Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Numerous designs of linings and accessories, including dams, lifters, and heat ex-
changers, contribute greatly to kiln efficiencies. Greater conductivity is achieved with
basic brick than with fireclay and high-alumina refractories, depending largely upon the
use of steel plates in radial joints between adjacent brick to increase heat transfer through
the lining. Refractory lifters expose all portions of the load to radiant or convective heat
and raise some portions to higher temperatures by cascading the load down through the
path of the hot gases.
TRANSACTIONS A l M E M A R C H 1955, M I N I N G E N G I N E E R I N G 2 8 5
coatings. Serious interruptions may be necessary this type are relatively strong, they are abraded
for their removal. The coatings and rings can be- excessively by movement of the hard refractory
come of such magnitude that the kiln must be shut lining with which they are in contact. When this
down, with resulting loss of production time. happens the refractory bricks become loose and
Figs. 2a and 2b are pictures of kiln interiors ultimately fall out. However, prefired diatomaceous
showing the lining before and after a typical accre- earth insulating brick produced abroad has been
tion build-up which obstructs the flow of the regarded as suitable for this application, mainly at
charge to the extent of necessitating a shutdown. cement plants in Europe and Canada. Although it is
Fig. 3 is an example of a desirable coating. strong, it is not friable, and when subjected to pres-
Special kiln designs, boring machines, carbon sure and abrasive action, the surface in contact with
dioxide bombs, various types of guns, and carefully the hard refractory brick tends to compress slightly
controlled operations help reduce the difficulty.to a rather than to abrade away.
reasonable minimum. Table I1 presents temperature gradients and heat
Insulation: At several plants it has been the prac- losses based on thermal conductivity data and cal-
tice to insulate basic refractory linings with fireclay culated in accordance with the empirical formula
brick because of the difficulty experienced in build- commonly used. The temperature of 2200°F at the
ing and maintaining coatings. without a substantial hot face was used in the calculations, as it was con-
-
coating or adeauate insulation the shell became
overheated, owing to the relatively high conduc-
sidered most representative of a wide range of
operations.
tivity of the basic brick. A 3-in. thick course of In recent years, at a number of cement plants, in-
radial fireclay bricks laid in a close fit against the sulating fire bricks have been used for the lining
shell provides the insulation. Upon this is super- proper in kiln sections beyond the burning zones.
imposed a 6-in. magnesite brick lining with 16-gage They have been in service for several years, and
steel sheets in the radial joints. Insulating fire there is every indication that they can be expected
bricks are not used because they are not strong to last much longer. These linings are directly ex-
enough to resist the abrasion resulting from any
movement of the refractory linings.
Except perhaps in a few unusual cases, insulation
of the high temperature zones of rotary kilns holds
little promise of success. On the other hand, many
kiln linings are insulated beyond the burning zones
with measurable savings. The waste heat from ro-
tary kilns sometimes is utilized for steam generation
and other purposes and the economies resulting
from insulation of the kiln lining can be deter-
mined with some degree of accuracy. In the case of
kilns operated with concurrent feed and fuel input,
especially when endorthermic reactions are in-
volved, there can be little doubt about the value of
insulation. However, the operation of kilns with
insulated linings must be controlled closely to
benefit fuel efficiency and production rate and to
avoid merely increasing the stack temperature.
Block insulation has been used extensively for
kiln lining in applications where the interface tem- Fig. 7-Shown here are de-
perature is not high enough to cause shrinkage of tails of several refractory
shapes for cross tiling.
the insulation. Successful use of this material is
based on its slight compressibility and its capacity
to withstand the pressure imposed upon it. In most
cases rigid insulating fire bricks placed between the
kiln shell and the refractory lining have had to be
replaced prematurely. While insulating bricks of
Fig. &This construction, which provides greater stability against forward thrust, is now being tried in two kilns, one for calcin-
ing refractory clays and the other for hard-firing dolomites.
Table I I . Calculated Temperature Gradients and H e a t Losses. Table I l l . Comparison of Physical Properties of Firebrick
H o t Face a t 2200°F -- -~
26000F
Light-weight, Class
Heat Loss, Properties High-duty High-duty Insulating
Btu ---
Temperature Per Sq
Refractory Gradient, OF F t P e r Hr Weight, lb per cu f t 130 to 140 60 to 65 45 to 50
Modulus of rupture, psi 1000 to 1500 500 to 700 140 to 230
Cold crushing strength, psi 2000 to 3500 700 to 1000 150 to 250
Pyrometric cone equivalents 32 to 32% 700 to 1000 150 to 250
6-in., high duty, with 2%-in. block
insulation
9-in., high-duty, with 2%-in. block
insulation
6-in., high-duty
of which Fig. 5 is a typical construction. However,
9-in., high-duty under certain circumstances there may be merit in
4%-in., lightweight, high-duty
9-in., high-duty using insulated rotary kiln blocks with the cutout
4Y2-in. insulating brick because of the greater stability of the lining, Fig. 6.
