Title: Exergetic assessment of a rotary kiln for clinker production in cement industry

Authors: Mehmet Altinkaynak; Ahmet Kabul; Önder Kizilkan

Addresses: Faculty of Technology, Department of Energy Systems Engineering, Süleyman Demirel University, Isparta 32260, Turkey ' Faculty of Technology, Department of Energy Systems Engineering, Süleyman Demirel University, Isparta 32260, Turkey ' Faculty of Technology, Department of Energy Systems Engineering, Süleyman Demirel University, Isparta 32260, Turkey

Abstract: Cement industry is one of the most energy consuming sectors in the world. Through a cement plant, rotary kiln is the most energy intensive section that consumes the highest portion of the total energy, so it is getting very substantial to perform energy and exergy analyses for determining possible energy-saving options. In this study, thermodynamic assessment of the rotary kiln unit of a cement plant is carried. For the analysis, mass, energy and exergy balances of the rotary kiln are constituted and using actual plant data the performances of the rotary kiln are identified. The rotary kiln clinker capacity is 79 tons per hour. The energy and exergy efficiency of the unit is found to be 68% and 58.6%, respectively. At the end of the study, the results are compared with the other studies concerning with the same matter of different plants and available heat recovery possibilities are discussed.

Keywords: energy efficiency; exergy efficiency; rotary kilns; clinker production; cement industry; heat recovery; kiln performance; energy analysis; exergy analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEX.2015.068226

International Journal of Exergy, 2015 Vol.16 No.3, pp.263 - 277

Received: 15 Feb 2014
Accepted: 21 Mar 2014
Published online: 25 Mar 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article