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D.

Strohmeyer, Loesche GmbH,


Duesseldorf, Germany

LATEST TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS IN GRINDING


WITH THE VERTICAL ROLLER MILL
NEUESTE TECHNOLOGISCHE ENTWICKLUNGEN
BEI VERTIKAL-ROLLENMÜHLEN
4D. Strohmeyer, Loesche GmbH, Duesseldorf, Germany

SUMMARY ZUSAMMENFASSUNG

Without any doubt, today´s grinding plants have to feature Die Mahlanlagen von heute sind durch den Einsatz hoch
highly efficient mills with high efficiency classifiers showing effizienter Mühlen, ausgerüstet mit Hochleistungssichtern,
low specific energy consumption and the highest possible gekennzeichnet, die sich durch einen niedrigen spezifischen
mechanical durability. However, that alone is not sufficient Energiebedarf und eine höchst mögliche Dauerverfügbarkeit
to create the highest conceivable standard. Concepts are auszeichnen. Allerdings reichen diese Merkmale allein nicht
required which are not only aimed at certain parts of a grind- aus, um dem denkbar höchsten Standard zu entsprechen.
ing plant and its process but which are part of a comprehen- Es sind Konzepte gefragt, die nicht nur auf Veränderungen
sive approach to creating competitive projects. This can only bestimmter Teile einer Mahlanlage und des Prozesses aus-
be done by keeping the main goals in mind, which are low gerichtet sind, sondern die generell das Ansinnen verfolgen,
TCO-values, as little as possible environmental impact and wettbewerbsfähige Produkte zu kreieren. Das ist nur dann
the highest safety standards. Any design detail of a grinding erreicht, wenn solche wichtigen Anforderungen wie niedrige
unit should follow this philosophy. With the innovative COPE TCO-Werte, kleinstmögliche Einwirkungen auf die Umwelt
drive and the “4+4” cement mills and 6-roller raw mills in und auch ein hoher Sicherheitsstandard Berücksichtigung fin-
combination with a common parts concept covering both of den. Jedes Designdetail einer Mahlanlage muss heute dieser
the mill types, the technical and commercial risks derived Philosophie folgen. Mit dem innovativen COPE-Antrieb, den
from single grinding unit solutions are significantly reduced. (4 + 4) Loesche Mühlen für die Zementmahlung und seinen
Unexpected and undesirable down-time of the grinding plant 6-Rollenmühlen für die Rohmaterialmahlung in Kombination
is avoided by built-in redundancy and an optimized spares mit einem Gleichteile-Konzept, werden die technischen
management. By employing the compact plant design which wie auch kommerziellen Risiken, die sich aus Ein-Mühlen-
can be adapted to the respective project specifics, the Lösungen ergeben, signifikant herabgesetzt. Unerwartete
CAPEX of an installation is significantly reduced whilst improv- und unerwünschte Stillstände einer Mahlanlage können
ing on process features at the same time. Supplementary to vermieden werden durch „eingebaute“ Redundanz und ein
this, the LM-Master control system increases the availability kluges Ersatzteilmanagement. Indem ein sehr kompaktes
of the grinding plant at high capacity levels and maintains a Anlagendesign zur Anwendung gelangt, das den jeweiligen
constant product quality. Many other issues, such as plant Projekterfordernissen anzupassen ist, wird die CAPEX einer
flexibility, separate versus intergrinding or variable speed ver- Installation signifikant reduziert bei gleichzeitiger Verbesse-
sus fixed speed etc., can be raised and also controversially rung charakteristischer Prozessmerkmale. Ergänzend dazu
discussed with respect to their purpose in contributing to
PROCESSING

erhöht das LM-Master Steuerungssystem die Verfügbarkeit


the “ideal” grinding plant. In any case, clever solutions are der Mahlanlage auf hohem Leistungsniveau und sorgt für
of an individual nature aligned with the requirements of the die Aufrechterhaltung einer konstanten Produktqualität.
project and those of the cement market.3 Zahlreiche andere Fragen, wie z.B. die Anlagenflexibilität,
die Vorteile etwa einer separaten oder gemeinsamen Mah-
lung von bestimmten Additiven oder die regelbare oder
konstante Mahlschüsseldrehzahl usw., können erörtert und
auch kontrovers im Hinblick auf ihren Beitrag zur „idealen“
Mahlanlage diskutiert werden. Gute Lösungen sind generell
immer individueller Natur, ausgerichtet auf die Erfordernisse
des Projekts und des Zementmarkts.3