6-in., high-duty
Accessory Refractory Constructions as Factors of
Efficiency: As governed by the functions and vari-
posed to the mix flowing over them. The fine dust ous operating factors, kiln efficiencies are greatly
has only a negligible abrasive effect and the bricks benefited by the use of chains (with wet charges),
are strong enough to withstand pressures to which preheaters, metallic lifters, and other devices. Use
they are subjected. The important physical proper- of equipment made of metals is limited to relatively
ties of light-weight fire brick suitable for linings as low temperatures.
compared with those of dense fireclay brick are To accomplish the desired reactions in rotary
illustrated by the data in Table 111. kilns most effectively, it is necessary that the charge
Several trial installations on a relatively small be brought into intimate contact with the hot gases
scale have been made with refractory radial blocks and with the radiated heat from the refractory lin-
provided with a recess for the insertion of an insu- ings and other brickwork within the kilns. In gen-
lating material. This design is illustrated in Fig. 4. eral the accessory constructions can be regarded as
A lining of this kind is a compromise and cannot be baffles of one type or another. Various designs of
as effective as the more nearly complete insulation, lifters, dams, and pocket arrangements are used.
Fig. 9-111 this design for a high-duty refractory smaller shapes are used than in the construction shown in Fig. 8. Tiles are pro-
vided with tongues and grooves bonded together by overlapping joints. Heat-resisting tubes are used for reinforcement.
I I
Figs. 11 and 12-Dams are usually built with standard rotary kiln blocks in a corbelled (upper view) or stepped arrangement
(lower view) to a predetermined height. Some dams are built with special shapes, differing only in that the sides are cbmnfered
to g k e a smwth cohtour to the dam so that flow df material will not be reericted.
a slight extent during its travel through the kiln. tain extent by the use of refractory lifters, which
It is important that the entire charge, including this expose a portion of the load to a higher temperature
submerged portion, be p r o p ~ r l yheated. -This c3n be by lifting it up and then cascading it down through
accomplished in some ca<es by the install'afion of the path of the hot gases. In addition, the refractory
one or more dams, which increases the retention lifters break up the segregation of the particles and
time necessary to heat the entire load mme'uni- expose all portions of the load to the radiated and
formly. A series of dams will provide a uniform convected heat.
depth of load throughout the length of the kiln. Several types of refractory lifter arrangements
Dams also help retard surging of materials which are in use in various rotary kiln operations. Most
tend to flow nonuniformly throughout the length of are simply longitudinal ribs, either straight or spi-
the kiln. To control the velocitv of gas and air thev raled. Fia. 13. Some of the lifters constructed with
are freauentlv built at feed ends of the kilns. thus sDecial refractorv" s h-a* ~ e sform intricate att terns in
securing best combustion conditions and highest the lining. Figs. 14 and 15 illustrate two of these.
thermal efficiency. See Figs. 11 and 12. These lifter components are built of the class and
Lifters: Highest thermal efficiency could be ob- type of refractory best suited for the particular zone
tained only if each particle of the charge could be of the kiln and the prevailing temperature condi-
brought into direct contact with the hot gases. tions. However, the refractory lifter blocks are
However, the charge always stays at the lowest subjected to abnormally severe conditions because
part of the kiln and the hot gases pass over it. the portion of a block that protrudes above the
Moreover, the load or charge takes a set pattern in lining proper is exposed on more than one surface.
its journey through the kiln, the coarse particles Consequently the lifters are subjected to more se-
revolving around the fines. Therefore, some method vere thermal spalling conditions and abrasive action
of mixing the charge with the hot gases and stirring than are the bricks in the lining proper. Because of
it as it moves down the kiln would add greatly to this the maintenance costs in many cases outweigh
the thermal efficiency. This has been done to a cer- the value of the fuel saving.
Checkerboard or Waffle-Type Lifter: Of the sev-
eral types of lifter patterns that have been used,
one has special merit. This is shown by Fig. 16. It
consists simply of a series of staggered pockets in
the lining formed by two brick shxpes. The size of
the pockets desired naturally determines whether
standard or special sizes are needed. In the case of
standards, 9x6~4-in. and 9x9~4-in. rotary kiln
blocks are alternated in adjacent rings in such a
manner as to form pockets up to 9x4 in. and 3 in.
deep. The pockets retain the material as it flows
down the kiln, lift it up, and-then cascade it down
through the path of the hot gases. This action im-
proves the mixing of the charge and p r e v e ~ t spar-
ticle segregation.
With this construction, many sheftcomings of the
usual type of refractory lifters are avoided, and the
spalling conditions imposed upon the brick are re-
duced to a minimum. Since this pattern does per-
mit straightline flow of material through the kiln,
abrasion of brick by the charge is considerably less
than is the case with lifters, which project inward
from the face of the lining.
Fig. 16-The checkerboard or waffle-type lifter consists of Greatest experience with this pocket type con-
a series of staggered pockets in the lining formed by alter- struction has been in the hottest zones of zinc re-
nate' use.of two brick shape& one of which' is considerably covery kilns in which the charge may become
thicker than the other. somewhat viscous, similar to putty.