Ore Preheating in Rotary Kiln

P.C.Sudhakar

Why to Preheat Manganese Ore ?

To drive away moisture

To dissociate MnO2 to Mn2O3
To add useful heat to furnace
To use waste heat from low temperature gases
To avoid eruptions
To explore the possibility of construction of
closed furnace
To continue utilization of 100% coal as
reductant
To get energy savings
To be environment friendly

Preamble:
Around

0.5 MW to 1 MW of low temperature waste

heat is available for extraction from each of 16.5
MVA furnaces when operated with Coal as
reductant. There are several ways to extract this
heat and the critical issues related to this heat
recovery are:

Hot

air and Hot Water making may be

suitable for make up to boiler and air
preheater for boiler.

Non

coking Coal used as reductant in furnace but as a

combustion agent in boiler. The regeneration of power
from furnace by closing like boiler is another point of
view.

Continued:
The huge hot air quantity can be used for
air conditioning /ore preheating.
Low pressure steam can be generated for
dust suppression in open low hood furnace.
When uncontrolled firing of non-coking coal
happens in furnace the heat is wasted,
instead make coal char and ore preheating
in kiln retrofitting and use closed furnace
to control smelt reduction.
The temperature is to be controlled and
dust free environment make the fans
consume less power.

Advantages of using low temperature

heat for Ore preheating:
Hot

water is in too large a quantity

for Boilers make up quantity, hence
not suitable.
Closing the furnace is further step of
Ore pre-heating, hence can be taken
up later.
Low pressure steam generation is not
possible as per experts in the area.
Hence Ore pre-heating is viable
option especially in the case of
Manganese Ores.

Using coal as reductant in Submerged

Arc furnace mean the following :
1)

The flue gas temperatures are around 300 degree

centigrade and our Gas Cleaning Plant bag house can with
stand only 200 degree centigrade
2) Hence these are low hood open type furnaces drawing
300000 cubic meter/hour dilution air hence lot of sensible
heat is lost as waste.
3)
Other plant operators are using Coke in addition coal as
reductant and hence the problem is not rise.
4)
The huge quantity of gases needs to be cooled before
entering bag house to save bag life.
5)
Therefore we would like to extract heat with ore preheating option.
6)
Our auxiliary consumption is high compared to other
plants.
7) They are using Forced Draft Coolers before the fan to
reduce fan power consumption.

Moisture contents in Ores:

Origin of Ore

H2 O %
( Approximate)

Australia Ore

3.8%

South Africa Ore

1.2%

MOIL MSL 498

2.0%

MOIL BGF 452

8.4%

Sandur 26-28

0.4%

Radhika

4.2%

Calculation of Moisture Losses

Average % of Moisture in Manganese Ore 5%
Quantity of Moisture in 2 tons of Ore = 100 kg / ton
of alloy
Daily production in 16.5 MVA furnace = 70 tpd
Daily moisture removal = 7 tons per day
Required heat = 540 kCal/kg *7000 kg ~ 4,000,000
kCal
Available heat
= 0.2 kCal/kg*300000 cum/hr*24 hrs*0.8 kg/cum
~ 11,000,000 kCal
Efficiency required of rotary kiln = (4/11)*100 = 36%
Efficiency = {(473-373)/473} *100 = 21%

Dryness of ore need not be 100%

Theoretical Dryness = (21/36) *100 = 58%

Time of residence of ore = 46 tons /shift ~ 6
tons/hour
Most valuable heat is consumed in drying ore
rest of the heat is sufficient for bag house.
Dryness of around 50% is sufficient for
avoiding most of the troubles.
Rotary drier kiln capacity ~140 ton/day.
The kiln size is 46 tons * 0.5 cum/ton / ( 21%)
= 110cum
The diameter of kiln = 3.1meter
The length of kiln = 14 meter.

Why the kiln problem needs to be solved?

The problem has three dimensions:

Calculus of rotation of charge for exposure to

flue heat

Thermal heat transfer for removal of moisture

CFD to solve flow of flue gases

Why should we keep Pre-collector before kiln?

To settle the coarse dust.

