Rotary Kiln and Method for Burning Carbonate-Containing Material, in Particular Limestone or Dolomite

Abstract

The present invention relates to a rotary kiln for burning carbonate-containing material, in particular limestone or dolomite, including a rotary tube with an inlet end for the feeding of the material to be burned and an outlet end for the discharging of the burned material, the rotary tube having an inlet zone at its inlet end and an outlet zone at its outlet end wherein a preheating zone and a combustion zone are arranged between the inlet zone and outlet zone, the rotary kiln being characterized according to the invention in that in the inlet zone of the rotary tube at least one projection is provided, the at least one projection having at least one sliding surface inclined to the longitudinal axis of the rotary tube for conveying the material to be burned from the inlet zone into the preheating zone. The present invention further relates to a method for burning carbonate-containing material, in particular limestone or dolomite.

Claims

1-15. (canceled)

16. A rotary kiln for burning carbonate-containing material, in particular limestone or dolomite, comprising a rotary tube with an inlet end for the feeding of the material to be burned and an outlet end for the discharging of the burned material, the rotary tube having an inlet zone at its inlet end and an outlet zone at its outlet end a outlet zone, a preheating zone and a combustion zone being arranged between the inlet zone and outlet zone, wherein in the inlet zone of the rotary tube a plurality of projections are provided, each projection of the plurality of projections having at least one sliding surface inclined to the longitudinal axis of the rotary tube for conveying the material to be burned from the inlet zone into the burning zone, wherein the projections are arranged in a row as a group in such a way that the respective sliding surfaces of the projections form a common sliding surface for the material to be burned.

17. The rotary kiln according to claim 16, wherein the at least one sliding surface of the at least one projection has an inclination to the longitudinal axis of the rotary tube from 15 to 70, in particular from 25 to 65, especially from 35 to 55 and particularly preferably from 40 to 50.

18. The rotary kiln according to claim 16, wherein the at least one projection contains a refractory material, the refractory material being concrete, in particular refractory concrete.

19. The rotary kiln according to claim 16, wherein the at least one projection has a prismatic geometry, optionally the at least one projection being designed as a straight prism with a triangular base.

20. The rotary kiln according to claim 16, wherein the at least one projection has a height extending in the radial direction of the rotary tube of 100 mm to 500 mm, in particular of 140 mm to 400 mm, preferably of 160 mm to 300 mm and particularly preferably of 180 mm to 250 mm, and/or the at least one projection has a length extending substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rotary tube of 100 mm to 2000 mm, in particular 150 mm to 1000 mm, preferably 300 mm to 500 mm and very particularly preferably 350 mm to 450 mm, and/or the at least one projection is attached by means of a metallic anchoring, in particular a welded metallic anchoring, to the inner side of the rotary tube shell.

21. The rotary kiln according to claim 16, wherein the common sliding surface formed by the plurality of projections extends substantially over the entire length of the inlet zone.

22. The rotary kiln according to claim 21, wherein the common sliding surface for the material to be burned can be provided by 3 to 9 projections, in particular by 4 to 8 projections, especially by 5 to 7 projections and very particularly preferably by 6 projections.

23. The rotary kiln according to claim 21, wherein the plurality of projections are formed substantially identically to one another, such that a common sliding surface is formed with a substantially constant slope, and/or the plurality of projections are arranged in rows in a stepped form as a group along the inlet zone.

24. The rotary kiln according to claim 16, wherein 2 to 8, in particular 3 to 7, especially 4 to 6 and very particularly preferably 5 projections or groups of projections, are arranged in a row over the circumference of the rotary tube.

25. The rotary kiln according to claim 16, wherein the rotary tube has at least one further projection, preferably a plurality of further projections, in the region of the preheating zone for more rapid passage of the material to be burned through the preheating zone and for reducing the formation of dust.

26. The rotary kiln according to claim 25, wherein a plurality of further projections are provided in the region of the preheating zone, the further projections being arranged as groups substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rotary tube, wherein, optionally, further projections arranged adjacent to one another in the circumferential direction of adjacent groups of further projections are arranged offset from one another in the longitudinal direction of the rotary tube in such a way that spiral-shaped transport paths are formed for the material to be burned.

27. The rotary kiln according to claim 16, wherein the rotary tube has at least one additional projection, preferably a group of additional projections, in the region of the outlet zone, in order to prevent the formation of clusters in the burned material.

