ASEC training center

Mechanical maintenance course

Vertical Roller Mill

 Vertical Roller Grinding Mill
 What is grinding ??

 Why grinding mills ??

 What is VRM ??

 Why VRM ??

 How it works ??

 What is the main components of the VRM ??

 What is the function for each component of the VRM ??

 What are the different designs of the VRM ??

 Typical VRM grinding plant flow sheet

 What is grinding ??

 By grinding is understood the comminution of materials to a powder.

 In cement manufacture by the dry process it constitutes the final stage in the
production of raw meal (raw grinding ).

 The clinker discharged from the kiln has to be ground to a fine powder which,
with the admixture of some gypsum, is the finished product of the whole process
cement.
 What is grinding ??

 This final clinker grinding operation is often referred to as finish grinding.

 The terms "pulverizing" and ''milling" are basically synonymous with "grinding",
but are mostly confined to the comminution of coal or lignite for use as
pulverized fuel.
 Why grinding mills ??

 The object of grinding is, more particularly, to increase the specific surface of the
material while conforming to a desired particle size distribution to such an extent as
to obtain adequate reactivity for the next stage in the cement manufacturing process
or adequate reactivity in the finished product (the cement ) itself.
 What is VRM ??

 VRM is the Vertical Roller Mill .

 Ball and tube mills tum on a horizontal axis. Vertical mills tum on a vertical axis.
There are two variants of the vertical roller mills.

VRM BM
 Why VRM ??
 Raw milling technology has been and is being driven by:

- Capital costs.

- Maintenance.

- Power consumption.

 The raw meal preparation area of cement production facility consumes 15 – 25% of the
required power consumption of [90 – 110] kWh / t of cement. “J. M. Brugan (Germany
1992)”.

 The Ball mill [BM] and the Vertical roller mill [VRM] represent 99% of all raw mill systems.

 The VRM is clearly the dominant choice for raw milling as evidenced by 90-95% market
share for new milling systems.
 Why VRM ??
 Market in J.M.Brugan study:

 North & Latin America

 Pacific Rim
 South Asia
 Middle east & North Africa
 Europe

 The largest market growth has occurred in the pacific Rim countries where
approximately 40 million TPA of new capacity has been installed or
purchased in the last four years.
 All of these producers are installing VRM for new meal production.
 Why VRM ??

 It has been preferred tool of choice for raw milling :

- Its dependability
- Its economy
- Its Versatility

 They are hardly matched in a wide variety of applications

 The capacity range of these mills has increased to be 600 TPH make it possible to match
Kiln 7500 TPD with only one VRM for optimum economy.
 In other cases Two VRM are being used to supply Kiln capacity 10,000 TPD or 3million TPA.
 How it works ??

 Principle of operation is the same. 2 , 3 or 4

rollers turning on their axles press on a turning

table mounted on the yoke of a gear box.

 Pressure is exerted hydraulically.

 This mill also has a built in separator above the rollers. It also has an annular ring which
admits air at velocity as high as 70 m/sec. Material is admitted through a feed chute on the
center of the table and passes under rollers by centrifugal action. Material gets partially
ground and as it falls over the edge of the table, it is picked up by the air/gas.

 Gas and material circuit in mill and in separator is similar to E mill.

VRM general layout
Roller
Roller
Wear segments / Tires
 Metallic insert roller liner
 Wear segments / Tires
Hard metallic insert

Soft material base

Wear segments / Tires
 Ceramic inserts roller & grinding track liners
Metallic base “High Cr”
Ceramic inserts
 Wear rate monitoring

 Hardfacing is allowable till 24% loss of

original roller segments thickness.

 Hardfacing is allowable till 16% loss of

original table segments thickness.
 This restriction for table in order to keep safe
operation for the axial thrust pads.
 Surface reconditioning “Hardfacing”
 Filling materials in terms of liners materials.
Liner material Chemical composition Weldability Examples
%C %Cr %Others
Ni-hard 4 ˂ 3.5 ˂ 10 Ni ˂ 6.5 Yes

High chromium alloy ˂ 3.6 ˂ 17 Mo + Ni Yes Chromodur, FMU18, Vegaline V16

1
High chromium alloy ˂ 2.6 ˂ 20 Mn No FMU52
2
High chromium alloy ˂ 3.5 ˂ 28 ˂ 1.2 No FMU46
3
High chromium alloy ˂5 ˂ 29 Mo + Ni Yes Vautid 100 , HC-O
4
High chromium alloy ˂ 5.5 ~ 22 6 – 7 Ni Yes CN-O, CNV-O
5
 Roller supporting system “Rocker Arm , Head Joint”
Rocker arm in Head joint,
Fuller, Loesche, tension rod &
Sinoma & OK torque arm
mills. In ATOX mill.

