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TECHNOLOGIES USED IN
CEMENT INDUSTRY
AIR SEPARATION TECHNOLOGIES USED IN
CEMENT INDUSTRY
GENERAL
- DEFINITION OF AIR SEPARATION FORCES INVOLVED
DISCUSSIONS
SEPARATION
Separation is a method to differentiate particles according to their size
exploiting the fact that different particles can obtain different velocities
when moving in a fluid under a certain force.
Air separation is the method of separating dry particulate materials into two
distinct size fractions, one above and the other below a defined cut-point
which normally range from 1 micron to 300 micron. It has a widespread use
in many industries such as cement, coal, ceramic, pulp and paper, fertiliser
and pharmaceutics.
D BLADE
C D
R
R ROD
G
C
R D I
(?)
(Impact)
I
C
G
G
High Energy Intermediate Energy Low Energy
(uplift of material) (uplift of material) (displacement of
material)
Forces acting;
D c.a. .
u v2 g: acceleration due to gravity
v: particle velocity
: air viscosity
mv2 f: function
Centrifugal Force: C
r dp: particle diameter
dr: rod diameter
dp 1
Impact Force (efficiency of capture): E 1
d r 1 d p
d
r
STATIC SEPARATORS
VANE TYPE SEPARATORS
Principle: Static separators have no
moving parts and separation is executed by
chances in air velocity and direction. As
seen in figure 1, the air stream carrying
particles is converted from a directional flow
through the outer cone into a rotating flow
by guide vanes. The particles are subject to
centrifugal force, the coarse particles move
to the outer wall of the inner cone and spiral
down it to enter the reject stream and the
fine particles move into an upward spiral in
the center of the cone and are carried away.
The effect of separation depends on the air
volume, the feed rate and the adjustment of
the vane angles. As air volume increases
i.e.increase in air velocity,centrifugal force
increases and separation becomes more
efficient. The product size can roughly be
adjusted by changing the angle of the vanes.
When closing the vanes, finer particles will
be selected and the product becomes finer.
The limit to the closing of the vanes is the
level of pressure drop one can tolerate in the
separator.
Air separation became important in the latter part of 19th century when tube mills were
developed to produce large volumes of portland cement which had become a significant
building material. The grinding process highlighted the need for efficient separation of
fine particles from mill discharge and static separators proved to be inadequate.
Askham air separator was patented for this duty by Mumford and Moodie in 1985 which
was the basis of the first generation of dynamic separators.
First generation dynamic separators and their evolution during 120 years into second
and third generation separators that improve rejection of coarse particles and minimise
by-pass will now be discussed.
FIRST GENERATION DYNAMIC SEPARATORS
Dynamic separators started with the Askham air separator in 1885. These type of
separators became known as the first generation separators. The Sturtevant Whirlwind
separator shown in the following Figure was a popular first generation separator which
consists of a funnel-shaped casing, within which is a second funnel with an annular
space between the two. The separation is affected by a current of air which is produced
by a fan revolving in the upper part of the casing. The material is fed on to a spinning
distribution plate and dispersed into an air stream created by a circulating fan. The
spinning plate imparts a centrifugal force to throw particles in the separation zone.
Large particles drop out in the inner cone and leave the apparatus. The current induced
by the fan passes upwards and outwards between the fan blades carrying with it the
finer particles which are thrown into the outer casing. The air carrying fines returns to
the fan inlet via return air vanes because of change in air direction and velocity, and the
fines is discharged through the fines chute.
A problem with the first generation of air separators is that no external air is added and
the circulating air becomes very hot ( >120 degrees C ). This has an adverse effect on
the gypsum in finished cement so that these units are more appropriate on mills
grinding raw materials than clinker.
..........
The main advantages of the first generation classifiers were reasonable
classification of very fine products on an industrial scale which had not previously
been possible and relatively low capital cost.
For nearly 80 years classifiers of this type were used in cement plants and many are
still used today. The demand for cement increased rapidly in the 1950s and there was
also a continuing need to improve cement quality, which meant closer control of
size distribution. The deficiencies of the first generation air classifier had to be
corrected and attemps to do this resulted in the design of the second generation of
dynamic classifiers.
STERTEWANT FIRST GENERATION DYNAMIC
SEPARATOR
SECOND GENERATION DYNAMIC SEPARATORS
First generation separators suffered from high by-pass and difficulty in changing the particle size
distribution and surface area of the fine product and in the 1950s these problems were outweighing the
advantage of relatively low cost. One solution was to remove the fines from the circulating air and this
led to a second generation separator becoming available in 1960 whose main features were
- an external fan to circulate the air which replaced the internal fan,
- several external planetary cyclones which replaced the fines cone,
- independent control of separator speed and air circulation.
