AC DC kilns

by
Maarten Holland
Industrial Solutions and Services
of
Siemens AG, Germany
For Presentation at the
IEEE-IAS / PCA Cement Industry Technical Conference
In
Vancouver
May 2001
The developments in drive technology enable us to consider the use of AC drives also for
the kiln main drive. Although a lot of applications with AC kiln drives are running
throughout the world successfully since 1987, still a lot of people feel that the kiln main
drive should be equipped in DC technology.
The paper compares the AC and DC drives. The advantages and disadvantages of both
drives are addressed.
Besides investment costs, major characteristics, also operation and maintenance costs
are listed.
General
The kiln main drive is usually seen as the most difficult drive in a cement plant. After a sudden
stop the kiln deforms to a banana. A restart of the kiln means to pull out the tube of this form.
According to most kiln suppliers the restart demands 250 % of the nominal operating torque. To
meet these requirements the kiln motor has to be oversized. During normal operation the load
on the drive will be around 50-60 % of the nominal motor torque.
Speed control
The optimising of the burning process requires variable speed drives for cement kilns.
A speed setting range 1:3 or 1:10 is indicated, for instance a speed setting range of 1:3 means
an operation between 33 and 100 % of the rated motor speed. Of course the drive must be able
to accelerate from zero to rated speed under overload conditions. The speed controller
compares the actual speed from the tacho-generator with the reference speed given by the plant
control system.
The use of a speed feed-back through tacho generator on a DC motor is normal. The variable
frequency converter can either be frequency controlled or speed controlled. The speed control,
where the actual speed of the motor is measured by a digital tacho generator, enables a better
starting from speed zero. Thus the speed control is favoured for the kiln drive. Other drives in a
cement plant, fans or separators, can be frequency controlled.
Control technology
In the beginning the drive speed control consisted of single components with analogue amplifiers
and a key-operated switch for local and remote operation.
Since the end of the eighties digital speed control with modern microprocessor technology was
introduced. The microprocessor enables accurate speed and torque closed loop control and
generates comprehensive fault diagnostics. This technique enables the service personnel to
locate possible faults rapidly. The more complex variable frequency converter, but also the
speed control of the DC thyristor converters are now-a-days equipped with microprocessor
control. Bus connection made amplifiers and switch not necessary anymore.
Torque and speed requirements
So what are the actual requirements for the kiln drive, as they are specified by the various kiln
builders?
Polysius specifies the requirements verbally as 250 % during 60 seconds acceleration and a
periodical overload of 160 percent during 30 seconds. The speed setting range is 1:10, thus 10
to 100 % of the rated speed.
Below we see two characteristics as they are given to the electrical supplier by FL Smith and
KHD (Humboldt Wedag).
We see the high starting torque from zero to rated speed on both curves. The overload capacity
demanded by FL Smidth is 200 % rated load. KHD requires a maximum starting torque of 250 %

In our opinion the best curve is actually given by KHD, because it covers theory and practice
best. On one hand it specifies the high starting torque, when the kiln is a banana and on the
other hand it shows clearly the low required torque during normal operation. Moreover KHD
shows a torque range instead of a simple line and in this way not only the maximum required
torque is given but also the minimum possible load is shown. This last value is important to
design the drive also for light load operation. Our experience is that a kiln drive it normally
operated at a torque of approximately 50 percent. These requirements are the same for drives
with DC motors and variable frequency drives with AC motors.
Cooling method
The position under the kiln exposes the motor to higher ambient temperature. This situation is
relieved by an heat shield between kiln shell and motor. These high temperatures - frequently 50
C is specified - will result in a thermal over-sizing of the motor. However, since the motor is
usually outdoors, normal ambient temperatures can be considered. A slight breeze will cool the
air around the kiln main drive. Since the drive is normally operated at partial loads only, this
actual ambient temperature is not critical.
Degree of protection
The outdoor location requires a motor with an high degree of protection. Drip proof ventilated
motors are not suitable for such a location. Humidity would result in moisture within the motor. A
completely closed motor is a must, also considering the dusty atmosphere in a cement plant.
This would mean a degree of protection of IP54.
Especially for DC motors a decent atmosphere inside the commutator room is mandatory to
grant a satisfactory performance. The air has to be clean and free of dust, abrasive particles
would deteriorate the commutation, with negative effects also to brush wear and insulation level.
