How to handle a hotspot

Refractory 1/6
PR RFR P06-22 V1

Introduction
ƒ An extremely overheated shell under a tire can cause the kiln to crack resulting in lengthy downtime
(from a few months to a year depending on the severity) and large capital to repair.
ƒ This procedure will give you the actions to follow when a kiln spot is detected either by visual inspection
or an alarm generated by a shell thermal scanning system, in order to:
ƒ protect kiln shell when overheated
ƒ avoid drastic damage to kiln tires
ƒ improve shell-life and reliability

ƒ Never ignore or underestimate

a hot spot!
ƒ Carrying on operations with a red
spot can create irreversible
damage to the kiln shell, increase
costs and cause production losses.
ƒ You must always inform your
Production Manager and Plant
Manager about the detection of a
hot spot.
ƒ It is important to record all events
related to the hot spot detection.

Prerequisites
ƒ To deal quickly and effectively with shell hot spots, a plant must be able to detect them.
ƒ Most plants have thermal shell scanning equipment with alarming capabilities. Alarming of shell
temperatures in excess of 400° C (750° F) is recommended.
ƒ We also advise to have a visual inspection routine, especially in the area of kiln shells. Quite often thermal
scanners are not capable of detecting elevated shell temperatures under or near tires. Operators should
be required to inspect kiln shells every 2-4 hours, and tires 1 & 2 every two hours, depending on plant
requirements
Tools
ƒ Shell cooling fans, Coppus blower and/or air lance
ƒ Shell temperature scanner
ƒ Hand held thermal gun
ƒ Temperature sticks of various temperature ranges for hand gun calibration (450-525° C)

Safety aspects
ƒ Required safety equipment for measurement readings around shell.
 How to handle a hotspot
Refractory 2/6
PR RFR P06-22 V1

Action Steps

1. Safety measures
ƒ Signal and mark the area near the hot spot.
ƒ Protect the access and the equipment if you use cooling fans, Coppus blowers and/or air lances

2. Check the temperature

ƒ Locate and record exact position of the hot spot.
ƒ Check if the hand pyrometer gun gives the same reading than the shell scanner. If it differs, verify the
temperature sticks to calibrate the handgun.

3. Identify the type of hot spot

Bright Red Spot
ƒ A bright red spot will “usually” appear at 500° C or greater.
ƒ This spot can be visible in the daylight, but verification with a hand held gun and temperature sticks
should be undertaken.
ƒ Half of the elastic resistance of steel at 400° C is lost at 500° C.

Dull Red Spot

ƒ A dull red spot can be described as an elevation in shell temperature that results in a dull glow, visible in
the dark and twilight, “usually” in the 450 to 475° C range.
ƒ Verify this temperature with a hand held pyrometer.
ƒ Crosscheck with temperature sticks if a large variation between scanner and handgun is noticed

Hot spot categories

Category A B C
Spot Bright red spot Dull red spot Dull red spot
Guideline = 500° C 450-475° C 450-475° C
Location and/or dull red spot In the burning zone outside the burning
under a tire (0 m to 8 kiln diameter) zone
 How to handle a hotspot
Refractory
4. Take the necessary measures
Follow the instructions according to the type of hotspot:
In case of a
Type A hot spot
ƒ Contact the Production
X Manager, Production
Supervisor or Production
Coordinator depending on
Plant structure.
ƒ Inform them of the hot
spot, its location and its
severity.
ƒ Shut down the kiln
Y immediately
1 Follow the kiln cooling
Z down procedure
ƒ Let shell temperature at
[ hot spot drop down to
475° C
ƒ then, fire kiln again to
preheat and try to re-coat
ƒ If the temperature rises
\ again beyond 500° C, the
re-coat attempt failed and
the kiln has to be shut
down immediately.
If the hot spot reaches
temperatures higher
than 525° C at any time
on the shell or higher
than 500° C at any time
under a tire, shut the
kiln down immediately
to prevent further damage
to kiln shell or tires.
1 Table to be continued next page
PR RFR P06-22 V1
In case of a
Type B hot spot
ƒ Contact the Production
Manager, Production
Supervisor or Production
Coordinator depending on
Plant structure.
ƒ Inform them of the hot spot,
its location and its severity.
ƒ Apply air, either by
compressor, Coppus fan or
blower, to the exact location
of the hot spot.
ƒ Check flame shape, flame
position, raw feed and
clinker chemistry
ƒ Take necessary actions
where required
ƒ Monitor the spot on a
regular basis
ƒ Start a trend on the kiln
shell temperature scanner
software over the hot spot
area.
ƒ Take action to bring the
“Black” or “raw” load over
the spot to reduce the
temperature and promote
coating
3/6
In case of a
Type C hot spot
ƒ Contact the Production
Manager, Production
Supervisor or Production
Coordinator depending on
Plant structure.
ƒ Inform them of the hot
spot, its location and its
severity.
ƒ Apply air, either by
compressor, Coppus fan or
blower, to the exact
location of the hot spot.
ƒ Record the exact spot and,
if possible, save an image
on the shell scanner.
ƒ Monitor the spot on a
regular basis
ƒ Start a trend on the kiln
shell temperature scanner
software over the hot spot
area.
ƒ Generally, if the hot spot is
not cooled out within an
hour, the kiln will be
shutdown for a refractory
inspection or the
production level will be
reduced.
The Plant Production
Management will make
this decision.
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Refractory 4/6
PR RFR P06-22 V1

