ABSTRACT

This study is carried out with the aim to know about

the working mechanism of cement mill [LOESCHE
VRM]. I also have discussed the calculations
regarding air flow rate into the mill as well as mill
operating parameters.

Muhammad Younas

A CONCISE
REPORT ON
CLINKER MILL
[Document subtitle]
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Table of Contents

Clinker mill operation and technical data: .................................................................................................... 2

Clinker Mill major parts and their functions:................................................................................................ 2
Vibration monitor: .................................................................................................................................... 2
Sealing air: ................................................................................................................................................ 2
Central air: ................................................................................................................................................ 2
Roller (M): ................................................................................................................................................ 3
Roller (S): ................................................................................................................................................. 3
LM drive: .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Scraper: ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
Table: ........................................................................................................................................................ 3
Louvre/Nose ring: ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Dam Ring: ................................................................................................................................................. 4
Support ring: ............................................................................................................................................. 4
Armor ring: ............................................................................................................................................... 5
Scatter ring: ............................................................................................................................................... 5
Working principle of Loesche VRM: ........................................................................................................... 5
Classifying: ................................................................................................................................................ 6
Mill important parameters: ........................................................................................................................... 6
Mill inlet pressure: .................................................................................................................................... 6
Mill inlet pressure is controlled by........................................................................................................ 6
Mill inlet pressure is influenced by: ...................................................................................................... 6
Air Velocity .............................................................................................................................................. 6
Differential pressure of mill [mbar] .......................................................................................................... 6
Specific Power consumption:.................................................................................................................... 7
Air flow through mill [m3/h] ..................................................................................................................... 7
Vibration velocity at gearbox [mm/sec].................................................................................................... 7
Power consumption or current of mill main drive [kW or A)................................................................... 7
Power consumption or current of mill fan [kW or A)............................................................................... 7
Thickness of grinding bed [mm]: .............................................................................................................. 7
Clinker mill Air Velocity calculations .......................................................................................................... 8
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1. Clinker mill operation and technical data:

Mill dam ring height mm 410

Mill support ring height mm 60
Mill bed height mm 60-80
Mill inlet temperature ⁰C 80
Mill outlet temperature ⁰C 81
Grinding/operating pressure bar 75
Counter pressure bars 20
Mill table speed RPM 20.04
Mill classifier speed RPM 37-92 (75%)
Classifier motor power kW 1120
Mill drive power kW 10,000
∆P of mill Pa 48
Process water consumption m3/h 7.5
Mill average vibration mm/sec 5, 6
Mill feed capacity tons/h 445
Average mill reject tons/h 45
Mill type VRM LM 72.4+4
Raw material grain size [mm] 130
Product grain size [cm²/g] >3,200

2. Clinker Mill major parts and their functions:

Vibration monitor:
• In order to monitor mill operation a vibration sensor is mounted to the mill.
• The vibration sensor measures the movements of the body in the horizontal direction
(mm/s).
• The mill vibration sensor trip limit is 10 mm/sec

Sealing air:
• Sealing air is used to protect the roller bearing assembly from being contaminated by
dust from the grinding chamber.
Central air:
• A partial gas flow known as central air is supplied to the mill body, beneath the
classifier, via central air flaps.
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• Central air is deployed for two different reasons:

o improved drying during the grinding if using moist grinding material,
o Cooling the ground particles in the gas flow if using hot clinker.
Roller (M):
• The Master roller is used to crush the grinding material.
• The centrifugal force acting on the table delivers the grinding material to the roller
(M).
Roller (S):
• A roller (S) is used for preparing the grinding bed.
• It is located at upstream of the master roller in each case.
• The roller (S) is not a grinding roller, but rather a preparation roller.
• Its function is to compress, i.e. prepare, the ventilated and inhomogeneous grinding
bed of feed material and re-circulating material for the subsequent grinding roller, the
roller (M).
LM drive:
• The LM-drive is constituted with motor drive and gearbox.
• The drive of the transmission system is operated via eight identical, vertically
oriented drive units, which are distributed uniformly on the circumference of the
transmission system.
• The drive units are integrated oil-tightly in the gearbox.
• The drive units transmit the torque evenly via a pinion shaft to the central wheel of
the gear stage.
Scraper:
• The scrapers catch foreign bodies and rejected material which have fallen through the
louver ring into the ring duct.
• The scrapers in ring duct then pushes the rejected material to the reject opening.
Table:
• The main function of the table is to support the grinding bed and to transfer the forces
caused by the rollers into the gearbox located below.
• And also to transfer the torque from the drives into the grinding zone.
• The table is the second milling tool inside the mill in addition to the rollers.
Louvre/Nose ring:
• It generates the initial airlift.
• A segmented louver/nose ring is fixed stationary around the table.
• The louver/nose ring directs the primary gas flowing out of the ring duct from above.
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• Due to the inclined location of the louvers, causes the necessary grinding material
particle circulation in the grinding chamber and also supports material drying.
• The foreign bodies and grinding material particles also falls through the louver/nose
ring against the primary gas flow.

