Global Slag - Bangkok

Efficient and reliable handling of

GBFS and GGBFS at grinding
plants and cement works
AUMUND Group
Saalhoffer Str. 17
47495 RHEINBERG
Germany
.
www.aumund.com

Presenter and Author – Barry Woodbine.

 Combining the traditional strengths of the
Overview: Aumund Group products with new con-
cepts to improve plant design flexibility and
During recent years the Cement industry reduce project costs Aumund offer fast
has suffered significant increases in operat- track effective solutions allowing clients to
ing costs driven in particular by spiralling capitalise on short term market positions
energy prices plus pressure from environ- and maximise plant profitability.
mental lobbies to reduce dependence on
fossil fuels and reduce CO2 emissions
overall. Considering the production of a ton
Production:
of conventional Portland Cement generates
Granulated Blast Furnace Slag is a by-
almost a ton of CO2 and in terms of total
product of the Steel Industry produced by
greenhouse gas emissions for all Industries
rapid quenching in cold water of the molten
worldwide places cement second only to
slag recovered from the blast furnace; this
power in the scale of global polluters.
process produces a granular, glassy, ho-
mogeneous, non-crystalline material that
These factors have generated an increased
has cementitious properties.
awareness of alternative fuel possibilities
for kiln firing and substitute raw material
options for cement production, reflecting Figure 01
also an increased demand for blended ce-
ments particularly including ground granu-
lated blast furnace slag (GGBFS); for every
ton of GGBFS included in the final blended
cement the total CO2 production is reduced
by around 1 ton…

Whilst the processes behind the use of

Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag
(GGBFS) as a substitute raw material is
well understood the application of the ma-
terial represents a considerable challenge Depending upon the process around 25%
for the plant designer from the intake of the or more of the raw material used in the
Granulated Slag to the introduction of the blast furnace is tapped off as slag.
ground material to the blended cement.

In general these materials are difficult to

handle reliably varying from extremely free
flowing (GGBFS) to very sluggish and
prone to bridging and blockage and liable
to agglomerate in storage (GBFS). Granu-
lated blast furnace slag is also extremely
abrasive with wear rates some five times
greater than cement clinker in comparable
installations.

The Aumund Group, including B&W and

This represents a vast quantity of material
Schade, recognise these challenges and
produced worldwide and the market is ef-
have developed innovative solutions for
fectively limited only by the availability of
many of these handling problems with spe-
granulation equipment at the steel plant
cial adaptations of existing designs tailored
and the logistics of transportation to the
to suit the specific demands of these new
cement plant.
applications.
The granular material is then dried and
ground in a mill at a prescribed rate and the
resulting powder, known as Ground Granu-
lated Blast Furnace Slag may be incorpo-
rated into concrete materials.
Ground granulated blast furnace slag
(GGBFS) has been used for many years as
a supplementary cementitious material in
Portland cement concrete, either as a min-
eral admixture or as a component of blend-
ed cement.
GGBFS may replace 35% to 85% Portland
cement in concrete with corresponding re-
ductions in CO2 emissions resulting in ob-
vious environmental benefits.
The use of GGBFS as a partial Portland
cement replacement takes advantage of
the energy invested in the slag making pro-
cess and its corresponding benefits with
respect to the enhanced cementitious
properties of the slag. Grinding slag for
cement replacement requires only about 25
percent of the energy needed to manufac-
ture normal Portland cement.
Without the use of granulated material the
total volume of slag produced could not be
viably or economically utilised in other pro-
cesses, such as aggregate for example,
and would inevitably go to land fill as in the
past.
Therefore by maximising the appropriate
use of GGBFS in cement the industry is not
only significantly reducing greenhouse gas
production and energy consumption but
also reducing landfill thereby making a sig-
nificant reduction in total environmental pol-
lution levels in line with the general objec-
tives of the Cement Sustainability Initiative.
Market Conditions:
In today’s rapidly changing international
market the ability to react quickly to market
volatility and take advantage of short-term
market positions is essential if operators
are to maximise profitability and return on
capital invested.
-3-
In this respect the use of substitute raw
materials such as granulated blast furnace
slag should be considered as part of an
overall plan to reduce costs and improve
the environment. So often these are mutu-
ally exclusive demands but in the cement
industry the combination of substitute raw
materials and alternative fuels benefits all
and is truly a win-win situation.
The use of these materials is also very
much dependent upon geography where in
certain regions fuel costs and access to
raw materials and demand for particular
properties of the finish blended cement
may significantly affect the economic mix
demanding in any case a flexible and fast
track new plant solution.
Similarly other materials such as Flue Gas
De-Sulphurised Gypsum (FGD) Gypsum
often known as Synthetic Gypsum is widely
used in cement and other industries and as
such pricing is market driven and the rela-
tive economies of use vary accordingly.
Where all of these conditions are factored
into the overall equation market volatility
may dramatically change the relative econ-
omy of specific solutions in short time.
Under these conditions the cement manu-
facturer has a difficult calculation to make
when evaluating the payback period of any
new plant investments dedicated to the
handling of alternative fuels or substitute
materials and as such reduced installation
cost and flexibility are key issues when
making these decisions.
Similarly new plant lead time to commis-
sioning after these decisions are resolved
is critical to maximise the perceived finan-
cial benefits within a cost and time frame
that may be confidently predicted.
In this paper we shall discuss the handling
requirements of the Granulated and
Ground materials in the Cement industry
but similar solutions are also applicable for
independent grinding stations or grinding
facilities installed directly at the steel pro-
duction plant.
 As a background to this paper; this experi-
Key Plant Design Issues: ence extends to the handling of very hot
materials in Cement; Sinter and Pellet
In addition to the suitability of the new plant plants using the long established Aumund
for the intended application there are other Pan Conveyor concept with highly devel-
issues that can influence decision making oped designs specifically tailored for these
aggressive and demanding applications.
To maximise the financial benefits relating
to substitute raw material or alternative
fuels clearly the plant design criteria and
budget constraints are substantially differ-
ent to what would considered for a main-
line process demand.

