Patent Application
20140178271
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
This relates to Cement Clinker production. Cement Clinker production is a high energy demand process and as a consequence high volume of gases are produced everyday by this industry. Gases are produced by combustion of fossil and non-fossil fuels, and by the necessary calcination reactions as well. Environmental constraints are forcing Cement industry to constantly look for more efficient and clean processes to produce their products. The hydraulic cements have long been recognized as an important group of cementing materials which are used principally in the construction industry. These cements have the special property of setting and hardening under water. The essential components of the cements are lime (CaO), silica (SiO2), alumina (Al2O3), and the compounds derived therefrom. In the presence of water, these compounds react to form, ultimately, a hardened product containing hydrated calcium and alumina silicates. The hydraulic cements include Portland cement as well as high alumina cement, hydraulic lime, and other lesser known cements. The principal components of Portland cement are tricalcium silicate (3CaO.SiO2) or C3S (a special cement chemistry notation), dicalcium silicate (2CaO.SiO2) or C2S (a special cement chemistry notation), and tricalcium aluminate (3CaO.Al2O3) or C3A (a special cement chemistry notation), all of which, when in a ground or powdered condition, will react with water to form a hard, stone-like substance held together with intermeshed crystals. Other compounds such as magnesium oxide (MgO) and tetracalcium aluminoferrite (4CaO.Al2O3.Fe2O3) or C4AF (a special cement chemistry notation), which are present in Portland cement, do not exhibit any significant cementitious properties, The exact composition of Portland cement is defined in A.S.T.M. Standard Specifications which are accepted by the industry.
This invention relates to a process and a method for producing portland and other hydraulic cements, and more particularly to an improved process of the prior art, significantly reducing gas emissions such NOx and CO2 as main benefits but not limited to.
The CO2 emissions from Portland cement manufacturing are generated by two mechanisms. As with most high-temperature, energy-intensive industrial processes, combusting fuels to generate process energy releases substantial quantities of CO2. Substantial quantities of CO2 also are generated through calcining of limestone or other calcareous material. This calcining process thermally decomposes CaCO3 to CaO and CO2. Typically, portland cement contains the equivalent of about 63.5% CaO. Consequently, about 1.14 units of CaCO3 are required to produce 1 unit of cement, and the amount of CO2 released in the calcining process is about 500 kilograms (kg) per Mg of portland cement produced (1,000 pounds [lb] per ton of cement). Total CO2 emissions from the pyroprocess depend on energy consumption and generally fall in the range of 0.85 to 1.35 Kg of CO2 per Kg of clinker.
Several U.S. Patents explain in detail how clinker (the base of Portland cement) is produced. Most of them explain the function of the Preheater tower, Rotary kiln and clinker cooler. Any person skilled in the art of cement clinker production knows the way those devices operate. Modern processes are capable to produce good quality clinker (according to specifications) using a wide variety of fuels. Fuels are introduced to the system in two main streams (it could be more than two), The MAIN BURNER located at the discharge of the Rotary kiln and pointing inside it, and the Preheater or CALCINER burner, located up stream before the rotary kiln inlet. It is commonly accepted that the fuel split between Main burner and Preheater/Calciner burner varies depending of the installation and it can be ranged from 30% to 100% of the total fuel on the main burner and from 70% to 0% of the total fuel in the Preheater/Calciner burner. Most of the modern installations are designed to run a split of 45% on the main burner and 55% on the calciner.
During the heating up and burning process, decomposition reactions, phases transformation and formation of new phases occur. These phenomena influence each other. Regarding, the energy consumption in the kiln plant, the important aspects are the enthalpies of the reactions, which may be endothermic or exothermic. Taking advantage of the exothermic reactions necessary for clinker production, it is proposed to eliminate the use of the MAIN BURNER and provide an alternative source of heat (if needed) for the sinterization zone. Installation of an external duct (like the so-call Tertiary Air Duct) to transport recovered hot air from the clinker cooler to be used for the combustion of the fuels in the calcining apparatus, eliminating the transport of this hot air and eliminating the recirculation of dust thru the sintering kiln like in the prior art (so-called secondary air).
Another cement clinker production method using electrical energy is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,477,283 where a different than the rotary kiln apparatus is described. There is no evidence that such process has been implemented at large scale for the regular production of cement clinker.
An improved cement clinker production process is proposed, taking advantage of the exothermic reactions in the kiln, isolating them from the combustion process and redirecting air and dust streams out of the kiln, reducing the specific heat consumption per ton of clinker produced and reducing the production of NOx and CO2 compared to prior art. Accordingly, several other advantages are expected from this improved process and become apparent from a study of the following description and the accompanying drawings.
The present invention will now be illustrated, merely by way of example, with reference to the following drawings:
The plant illustrated in
A hot air duct 5, via which hot air is supplied to the calcining apparatus, is provided between the cooler 4 and the calcining apparatus 2.
The cement raw material “A” is fed in in the upper region of the preheater 1 and passes through the preheater vessels in counter-current flow to the exhaust gases and hot air coming from the calcining apparatus 2 and hot air duct 5 flowing through the preheater.
The preheated cement raw material “B” is then supplied to the calcining apparatus 2 in order to be precalcined there while adding fuel via the burner 6 and the hot air for combustion via the duct 5.
The precalcined cement raw material “C” is separated from the exhaust and hot gases in a cyclone 2a and arrives in the sintering kiln 3 via a meal chute and kiln inlet. The sintering kiln is advantageously in the form of a rotary kiln, which is where the final cement clinker reactions take place, and as stated before, highly exothermic reactions by definition.
The hot cement clinker produced in the sintering kiln finally arrives in the cooler 4 and is cooled down there. The hot cooling air generated during cooling is fed as hot combustion air via the duct 5 to the calcining apparatus 2.
A secondary source of heat 7 is proposed in case that more temperature is needed to complete the reactions inside the sintering kiln 3. This secondary source could be electrical as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,477,283, nuclear, microwaves, even indirect from combustion and others not mentioned here. For the experts on the art, supply this secondary source of heat could represent a challenge but, with some research it is doable and any further development costs would be offset by the advantages of reducing NOx, CO2 emissions and reducing the size of the main equipment involved in the cement clinker production for a similar capacity facility in the prior art.
Within the scope of the invention it is also possible to increase the usage of alternative fuels using the exemplary embodiment showed in
Even when certain embodiments of the present invention have been described, it should be noted that numerous possible modifications or versions of such embodiments can be made and still within the scope of the present invention in its broader aspects. The present invention, therefore, shall not be considered as limited excepting for what the prior art demands and for the spirit of the claims attached hereto.