In case of a In case of a In case of a

Type A hot spot
1 Follow the kiln cooling
] down procedure
1 Follow the kiln cooling
^ down procedure
ƒ Locate and mark the exact
spot for future reference.
ƒ Save images on the
thermal scanner
ƒ If the red spot occurs
_ under a tire, check tire
slippage carefully on a
regular basis
` on the hot spot will help you
a kiln is cooling, as if more
1 Follow the kiln cooling
Type B hot spot Type C hot spot
ƒ Decrease fuel by 20% (also ƒ If the spot is growing, as if
want to speed up if the more bricks are falling off,
burning zone is very hot). shut the kiln down.
The objective is to decrease 1 Follow the kiln cooling
the thermal load in the down procedure
burning zone and
consequently run at a lower
production level.
ƒ Adjust ID Fan speed to
increase kiln oxygen by
about +0.5%
ƒ Wait for the burning zone to
cool (Amps, Nox, SAT, etc.),
ƒ then decrease kiln speed
corresponding to new fuel
level as recommended in
your plant’s Kiln Operation
Table.
ƒ Do not go raw.
ƒ Note: Keeping the raw feed
to build scale if spot is in the
upper transition
ƒ If the spot is growing as the
bricks are falling off, shut
the kiln down
down procedure

NEVER apply water to a hot spot!

This can deform the kiln shell drastically and result in the need to replace
a section of kiln shell and in the short term, make refractory replacement difficult.

1 For decision tree, see annex 1

 How to handle a hotspot
Refractory 5/6
PR RFR P06-22 V1

5. Keep the records

Documentation & communication
ƒ During a kiln shutdown, the events leading up to, and including, the shutdown must be well
documented and communicated throughout the plant.

Recording of hot spot locations is crucial for the good follow up of the problem.
ƒ Record in the shift report:
ƒ the exact location of the hot spot
ƒ the time of occurrence
ƒ the maximum temperature
ƒ Save image on the kiln shell temperature scanner software.

6. Perform a post-incident analysis

ƒ Write a report to determine the main causes of the hot spot and actions undertaken to solve the problem
will be listed in an action plan format.
ƒ Quite often the location of a failure will aid in completing Root Cause Failure Analysis of the failure.
 How to handle a hotspot
Refractory 6/6
PR RFR P06-22 V1

Appendix

Decision tree

Verify temperatures
Hot spot identified
with hand gun and if
large variation,
calibrate hand gun
with temperature In burning
sticks.
Zone?
YES NO

Shell temperature Shell temperature

450 - 475°C 475 - 500°C > 500°C > 450°C > 500°C
Type B Type A Type C Type A

Inform Inform

Apply Cooling
Apply Cooling Air
Air

Decrease Fuel
by 20% & Stop kiln until T < 475°C after
production T <475°C 1 hour

YES NO (475°-500°)

Preheat for
T < 475°C
after 1 testing
Inform
hour
YES NO

Production Manager’s
Operate Decrease Fuel decision : shutdown
by 20% & Operate
kiln or run temporarily at
production kiln low production under
special circumstances.

T < 475°C T < 475°C T < 475°C Shut down

after 1 after 1 after 1 kiln
hour hour hour
YES NO YES NO YES NO

Operate Follow kiln Follow kiln

Go to Operate Go to Go to
kiln shutdown shutdown
Type B kiln Type A Type B
procedure procedure