In addition flexibility in location and suitabil-

ity for other materials and applications is an
attractive combination in that should the
relative economies of the intended project
change significantly it is always useful if the
plant may be reused elsewhere and there-
fore the investment risk mitigated.

Clearly civil works costs are also an im-

portant factor in any new plant and are not
only expensive but obviously not reusable
and certainly incur delays in construction
where extensive design, planning and ex-
cavation may be required.
With few exceptions the costs associated
with rail car delivery of these alternative
materials is prohibitive therefore road de-
livery is generally the only option. Intake by
tipping truck is always sensitive to fugitive
dust pollution and necessary control
measures are generally required to mini-
mise any environmental impact.
As an example of the depth of engineering
expertise available, Aumund have execut-
ed the largest Bucket Conveyor installation
delivered thus far for handling hot com-
pacted iron with a lift height of 110 metres
(150 metres centre distance) at a handling
rate of 210 t.p.h..
These conveyors are designed to handle
material at 900 degrees Centigrade in an
inert atmosphere to maintain the product
quality.

A successful and economic new plant in-
stallation must address these key issues if
the financial rewards, environmental bene-
fits and process demands are to be real-
ised…
Aumund Group Experience:
With over 80 years experience designing
specialised bulk materials handling solu-
tions for the Steel and Cement industries
the Aumund Group are uniquely placed to
confidently offer mechanical conveying sys-
tems for Granulated Blast Furnace Slag
both in its raw state and after grinding.
Within the Cement industry the name of
Aumund is synonymous with quality and
reliability with over 10,000 installations
worldwide in over 100 countries.
Aumund Clinker Transports and Vertical
Bucket Elevators are the undoubted market
leaders in this industry with clear techno-
logical benefits derived from continuous
detailed development.
Our commitment to ongoing Research and
Development keeps Aumund Group prod-
ucts at the forefront of technology for the
long term benefit of our clients.

-4-
Developed from the pan conveyor concept Intake and Elevation:
Aumund have delivered special cooling
conveyors for pellet plants incorporating The B&W range of Samson Surface Feed-
perforated pans using ambient air drawn ers offer the ideal solution for the intake of
through the pans and exhausted through both raw and granulated slag.
comprehensive ducting systems to cool the
pellets down from 250 degrees to 100 de-
grees C,, as illustrated below.