To accomplish this, an air-to-air heat exchanger is necessary. However the reduced thermal
differential between windings and the air circulation inside the motor necessitates an expensive
oversizing of the motor. An added filter between motor and heat-exchanger will keep the air
clean of carbon dust.
For AC squirrel cage motors a simple surface cooling is sufficient, with a standard degree of
protection of at least IP54. The design of these AC motors is simple and robust. If a wide speed
setting range is required a separately driven fan at the non-drive end of the motor will ensure
sufficient cooling also at low speed.

DC-Motor with heat exchanger and AC-Motor with surface cooling
DC Drives
Up to now most of the kiln drives are equipped with direct current motors. The motors are fed
through 6-pulse thyristor converters. The speed of the direct current motor is controlled by the
level of the DC voltage, supplied by the thyristor converter. Small voltages makes the motor
running slowly, higher voltages makes the motor running faster.
The torque, that the motor produces at the shaft end, is linear to the motor current. To start the
kiln, a high starting torque is required under worst conditions. Subsequently during starting, the
DC motor will draw large currents from the power network.
Wear of brushes on DC motor
The brush wear of the DC motors depends on the patina on the commutator. If this patina is
good the surface of the commutator is smooth and the brushes will run easily. Also the
centrifugal speed of the brushes on the commutator and the temperature of the brushes will
influence the wear rate. Moreover the load on the motor varies the current density on the carbon
brushes. The wide span between maximum starting current and normal load current often makes
the wear rate to a problematic matter.
The temperature of the brushes is mainly determined by the armature current of the DC motor.
The current density on brushes is given in A/cm2. A normal graphite carbon brush has values of
8 to12 A/cm2 continuous and a maximum of 30 A/cm2 is the limit. To achieve good running
conditions, the current should be within this specified range. Then the average wear will be
approx. 6 mm/1000 hours.
The calculation of the current density is shown, using following example:
Rated current is 900 A and the motor is equipped with 28 brushes 25 x 32 mm EG367J.
The current is carried by the first 14 brushes to the rotor and floats back over the other 14
brushes.
The total contact surface is 14 x ( 25 x 32 mm) = 112 cm
2
.
The current density is 900 A/ 112 cm
2
= 8 A/cm
2
.
If this motor is started with 250 % of rated torque the current density is 2.5 x 900 / 112 cm
2
=
2250 A / 112 cm
2
= 20 A/cm
2
.
When this motor is operated at 60 % load, a reduction of the quantity of brushes should be
considered.
The use of different grades of carbon brushes will have different results. The science regarding
carbon brushes often seems like black magic. Once we had brush wear values of up to 40 mm /
1000 operating hours. It took a lot of investigation, money and patience to reduce this wear rate
to an acceptable mark. This excessive wear rate also left a lot of carbon dust inside the motor.
This same carbon dust reduces also the insulation level of the motor. As soon as several sets of
carbon brushes are worn, the carbon dust is deposited in the motor. If the insulation level is too
low, a flash over can damage the motor. In general, 1 M per kilovolt is still acceptable. To
achieve better insulation values a cleaning of the motor in a motor workshop is required.
AC drives
In 1987 Siemens equipped a kiln with the first variable frequency converter and an AC squirrel
cage motor. Ever since both system types, AC and DC, were supplied world-wide.
Since the DC drive is no longer used in its traditional area - steel works and paper mills - where
high accuracy and dynamic operation are demanded, also the use of DC drives in the cement
industry fell off. The relatively simple requirements on drives of the cement industry can easily be
coped by the AC drives, which have now-a-days the same characteristics as the DC drive: The
vector control enables best dynamic control characteristics.
Comparison of DC and AC motors regarding maintenance
The DC motor has a commutator, which requires periodical maintenance. The brushes, that run
on this commutator need special attention also when the brush wear is in an acceptable range,
see above. Moreover regular cleaning of the commutator room and check of the insulation level
is necessary. The used ball and roller bearing are nearly maintenance free, they only need re-
greasing after a certain period. AC motors require only a regular bearing inspection.
