Foundation for roller

press in a cement plant

A case study

J.D. Buch

The paper describes roller press structure in a cement mill of Case study
a cement plant. When provision of press is planned along with
In a certain cement plant, it was decided to provide a roller
mill building, it is possible to provide suitable structural
press after column and mill foundations of a cement mill were
arrangement. This provision is sometimes made in an existing
mill or in mill structure already under construction. In such
a case, limitations are imposed on planning of supporting
structure. Since the introduction of press is a new develop-
ment, there is still a lack of reliable machine load data and
vibration constraints. A case study of such a foundation in
recently-constructed cement plant is given with recommen-
dations on proposed structural arrangement.

A roller press is installed in front of grinding installations to

cut down energy consumption in the grinding unit. Installa-
tion of a roller press before rolling mill or cement mill in
cement plants is now becoming a common feature.
In a roller press, clinker material is subjected to extreme
pressure between opposing rollers for a short time, Fig 1. One
roller is fixed and other roller can move by about 50 mm
laterally (perpendicular to rotating axis) to adjust space for size
of material to be rolled between the rollers. This movement is
achieved by hydraulic/pneumatic supporting system and
keeps roller gap or pressure constant. Each roller is driven by
an electric motor through a gear reducer. The products dis-
charged from roller press are compacted cakes of irregular
size.

J. D. Buch, M.S.E. (USA), B.E. (Hons.), F.I.E., Engineering Associate with Fig 1 Roller press in a cement plant where clinker is ground under
Kothari and Associates, G-65, Connaught Circus, New Delhi 110 001. high pressure

October 1992 * The Indian Concrete Journal 559


13500 fluctuation of horizontal motion of the movable roller.

'2, Since press structure was a part of mill floor at +9.8 m level,
I I
n
lateral stiffness was very large and horizontal natural frequen-
cy would be much larger than the specified range. This there-
--— fore did not cause any concern. However, the vertical natural
800 1345 2540 5235
.. 400
frequency of the already-constructed supporting structure
(400 x 600) was 7.4 Hz. In order to keep this frequency at about 20 percent
_
1r 0"---
o
I 120 x 1 o ---- . 7 away from the specified range, vertical deflection of the sup-
20 44-4

through
, xI
t of mill
1

porting beam had to be reduced from 0.51 cm to 0.17 cm to

I pockets 81
I (10 Nos.)
I
25 I (880 x 650) II I?,
I I°. g and roller
o press
I increase natural vertical frequency value from 7.4 Hz to 12 Hz.
L —=r 1I1= I—
I
,.., 1 Since it was not possible to increase beam stiffness, the only
11 M
0. alternative was to reduce beam span by providing additional
1 0- ---,
I =UM i,,, . column supports. This also was an operational obstruction.
L - - -311111== . to.
n o
o0 It was explained to suppliers that the hydraulic system,
I 1 (830 x 650) ! I 11,1
260 12501,1050i1050 1490i rl— 260 "' operating roller movement, will partly absorb oscillations and
TT
(400 x 600) fig 0 0 the supporting structure may not be subjected to such wide
-- - 0._ -I Q
I-
. .
-r-
co
range of oscillations. The suppliers agreed to accept the struc-
— t of roller press

. 23 500
I
Pozzolona Clinker
«21900
Fig 2 General arrangement under mill hopper area at +9.8 m level
(case study)
constructed. The arrangement under the mill hopper area was
revised. The general arrangement is shown in Figs 2 and 3. .18 500

Roller press is mounted at +9.8m level floor in front of the

mill and below mill hopper. Rollers are mounted on a steel .16500
frame bolted to reinforced concrete beam-column frames. Four
.1 5 0 00
reinforced concrete columns of size 800mm x 800mm in M-20
mix (28-day characteristic cube strength = 20 MPa) are
provided upto +9.8m level only to support roller press floor. t of press
Since provision of press was made after a part construction 81 5 k N
was complete, it was not possible to isolate this area from 11 500 Roller
cement mill structure. It was also not possible to provide — press
columns right under roller framing beams, since free space on .96 0 0 9800
ground floor was not available. For designing +9.8m slab, the
suppliers gave the following load data :

For rollers mounted on 10 bolts,

vertical load on each bolt = 81.5 kN

Total vertical load = 815 kN

Cement mill
Lateral force along centre line of .2610
press (that is along axis perpen-
dicular to rotating axis of press) = 163 kN
0.00
The horizontal force of 163 kN is due to horizontal motion
of the movable roller, which is prompted by the feed materials
when pressed through the roll gap. This force is independent
Sec iron
of roller speed. The structure was designed and constructed
for these loads. Before the roller erection, suppliers informed Fig 3 A cross-section of the general arrangement under mill
that the supporting structure should withstand 2 to 10 Hz hopper area (case study)

560 The Indian Concrete Journal * October 1992

 (t_ of roller press

(750 x 850)
1490 1050 1050 1
300

0
0
Fig 4 Roller press installed at +9.8 m level in a cement mill.
Moveable roller and hydraulic system can be seen
— 6 Nos
4 Nos 120 x170
ture to withstand oscillations in 2-5 Hz range. 120x120 through
x503 deep pocket
No modification in structure was made and additional
columns were not provided. The press is installed and is in

5000 5000

Fig 6 Recommended arrangement : (I) isolation joint (ii) columns

directly under roller frame

operation. No significant vibrations are so far reported in the

structure. Figs 4 and 5 show photographs of the installed
press.

Conclusion
Due to movement of roller, there is a wide range
of oscillations, though suppliers should not
specify this on adhoc basis.
It is advisable to isolate press supporting struc-
ture from the main structure of the mill to prevent
transfer of vibrations to the main structure. It is
also advisable to provide supporting columns
directly under the beams on which rollers are
mounted. Such arrangement is provided in a
plant where roller press was planned along with
the mill building, Fig 6.
• • •
1 Non-receipt of Journal
We have been receiving a number of complaints from sub-
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However, henceforth it has been decided not to entertain
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The replacement copy/copies would be supplied only
once. This practice would be followed strictly.
Fig 5 Enlarged view of hydraulic/pneumatic supporting system
for keeping roller gap constant
— Circulation Manager

October 1992 n The Indian Concrete Journal 561