Development of Cooling Performance of Clinker Cooler Process Based on Energy Audit

Abstract

In cement plants clinker outlet temperature is directly evaluated by clinker cooler process efficiency. Cooling processes may be evaluated as one of the energy input considering demand of secondary air and carrier gas. In this study the clinker cooler performance development is intended from the viewpoint of capacity increase and energy consumption using cement production plant actual figures. According to this analysis, the standard and actual cooler losses have been calculated as 519.16 kJ/kg.cl and 595.86 kJ/kg.cl, respectively. Considering the standard cooler loss of one state-of-the-art cooler, an amount of 100.48 kJ/kg.cl is savable. Furthermore, approximately 1 kWh/kg.cl of the total power consumption can be achieved. The fluctuations of clinker outlet temperature lead to a variance of 86.61% and 89.22%, respectively, for sieved and un-sieved clinker temperature. This situation demonstrates a significant potential loss of clinker temperature. Regarding the cooler performance development, some suggestions have been made at the end of this study.