The diameter of kiln 3.1 meter or 10 feet for
easy implementation of sonic soot blowers.
Bucket elevator is easy to put the ore into kiln.
Transfer chute for hot discharged ore can be
used
Second feeding trolley for hot ores can be
used.
The blow/eruption gas adjustment takes in
pre-collector before opening of chimney.
The 14 meter length can be adjusted outside
the shed and normal diameter of 2 meter
transfer kiln can be made inside the shed.

Kiln literature

1) Moisture in Manganese Ores paper

2) Kiln Calculus thesis
3) CFD of drying thesis
4) Kiln thermal heat exchanger paper
5) Pre-reduction iron ore simulation paper
6) Coal reactivity standard
7) Production of Manganese alloys why
Carbon consumption is more when using
highly reactive coal
8) Kiln for Ferro Manganese production in
Japan paper

Why close furnace ?

Advantages of closing furnace:
To avoid fugitive emissions.
To use furnace gas for pre-heating ore etc.,
To avoid unwanted air pollution.
Disadvantages of closing furnace:
The blows/eruptions may cause dangers.
The dried ore and dry coal need to be used.
The stainless steel of 316 L shall be used for
protection of furnace inner parts.
The hydro cyclone and Venturi scrubber and gas
collection tank shall be used instead of present
arrangement.

Why understanding kiln a precursor to

closing furnace?

The coal will be understood in all aspects for

preheating ore.
The huge volume of dilution air shall be
reduced in phase wise increasing the
temperature for preheating.
The temperature may be gradually increased
for testing as far as possible.
Some aspects of partially closing the furnace
with coal as reductant shall be clearly
understood.
Once all is clear we can replace pre-collector
with Venturi Scrubber and kiln can be heated
with reaction gas of furnace.

How to design a rotary kiln ? Assumed

Values -- 1
Angle of repose of Manganese ore plays important
role in design.
Theoretically measured value of angle of repose is ~
(10 rpm *360 degree)/(60 seconds) = 60 degree
/second
Bulk density ~ 2 tons/cubic meter
The Ore piece average particle size ~ 50 mm ~
0.050 m
Volume of 6 tons ~ 6/2 = 3 cubic meter
Volume of particle ~ (4/3)*pi()*(5/2)^3 = 6.94 cubic
cm
Void fraction =0.5

How to design a rotary kiln ? Assumed

Values -- 2

Number of particles = (3*0.5)/(6.94*(10^-6)) ~220000 nos.

The necessary revolutions per minute that is required to
flatten the Ore dump cone ~ 10 rpm
The residence time in kiln required ~ 8 hours = 480 minutes
The production time ~ 220000 nos. /360 seconds = 612 nos.
/ second
Due to irregular shape of Ore Pieces it is better give a
booster angle to Kiln inclination. ~ ( 600 nos. / second) /
(60 degree /second ) ~ 10 nos./second
Based on the last booster angle can be determined for
irregular shape. For 5 nos./second the angle of repose may
be 30 degree/second for production time 150 nos./ second
for particles of irregular shape which are highly flat.

Kiln Design

Angle of inclination of kiln

= (60 degree/second ) /(10rpm/60 seconds)
= 360 degree per 8 hours travel time
= (360/(8 hours*3600 seconds/hour))
= (0.1/8) = 0.0125 degrees /second per ten
rpm
= 0.0125* 10*60 = 7.5 degrees.
Booster angle
For 30 degree/second = another 3.25 degrees.
Total inclination of kiln = 10.75 degrees.

Kiln design references

Modelling and optimization of a rotary kiln direct

reduction process
H.P. Kritzinger and T.C. Kingsley, Hatch Goba

Numerical Modelling of Granular Beds in Rotary

Kilns
M. A. Romero Valle

If Kiln RPM is 1 !!!