OK mill
Roller supporting system “Rocker Arm , Head Joint”
Roller seal “Adjustable”
Seal housing

Seal carrier

Steel seal face

Seal carrier

Seal elastomer

O-ring

Adjusting bolt

Seal working
length

X
Roller seal “Fixed”
Machining faces

X
Roller seal “Split”
Table
Table
Table
Table
Dam ring
Dam ring function

Dam Ring
Dam ring
Dam ring

New Dam ring Worn Dam ring

Reject scraper
Reject scraper
Thrust journal bearing
Thrust journal bearing
Thrust journal bearing
Nozzle ring
Nozzle ring
Nozzle ring
Nozzle ring
Nozzle ring
Hydro-Pneumatic system
VRM classifier
VRM classifier
VRM gear unit
VRM gear unit
Double stage gear unit Single stage gear unit
Bolts tightening torque in VRM

OR
Hydraulic nut “bolt tensioner”
Torque wrench
 Material flow
inside VRM
1) Feed duct

2) VRM Table

3) VRM Roller

4) Table liner

5) Material to grinding

6) Grinded product

7) Material classifier

8) Heavy particles

9) Reject coarse materials

Historical overview:
Type Roller Roller Roller Roller Roller
Trade mark

Shape of table/
Liners of table

Shape of
rollers/
Liners of rollers

No. of rollers 2, 3, or 4 rollers 2 pairs of rollers 3 rollers @120⁰ spacing

Table / Roller Segments /1 tire unit Segments / Segments Segments / Segments /
Segments /Segments Segments Segments
arr.
Pressure drop About 800 mmwg for raw materials About 600 mmwg for coal
 Chimney

Flue gases
Dust Collector
Control gates
Fine product
Feed hopper

Sealed weight feeder Collected product

Flue gases
Separator Hot process gases
Rotary air lock feeder
VRM
Sealing air fan Hot gases generator

Coarse reject Fresh air

 Main faulty indications in VRM
Mechanical damaged Coarse
Vibrations Low feed
parts product
 Vibration sources in VRM
 Looseness in fixing bolts
Tightening torque for the bolts should be
checked periodically at :

 VRM foundation.
 Dam ring.
 Roller fixing.
 Table segments.
 Reject scraper.
 separator blades, rings.

To achieve such process, use hydraulic nut &

torque wrench.
 Vibration sources in VRM
 Spray water system doesn’t work properly

Sprayed water used for many reasons:

 Outlet temperature control.

 Vibration control , bed stability.
----------------------------------------------------------
 High water amount lead to material
caking, low feed and vibrations.
 Low water amount lead to hyper-bed
motion, bad material bed distribution
entering under rollers and vibrations.
 Vibration sources in VRM

 Imbalance in rotating parts

Such as separator rotor tensioners

looseness or broken springs and
bolts make the mal-tension
distribution lead to imbalance and
vibrations.
Rotor
Vibration sources in VRM
 Not calibrated depth monitors
Vibration sources in VRM

 Big stones in mill feed

 Magnetic and non magnetic objects that

could entering mill.
 Mechanical damaged parts

 Almost damage in the VRM due to abrasion or mechanical wear.

 Dam ring wear :
Worn Dam ring
 Level adjusted to the most optimum level at
commissioning the mill.

 It exposed to a wear this put defect in grinding ,

and the material bed let the grinding rollers and
escape from grinding, this make low feed action
and vibration consequently.
 Mechanical damaged parts

 Almost damage in the VRM due to abrasion or mechanical wear.

 Nozzle ring wear :

 The worn nozzle ring blades lead to eddies in

the flow of gases thus the direction of flow
couldn’t be guided accurately that generate
additional pressure drop in gases inlet grinding
chamber and low feed consequently.

 Stable gas flow keep internal circulation

consistent apply automatic control loop.
 Mechanical damaged parts

 Almost damage in the VRM due to abrasion or mechanical wear.

 Scatter ring wear :
Worn Scatter ring
 It represent the seal that guide the gases to a
definite direction and protect the dam ring from
rapid wear.
 Its worn lead to high gases flow and high feed
but coarse product.
 Mechanical damaged parts
 Almost damage in the VRM due to abrasion or mechanical wear.
 VRM lining body wear :  Decrease temperature to unknown limit at mill
outlet.
 Holes in mill body make false fresh air enter the mill.
 Low feed.
 Mechanical damaged parts
 Almost damage in the VRM due to abrasion or mechanical wear.
 Roller & table segments wear :
 Big grinding bed variation.  Roller & table segments damage.
 Variations in grinding pressure.  Mill trip.
 Vibrations.

Table after repair Hardfacing Worn table segments

 Mechanical damaged parts
 Almost damage in the VRM due to abrasion or mechanical wear.
 Roller & table segments wear :
 Big grinding bed variation.  Roller & table segments damage.
 Variations in grinding pressure.  Mill trip.
 Vibrations.

Worn roller tire Worn roller segments

 Mechanical damaged parts
 Oil malfunction:
 Formation of foam, water contamination, metal contamination &
impurity.

 Bearing damage.
 Gears damage.
 Seals damage.
 Mechanical damaged parts
 VRM damage due to poor lubrication in grinding rollers:
 Grinding rollers bearing damage, due Tapered roller bearing damage
to lubrication circuit malfunction:

 Metal chips in lubrication circuit &

lubrication oil tank.
 High temperature of return lub. Oil.
 Bearing damage.
 Vibration.
 High power consumption.
 Roller stoppage.
 Mechanical damaged parts
 VRM damage due to poor lubrication in gear unit:
 Vibrations.  Gear unit bearing damage.
 Metal chips in gear unit lubrication oil.  High temperature of lubrication oil return line.
 Gear unit gear pattern, wear, bad meshing and failure.

Gear unit bearing damage Gear unit gear meshing & lubrication
 Mechanical damaged parts

 VRM gear unit coupling damage:

 Transmission coupling: Mill gear unit coupling

 Gear unit vibration.

 Coupling damage.
 Gear unit bearing damage.
 Gear unit gears pattern, wear bad meshing & failure.
 Mechanical damaged parts

 VRM grinding hydraulic cylinder damage:

 Two force member bearing damage:
 Bearing damage.
 Piston rod failure or breakage.
 Piston head damage.
 Hydraulic cylinder seals damage.
 VRM trip.