CFD Analysis of a Cement Calciner for a Cleaner Cement Production

Abstract

Cement calciners are pyroprocessing units found in modern cement plants. Inside of them occurs a strong endothermic reaction known as the calcination process, and the combustion of pulverized solid fuels. Controlling the mixing of limestone and pulverized fuel particles is of particular importance because it directly affects the energy consumption. The paper analyzes the impact of an axial and a swirl burner on the mixing of the particles, pollutant emissions and the operating conditions of a newly designed cement calciner. All necessary numerical models were developed and implemented into a commercial computational fluid dynamics code FIRE, which is then used for the analysis. This code is used to simulate turbulent flow field, temperature field, concentrations of the reactants and products as well as the interaction of particles with the gas phase, by solving the set of conservation equations for mass, momentum and enthalpy governing these processes. The results gained by these simulations can be used for the optimization of cement calciner’s operating conditions.