ROLLER MILL

Used in cement industry

Vertical

Mills used for

Pre-grinding of clinker (lumps to coarse
powder)
Finish grinding (lumps to powder) of

Coal/Petcoke for kiln

Raw materials for kiln
Cement, OPC or mixed
Slag, pure or mixed

VRM Functions

Vertical Roller Mill (VRM) - Details

feed gate
(air lock)

mill exhaust
product discharge
mill outlet duct
separator
cage rotor
separator
guide vanes
tailings cone
separator
discharge flap

mill casing

roller with tyre

or segments

water
injection

rocker arm
roller axle
table liner

dam ring

hot gas inlet

nozzle of
louvre ring

grinding table
hydraulic cylinder

material scraper

clutch
and motor

speed reducer with

table bearing

Working principle
Vertical

mills comprise 2-4 conical rollers

which are hydraulically pressed onto a
horizontal rotating grinding table.
The roller axis is inclined at 15 o to the table
and, as axes of rollers and table do not
intersect in the plane of the table. the relative
motion involves both rolling and sliding which
enhances comminution.

Feed material is directed onto the centre of the table and is

thrown outward by rotation under the rollers and into a rising air
current at the periphery which is directed by means of a louvre
ring. The air sweep passes through an integral
rotary classifier; fines pass out with the air current while coarse
material falls back onto the feed table.
Material drying occurs in air suspension between table and
classifier. Circulating load is typically 800%. Roller mills are
prone to vibration due to an unstable grinding bed.
A major cause of material instability is fine, dry mill feed which
can usually, be mitigated by spraying water directly onto the
bed.

VRM - Working principle

Vertical roller mill

Grinding force =
Roller weight + (pressure) Force
Material bed

Roller rolls freely

with table

Feed material

Table moves with drive

Max Particle size in feed: 5-8 % of roller diameter
Feed size:
f (Roller )

VRM - Material Flow inside

Separator:
removes fine
material

Gas & Product Material

Feed Material

rejects coarse
material
Internal gas
flow

Separator Rejects
Internal Circulation
Large Material falls through to
scraper
Material
Material & Gas
Gas

VRM - Some Common Mill Configurations

G.Pfeiffer

Loesche

FLS Atox

Polysius

VRM - Built-in Separator

conventional rotor type
Conventional

separator
Staticstatictype

Rotor type

cage rotor type

Cage
Rotor type
with guide vanes

F T

T F
F

Separation control:
1. Vane adjustment
2. Speed control
TF

FT

F=

Feed

P=

Product

T=

Tailings

Separators of 3rd Generation

(Vertical roller mill)
Reject cone

Cage rotor

Guide vane system

VRM - Accessories
Rotary valve
Reduces false
air entering
with feed
material. Good
for dry, small
size material.

Weigh belt

Weighs the passing material

ensuring a continuous
grinding bed in the mill

Metal extraction
Metal objects
damage the
roller & table.
The magnet
removes them

VRM - External Circulation

fresh feed

bucket elevator

louvre ring

scraper

Used for reducing

gas flow pressure
lost over the mill
(less pneumatic
internal circulation)

collecting conveyor

VRM - Example flow-sheet

Control points
1 gas flow
2 pressure
difference
3 return gas
flow pressure
4 outlet
temperature
5 external
recirculation

VRM MAINTENNACE

Maintenance

Wear

- Rollers & Table

- Separator (sealing!) & Housing

Lubrication & Hydraulics (filters and seals)

Vertical roller mill internals suffering from wear

Outlet duct

Inlet chute

Separator
Separator cone

Mill housing

Armour &
nozzle rings

Rollers and
table liners

Scrapers

Wear resistance material alternatives

Nihard 4
%C

% Cr

% Ni

Weldable

< 3.5

< 10

< 6.5

yes

High Chromium alloys

%C

% Cr

% Other

Weldable

Example

< 3.6

< 17

Mo + Ni

yes

Chromodur, FMU18, VegalineV16s

< 2.6

< 20

Mn

No

FMU 52

< 3.5

< 28

< 1.2

No

FMU 46

Wear resistance material alternatives

Metallic inserts roller liner

Soft material base

Hard metallic insert

Wear resistance material alternatives

Ceramic inserts roller and grinding track liners
Metallic base (High Cr)