(English text supplied by the author)

44 CEMENT INTERNATIONAL 4 2/2015 4 VOL. 13


Latest technological innovations in grinding
with the vertical roller mill
Neueste technologische Entwicklungen bei Vertikal-Rollenmühlen

1 Introduction 2 Modern state-of-the-art grinding plant


The cement market is constantly evolving and many factors 2.1 Large units
do have an impact on this. Fluctuating energy prices, cement One of the trends coming with large cement kilns – the
demand, mergers, political, economic and environmental set- largest is in the range of 13 000 tpd – is the demand for
ups – many of them global phenomena – result in scenar- large cement, raw and coal mills. The basic question that
ios which eventually define the regional and local cement needs to be answered during the project stage is whether
market with all its facets and prospects. As part of this sys- to implement one or two grinding units for the raw ma-
tem, product development in the field of grinding techno- terial, the cement or for coal. Playing it safe, one would rather
logy needs not only to follow trends but also to predict future decide in favor of two mills instead of one but after taking the
developments and to lead the way, offering solutions which investment costs – about 20 to 30 % higher for two units –
are not even visible on the horizon today. the maintenance costs and the staff requirements – less for
one unit – into consideration, there are many arguments in
favour of one single mill. What is of the greatest concern?
High on the list is the availability of the grinding plant which
is not necessarily meant in the sense of an average avail-
ability. This is usually dominated by the material handling
rather than the main equipment. It is basically the fear of
experiencing a catastrophic failure with a long period of
down-time, in the worst case (e.g. raw mill) of the entire kiln
system. As a result, large grinding units need to demonstrate
as much in-built safety and redundancy as possible. This is
in particular with respect to the long-lead or expensive stock
items. Amongst others these involve the mill drive and the
roller/hydraulic system.

Figure 1: Loesche Mill type LM 69.6 with 6 rollers for cement


raw material grinding

Basically, the feasibility of a certain technology and a related


Grinding track m 7.0
project is based upon a multitude of circumstances. More spe- outer diameter
cifically, a lot is about key indicators such as TCO, CAPEX and
OPEX which have always been of crucial importance. But fur- Number of rollers – 4S+4M
ther to that, environmental considerations have gained ground

PROCESSING
and depending on the region may have a greater effect. Water Mean roller diameter m ˜ 2.7

is a scarce resource in some areas of the world and emission


Roller width m ˜ 0.75
limits have become strict and more constraining to the indus-
try. CO2 is held to be responsible for global warming, leav- Mill motor capacity kW 9600
ing the cement industry in a slightly vulnerable situation with
roughly 1 t of CO2 emissions per tonne of cement. In gen-
eral, producing a “green” product is beneficial even though
that appears to be somewhat contradictory considering the
cement production process. Definitely cement producers opt
for more tailor-made products with reasons varying from more
Figure 2: Loesche MILL LM 70.4+4 CS with technical data
economically viable – including the reduction of CO2 emis-
sions – to application-related ones. Resulting from this, grind-
ing technology in the cement industry needs to exhibit low Mill radial bearing
CAPEX and OPEX values and at the same time consume as Mill axial thrust bearing
few resources as possible. Endeavoring to achieve this, it is Custom 6-planet
output stage
obviously not sufficient to focus on a single section of a grind- Motor and input shaft
drive unit
ing plant; probably it is not even enough to focus solely on the Oil volume
technology. A state-of-the-art grinding unit combines all the
differing contributory aspects, such as a highly efficient mill,
a perfect plant layout, a proper maintenance and spares con-
cept as well as a modern control system. Figure 3: The principle of the COPE drive

