UPGRADING A CLINKER COOLER - IKN KLINKER INLET DISTRIBUTION-SYSTEM (KIDS)

Portland cement is fabricated with a blend of clinker, gypsum, and min or proportions of chemical additives. With clinker being the principal element of this blend, its physical properties have direct effects on Portland cement quality. The temperature of clinker when exiting the process line is one of the most important factors. Grinding of the fin al blend of clinker-gypsum additives has temperature limitations for t he production of quality cement, and more and more cement producers as ked by the end users to offer a cooled Portland cement. These reasons explain why clinker cooling is an important phase in clinker productio n. The clinker cooler is exposed to extremely difficult operating cond itions with a highly abrasive and hot material. When leaving the rotar y kiln, clinker is in an unstable state, being still partly fluidizati on of clinker. Under certain abnormal conditions, this unstable phase presents upset conditions in the cooler and gives headaches to the ope rators. Conventional grate coolers could not solve these flow problems on all occasions, but new developments in grate coolers have greatly reduced and nearly eliminated these problems. This paper will report o n a successful modification to our process line with a new revolutiona ry technology.