Ceramic insert

Operation and Optimization of

Vertical Roller Mills

Raw material characteristics

Feed

Size

Product

Fineness

Moisture

Content

Grindability
Abrasiveness

Feed Size
Ball

Mill
Maximum 5% + 25 mm

Vertical

Roller Mills
Up to 150 mm

Product Fineness
5% - 25% + 90 m
1.0% - 2.0%

+ 212 m

Moisture Content in Raw Materials

Normal moisture content: 3% - 10% H2O
Possible to dry >20% H2O in vertical mills
Up to 6 to 7%-H2O Drying with kiln gases
Above 7% H2O Supplementary heat from auxiliary
furnace or cooler

 Material

granulometry
Roller pressure
OPERATIONAL
ASPECTS
Dam ring
Louvre ring
External circulation

PARAMETERS TO BE MONITORED DURING

OPEARATION

Production rate, tonnes/hour

Grinding press. (bar) or (kN/m2)
Mill Motor (Kw)
Grinding bed thickness (mm)
Vibration level (mm/s)
Pressure drop across the mill
Mill outlet temperature
Fan flow
Rejects (If external recirculation present)
Water flow

Additional paramters to be monitered

Operating hours
Involuntary downtime hours
kWh/tonne (mill motor + fan + seperator)
Product fineness on 90/212 microns for raw
mill ,coal mill and blaines for cement mill
Feed moisture, %
Product moisture, %
Feed size

 How

the nozzle ring velocity corresponds

to reject rate and pressure drop
Running with a high velocity in the nozzle ring
gives a high pressure loss, but also a low
reject rate.
However the lower pressure drop with e.g. 45
m/s is to prefer and will both give considerable
power savings on the fan and less wear in the
mill body

Operational problems

Vertical roller mill for finish grinding

PROVEN TECHNOLOGY

VERY SUITABLE FOR GRINDING BLENDED CEMENT OR SLAG

COMPACT GRINDING INSTALLATION

ENERGY SAVING - UP TO 30%-40% kWh/Mt

SUITABLE FOR GRINDING MOIST FEED

EASY MAINTENANCE AND OPTIMUM UTILIZATION OF WEARING

ROLLERS

VRM versus BALL MILL for CEMENT

GRINDING
Blaine Surface, cm2/g: 4000

Cement (OPC)

Slag

Grinding systems comparison

Power Consumption when grinding to 3800 cm2/gm for

150 tph capacity

Operational Guidelines
for
Process Optimization

Nozzle Ring Velocity

versus
Material Rejects and Pressure Drop

LOWER PRESSURE DROP

LESS WEAR OF MILL BODY LINERS
FAN POWER SAVINGS OF 15-30%

Air flow

A correct airflow in the mill is important, because the air is

transporting the material and also an important factor for

efficient separation.
Airflow is kept constant through mill and cyclone/ filter by
operating the mill fan with constant power consumption on
the motor.
This is normally done by the help of an automatic loop
between the mill fan damper position and the power
consumption of the mill main motor. Alternatively by the help
of an automatic loop between the speed of the mill fan motor
and the power consumption of the mill main motor.

Feed

A correct feed rate in the mill is important. if the feed rate is

to high and the mill be filled up with material and trip on
vibration, because the mill fan dont have the capacity to
transport material out of the mill.
If the feed rate is to low will the mill emptied out and trip on
vibration, due to low grinding bed. The feed rate depends on
the applied grinding pressure and the grind ability of the
material.
The mill differential pressure or the mill motor power
consumption is an indication of how much material inside the
mill. Normally the feed rate is controlled by the mill motor
power consumption through an automatic loop.

Vibrations
A constant

and acceptable level of

vibrations is important.
If vibrations are to high then the mill be
stopped by the safety interlocking of the mill
in order not to damage the machine.
The vibrations are minimized by injecting
water. The injected amount according to
experience.

Operational problems
Changes

in feed material properties

Equipment problems
Deficiencies of control elements
Control signal errors
External effects

Problems -action

 Vertical

roller mill caluclations

Caluclation of capacity of the mill

Generally

speaking, the production capacity

refers to grinding capacity and drying
capacity of grinding mill.
The material grindability will affect the
grinding capacity, the roller pressure and the
type of grinding mill.

 G=K1

* D2.5
Where G is capacity of the mill
K1 is coefficient, which is relevant to the
typer of roller mill, the selected and used
pressure, the performance of grinded
material. Different specification of roller mill,
so the K1 is different.

K1 of Loesche Mills series roller mill is 9.6 and for

Atox mills it is 7 and for MPS mills it is 6.6.
D is table diameter
Example: for atox 50 mill
The capacity of mill is G= 7 * D2.5
= 7* 5^2.5
= 391 TPH~ 400TPH