CEMENT INTERNATIONAL 4 2/2015 4 VOL. 13 45


Loesche´s approach to this situation are the 6-roller raw Additional in-built redundancy is provided by the 6-roller sys-
(e.g. LM 69.6) (� Fig. 1) and the 4-roller coal mills (e.g. LM tem (raw mills) and the (4+4)-system (cement mills) com-
43.4 D) both of which have been on the market since 2006. prising four master rollers to do the grinding and four sup-
Since 2014 the (4+4)-roller cement mills have completed port rollers for grinding bed preparation. The machines are
the cement mill product range. The Loesche MILL LM equipped with independent hydraulic systems which allow
70.4+4 CS (� Fig. 2) has been sold to a cement producer in for the swinging out of two of the rollers whilst remaining
Nigeria and will be put into operation in 2016. in operation with four rollers (raw mill) or two rollers (coal or
cement mill), the remaining capacities being 80 and 60 %,
Today Loesche raw mills as well as the cement mills are respectively. Cement and raw mills share many common
available with the COPE (Compact Planetary Electric) drive parts which has a positive impact on the spare part man-
which has been jointly developed by RENK AG and Loesche agement of a plant. The gear box as well as the roller mod-
GmbH to ensure the utmost reliability and redundancy. The ules roller with tire, rocker arm and hydro-pneumatic spring
COPE drive system (� Fig. 3) is a 2-stage multi-drive-type system are kept equal for various combinations of raw and
gear box with up to 8 individual drive units and a combined cement mills (� Figs. 4a and 4b). These are suitable for all
installed power of up to 13 MW. The vertically installed elec- typical cement production line capacities, also when taking
trical motors connect to the gear box by means of helical different raw material physical properties into consideration.
gears, thus rendering the formerly (for large units) critical
bevel stage obsolete. The second stage consists of a typi- 2.2 LDC classifier
cal planetary gear. The mill and the drive are able to operate The inherent design of a vertical roller mill includes classi-
even, if half of the drive units should fail. The gear box can fiers which are integrated into the machine leading to a vari-
be installed with or without a frequency converter, whichev- ety of positive aspects of the grinding system such as a
er is more appropriate with respect to the number of cement compact self-supporting structure, high capacity, low spe-
qualities and the range of finenesses to be ground. cific energy consumption and an excellent drying capabil-

Product rate [t/h] as function of the LM size LM-CS models with product throughputs and drive power (approx. values)
LM 75.4+4 13000 kW
LM 70.4+4 9600 kW
LM 69.6 ~6900 kW
LM 60.6 ~5300 kW LM 63.3+3 7100 kW
LM 56.4 ~4200 kW LM 59.3+3 6200 kW
LM 53.6 ~3600 kW LM 56.3+3 5600 kW
LM 48.4 ~3100 kW
LM 46.4 ~2600 kW LM 53.3+3 4650 kW
Fineness
LM 45.4 ~2000 kW LM 56.2+2 4300 kW Fine Coarse
LM 41.4 ~1900 kW LM 48.2+2 3800 kW Cement
LM 38.4 ~1750 kW LM 46.2+2
~1600 kW 3450 kW
LM 35.4 GGBFS
LM 38.3 ~1400 kW LM 41.2+2 2700 kW
Fineness
LM 31.3 ~1200 kW Fine Coarse LM 35.2+2 1600 kW Difficult Easy
~700 kW Grindability
LM 31.2
LM 24.2 ~600 kW Difficult Easy
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600
~450 kW Grindability
LM 21.2
Product throughput [t/h]
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400
Product throughput [t/h]

Figure 4: a) Sizes of Loesche cement raw material mills; b) Sizes of Loesche cement mills
PROCESSING

GGBFS, fineness 4500 cm2/g (Blaine)


20
16 14.1
Pressure drop

12.5 13.2
12
8 6.5 7.5 7.0
New features compared to LSKS: LDC
• Vortex rectifier 4
• Bearing cartridge LSKS
• Optimized guide vane 0
LM 46.2+2 LM 53.3+3 LM 56.3+3
• Enlarged classifying gap
• Improved velocity profile
CEM I, fineness 3500 cm2/g (Blaine)
20
16.1
16 14.2
Pressure drop

12
8.4 8.2
8
LDC
4
LSKS
0
LM 46.2+2 LM 56.3+3

Figure 5: LDC with Vortex Rectifier Figure 6: Pressure drop data of the LDC compared to the LSKS

46 CEMENT INTERNATIONAL 4 2/2015 4 VOL. 13


advantages of the latest classifier design can be applied with-
out changing any of the interfaces, e.g. the duct to the fil-
ter/cyclone, the connection to the feed inlet chute and the
flange to the mill.