28. The rotary kiln according to claim 27, wherein a plurality of additional projections are provided in the region of the outlet zone, the additional projections being arranged as groups in the circumferential direction of the rotary tube, preferably offset from one another in the longitudinal direction of the rotary tube, wherein, optionally, a plurality of groups of additional projections are provided in the longitudinal direction of the rotary tube.

29. A method for burning carbonate-containing material, in particular limestone or dolomite wherein the following steps: introducing the carbonate-containing material into the rotary tube of a rotary kiln according to claim 16, burning the carbonate-containing material, the carbonate-containing material moving through the rotary tube from the inlet zone and the burning zone to the outlet zone, the rotary tube rotating in a direction of rotation, conveying the carbonate-containing material from the inlet zone into the preheating zone, in that the carbonate-containing material rests at least partially on the common sliding surface of the plurality of projections, which is inclined to the longitudinal axis of the rotary tube, and slides, driven by gravity, in the direction of the preheating zone.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] The invention is explained in more detail below in reference to a drawing depicting an exemplary embodiment. Shown are:

[0035] FIG. 1a the rotary tube of a rotary kiln with projections arranged in the inlet zone of the rotary tube for conveying the material to be burned from the inlet zone into the burning zone of the rotary tube in a perspective view,

[0036] FIG. 1b a sectional enlargement of the rotary tube of FIG. 1a with partially cut-away kiln wall in a perspective view,

[0037] FIG. 2 the projections in the inlet zone of the rotary tube of FIG. 1a, arranged in a row in a stepped form as groups, in a longitudinal perspective view according to FIG. 4,

[0038] FIG. 3 a projection (displacer) in the inlet zone of the rotary tube of FIG. 1a in a perspective view,

[0039] FIG. 4 the rotary tube of FIG. 1a in a perspective longitudinal sectional view,

[0040] FIG. 5 a number of further projections in the preheating zone of the rotary tube of FIG. 1a in a perspective longitudinal sectional view according to FIG. 4,

[0041] FIG. 6 a further projection (driver) in the preheating zone of the rotary tube of FIG. 1a in a perspective view,

[0042] FIG. 7 the additional projections in the outlet zone of the rotary tube of FIG. 1a in a perspective longitudinal section view according to FIG. 4,

[0043] FIG. 8 a further projection (sword) in the outlet zone of the rotary tube of FIG. 4 in a perspective view; and

[0044] FIG. 9 two-dimensional representation of the unrolled inner wall of the rotary tube in highly schematized form.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0045] In FIG. 1a, the rotary tube 1 of a rotary kiln is shown with conventional mounting and drive components, which will not be discussed in more detail below. The rotary tube 1 comprises an inlet end 2a shown here at the front endand an outlet end 4a at the back end. Along the longitudinal extension of the rotary tube 1, the rotary tube 1 comprises an inlet zone 2, a burning zone 3 and an outlet zone 4 with respect to the material feed, combustion and material discharge processes. As shown in FIG. 1a, but in particular in the partial sectional view of FIG. 1b and the longitudinal sectional view of FIG. 2, the rotary tube has 1 in its inlet zone 2 a plurality of projections 6, which have a specific shape and are arranged as groups 61 in a row in a stepped form, as will be described below. The projections 6 are also referred to in technical terms as displacers.

[0046] As shown in FIGS. 1a, 1b and 2, the projections 6 arranged as a group 61 of, in the present case, six projections arranged in a row are substantially identical to one another and, according to FIG. 3, in the present case have the shape of a straight prism with the base of a right isosceles triangle, the non-rectangular angles of the triangle being truncated. Each projection 6 has a sliding surface 6a, which is arranged inclined to the longitudinal axis of the rotary tube 1. An angle of inclination of approximately 45 is preferably selected. As mentioned, the projections 6 are arranged in a row in a stepped form such that the individual sliding surfaces 6a of the projections 6 result in a common sliding surface 6a*, which in the present case is also inclined at an angle of approximately 45 to the longitudinal axis of the rotary tube 1.

[0047] Furthermore, the sliding surfaces 6a of the projections 6 or the common sliding surface 6a* of the projections 6 arranged in a row in groups are aligned relative to the direction of rotation D of the rotary tube 1 such that, during operation of the kiln, the material to be burned (not shown) comes to rest on the sliding surfaces 6a of the projections and, due to the selected inclination of the sliding surfaces 6a to the longitudinal axis of the rotary tube 1, slides quickly in the direction of the burning zone 3 by gravitational force.