The air containing the fines went from classifier to the cyclone where the solids were removed through
the apex, and then to the fan which recycled it back to the separator. The separation is based on the
same principle as the first generation separators. The main advantages of the second generation
separators were better removal of fines, sharper separation, lower by-pass and continious control of
the fineness. The main disadvantage was their large size. The problems were incomplete dispersion
of the feed and removal of the fines from the recycling air which was still incomplete, and a rather
erratic cut size. For some years after they came on the market they were preferred to the first
generation units when new circuits were being installed but they had a relatively short life because of
their size and they were replaced by the third generation separators.
SECOND GENERATION SEPARATOR
SECOND GENERATION SEPARATOR
SECOND GENERATION DYNAMIC SEPARATORS
Main Features: - an external fan to circulate the air which replaced the internal fan
- several external planetary cyclones which replaced the fines cone
- independent control of the separator speed and air circulation
- the air entered the classifier horizontally and had a uniform velocity across the flow,
- the distribution plate was at the top of the air flow and the feed fell as a completely dispersed curtain
of particles,
- particles passed through a rotating cage before entering the fine stream, and the collision of the
particles with the bars of the cage assisted in rejecting the coarser particles from the flowing air,
- the product size could be adjusted on-line by changing the rotor speed,
- the dust laden air from the mill was used as classifying air without impairing the classification
efficiency because the air left the separator and the fines were removed before it was recycled.
In operation the air passes through the stationary guide vanes and the feed material is dispersed in
the annular gap between these and the rotor. After passing through the vanes the air moves in a
horizontal vortex. The air carries the fine material tangentially across the face of the rotor that is
turning in the same direction as the vortex. The coarse particles are separated by a combination of
gravity, centrifugal and impact forces and fall into the collecting cone at the base. The fine particles
are conveyed to a dust collector. The sharp classification and low by-pass reduced the circulating load
in tube mill-separator circuits and allowed an increase in feed rate by 20-40%. The specific energy
consumption was reduced by 15-35%.
PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
Material is first dispersed on the distribution table and falls down into the gap between
the cage and the guide vanes forming a thin curtain of material. After passing through
the vanes the air moves in a horizontal vortex. The air carries the fine material
tangentially across the face of the rotor that is turning in the same direction as the
vortex. The coarse particles are separated by a combination of gravity, centrifugal and
impact forces and fall into the collecting cone at the base. The fine particles are
conveyed to a dust collector. The sharp classification and low by-pass reduced the
circulating load in tube mill-separator circuits and allowed an increase in feed rate by 20-
40%. The specific energy consumption was reduced by 15-35%. Large air flows are very
important for good efficiency. Qf/Qa ratio of such separators is around 2 kg/m3 up to 2,5
kg/m3, provided the fines are always lower than 1 kg/m3.
THIRD GENERATION DYNAMIC SEPARATOR
FINENESS CONTROL IN HES
Fineness Control: The fineness of the product can be controlled in three ways.
- by varying the volume (velocity) of the air flowing through the separator. As the volume is increased
the product becomes coarser.
- by changing the speed of cage rotor. As the speed is increased fineness increases.
- by changing the annular setting of the guide vanes. A setting towards the redial position will give a
coarser product, whilst finer product will be obtained by going to as near tangential setting as
required.
It is readily seen that the product fineness control is much easier with the HES than the other types. By
playing with the first two variables it can be made without stopping of the grinding circuit and from
the control room.
USE OF HES
The use of HES become widespread as these units offer several combined advantages which can be given as;
mill system production increase of 20-40% for existing ball mills or a propertional reduction in the size of
new mills producing ordinary cement.
lower cement temperature, which minimises or eliminates mill internal coating and the tendency for false
or pack set in the cement.
simple separator rotor speed control of product fineness making it no longer necessary to stop the mill
to make separator adjustments when changing the product fineness. The amount of fringe cement is
much less.
smaller relative separator size and ability to accept dusty process air which reduces the amount of
auxiliary equipment and power consumption, thereby classifying all cement through one machine for
more uniform physical properties.
ability to have better control of cement strength, and to enhance characteristics such as coarse particle
residue. Variations of these characteristics are minimised resulting in higher confidence in cement
quality.
ability to make special cement products that were previously very difficult, such as coarse oil well and
fine masonry blends.
Table x gives the data taken from an actual plant. Weight percentage of three different streams are given for
each size fractions concerned. For each individual particle size of the separator feed the curve indicates the
weight percentage which goes into the finished product and into the rejects. With experience and a good data
base one can analyze a tromp curve and deduce valuable information about the separator and the circuit from
the curve characteristics which are:
Cut point: The cut point d50 corresponds to 50% of the feed passing to the coarse stream. It is therefore the size
which has equal probability of passing to either coarse or fine streams.