Dam Ring:
• The dam ring retains material on the table to develop a bed height under the rollers.
• The dam ring height determines the layer thickness (grinding bed) of the grinding
material on the table.
• Increasing the dam ring height will increase the main power consumption
• Secondly it will increase the bed height and stability.
Support ring:
• The compact bed is made here in this ring. It actually makes the necessary bed for
grinding process. Increased support ring height will increase grinding bed height and
stability of grinding process.
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Armor ring:
• It is inclined to the inside to deflect gas and material away from mill body.
• It also supports the primary gas guidance away from the upper section wall.
• Individual armor ring segments are each bolted to a louver ring segment.
Scatter ring:
• The scatter ring is a metal ring divided into segments. It distributes the milled
material thrown off by the dam edge and guides it to the louver ring.
• It covers the wide air gap between the outside diameter of the table and the inner
louver ring.

3. Working principle of Loesche VRM:

The raw materials are fed directly to the center of the grinding plate. The centrifugal force
caused by table rotation evenly distributes the incoming material under the grinding rollers.
The rotation of the grinding plate together with the pressure of the grinding rollers, creates the
necessary friction for grinding the material. The grinding force is developed by the hydraulic
system and transferred by the rocker to the roller. The working pressure creates the necessary
grinding force. After being ground, the finer material will be air lifted up into the mill to the
classifier by the hot gas flow, where selection of material takes place. The coarse material
rejected by the classifier is directed back to the center of the grinding plate in order to ground
again. The grinding process starts with the preparation of the grinding bed.
For a stable grinding process following parameters are important:
▪ The vibration of the grinding plate
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▪ The ∆P of the grinding system

▪ The height of the grinding bed
▪ The pressure of the grinding rollers
▪ The speed of the grinding plate.
Classification of material:
The gas flow airlifts particles in a vortex. First classification takes place in the mill by
vertical forces-upstream gas flow versus gravitation. Second classification is achieved by
horizontally active forces between static flaps and rotating rotor blades. Undesirable
material is thrown against the static flaps back onto the table via the grit cone.

4. Mill important parameters:

Mill inlet pressure:

Mill inlet pressure is controlled by
• Recirculation damper
• Stack damper
Mill inlet pressure is influenced by:
• Mill ∆P
• Process gas flow
• Mill fan pressure and RMP
• Fresh air damper position
• Hot gas generator (HGG) operation
• Feed rate
• Working pressure
• Classifier RPM
Air Velocity:
• Too high velocity will lift coarse material and will create wear on mill lining, louver ring
and classifier.
• This will also destabilize other parameters in operation.
Differential pressure of mill [mbar]:
• The differential pressure of the mill is measured at the ring pipes on mill inlet and mill
outlet (inlet of classifier).
• The differential pressure of the running mill depends on the amount of dust in the mill air
and on the air flow through mill.
• ∆PTotal = ∆PAir flow + ∆PDust load
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• The amount of dust in the mill air (the filling degree of the mill) is mainly influenced by
the production rate (feed rate minus moisture). Therefore the feed rate is in a control loop
with the differential pressure as guide value.
• The differential pressure of the plain air (no dust load in the air) depends on the air flow
through mill and the open cross section of the nozzle ring only.
Specific Power consumption:
• The amount of energy [kWh] which is consumed by the mill main drive while
grinding one ton [t] meal to a certain fineness.
• The specific power consumption is increases with the fineness (finer grinding- more
energy consumption).
Air flow through mill [m3/h]:

• Air transports the material inside of the mill and the product out of the mill to the bag
filter.
• Air also transports the heat for the drying process.
• The air flow is measured by the differential pressure of an orifice. This measured
value is used as a guide value in control loop with the fan damper position.

Vibration velocity at gearbox [mm/sec]:

• The vibration at gearbox indicates the smoothness of the process and protects the mill
from mechanical damage.
• Excessive vibration occurs when the mill is too empty (thin grinding bed), too full
(very thick grinding bed) or when big metal pieces are in the mill.
• Too low outlet temperature can also cause an increased vibration.

Power consumption or current of mill main drive [kW or A]:

• The power consumption of the mill main drive is an indicator for the
filling degree of the mill.
Power consumption or current of mill fan [kW or A]:
• The power consumption of the mill fan is an indicator for the amount of
air flow.
Thickness of grinding bed [mm]:
• Grinding bed thickness/height is measured by the rocker arm monitoring.
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5. Clinker mill Air Velocity calculations:

Length of single nozzle 0.4191 m

Width of single nozzle 0.3429 m
Area of one nozzle 0.143709 m2
total no of nozzles 56
total Area for air flow 8.047726 m2
Air flow rate from CCR 1120000 m3/hr.
Formula for Air flow rate (Q) Air velocity (V)*Area available for flow (A)
Air velocity (V) Air flow rate (Q) / Area available for flow (A)
Air velocity 1120000/8.047
Air velocity 139,182 m/hr. Or 38.66 m/s