Illustrated above the Samson feeder re-

ceives raw slag direct from the steel works
In addition to the Pan Conveyors and Verti- for processing at an off-site crushing plant.
cal Elevators Aumund also deliver heavy
duty feeder equipment and silo extractors
plus, with the addition to the Group of
Schade in 2001 a comprehensive range of
Stackers and chain scraper Reclaimers
bringing 125 years of continuous experi-
ence in this market.

Also, in 2002 Aumund acquired B&W Me-

chanical Handling Ltd. of England adding
the Samson Surface Feeder and more flex-
ible solutions based on Mobile Stacking
and Ship Loading equipment to the already
comprehensive Group portfolio.

The experience gained in continuous pro-
cess applications operating under the most
arduous working conditions has been
brought to bear on the detailed design of
equipment for the handling of GBFS, as we
shall discuss herein.
From the standard Aumund range you will
find solutions from feeders for the intake of
the raw slag or granulated slag through
stacking to storage, recovery from storage
and feeding of the material to the mill and
the raising of the finished ground material
to the final silo storage.
Tailored solution driven from experience…
As can be seen above the Samson dis-
charges direct to a belt conveyor mounted
at 90 degrees allowing an ideal transfer
onto the belt minimising risk of blockage as
there is a high risk of oversize and tramp
materials. From the belt conveyor the slag
is first screened to remove the tramp and
then crushed down to a particle size suita-
ble for use as aggregate in road building.
Slag varies significantly in properties and to
maximise the output of the system under
any conditions the Samson output is auto-
matically adjusted relative to the actual
handling rate (measured by belt weigher)
and crusher current demand.

-5-
The same Samson Surface Feeder design
may also be utilised for the intake of
Granulated Slag at cement works or grind-
ing plant either direct from tipping trucks or
from loading shovel.
The above new installation at the Holcim
Carboneras plant in Spain receives import-
ed granulated slag from tipping trucks
which discharge to a ground stockpile.
From the stockpile material is recovered by
loading shovel using the Samson as a
buffer hopper with feed regulation (by level-
ling blade) to the following inclined belt
conveyor which raises the slag to the mill
bunker at high level.
Since the Granulated Slag is liable to ag-
glomerate in ground stockpile, creating
large hard lumps, the Samson must be fit-
ted with a reject grill either at the entry (as
shown above) or at the discharge to pre-
vent these large lumps entering the mill
bunker causing potentially catastrophic
damage to the mill.
-6-
As an alternative to the ground stockpile
solution in some plants there simply is not
sufficient space to store large volumes of
material and therefore the intake of granu-
lated slag must be managed using road
tipping trucks.
In this situation the Samson surface feeder
is the ideal answer providing an intake,
buffer storage and feed rate control in a
single machine whilst at the same time
eliminating the need for deep pits and hop-
pers thereby reducing civil works costs and
improving flexibility.
To overcome the problem of oversized ag-
glomerated lumps the installation drawing
above shows a Samson with integral twin
shaft rotary sizer mounted at the discharge.
The rotary sizer is compact and may be
accommodated between the Samson and
the following conveyor as illustrated below.
From the following conveyor the material
may be raised to the mill silo using an Au-
mund BW-Z central chain bucket elevator
as we shall describe later in this paper.
The combination of Samson and Sizer is
not new and the following picture demon-
strates a rather extreme example where
the sizer discharges direct to an overland
conveyor handling as mined Limestone; as
an example.

Naturally there alternatives solutions and

as an example the Samson may be paired
with a “Side-Wall-Belt” vertical conveyor
system as used in the new installation for
Holcim Germany handling granulated slag.

In this project the Samson receives the

granulated slag direct from tipping trucks in
the usual way with the output regulated us-
ing the standard levelling blade system but
the material is discharged direct to the hor-
izontal loading section of the “S” shaped
Side-Wall belt conveyor.

