The “four golden rules” of clinker coolers

Boost thermal performance and reliability of your clinker cooler by following the “four golden rules”.
1st golden rule: Keep the clinker on the grate
Gap management improvement Minimize clinker fall through
Background:
• Only the grate line (grate plates) is made of heat resistant material, the • Minimization, maintaining and sealing of the gaps in the grate
structure below is normal mild steel, which is heat resistant up to 200 °C arrangement is essential for the reliability of the grate cooler
only
Target:
• Minimize clinker fall through into the air chambers
Requirements:
• Grate arrangement should be permeable to cooling air, but not for • Minimized gaps on the grate arrangement (proper gap management)
clinker
• Maintain constant gaps during operation is essential
Typical failures and defects:
• Excessive clinker fall through due to:
o Worn out grate plates and side plates on conventional grate
coolers
o Worn out sealing elements
• Deformation of under-grate cooler structure due to overheating

Worn out grate plates at the border side causing hot clinker fall through
Best practice examples
• Minimized number and size of gaps in the grate line
• Hardfaced surfaces in areas of relative movement between grate line
and clinker
• Replaceable insertion plates in wear exposed areas
• Process interlock of temperature in under-grate compartments

Good example: Minimized gaps on grate arrangement

2nd golden rule: Keep the cooler tight
Air management improvement Minimize air losses
Background:
• Air and pressure profiles along the cooler should follow the clinker • Thus, the lower section of the clinker cooler is divided in compartments.
cooling curve. • The cooling air will escape towards the end of the cooler, if the
High flows and pressure at the cooler inlet and low once at the cooler compartment walls are not sealed.
end.
Target:
Air management; controlled air guidance into the clinker layer, to improve heat recuperation
Requirements:
• Minimize air losses between the under-grate compartments and to ambient
o Sealing of compartment walls
o Sealing of spillage discharge (hopper gates)
Typical failures and defects
• Huge openings around moving frames and below the grate plates at
partition walls
• Malfunction of hopper discharge gates
• Timer control of hopper discharge
• Missing sealing of spillage discharge, e.g. internal drag chains
Holes in partition wall Internal drag chain
Best practice examples
• Tube chain conveyor
• Gap closing around movable parts
• Level control of hopper discharge

Wall sealing Tube chain conveyor

 3rd golden rule: Keep the clinker bed open
Clinker fluidization Clinker preparation on the static inlet
Background:
• The static cooler inlet is the most important area of the clinker cooler. • If the formation of agglomerates is not avoided on the static inlet, it
• Down to 1250 °C the clinker is still having liquid phase. Thus, clinker may cannot be corrected later. The heat in the agglomerates can neither be
stick together, if not cooled sufficiently in this area (quenching). recuperated nor cooled.
Target:
• Clinker fluidization on the static cooler inlet section to avoid formation of clinker agglomerates
Requirements:
• Sufficient cooling air flow on the static inlet • Smooth clinker distribution by horse shoe layout on static inlet
• Sufficient pressure at fan outlet • Automatic air blaster operation
Typical failures and defects
• Fan limitations (flow and/or pressure) on static inlet
• Elevated empty grate pressure drop of the static inlet air distribution
system, like air beam aeration (small pipes), flow regulators and small
plate openings
• Clogged air ducts and/or grate plates
• No horse shoe or outdated horse shoe layout
• No static cooler inlet section installed
• Horizontal grate plate arrangement (limited clinker flow)
Inlet without horse shoe and Agglomerate formation due
horizontal grate plates to insufficient air
Best practice examples
• A static inlet section is mandatory for grate coolers
• Low pressure static inlet sections
• Operation flexibility by high flow and pressure reserves for the static
inlet fans
• Clinker guidance by modern horse shoe layout
• Automatic air blaster operation; “Shot snow babies, don´t wait for
snowman”
Modern horse shoe layout No clinker agglomerates (wanted)

The fulfillment of the first 3 golden rules is precondition to achieve the 4 th golden rule
4th golden rule: Keep the grate speed low
High clinker bed operation Increase retention time & heat recuperation
Background:
• Grate coolers are crossflow heat exchanger. Increasing the height of the • Heat transfer coefficient improves with increased clinker bed height as
clinker layer in the cooler increases the retention time of the clinker in long as the clinker bed is kept open (see 3rd rule).
the cooler and increases the retention time of the air in the clinker layer.
Thus, heat recuperation improves.
Target:
• Controlled heat recuperation and clinker end cooling
Preconditions: Additional requirements:
• Proper gap management of the grate line (see 1st golden rule) • Sufficient power (force) of the grate drive
• Proper air management including chamber and hopper sealing (see 2nd • Capability of the grate drive to operate with low grate speed
golden rule)
• Proper function of static cooler inlet section to keep the clinker bed
open (see 3rd golden rule)
Typical failures and defects:
• Grate drive limitations (high hydraulic pressure, skewing, etc.)
• Weak cooler structure
• Stepped layout of the grate line (clinker self-flowing effect)
Trend of heat coefficient vs. clinker bed height
Best practice examples:
• Solid design of the cooler structure
• Sufficient force of the grate drive
• Operation with minimum 800 mm clinker bed (best practice > 1000 mm)
• High clinker bed operation is more effective than high air operation
• High clinker bed is the best protection of the grate line

Cooler efficiency vs. clinker bed height

The “Four Golden Rules” are essential for clinker cooler operation, performance and reliability.
• 1st rule: Keep the clinker on the grate: Minimized clinker fall through by improved gap management
• 2nd rule: Keep the cooler tight: Minimized air losses by improved air management
• 3rd rule: Keep the clinker bed open: Clinker preparation on the static cooler inlet section by clinker fluidization
The fulfillment of the first 3 golden rules is precondition to achieve the 4th golden rule
• 4th rule: Keep the grate speed low: Increased retention time and heat recuperation by high clinker bed operation

In many cases just small modernization and optimization measures are required to improve the performance and the availability of your clinker cooler.

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