TECHNICAL FORUM

I Mill performance tweaked

by Dr Michael Clark, UK

In this months Technical Forum Dr Clark looks back at the recently

completed CemNet grinding and milling course. In particular he highlights
Satarems SatMill technology as a potentially exciting development in the
optimisation of ball mills.

Magotteaux Xlift second

chamber for lining cement
mills

egular readers of the Technical

Forum will have noticed the focus
on grinding and milling technology
over the last few months and realise that
this has arisen from the development
of CemNets on-line training course
on that subject. The first course was
completed in June. It proved popular and
attracted a large number of participants,
who provided overwhelmingly positive
feedback. Hopefully that will continue to
be case in the future.
In the final session of the course an
attempt was made to look into the
future and predict the trends and new
developments that will be seen in the
area of grinding and milling in cement
manufacture. Some trends are already
becoming apparent and it is easy to see
these persisting into the future. Vertical
mills will be the machine of choice for
raw and solid fuel grinding. Increasingly
they will be seen as the machine of
choice for cement finish grinding.
Alternative fuels and raw materials will
continue to be of growing significance in
cement manufacture. From the grinding
52 ICR AUGUST 2006

and milling perspective this will involve

using existing known technologies to
grind new materials. The example of
ENCIs use of a vertical ring-ball mill for
grinding sewage sludge was referred to as
an example in the course. There will also
be examples of new technologies being
used to grind materials which are familiar
to the cement industry around the world.
Gulf Cements use of micronisers for
super fine grinding of petcoke was sited
as an example. These micronisers might
also find application in the grinding
or comminution of new alternative
materials. They have certainly been used
for grinding wood. With the growing
focus on burning biomass fuels this might
become a much more widely encountered
technology. Many cement companies
are burning plastic and domestic wastes.
Reducing the size of these materials in
order to combust them efficiently requires
the use of shredders, which are also
relatively new to cement manufacturing
engineers.
So in the course, participants foresaw
the possibility of a number of new

and interesting milling and grinding

developments in the global cement
industry. But we also had to recognise
that many thousands of ball mills will
continue to operate on cement factories
around the world. Indeed the companies
of some of the participants on the course
were in the process of installing new
ball mills for finish grinding. In view
of the fact that so many ball mills will
continue to be deployed then any new
developments in ball mill technology
have to be of interest.
In the technology of ball mills
Magotteauxs latest X-Lift and X-Class
liners are certainly interesting. The
concept of using mixtures of standard
sized plates to line ball mills of varying
diameters is fascinating. Parallels with the
refractory lining of a rotary kiln, where
standard shapes can line various diameter
kilns, are obvious. Students of the
CemNet milling and refractories course
will realise that determining the mixture
of standard shapes to be used to line a
tube of a certain diameter is simply a case
of solving simultaneous equations.
The CemNet courses are attracting a
number of delegates from equipment
suppliers and the grinding aid suppliers
such as Grace and Fosroc have been
represented. Their products are best
suited to the optimisation of ball mills.
The whole milling circuit must be
adjusted to allow them to deliver their
benefits and if the correct adjustments
are not made then their results can
appear unimpressive. Yet many major
multinational cement manufacturers see
past these difficulties and realise the
benefits of grinding aids.
The new development in ball mill
technology which really excited
the attention was Satarems SatMill
technology developed in conjunction
with Benjamin Cambier. Satarem have
been keeping relatively quiet about
this while they have built an impressive

TECHNICAL FORUM

IS KILN REFRACTORY
RELIABILITY
AN ISSUE?

Magotteaux X-Class first

chamber for lining cement
mills

reference list. When asked they said that while the results were
encouraging, it was too soon for them to be broadcasting the
findings. Thats as maybe, and interested parties will certainly want
to make their own evaluations, but the results quoted are certainly
impressive: some 36 per cent capacity increase on an air swept ball
mill grinding raw meal, plus a 67 per cent increase on a ball mill
grinding clinker and lime. The technology also provides a 42 per
cent increase on a cement mill and a 100 per cent increase on a
coal mill.

What does this SatMill technology involve?

To achieve those levels of productivity improvement (and
attendant unit power savings) the whole mill must be modified.
Intermediate diaphragms are removed and the inlet and outlet
trunnions are enlarged to promote airflow through the mill
and reduce turbulence. The entire mill is relined with Satarems
grooved liners. The entire grinding media charge is changed to
Satarems media with cavities which leads to a much greater
contact area between the media balls for fine grinding and
provides a degree of self-lifting capability to the media for initial
crushing of the material in the mill.
This is perhaps the crux of the matter and why take-up of the
technology might not be rapid in the industry. Converting to
SatMill technology is not an incremental process. It requires an
act of belief and faith that this will work on your cement factory.
Once the decision is taken to convert there is no easy going back
to the old conventional ball mill (without spending a great deal of
money and writing off the investment in the SatMill technology).
The main question is; how many cement companies are brave
enough to make that leap of faith and burn their bridges by
converting to SatMill technology with its grinding media with
cavities? ______________________________________________ I

Unplanned refractory failures

and repairs costing a fortune?
Are the correct materials and designs being
selected for each zone of the rotary section
and static plant vessels of the kiln?
Do the process conditions and fuels demand
higher specification refractory materials and
designs?
Are the installation specifications, skills and
supervision appropriate for your particular kiln
and process conditions?
Expert advice, independent of any refractory
supplier or installer, can resolve the problem.

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AUGUST 2006 ICR 53