-7-
The illustrations on the previous page
shows the equipment arrangement for this
project with a horizontal discharge station
delivering granulated slag material direct to
the high level storage silo.
Below the illustration a picture shows the
typical exposed Side-Wall-Belt of the verti-
cal section supported only from the head.
However, these conveyors are notoriously
difficult to clean and you will see on the de-
tail drawing of the tail section the spillage
returns conveyor designed to pick up any
spilt material and transfer this to the main
conveyor feed boot.
As an alternative the Aumund Group offer
the type BW-Z central chain bucket eleva-
tor which offers totally enclosed and spill-
age free handling raising the granulated
slag direct to storage silos as illustrated
below.
The vertical bucket elevator may be com-
bined with any type of transfer or feeder
conveyor system.
-8-
But, when integrated to the Samson sur-
face feeder the whole installation may be
made compact and clean.
As illustrated above a classical surface in-
stallation… using a short belt conveyor to
transfer material from the Samson to the
vertical Bucket Elevator feed boot.
The Aumund Chain-Bucket elevator is the
ideal solution for handling GBFS to silo
storage, suitable for lift heights from 10 to
60 metres and handling rates of more than
600 t.p.h., plus. In other applications where
required material temperatures up to 400
degrees C may be accommodated also.
Utilising a single central forged chain these
machines are ideal for handling aggressive
materials but for slag handling special fea-
tures are included to ensure long term reli-
ability.
Rubber Lined Head and Boot.
Flexible Rubber Casing Panels.
Fully Lined Buckets.
Toothed Buckers (at 10th pitch)
Additional Inspection Access.
Seal Pre-Lubricated Chains.
The features are all geared to resist wear
and provided extended machine life with
minimum maintenance and minimum
downtime.
Developed from our extensive experience
in the Cement industry, handling hot ce-
ment clinker, these elevators offer quite
remarkable reliability proven worldwide.
Rubber linings are the proven solution at
the inlet and outlet of the machine but for
the vertical casing the conventional
pressed steel sheet sections are replaced
by a fabricated lattice structure with flexible
rubber panels which resist wear and mate-
rial adhesion.
Each bucket is fully lined in wear resisting
steel plates applied to every plane of the
bucket structure plus on each 10th bucket
digging teeth are applied which create a
clear path through any residual material to
minimise wear on the conveying strand as
a whole.
-9-
However, the major feature of these eleva-
tors is the massive forged conveyor chain
with sealed and pre-lubricated pins which
forms the backbone of the unit and is the
key to long term reliability.
The labyrinth seals formed into chain side
plates effectively prevent material ingress
to the pin and bush and, when combined
with effective pre-lubrication, extends the
chain life by a massive 60% compared to
the traditional unsealed design without pre-
lubrication..
The chains are not re-lubricated in service
and require no special routine maintenance
but the choice of pre-installed lubricant is
critical if the benefit of this design is to be
fully realised.
The chart below demonstrates the im-
provement in wear performance achievable
with this design; effectively more than dou-
bling the actual chain life.
The blue line represents a standard chain
without seal and without pre-lubrication, the
red line represents a sealed chain with
premium grade lubrication. The intermedi-
ate lines represent results obtained with
other grades of lubricant.
In operation minute traces of the conveyed
material pass the seal and combine with
the lubricant to form a mild grinding medi-
um which polishes the pin/bush interface
and it is this high level of surface finish that
improves the long term wear life.
This is the advantage of an effective Re-
search and Development facility, a clear
and demonstrable benefit of the technolog-
ical superiority of Aumund Group products
where attention to detail is rigorously pur-
sued with the goal of long term perfor-
mance and reliability for the benefit of our
clients.
Silo Discharge:
Having raised the Granulated Slag to the
storage silo or mill bunker the stored mate-
rial must be extracted and perhaps
weighed for dosing.
For the dosing of slag the Aumund Weigh
Feeder combines accuracy with perfor-
mance and reliability utilising a weigh rail
mounted to load cells supporting the close
pitch apron or pan conveyor rollers to accu-
rately measure the applied load.
- 10 -
By measuring the material load over a
known length and by monitoring the chain
speed the desired output rate may be con-
tinuously adjusted in real time to suit the
process demands.
Based on the proven deep drawn pan con-
veyor principle type KZB these weigh feed-
ers offer long term reliability working under
the most difficult conditions.
For handling cohesive materials the type
BPB Arched Plate Conveyor as illustrated
opposite is the preferred solution, also
available with weigh rails for proportional
dosing or controlled rate feeding applica-
tions.
With truly massive construction these feed-
ers are suitable for the most extreme duty
applications.
For extracting cohesive materials from silo
storage the Aumund Centrex® provides an
effective solution eliminating bridging and
blockage by recovering material from the
silo periphery using logarithmically shaped
arms mounted to a rotating carrier as illus-
trated opposite.
The Centrex® is offered with a range of
mounting options including the possibility of
a rotating cone to ensure reliable discharge
and first in first out material flow.
Stacking and Reclaim:
For larger projects where substantial vol-
umes of Granulated Slag are to be handled
the Schade range of rail mounted boom
stackers and chain scraper type portal re-
claimers are the ideal solution.