The angle of inclination is 0.75 degrees

The booster angle of inclination is 0.325 degrees
The total angle of inclination is 1.075 degrees !!!!
The kiln Froude number = ((angular velocity)2 * R) / g
Where angular velocity = (2 * / 60 ) = 0.105 s -1
R =1.55 m
g =9.81 m / s2
Froude number = (((0.105)^2)*(1.55))/(9.81)
Froude number = 0.0171/9.81 = 0.00174
Bed cross sectional area = (110 cubic meter/14 meter)
= 7.86 square meter
h = 0.333 m

h bed thickness calculation

D
R
h

3.1m
1.55m
0.333m

A total

7.9m2

A solids

1.6m2

A gases
solid angle

6.272131m2
76.5288 degrees

A solids

1.61607m2

sector A

3.20897m2

Triangle A

1.592897m2

Modes of Operation

Reference for Modes of Operation:

How to arrive at mechanism of Ore

movement ?

For 21% fill , 1 rpm and 0.333m bed depth

the Froude number is 0.00174 and the
mechanism may be slumping.
The other mechanisms for characteristic curve
Cascading, Rolling , Slipping, Cataracting and
Centrifuging.
For Froude number > 1 obvious is
centrifuging.
The exactly opposite for Froude number <
0.001 , Bed depth < 0.1m and rpm < 50 the
mechanism is Slipping.
The middle zone is rolling and most suitable
for heat transfer and hence rpm should be

How to Build Characteristic curves ?

Table: VARIATIONS OF SPECIFIC POWER IN

PRODUCITON OF Manganese FERRO ALLOYS.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)

22)

Temperature
Size
Slag Volume
Mn Input
Si% lower limit
MnO% in slag
Slag Basicity
Arc voltage
Fume quantity
Coal/coke quality Rank,
type, grade etc.
Total fixed Carbon/ton
Conductivity of coals and
ores
Use of carbonate fraction
Ferro Manganese slag
fraction
Sinter fraction
Coal Size
Coal/Ore Reactivity
Thermal and electrical
losses
Mn/Fe ratio
Mn/P ratio
PYROMET AUTOMATION to
control
Electrode Lengths

23)
24)

Calorific values coals

Moisture

25)

Ore consumption per ton

11)
12)
13)
14)
15)
16)
17)
18)
19)
20)
21)

smelting zone
smelting zone
ore nature carbonate/oxide/silicate
low grade ores
customer requirement
TFC/ton of alloy
Unwanted gangue content in ores
Capacity of Manganese furnace and PCD
Temperature
Singareni, South Africa and Australia

0.8
0.85
0.9
1.1
0.95
0.9
1.1
1.5
1.05
1.2

Coke /coal bed thickness and conductivity

Load pick up and power consumption

0.9
0.9

blows, surface raking required

Low melting point slag

1.2
1.1

use of fines reduces surface temperatures

coal bed formation
alloy yield
design of furnace for manganese alloys

1.1
0.9
0.9
1.05

for maintaining Mn% on lower limit border

For maintaining P% on upper limit
based on resistance and interdependent on
other
based on slipping index for silico
manganese
use of less electrical energy for smelt reduction
primary specific power increase up to 200
kWh/T
High Specific power high consumption of ores

0.9
0.9
0.8
0.9
0.9
1.2
1.1

Gas Calculation

Moisture effect on Gas Calculation

In 27.6 MVA large furnace,

5% of moisture , Actual Specific Power 4100
kWh/ton
10% of moisture , Actual Specific Power 4300
kWh/ton
This is happening due large latent heat of
evaporation and high moisture content in flue
gas.
In 16.5 MVA small furnace
5% of moisture , Actual Specific Power 3900

Heat Balance for Ore Preheating

Heat for raising temperature of Solids(140tpd)
+18% ????

Heat for evaporation of Moisture(2.5%) from solids = - 18%

Heat for dropping the temperature of flue gas

= +21%

Heat gain required for kiln

=
-15% !!!!
(additional burner may be required for temperature
Increase)
Derived not from pure heat balance!

Conclusions
-The metallurgist point of view is expressed, not
heat transfer problem in general.
-The problem is maze for hard heat transfer
specialist.
-Possible heat transfer is considered, but
efficiencies arent matching
-For which moisture % like around <5 % (i.e,
2.5%) the Optimum matching may occur.
-The fill in the kiln is low (1/3) causing good
heat transfer.

Final

just

THANK YOU.