Upgrading a clinker cooler. IKN Klinker Inlet Distribution System (“KIDS”)

Portland cement is fabricated with a blend of clinker, gypsum and minor 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 final blend of clinker-gypsum additives has temperature limitations for the production of quality cement, and more and more cement producers are asked by the end users to offer a cooled Portland cement. These reasons explain why clinker cooling is an important phase in clinker production. The clinker cooler is exposed to extremely difficult operating conditions with a highly abrasive and hot material. When leaving the rotary kiln, clinker is in an unstable state, being still partly molten. Grate coolers aeration in the first sections cause a partial fluidization of clinker. Under certain abnormal conditions, this unstable phase presents upset conditions in the cooler and gives headaches to the operators. 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 reports on a successful modification to a cement plant process line with a new revolutionary technology