Since the discharge arm sweeps right out

to the periphery of the silo plus a small un-
dercut as illustrated below the silo dis-
charge is not impeded and reliably extrac-
tion may be guaranteed.
The stacker as illustrated above installed at
the CCB Italcementi plant in Belgium re-
ceived the slag by belt conveyor dis-
charged by a tripper car to the travelling
stacker boom at a handling rate of 600
tonnes per hour to generate a stockpile ca-
pacity of 35,000 m3.

For larger silos the “Rotating-Discharge-

Machine” is also an option comprising a
Reclaim from the stockpile is by a Schade
multi-arm discharge wheel mounted to a
portal frame reclaimer fitted with a special
rotating carrier.
scraper chain, as discussed below, recov-
ering the material to a belt conveying run-
This arrangement caters for silo diameter
up to 4.5 metres handling a wide range of ning parallel to the stockpile at a rate of
cohesive materials but has found wide ap- 300 tonnes per hour to match the process
requirements.
plication handling FGD or Synthetic Gyp-
sum both in power plants and in cement
Stockpiling and reclaim are fully automatic
plant as this type of gypsum may be uti-
using onboard control systems with exten-
lised as a direct replacement for natural
sive field and instrumentation and protec-
gypsum required to modify the cement
tion systems allowing unattended opera-
properties at the final grinding stage.
tion.
- 11 -
 Recognising the potential wear problems
handling this extremely abrasive material
Schade have developed the outboard bear-
ing chain specifically for operation under
these arduous conditions.
Schade have produced some of the worlds
largest installations of this type with reclaim
rates to 2,400 tonnes per hour and rail
spans to 65 metres.
In addition to the longitudinal portal re-
claimer configuration Schade also offer the
circular storage system comprising inte-
grated stacker and reclaim boom mounted
to a common column.

As illustrated above the outboard roller is

carried on an elongated chain pin using
Illustrated above the outside circular stor-
double precision ball bearings plus a multi-
age handles granulated slag at a plant in
path labyrinth grease seal the roller may be
South Africa. Note the single extraction belt
lubricated for life requiring no further atten-
conveyor mounted inside an underground
tion in service.
gallery beneath the stockpile to collect ma-
Outboard roller chains also significantly re- terial from the central discharge point of the
reclaimer boom.
duced the machine noise level are often
used in applications located in sensitive
The circular storage system offers an eco-
areas close to urban developments.
nomical solution where space is con-
strained and offers the lowest cost per ton
In addition to the special outboard bearing
of storage.
rollers special scraper shovels are also
employed with wear resisting digging face.
The Schade storage and reclaim systems
Schade offer an extensive range of re- may be supplied complete with rail or road
ußenrolle
claimer designs; with over 50 years experi-
ence in this market and were the first com-
intake equipment based on the Samson
surface feeder or type BPB plate feeder as
pany to deploy the chain scraper technolo- a complete handling package.
R ROLLER
gy in this manner.

- 12 -
Similarly the Schade storage system may
be linked to the cement plant using, for ex-
ample, Aumund bucket elevators and silo
storage and extraction equipment and as
such a complete package from intake to
the mill.
Bridge reclaim systems may be either lon-
gitudinal replacing the portal design or may
be based on a circular format as illustrated
below.

In addition to the specific example illustrat-

ed herein actually handling granulated slag
Schade offer many alternative designs
such as the cantilevered boom as illustrat-
ed below.

Finally and really just for interest Schade

produce some of the largest circular stor-
age systems ever built as illustrated below
in China handling coal for a power plant.

The semi-portal design; where one side of

the portal is supported on a raised building
wall also acting as load bearing contain-
ment to increase the effective storage ca-
pacity per metre of building length.

At 120 metres diameter these designs rep-

resent the pinnacle of the market and
demonstrate the capability and engineering
prowess of Schade in this market.

