=ð2r p Þ ð17Þ

Nusselt Numbers in the laminar and turbulent regime are calcu-

lated by Eqs. (18) and (19) respectively [32].
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffipffiffiffiffiffi
Nulam ¼ 0:664 Rew Pr ð18Þ
3

 .  2 
Nuturb ¼ 0:037Re0:8
w Pr 1 þ 2:443Re0:1
w Pr3  1 ð19Þ

Reynolds number is defined as Eq. (20).

Rew ¼ ðwfree  2  r p Þ=ðtwÞ ð20Þ

The gas and energy balance can be expressed by Eqs. (21) and
(22) respectively.
Fig. 11. Effect of rotary kiln residence time on (a) rotary kiln outlet material
temperature and (b) calcination. _ g  cg  ðT g;iþ1  T g;i Þ  m
Qi ¼ m _ CO2 cCO2 ðT g;i  T b Þ ð21Þ

_ s  cs  ðT s;iþ1  T s;i Þ þ Q r þ Q CO2

Qi ¼ m ð22Þ
3L  sinðcÞ h pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
t res;rotary ¼ cos1 ð1  yÞ  ð1  yÞ yð2  yÞ Q r and Q CO2 are calculated by Eqs. (10) and (11) respectively.
2p  x  Din  tan a
. 3
i The variation of calcination is calculated by Eq. (13).
½yð2  yÞ2 ð14Þ The preheater and cooler residence time is calculated by their
capacity as defined by Eqs. (23) and (24) respectively.
The Eqs (1)–(14) should be solved simultaneously and for this
purpose a solution algorithms is developed which is shown in Preheater capacity ðtonÞ
tres;preheater ¼ ð23Þ
Fig. 5. material mass flow rate ðton=minÞ

3.2. Preheater and cooler solution algorithms cooler capacity ðtonÞ

tresidence;cooler ¼ ð24Þ
material mass flow rate ðton=minÞ
Preheater is subdivided into elements and in each element, heat
exchange between the gas and material is determined by Eq. (15) Fig. 3 shows the preheater solution algorithm. The solution
[32]: algorithm in cooler is generally same as the preheater solution
algorithm.
 H. Shahin et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 114 (2016) 110–121
Fig. 13. Effect of preheater residence time on (a) preheater exhausted gas
temperature and (b) outlet material temperature.
3.3. Model validation
After providing this computer code, the process was simulated
under normal operating conditions (see Table 1). To assess the
accuracy of the model, temperatures of outlet material from pre-
heater, rotary kiln and cooler were measured. Additionally, calcina-
tion of the final product was measured. The results from the model
are compared with actual operational data and as can be seen in
Table 2, they are in reasonable agreement.
Using the model, the energy balance in the lime production pro-
cess was also evaluated and related results are depicted in Fig. 6. As
shown in this figure, near 70% of fuel burning energy is consumed
by calcination. Exhaust gases have the major portion of heat loss in
117
Fig. 14. Effect of preheater residence time on (a) preheater heat recovery and (b)
calcination.
this process (near 70%). True balance of energy is another evidence
for validity of the model.
4. Results
4.1. Temperature and calcination profiles
To better study thermal behavior of material through the length
of the rotary kiln, first, temperature variations and calcination are
predicted and illustrated in Fig. 7. According to this figure, the
sharp peak of gas temperature in the flame region will result in
more heat absorption in material. After passing the flame region,
heat storage in material converted to chemical energy, therefore,
a considerable reduction of temperature is observed.
118 H. Shahin et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 114 (2016) 110–121

Fig. 15. Effect of cooler residence time on efficiency.

4.2. Material feed rate

In this section, the present model is used for determining the

optimum rate of lime production based on less SFC. SFC (Nm3/ton)
is defined as the amount of fuel consumption (Nm3) for processing
of the unit mass of limestone (ton). For this purpose, the limestone
feed rate and fuel consumption of the burner are adjusted in such a
way that the calcination of materials is completed. In addition, the
air-to-fuel ratio is remains unchanged. Fig. 8 indicates that an opti-
mum feed rate exists for each size of limestone. The reason can be
found in Fig. 9a and b where the temperature variations of outlet
lime and exhaust gas versus limestone feed rate are presented,
respectively. The two figure show that the production increment
increases the exhaust gas temperature while decreasing the outlet
lime temperature. The higher feed rate of limestone requires a
higher rate of fuel burning. Then, the higher flow rate of required
air decreases the temperature of the lime product in the cooler
and enhances its efficiency. On the other hand, more consumption
of fuel and air cause to increase the heat recovery and exhaust loss
in the preheater. Because of the stronger role of exhaust gas, the
preheater efficiency is reduced. Thus, the overall efficiency must
have an optimum point.
It should be noted that, all the following figures show that low-
ering particle size has a drastic effect on reducing fuel consump-
tion. However, particle size cannot be lowered arbitrarily, Fig. 16. Effect of cooler residence time on (a) secondary temperature and (b) cooler
because with a smaller size, material waste will increase as a result heat recovery.
of turning to dust.

