Experimental research on cement grate cooler system and numerical simulation of its clinker cooling process

Abstract

The grate cooler is of considerable importance in cement production and its heat distribution plays an important role in evaluating the energy utilization efficiency. In this study, we analyze the heat distribution in the entire grate cooler system of a 5000 t/d cement plant through experiments, and acquire the mass flow rates, inlet temperatures, and outlet temperatures of the cooling air and clinker. The experimental results show that the sensible heats of secondary and tertiary air, air discharged, clinker discharged, and the surface dissipation heat account for 50%, 40%, 9%, and 1% of the total heat flowing in the system, respectively; this indicates the necessity of recovering the exhaust air. Therefore, based on the experimental results, an improved model of the clinker cooling process of the grate cooler system is proposed. The simulation of the two schemes of cyclic air technique, using the numerical model, to induce the exhaust air in the chimney to the first grate plate and second grate plate, indicates that inducing the exhaust air to the first grate plate is more effective for recovering the waste heat.