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Modelling of a clinker rotary kiln using

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Article in The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering April 2011
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MODELLING OF A CLINKER ROTARY KILN USING

OPERATING FUNCTIONS CONCEPT
Kyarash Shahriari1 *, and Stanislaw Tarasiewicz2
1. Centre de Recherche Industrielle du Quebec (CRIQ), Quebec City, QC, Canada
2. Laboratory of Complex Automation and Mechatronics, Mechanical Engineering Department, Laval University, Quebec City,
QC, Canada

Modelling and parameter identication of complex dynamic systems/processes is one of the main challenging problems in control engineering.
An example of such a process is clinker rotary kiln (CRK) in cement industry. In the prevailing models independently of which structure is used
to describe the kilns dynamics and the identication algorithm, parameters are assumed to be centralised and constant while the CRK is well
known as a distributed parameter system with a strongly varying dynamic through time. In this work, the kilns dynamic is described in the
form of a state-space representation with three state variables using a system of partial differential equations (PDE). The structure is chosen so
that it can easily be embedded in classical state-space control algorithms. The parameters of the PDE system are called operating functions
since their numerical values vary with respect to different operating conditions of the kiln, to their position in the kiln, and through time. A
phenomenological approach is also proposed in this paper to identify the operating functions for a given steady-state operation of the kiln. The
model is then used to perform a semi-dynamic simulation of the process through manipulating main process variables.
La modelisation et lidentication des param`etres de syst`emes/procedes dynamiques complexes constituent lun des principaux probl`emes en
genie des contr
oles automatiques. Un exemple dun tel procede est le four rotatif clinker dans lindustrie du ciment. Dans les mod`eles actuels
independamment de la structure utilisee pour decrire la dynamique du four et lalgorithme didentication, on presume que les param`etres sont
centralises et constants, alors que le FRC est bien connu comme syst`eme de param`etres distribue avec une dynamique qui varie beaucoup avec
le temps. Dans ce travail, la dynamique du four est decrite sous forme de representation despace detats avec trois variables detats faisant usage
dun syst`eme dequations differentielles partielles. La structure est choisie pour e tre facilement integree en algorithmes de commande despace
detats traditionnels. Les param`etres du syst`eme dE DP sont nommes fonctions doperation, puisque leurs valeurs numeriques varient concernant
les differentes conditions de fonctionnement du four, leur position dans le four et dans le temps. Une approche phenomenologique est e galement
proposee dans le present document pour determiner les fonctions doperation pour un fonctionnement en e tat stationnaire donne du four. Le
mod`ele est ensuite utilise pour realiser une simulation semi-dynamique du procede par la manipulation des principales variables du procede.
Keywords: phenomenological modelling, systems identication, cement industry, clinker rotary kiln, operating function

INTRODUCTION

n a cement production plant, clinker rotary kiln (CRK) is

the most important element of the manufacturing chain whose
capacity generally determines the overall capacity of the
plant. It is also highly energy-consuming and greenhouse-gasemitting. Rough estimations show that the cement industry is
currently the responsible of 57% CO2 emission and that this
volume will reach up to 25% by the year 2050 considering the
current trend of increasing demand for cement and the available production technology (Portland Cement AssociationPCA,
https://www.cement.org; Cement Association of CanadaCAC,
https://www.cement.ca). Consequently, improving the efciency
of the CRK and reducing CO2 emission are among the main

VOLUME 89, APRIL 2011

concerns in cement manufacturing technology. The latter is

also strongly supported by World Business Council for Sustainable Development under the theme of CO2 emission reduction
and responsible use of fuel and raw materials (World Business
R&D

Researcher.
of the Laboratory of Complex Automation and Mechatronics.
Author to whom correspondence may be addressed.
E-mail address: kyarash.shahriari@ieee.org
Can. J. Chem. Eng. 89:345359, 2011
2010 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering
DOI 10.1002/cjce.20398
Published online 9 November 2010 in Wiley Online Library
(wileyonlinelibrary.com).
Head