ity. For instance, by increasing residence time from the current

4.3. Residence time inside rotary kiln
The effect of changing residence time inside the rotary kiln on
thermal efficiency (Eq. (23)) and fuel consumption for three differ-
ent limestone sizes are depicted in Fig. 10a and b. Thermal energy
efficiency can be expressed by Eq. (25).
energy consumption by calcination
g¼
energy generation by combustion
It is evident that increasing residence time can reduce fuel con-
sumption for constant production rate and final production qual-
value (90 min) to 100 min, fuel consumption would be lowered
about 2% without affecting production rate or production quality.
The required increase in residence time could be achieved by
either lowering kiln inclination or lowering rotational speed. How-
ever, it will result in a 3 cm increase of bed depth, and material
weight will also increase. It is noticeable that as deviation from
design point grows, the effect of increasing residence time will
be attenuated. This efficiency increment can be explained by
higher rate of heat exchange between combustion gases and mate-
ð25Þ
rial. Temperature of material at the cooler inlet is higher than cal-
cination temperature, hence longer residence time will elicit more
heat from materials; thus, temperature of materials will decrease
 H. Shahin et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 114 (2016) 110–121 119

exhaust fan and stronger support structure. A 10-min increase in

residence time compared to reference value will reduce fuel con-
sumption about 2% and will enhance efficiency from 83.2% to
86.2%. Longer residence time will increase the heat transfer rate
between materials and hot exhausting smoke, which increases pre-
heated material temperature. This can be understood from
Fig. 13a and b. For example, a 10-min increase in residence time
compared to reference value (120 min) results in outlet gas tem-
perature drop of 19 °C at the preheater, and temperature increase
of inlet material at rotary kiln of about 1.8 °C. The results of model
also demonstrate another interesting fact, which is; the recovered
heat from outlet gas not only increases the temperature of materi-
als, but also helps the progress of calcination reaction (Fig. 14). Cal-
cination will happen, because temperature of outlet material at the
preheater is higher than calcination temperature. Fig. 14b shows
this effect.

4.5. Residence time inside cooler

The effect of increasing residence time inside the cooler on ther-

mal efficiency is studied in this section. The relation of efficiency
and residence time inside the cooler is depicted in Fig. 15. A 5-
min increase in residence time inside the cooler will result in the
same fuel consumption reduction (2%) and efficiency augmenta-
tion (compared to a 10-min increase inside the preheater or rotary
kiln). However, a 10-min increase in residence time will reduce
fuel consumption for about 3%. Similarly, increased volume will
result in a higher pressure drop in the secondary air path; there-
fore, a more powerful exhaust fan will be required.
This efficiency augmentation can be explained with secondary
air temperature increase and outlet material temperature decrease
due to a higher heat transfer rate at the cooler (Fig. 16). The other
explanation is that, longer residence time inside the cooler will
result in higher calcination percentage. The temperature of outlet
material at the rotary kiln is higher than calcination temperature.
Hence, longer residence time will provide more time for reaction
inside the cooler (Fig. 17). It means that, with similar final reaction,
material with higher temperature and lower calcination percent-
age is provided at the cooler inlet. Therefore, the same production
rate will require lower fuel consumption.

Fig. 17. Effect of cooler residence time on (a) calcination and (b) outlet material
temperature.

unexpectedly, and instead, calcination reaction will make more

progress (Fig. 11). Therefore, efficiency will be boosted. For
instance, a 10-min increase in residence compared to reference
value will decrease outlet material temperature about 50 °C, while
calcination will progress about 1%.

4.4. Residence time inside preheater

Efficiency increment regarding variation of residence time

inside the preheater is depicted in Fig. 12. Residence time incre-
ment inside the preheater or cooler can be achieved by increasing
their capacity. This might result in a higher pressure drop through
the exhausting path; hence, it will require a more powerful Fig. 18. Effect of excess air on SFC.
120 H. Shahin et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 114 (2016) 110–121
4.6. Secondary air flow rate
Finally, the effect of excess air is investigated. Excess air is
defined as the amount of air above the stoichiometric requirement
for complete combustion [38]. For constant flow rate of fuel and
primary air, the flow rate of secondary air is changed to achieve
5%, 10%, 15% and 20% excess air. Then, the feed rate of limestone
is adjusted in model to keep the calcination of product unchanged.
As expected, the lower excess air leads to lower SFC. According to
Fig. 18, reduction of excess air from 15% to 10% can improve SFC by
2.5%. The higher rate of secondary air leads to more heat recovery
from the lime product. On the other hand, the temperature and
flow rate of exhaust gas become larger, hence heat loss is intensi-
fied (Fig. 19). Ultimately, this will result in an increased SFC.
Fig. 19. Effect of excess air on (a) exhaust gas temperature and (b) outlet material
temperature.
5. Conclusion
A mathematical model was developed to simulate the MSC lime
production process, and its results were compared with experi-
mental data. The following conclusions can be drawn from our
study:
 For each size of limestone, a certain production rate can be
determined with minimum SFC.
 A 10-min increase in residence time inside the preheater and
rotary kiln will reduce fuel consumption for about 2%.
 Longer residence time inside the preheater will recover more
energy from outlet gases and will use this energy to increase
temperature and calcination percentage of preheated material.
 Increasing residence time inside the cooler is more effective
than other zones of the lime production process. For instance,
a 5-min increase in residence time inside the cooler has the
same effect as a 10-min increase in residence time inside the
preheater or rotary kiln: 3% fuel saving.
 As expected, excess air can reduce thermal efficiency of the lime
(i.e. its lowering from 15% to 10% will reduce the SFC by 2.5%).
Acknowledgement
The authors thank Mobarakeh Steel Complex (MSC) for their
financial support, and would like to express their gratitude to the
manager of the Lime Production Unit and the R&D Department of
MSC for their support.
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