Sharpness: The sharpness of separation is defined as d75/d25, where d75 and d25 denote the sizes with Tromp
values of 75% and 25%. For an ideal separation this would be 1.
Imperfection: The imperfection of separation is usually defined as I=[ d75-d25 ] / 2d50. The lower the
imperfection the better the separation.
By-Pass: The percentage of the lowest point on the tromp curve is referred as the by-pass. It indicates a portion
of each size fraction which bypasses the classifying action. Expressed in an other way, it is part of the feed
which passes to the coarse stream without being classified. Experience has shown that the by-pass parameter
variea with classifier feed rate , and hence it is difficult to describe a single Tromp curve which is representative
of the classifier.
Fish Hook: It is the portion of fines returning back into rejects. In certain separators, mainly in those having
rotating vanes, the fine particle stream from a primary classification is met by a circulating air stream containing
still finer particles which recoat the separated particles causing them to behave as coarse particles. This
secondary action leads to a fish-hook pattern of Tromp curve. A similar effect can be seen in separators in
which there is incomplete feed dispersion at the separator entry, or even within the classification zone, whereby
aggregates of fine particles may be classified as coarse particles and thus report to the coarse stream. If during
the size analysis, these aggregates are dispersed, the analysis give more fines than the separator did.
MADDE DENKLNN HESAPLANMASI
F=U+O
F . f = U . u + O . o
U=FO
F . f = (F O) . u + O . o
F . f = F . u O. u + O . o
F . f F . u = O . o O. u
F.( f u) = O . (o u) U, u
O fi ui
F oi u i
MADDE DENKLNN K TEMEL AAMASI
100
90
80
70
birikimli % elekalt
60
Besleme
50 Sep.risi
Sep.ncesi
40
30
20
10
0
0.01 0.1 1
tane boyu (mm)
SEPARATR PERFORMANS ERSNN
OLUTURULMASI
GUIDE
SEAL RING
VANES
ROTOR
BLADES
GRIT CONE
LV TECHNOLOGY CLASSIFIER FOR
VERTICAL ROLLER MILL
SEPARATOR IMPROVEMENTS AIM AT
Improving Performance
MODIFICATION BY LV EXISTING
CLAIMED BENEFITS OF LV CLASSIFIER
10 - 30 % Increased production
1.0 5.0 kWh/t Saving in power consumption of both mill and
fan
The fact that the separator runs in a circuit means that operating variables of the circuit may change.
These variables can be feed rate, feed fineness, rotor speed, air ventilation and so forth. In reviewing
separator performance some over-riding relations, which affect efficiency, must be known and if
possible would be expressed mathematically.One of these relations relates to the feed concentration,
i.e. Kg feed to separator/ m3 of separator air sweep =Qf/Qa ). It is claimed to tie up the combined effect
of circulating load, system output and fan speed as well as blade position and number and also
separator sweep on high efficiency separators. Its effect on by-pass of two separators is given below.
What the above graph shows is that as separator feed is increased by-pass also increases prowided
that the amount of separator internal airsweep remains the same. Increasing sweep through the
separator with more fan, more speed, more blades or larger diameter fan should reduce the by-pass.
Therefore reducing sweep through closing the diaphragm will reduce efficiency or increase by-pass. In
general high efficiency separator operators have the luxery of being able to adjust separator draft as
separator feed changes and adjust cage rotor speeds to control fineness. It is seen from the graph that
for an HES the curve is flatter, which means that they can withstand bigger changes in Qf/Qa with a
much smaller effect on by-pass. It can be seen that the general rule is to strive for the largest amount
of internal air flow or the lowest Qf/Qa ratio that still meets product quality constrains.
Qf/Qa ratios suggested for different separators are roughly given below.
SEPARATOR FEED
KG/AM3 OF AIRFLOW
1.39 2.25 2.23 1.7 1.8 1.5-2.25
SEPARATOR PROD.
KG/AM3 OF AIRFLOW
0.49 0.76 0.73 0.62 0.72 0.6-0.75
SEPARATOR FEED
T/H*M2 OF ROTOR 22.8 30.46 22.81 21.38 20.6 20-22
SURFACE AREA
SEPARATOR PROD.
T/H*M2 OF ROTOR 7.99 10.24 7.49 7.72 8.25 8.0-11
SURFACE AREA
POSSIBLE SEPARATOR ADJUSTMENTS AND THEIR EFFECTS
Fines
Type of Adjustment By pass Fineness
Output
MAIN FAN
Higher speed
SELECTOR BLADES
More blades
Fewer blades
DIAPHRAGM or VALVES
% opening
ROTOR SPEED *
AIR FLOW *