THE CANADIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

345

Council for Sustainable Development, Cement Sustainability

InitiativeWBCSD-CSI, www.wbcsdcement.org). In this regard,
an intermediate milestone is to develop an easy-to-handle from
the engineering point of view and at the same time accurate
descriptive mathematical model of the process to underpin a
model-based control system and to explore potential technical
enhancements.
Whilst the CRK is in operation in cement industry since early
1900s, its efcient modelling has been delayed for decades. One
of the rst descriptive models of a CRK was proposed by Spang
(1972) that consisted of a complete description of chemical
reactions occurring within the kiln (Bogue, 1947), bed motion
(Saeman, 1951), heat and mass exchanges between gas and solid
phases, and a dynamic model of the ame. The model is derived
from mass and energy balance (MEB) equations for gas and solid
phases in a moving control volume along the kilns length that led
to a system of partial differential equations with known boundary
conditions. The two-point boundary-value problem is then solved
using appropriate numerical techniques to obtain the temperature proles and species mass fractions for both bed materials
and freeboard gas along the horizontal axe. In Guruz and Bac
(1981); and Mujumdar and Ranade (2006), the same methodology has been employed to predict the concentration of materials
as well as bed and freeboard gas temperature proles along the
length of the kiln. In the above MEB models, it is assumed that
the model parameters are independent of time, temperature, and
position in the kiln or in other words, centralised real-valued
constants.
The inconvenience of a 1D model for the gas ow is that in a
kiln, it takes 3D complex patterns due to burners, the geometry
of the kiln as well as physical and chemical phenomena taking place within the kiln. These patterns affect considerably heat
exchange mechanisms between bed materials and freeboard gas
whilst a 1D model cannot capture them. To overcome this drawback, computational uid dynamics (CFD) codes for freeboard
gas are coupled with 1D models for bed materials. Lockwood et
al. (1995) used CFD codes to describe ow eld and coal combustion in a CRK. Another attempt to enhance CRK modelling
using CFD codes was carried out by Mastorakos in which a 3D
CFD code for the freeboard gas was coupled with a 1D model
description of the bed materials (Mastorakos et al., 1999). This
model incorporated three modules; the rst module comprised a
multidimensional CFD code for coal combustion and freeboard
gas based on the results presented in Lockwood et al. (1995),
the second a 3D heat conduction equation to describe temperatures in the walls developed in Boateng and Barr (1996), and the
third a 1D axial model presented in Spang (1972) for materials
fractional composition. Three modules have been solved simultaneously to determine the gas and materials temperatures as well
as bed composition. In a recent work, the CFD code has been used
to develop a comprehensive model of the CRK and the respective
simulator to explore energy efciency of the kiln (Mujumdar et
al., 2006). As for freeboard gas temperature prole, an approximation obtained by a CFD model has been used. Heat exchange
equations have been adapted from Gorog et al. (1981, 1983); and
Barr et al. (1989) while chemical reactions have been considered
as shrinking core process by numerical parameters stated in Irfan
and Dogu (2001). This work has been followed in Mujumdar et
al. (2007) in which pre-heater and cooler have also been incorporated into the model to provide more complete mathematical
description of the process and enhancing simulation results. In
the stated works, the model parameters are yet again real-valued
constants.

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THE CANADIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