Raising the Ground Slag:

For the blending of materials such as lime-
stone at the cement plant ensuring homo-
geneous output Schade also offer the
bridge reclaimer design with reciprocating
harrow ensuring material is recovered from
the full face of the stockpile and thereby
mixing samples for every layer.
We have discussed in detail the intake and
storage of the granulated slag as it is re-
ceived from the steel works but that is not
the full story.
After the slag is ground, typically in a verti-
cal mill, the finished material generally
known as GGBFS must be raised to silo
storage before blending or direct dispatch.

- 13 -
The handling characteristics of the ground
slag are very similar to that of finished ce-
ment and in this situation Aumund are the
clear market leader using the their type
BW-G belt/bucket elevators.
Units are in installed to over 140 metres lift
height and conveying rates to 1,500 t.p.h.
with up to 450 kW installed motor power.
- 14 -
As with the chain elevator the belt elevator
has been the subject of continuous devel-
opment over many years culminating in a
design of undoubted reliability operating in
continuous process applications running
24/7.
As always attention to detail is the key to
success and every aspect of the design is
the subject of ongoing development to
maximise the benefit of technological ad-
vances in materials and construction, typi-
fied by the unique encapsulated clamping
connection as illustrated below.
Flexible Mobile Solutions:
Where budget constraints will not permit
the installation of a dedicated fixed han-
dling system the Mobile Solutions offered
by B&W represents a economical answer
to the storage and even export of slag.
Illustrated above the Stormajor receives
granulated slag direct from the Corus steel
works in South Wales (UK) delivered by
tipping truck for a new grinding plant oper-
ated by Civil and Marine Slag Cement.
- 15 -
The Stormajor comprises a Samson Sur-
face Feeder to receive the material and a
Radial Stacking boom to discharge direct to
stockpile, all mounted to a common mobile
chassis.
The machine illustrated, with a boom length
of 23 metres, will produce a stockpile
height up to 12 metres allowing a vast ma-
terial volume to be stored (as illustrated in
the drawing below) with the minimum of
machine movements.
Delivered in 1998 this particular machine
has handed many thousands of tons of
slag and has proven an effective solution.
Also the Stormajor may be effectively used
for loading barges and railcars and as such
represents a flexible investment…
In addition to mobile stackers B&W also
offer Mobile Ship Loading equipment incor-
porating the Samson surface feeder for di-
rect loading from truck to ship as illustrated
below.
The use of Mobile Handling Solutions elim-
inates costly civil works and provides max-
imum flexibility allowing operators to take
full advantage of short term market condi-
tions maximising financial resources and
minimising investment risk without sacrific-
ing performance or reliability.
Retrofits and Upgrades:
In addition to the design and execution of
new plant and installations Aumund also
offer a unique upgrading service not only
for Aumund Group products but also for
compatible machinery from other suppliers.
Using the upgrade service clients have the
option to convert existing machines using,
for example, Aumund chains, buckets,
shafts, pulleys, drives and other key com-
ponents to enjoy the legendary Aumund
reliability with minimum cost and plant dis-
ruption.
Illustrated above a plate feeder is recondi-
tioned on site using exclusively Aumund
original spare parts and components.
Aumund offer fast track availability of spare
parts from our service centres worldwide
guaranteeing the highest level of after
sales service and support.
- 16 -
Conclusion:
Within this paper we have discussed the
detailed innovations, resulting from our
commitment to ongoing R&D, which are
specifically related to the handling of raw,
granulated and ground blast furnace slag.
These products may be integrated to your
plant either as individual machines or part
of an integrated handling system where we
also offer engineering support for the de-
sign and local manufacture of associated
structures, conveyor bridges, transfer tow-
ers and similar ancillary services.
Aumund offer a comprehensive service to
our clients from the conceptual plant layout
through the design stage to the final com-
missioning of the plant and the ongoing
service backup supported from our head
office in Germany plus daughter companies
and representative office in France, Swit-
zerland, Poland, India, China, Brazil, Hong
Kong, the USA and the United Kingdom.
Outside of these territories we have an ex-
tensive agent network, fully trained in Au-
mund Group products, providing local sup-
port and direct access to our field sales and
service network.
A truly international Group with vast ex-
perience and resources dedicated to the
delivery of effective and economical
bulk materials handling solutions tai-
lored to your specific demands, world-
wide.