Comparison when operating with overspeed
In case the speed of the kiln should be increased to expand the kiln capacity, also the speed of
the motor should be increased. Although DC kiln motors are normally quite large motors
between 300 and 900 kW ( 400 HP and 1250 HP), the speed of the commutator is close to its
limits. The DC commutator maybe runs into trouble.
Speed increase is normally done by a field weakening of the motor field. A modification of the
power supply unit in the control cabinet is due. Over the added speed range the motor armature
voltage will remain at rated voltage.
For an AC drive, this speed increase is not critical at all. During operation the motor has thermal
reserves since the peak torque of 250% is only required during start of the kiln. When increasing
the frequency, the motor automatically increases its speed. A VVVF converter can easily supply
output frequencies up to 200 Hz. However during overspeed the break down torque of the motor
drops in a square characteristic. We must bear in mind that the break down torque must be at
least 30% above the peak load torque. So the torque demands of the kiln will restrict the
possible frequency raising.
As example:
- Teutonia Zement had to increase the production to meet the demands of the market for the
EXPO 2000 in Hanover. Kiln speed was increased up to 150 %). The 360kW AC motor was
operated at 75 Hz.
- TPI Polene, where two large DC motors of 710 kW (1000 HP) each are installed, a speed
increase of 20 % was already critical.
Speed Torque Diagramm
0%
50%
100%
150%
200%
250%
300%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120% 140% 160%
Motor speed in %
T
o
r
q
u
e

i
n

%
Speed torque diagramme 4-pole and 6-pole motors
4-pole motor
6-pole motor
FLS curve
KHD curve
4 or 6 pole motors with VVVF converters for kilns
When we look upon the aforementioned torque speed curves of the kiln, e.g. the curve of KHD,
we see that only during start we must expect a torque peak of 250%. During operation the
maximum overload peak will be 160% only. Since the rated speed of the kiln motor is usually
1500 rpm, at first sight we would take a 4 pole motor. However we should also analyse the
possibility of using a 6 pole motor. The latter offers a higher rated torque than a 4 pole motor.
This mostly allows to take a smaller sized converter than if we use the 4 pole motor. At 1500 rpm
the motor will run with overspeed, the 160% overload at this speed is normally no problem. At
lower speed the cooling of the motor will be even better. Of course, a further raise of frequency
is more limited due to the decrease of the break down torque in a square characteristic. In
contrast to this lower investment costs could influence the decision for this solution.
The same scenario can be used when a kiln drive motor with 1150 rpm is to be selected. An 8-
pole motor will cope with the high starting torque and the motor will run with 77 Hz at full kiln
speed.
Comparison of drive efficiency, line power factor and harmonic distortion
Another point to consider when talking about AC or DC drives are the electrical consumption
costs. Since the load of the kiln is identical for both systems, the drive efficiency itself will
determine, which drive consumes more energy.
We compare the total drive efficiency, from medium voltage feeder to motor shaft. This includes
transformer, converter and motor. Below the values for a 500 kW, 1500 rpm drive are taken:
DC Drive
Motor efficiency 95 % not considering field power (4 kW) and
forced ventilation (5 kW)
Converter efficiency 99 % without cooling fans (2,5 kW)
Transformer 630 kVA efficiency 99 % no-load losses and short circuit losses
Total drive efficiency 94 %
AC Drive
Motor efficiency 96,5 %
Converter efficiency 98,5 % without cooling fans (3 kW)
Transformer 600 kVA efficiency 99 % no-load losses and short circuit losses
Total drive efficiency 94,5 %
The drive efficiency of the AC drive is slightly better.
If we compare the drive line power factor at rated speed, then the line power factor of the DC
drive is 0.88 at rated speed. This power factor is required to assure an operation during voltage
drops of 15 %. At lower speeds the drive power factor of the DC drive will go back accordingly.
The line power factor of the VVVF drive is 0.96. Voltage drops are covered by DC link
capacitors. The line power factor at partial speeds is also 0.96, because the voltage of the DC
link capacitors remains the same.
Below we show the total harmonic distortion at several operating points (i.e. operation at 90 %
speed and 60 % torque)
Drive efficiency Line power factor Reactive power
DC drive 94 % 0.792 362 kVA
AC drive 94,5 % 0.96 297 kVA
The AC VVVF drive will draw less current out of the power supply and thus create less
harmonics too, although the harmonics distortion of DC drives is normally slightly better than that
of AC drives. We see that the electrical consumption costs clearly pleads for the AC drive
solution.