In the above presented models, the bed in the transverse plane

is assumed to be well mixed while evidences on real processes
demonstrate that it should not be the case; that is, non-uniform
production of the CRK and dead-burning zone of large particles
while ne particles are fully calcinated suggest the existence of
a temperature gradient within the bed in transverse plane. This
is especially due to the bed motion and bed mixing/segregation
mechanisms. A quasi 3D model has been developed and proposed
in Boateng and Barr (1996) to consider this issue based on the
earlier work of Barr et al. (1989). In this work a 1D axial model
along the kilns length for freeboard gas has been incorporated
with a 2D transversal model of bed materials. Using it, active
layer and plug ow zones have been distinguished in transversal
plane. However, the key assumption is that physical properties of
particles do not change along the length of the kiln.
The application of rotary kilns (RK) is not limited to cement
plants and they are also vastly used in other industries, for example, rotary dryers or incinerators whose modelling has massively
been investigated. There are three main issues to be scrutinised
in any RK that are solid ow and bed form/motion in transversal plane, particle mixing and segregation, and heat exchange
between freeboard phase and bed materials as well as heat transfer within the bed. For any of these issues, several works can
be stated. For instance, solid ow and bed motion, bed depth,
and axial velocity of materials have been investigated in Saeman (1951); Sriram and Sai (1999); Spurling (2000), bed form in
transversal plane in Mellmann (2001), and materials residence
time in Sai et al. (1990), particle mixing/segregation in Pollard
and Henein (1989); Boateng and Barr (1996); McCarthy et al.
(1996); Khakhar et al. (1997), and heat transfer in Cook and
Cundy (1995); Dhanjal et al. (2004); Chaudhuri et al. (2006);
Shi et al. (2008).
Although the kiln is well known as a strongly time-variant distributed parameter system along which materials physical and
chemical properties as well as heat and mass exchange parameters are subject to radical changes, this issue is taken into account
in few of the prevailing CRK models. Furthermore, even though
numerical models are vastly used for simulation and process
optimisation/control, a comprehensive and easy-to-understand
mathematical description of the process is still essential and a
powerful source of knowledge for process engineers to attain
design/production objectives and optimise resource management.
The objective of this work is therefore to move away from purely
numerical models and to study the feasibility of an analytical
description of the CRK being in the same time simple and accurate.
In this regard, the tempo-spatial state-space representation originally developed in Tarasiewicz and Shahriari (2008b) is proposed
with minor modications in the Model Structure Section. This
representation consists of three state variables that are freeboard
gas temperature, bed materials temperature, and bed materials
mass distribution proles along the kiln. The evolution of any
state variable through time is determined by the phenomena taking place in the kiln; any phenomenon is described individually
with the aid of a process variable and an operating function as its
coefcient. The identication procedure of the operating functions
for a steady-state operation of the kiln is explained in the Operating Functions Identication Section. The model is then used in
the fourth Section to perform a semi-dynamic simulation of the
process which is also considered as a validation procedure. Conclusion is then followed in the fth section in which the possibility
of embedding this model into classical model-based control and
optimisation algorithms is also provided as the perspective of the
current work.

VOLUME 89, APRIL 2011

MODEL STRUCTURE
Investigations on the CRK reveals strongly coupled physical and
chemical phenomena within the kiln (Bogue, 1947; Tarasiewicz
and Shahriari, 2008a). Applying classical modelling procedures
leads to a system of complex mathematical equations with different time scales for freeboard and bed materials dynamics. To
reduce model structure complexity while persisting on model
accuracy, we adopt in this work the phenomenological modelling
approach; main phenomena are identied and described individually with the aid of an appropriate process variable and the
respective operating functions as its coefcient. Three key process variables are chosen as state variables that are bed materials
temperature TC(x ,t) , freeboard gas temperature TG(x ,t) , and bed
materials mass distribution MC(x ,t) . The evolution of the state
variables in the tempo-spatial state-space representation is then
expressed using a system of partial differential equations derived
from phenomena affecting any state variable and MEB equations
in a mobile control volume.