[0048] As shown in FIG. 1a, a plurality of groups 61 of projections 6 arranged in a row in a stepped form are provided around the circumference on the inner wall of the rotary tube 1. In the present case, a number of six groups 61 is selected.

[0049] In the perspective longitudinal sectional view of the rotary tube 1 of FIG. 4, it is now shown that, in addition to the projections 6 provided in the inlet zone 2 of the rotary tube 1, further projections 7 (in technical terms, drivers) may be provided in the preheating zone 3a. These serve to ensure that the material to be burned, which is now transported more rapidly through the inlet zone 2 as a result of the projections 6, is also transported quickly and with improved mixing through the preheating zone 3a, so that material build-up cannot occur, particularly in the region of the transition from the inlet zone 2 to the preheating zone 3a. They also serve to reduce the formation of dust in the preheating zone 3a. As shown in FIG. 6, these further projections 7 (drivers) have the shape of a straight prism with the base of an isosceles trapezium, the trapezoidal surfaces being arranged perpendicular to the inner wall of the rotary tube 1. As can be seen further in FIG. 4, the further projections 7 are arranged as groups 71 parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rotary tube 1, the preheating zone 3a with the further projections 7 (and thus the rotary tube 1) not being shown in its full length in FIG. 4. For more clarity, a section of the preheating zone 3a with the further projections 7 is shown in FIG. 5. The relative arrangement of the individual groups 71 of the other projections 7 to one another and to the groups 61 of the projections 6 in the inlet zone is shown in particular in FIG. 9. Furthermore, FIG. 4 shows that a plurality of additional projections 8 are provided in the outlet zone 4 of the rotary tube 1, the additional projections 8 being arranged as groups 81 in the circumferential direction of the rotary tube 1 and offset from one another in the longitudinal direction of the rotary tube 1 in the process. These additional projections 8 (in technical terms, swords) serve to prevent the formation of clusters in the burned material. As shown in FIG. 8, these additional projections 8 have the shape of a truncated pyramid with the base of an isosceles acute triangle, the acute angle leading in the direction of rotation of the rotary tube and being slightly truncated for stability reasons. For more clarity, the outlet zone 3 with the additional projections 8 is shown again in FIG. 7. The relative arrangement of the individual groups 81 of the additional projections 8 (swords) to one another and to the groups 71 of the additional projections 7 (drivers) in the inlet zone is shown in FIG. 9.

[0050] FIG. 9 now shows in highly schematic form a representation of the unrolled inner kiln wall of the rotary tube. This means that the distribution of all the projections provided 6 (displacers) in the inlet zone 6, further projections 7 (drivers) in the preheating zone 3a and additional projections 8 (swords) in the outlet zone 4 of the rotary tube 1 is shown in two-dimensional representation, the burning zone 3 again not being shown completely. Accordingly, six groups 61 each of five projections 6 (displacers) arranged in a row in a stepped form are provided in the inlet zone 2 distributed over the circumference. In the preheating zone 3a adjoining the inlet zone 2, there are also six groups 71 of further projections 7 (drivers) arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the rotary tube 1. Further projections 7 arranged adjacent to one another in the circumferential direction are positioned offset from one another, as shown by the auxiliary line V in FIG. 9. This offset arrangement results in spiral-shaped transport paths in the rotary tube 1, along which the material to be burned can move through the preheating zone 3a without obstruction. The spiral-shaped transport paths are shown by way of example in the two-dimensional representation of FIG. 9 as parallel lines S running diagonally.

[0051] Furthermore, FIG. 9 shows the additional projections 8 (swords) provided in the outlet zone 4 of the rotary tube 1. As mentioned, these are arranged in groups 81 in the circumferential direction of the rotary tube 1, with the additional projections 8 of a group 81 being longitudinally offset from one another, in order to process a maximum amount of burned material. The offset in the longitudinal direction of the rotary tube 1 is shown in FIG. 9 by the auxiliary line V. Two groups 81 of five additional projections 8 are provided. The group 81 arranged at the outlet end 4 of the rotary tube comprises only three additional projections 8. In contrast to the projections 6 of the inlet zone 2, the additional projections 8 do not extend to the outlet end 4a of the rotary tube 1. Rather, a certain distance of preferably approximately 1 m can be selected.