Comparison of investment costs
For this comparison we use the same 500 kW 1500 rpm drive, in degree of protection IP54
Starting torques of 250 % during 60 seconds must be coped by both drives.
DC-Motor 500 kW, 1500 rpm
Panel with thyristor converter
630 kVA oil-cooled transformer
Total investment for the DC drive US$ 175,000
AC-Motor, 500 kW, 1500 rpm base speed (4-pole)
VVVF converter panel
600 kVA oil-cooled transformer
Total investment for the VVVF drive US$ 120,000
AC-Motor, 500 kW, 1000 rpm base speed (6-pole)
VVVF converter panel
600 kVA oil-cooled transformer
Total investment for the VVVF drive US$ 98,000
Special kiln solution: Twin drive
For a 5000 metric tonnes per day kiln either a single 900 kW motor or two 450 kW motors can be
used. The availability of a twin drive is higher because the kiln can still be operated if one of the
two motors is out of order.
The twin drive shares the total required power over two identical smaller motors and thus very
often standard motors can be used. Possibly the same AC or DC motor and converter is used as
separator drive or fan drive. Also the gear box between motor and pinion drive is a smaller size
and most likely easier to get on the market.
The main reason for the use of a twin drive is the resulting higher availability of the kiln drive. We
learned earlier, that the load is around 50 % of the rated motor power. If one motor fails, still the
other motor can drive the kiln under normal conditions. The feature to an automatic switch over
to a single motor operation requires some special software and parameterizing in the converter.
This option can be realised for both, AC and DC drives.
During normal operation sudden load changes result in speed and torque variations, that
influences the tight power transmission between gear and pinion negatively. When the close
contact between the teeth of gear and pinion has opened due to a load dip, the tight contact will
be re-established with an additional torque reserve. This happens with a hard stroke. It is clear
that this stroke puts a mechanical stress on the drive train and causes wear and oscillation. For
this reason a speed control is mandatory to reduce wear.
On a twin drive all relevant motor data is half of a single drive, this means half power, half
torque, half current and so on. Clearly that also the additional torque for re-establishing a close
contact of the teeth is half. However, on a twin drive with rotary kiln, these three components can
oscillate against each other. The kiln can oscillate against one of the motors and the two motors
can also oscillate against each other. We face also the problem that the speed and the actual
load on the two motors is completely different and that effects a back lash between the two
drives. The total reduction between kiln speed and motor speed is around 1000. A back lash of
only 1 degree related to the kiln axis, would result in a few revolutions on the motor level. Of
course this also influences the power transmission with all its negative effects as described
above. After a few years of operation, the clearance on the pinion teeth will expand due to wear,
subsequently the oscillation will increase too. This will extend the wear rate again and so on.
Here the twin drive enables another feature that solves these problems at one go and makes the
drive train running smoothly. The idea is to reduce the speed of the faster motor, which runs
through the open back lash without load. Meanwhile the other motor drives the kiln with full
torque. The special damping control on the closed loop speed control of the twin drive compares
the actual speed of both motors and reduces the torque of the faster one. This feature assures a
close contact between gear and pinion for both drives and also during sudden load dips and
prevents also oscillation.
On existing kilns with twin drives, where this feature was added after many years of operation,
the oscillation between the two motors was eliminated. The graph below shows the armature
currents on DC motors, before and after the differential speed damping control loop was
activated.

Optimizing a damping control on a twin drive (before and after)
Twin drives with this special damping control may have higher investment costs than single
drives, however the better availability, lower spare part costs and also the smooth running of
these drive trains with its related low wear rate will make this type of kiln drive more cost-
effective, already in a short term.
Kiln main drive 2 x 450 kW at Schwenk Zement Bernburg, Germany
Summary
The use of AC variable voltage variable frequency drives is state-of-the-art. It will increase the
availability of the drive due to less maintenance and reduce energy costs due to less power
consumption. The very positive experiences with AC VVVF drives world-wide confirm that this
kind of drive is superior to the old fashioned but still ubiquitous DC drive.
Literature:
Variable speed AC drives by Dr. Michael Blumenthal, IEEE1995
Fundamentals on Harmonics by Maarten Holland, IEEE 1999