Operating Function Concept

The concept of operating function and its utilisation in modelling
complex processes has originally been developed in Tarasiewicz
et al. (1994). This concept has then been employed in Kada and
Tarasiewicz (2004) for wood drying systems modelling and simulation. The idea of using operating functions comes from the
fact that in mathematical models of complex processes, parameter
identication requires a deep study of the process and determining
several physical/chemical coefcients which are generally challenging due to technical constraints and the lack of knowledge
and observations/experiences on the process. For instance, suppose that we wish to calculate thermal energy supplied to the
CRK. This consists of the heat recycled by primary and secondary
air from the cooler and satellites as well as the heat generated by
combustion of fuel. For the former, we have:
Qair (x, t) = fG (x, t)

TG (x, t)
x

where:
pa (x, t)cpa (Tpa (x, t)) + m
sa (x, t)csa (Tsa (x, t))
fG (x, t) = m
f (x, t)cf (Tf (x, t))
+m
() (x, t) represents the distributed
In the above expression, m
mass and c() (T() (x, t)) the specic heat of primary air, secondary
air, and fuel at temperature T() (x, t). Moreover, the heat generated
by fuel combustion is calculated from:
Qfuel (x, t) = hf (x, t)

Mf (x, t)
Mf (x, t) TG (x, t)
= hf (x, t)

x
TG (x, t)
x

Qtotal (x, t) =

Mf (x, t)
fG (x, t) + hf (x, t)
TG (x, t)

TG (x, t)
x

(1)

Calculating Qtotal (x,t) from Equation (1) requires accurate mea () (x, t), Mf (x,t), and T() (x, t) and
surement of process variables m
identication of coefcients c() (T() (x, t)) which can hardly be

VOLUME 89, APRIL 2011

Qtotal (x, t) = FQ (x, t)

TG (x, t)
x

where the so-called operating function FQ (x,t) embeds the mentioned process variables and coefcients. Calculating FQ (x,t)
directly through an identication procedure will bypass the
() (x, t), Mf (x,t), T() (x, t), and
measuring and identifying of m
c() (T() (x, t)) to compute Qtotal(x ,t) .
Generally speaking, operating functions replace complex mathematical descriptions of phenomena in a process. Any operating
function includes a number of inaccessible process variables as
well as unknown physical/chemical coefcients. To employ operating functions in modelling a process, we decompose it in the
rst place into its basis phenomena. The key process variable is
then determined for any phenomenon, and the evolution of the
phenomenon is described in terms of its respective key process
variable with the aid of an operating function as coefcient. The
resulting expression should be in such a way that the operating
function can directly be identied using available observations on
the process. As for the example of the energy supplied to the CRK,
transferred heat Qtotal (x,t) is expressed in terms of the evolution of
freeboard gas temperature along the kilns length and operating
function FQ (x,t) as its coefcient. Using this approach, modelling
and identication procedures are simplied by introducing a phenomenological description of the process that brings the problem
to a higher and more user-friendly level than detailed mathematical equations. Moreover, down-to-up accumulation of parameters
uncertainty in identication procedure from physical/chemical to
phenomenological representation is excluded which results in a
more accurate model of the process under study.
Operating function approach is not the only method to take into
account tempo-spatial variation of model parameters. An alternative solution is to consider the data as separate time series
correlated in space or extending traditional spatial methods such
as kriging to the spatio-temporal domain by adding an extra
dimension (Sampson and Guttorp, 1992; Oehlert, 1993). Some
researchers have also proposed to use Kalman lters. In Wikle and
Cressie (1999) a statistical model that is temporally dynamic and
spatially descriptive has been applied to a data set of near surface
winds in atmospheric science. However, the main drawback of
these models is that the parameters are derived statistically and
a reach data set is required to mitigate measuring uncertainties
while this set is generally not available for a CRK due to measuring technical problems. Moreover, a priori knowledge cannot
explicitly be integrated in statistical models that are a major source
of information for CRK modelling.

Phenomenological Decomposition of the Process

where hf (x,t) is the heat released per fuel mass unit and Mf (x,t)
is the injected fuel mass rate. Therefore, total heat transferred to
the kiln is expressed as:

performed due to technical constraints. On the other hand, Equation (1) can be reformulated as:

We identify in this early work six main phenomena taking place

within the CRK that are as follows:
(a) Heat exchange between freeboard gas, bed materials, refractory, shell, and surroundings. This is expressed in the
form of a linear relation of the absolute temperature or
the temperature potential between two points accompanying with an operating function, that is, Fi,j (x, t)T() (x, t)
or Fi,j (x, t)(T() (x, t)T() (x, t)). Examples are refractory-bed
and gas-bed heat exchanges expressed as F0,1 (x, t)TC (x, t)
and F1,5 (x, t)(TG (x, t)TC (x, t)), respectively. Thermal coefcients are lodged in the operating functions.