3 Compact plant design


Since the overall investment for a grinding plant is not only
defined by the mill itself but rather by the entire grinding
plant including the civil, mechanical and electrical engineer-
ing as well as the construction, great efforts are made to opti-
mize all of these to save costs and time. The compact plant
design (� Figs. 7 and 8) represents a stripped-down-to-the-
minimum plant combining a small footprint, a low building
height and a minimum of steel structure together with excel-
lent process efficiency and proper maintenance concepts.
Figure 7: Compact plant design as built
For any new grinding unit the basic compact plant design is
adapted to the actual projects specifics. The environmental
conditions play a role in the same way as the question of
whether the project is a green-field, brown-field, stand-alone
or an integrated unit. Is there a need for a building? Where
is the product silo located? Are mobile maintenance cranes
available? How much space is allocated to the feeding sys-
38 425 mm

tem? Those factors require thorough consideration, always


targeting low CAPEX values and short erection times which
28950 mm

may well positively influence the total project realization time.

Maximum limit

24700 mm
37305 mm

Figure 8: Compact plant design vs. conventional with a Loesche Mill


LM 53.3+3 CS

Time
ity. The design of the classifier has an influence upon the
particle size distribution (PSD) of the product and the inter-
nal circulation of the machine. The latter is one of the fac- Controlled variable Constraint variable Manipulated variable Disturbance variable
tors determining the pressure drop of the mill and related e.g. fineness, outlet e.g. vibration, e.g. feed, classifier e.g. feed moisture,
to this, the specific energy consumption at the fan as well temperature motor load speed, grinding grindability, wear
pressure
as the grinding efficiency.

PROCESSING
Bearing that in mind, Loesche re-designed its LSKS classi-
Figure 9: LM-Master control system
fier in 2008 and the LDC classifier (� Fig. 5), which repre-
sents the latest generation of dynamic classifier develop-
ment, was introduced to the market in 2009. Compared to 4 LM-Master control system
the former LSKS, the LDC exhibits enhanced process and
mechanical features of which the patented Vortex Rectifier Basically, there is no such thing as a modern grinding
is the most prominent. plant without a state-of-the-art control system. Loesche´s
approach to this is the LM-Master (� Fig. 9) which can be
By the beginning of 2015 some 35 classifiers of this type combined with most of the common PLCs and, in its basic
have been put into operation in combination with different version, works with standard instrumentation. The system
mills for raw material, slag and cement grinding. is aimed at an increased average production rather than at
the peak performance. To accomplish this, the LM-Master
The comparison of delta p-values over the classifier for the actively controls parameters such as the grinding pressure,
old and the new design shows a consistently reduced pres- water injection, gas flow and classifier speed. Always main-
sure drop for the LDC (� Fig. 6). In terms of product quality taining the product quality, the system finds the ideal com-
the particle size distribution (PSD) is in the same range as bination of process parameters to increase the availability
before with slopes of n = 0.90 to 1.05. of the mill at the highest possible throughput. In case the
throughput is not of highest priority, the LM-Master is capa-
For the purpose of retrofitting existing LSKS classifiers, the ble of optimizing for specific energy consumption as well.
LDC classifier comes in its LSVS-version adapted to the geo- Furthermore the vibration level and the absorbed power of
metrical situation in the respective grinding plant. Thus the the main drives are kept within the given limits. 3

CEMENT INTERNATIONAL 4 2/2015 4 VOL. 13 47


Loesche – worldwide presence
Loesche is an export-oriented company run by the owner, which
was established in 1906 in Berlin. Today the company is inter-
nationally active with subsidiaries, representatives and agencies
worldwide.
Our engineers are constantly developing new ideas and individual
concepts for grinding technologies and preparation processes for
the benefit of our customers. Their competence is mainly due to
our worldwide information management. This ensures that current
knowledge and developments can also be used immediately for
our own projects.
The services of our subsidiaries and agencies are of key importance
for analysis, processing and solving specific project problems for
our customers.

Loesche GmbH
Hansaallee 243
40549 Düsseldorf
Tel. +49 - 211 - 53 53 - 0
Fax +49 - 211 - 53 53 - 500
Email: loesche@loesche.de

Please visit our homepage at www.loesche.com for up-to-date


information on our overseas companies.

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