THE CANADIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

347

(b) Diffusion of the materials into the gas and vice versa.
It is described as the absolute temperature times by the
respective operating function, that is, F1,1 (x, t)TC (x, t) and
F2,1 (x, t)TG (x, t) for diffusion of materials into gas and gas
into materials, respectively.
(c) The freeboard gas and bed materials displacement along
the length of the kiln. It is dened with the aid of the
derivative of the temperature with respect to x and the
operating function resulting in F1,2 (x, t)(TG (x, t)/x) and
F2,2 (x, t)(TC (x, t)/x) for freeboard gas and bed materials
displacements. It is worth to state that velocities vG (x,t) and
vC (x,t) are embedded into the operating functions.
(d) Heat transferred from combustion of fuel to freeboard gas.
It is described as F1,3 (x, t)Mf (x, t) by the fuel feed mass rate
Mf (x,t). Thermal properties of the fuel are considered by the
operating function.
(e) Gas and materials heat exchange due to physical/chemical
reactions. Any reaction results in mass evolution and
hence, the latter is expressed as F1,4 (x, t)(MC (x, t)/x) and
F2,3 (x, t)(MG (x, t)/x) for bed materials and freeboard gas,
respectively.
(f) Gas and materials mass exchanges due to physical/chemical reactions. Identical to the previous case,
F3,1 (x, t)(MC (x, t)/x) and F3,2 (x, t)(MG (x, t)/x) describe
mass exchanges between freeboard and solid phases. For two
last cases, reaction coefcients and rates are included in the
operating functions.
It should be mentioned that the identied phenomena and their
respective mathematical descriptions are subject to further modications if additional accuracy would be required or a priori
knowledge and observations on the kiln would be available.

Table 1. Heat exchange operating functions

Function
f0,1 (x,t)
f0,2 (x,t)
f0,3 (x,t)
f0,4 (x,t)
f0,5 (x,t)

Description

Proposed structure

Refractory and bed heat exchange

Refractory and gas heat exchange
Refractory and shell heat exchange
Shell and refractory heat exchange
Shell and surroundings heat exchange

F0,1 (x,t)TC (x,t)

F0,2 (x,t)TG (x,t)
F0,3 (x,t)TS (x,t)
F0,4 (x,t)TB (x,t)
F0,5 (x,t)TSur (x,t)

Detailed description of any fi ,j (x,t) in Equation (2) is given in

Table 1 in which TB (x,t), TS (x,t), and TSur (x,t) are, respectively,
rebrick, shell, and surroundings temperatures and Fi ,j (x,t) are
operating functions.
The evolution of any state variable through time is determined
using MEB equations in a moving control volume along the length
of the kiln (see Figure 1). This volume is a thin slice of the CRK at
x with thickness x perpendicular to the horizontal axe. It should
be mentioned that contrary to the kilns cross-section, the moving
control volume is elliptical due to inclination angle . Considering
the main phenomena taking place inside the kiln (bed materials
and freeboard gas displacements along the kiln, diffusion of bed
materials into freeboard gas and vice versa, fuel combustion, heat
exchanges between solid and gas phases, and physical/chemical
reactions) resulting MEB equations in the control volume (see
Figure 2) (Tarasiewicz and Shahriari, 2008a), we have:
TG (x, t)
= f1,1 (x, t) + f1,2 (x, t) + f1,3 (x, t) + f1,4 (x, t) + f1,5 (x, t)
x
+ f1,6 (x, t)

(3)

for freeboard gas temperature,

Distributed Parameter Zone

Due to the nature of the CRK, the model consists of two parts.
The rst part describes the process in distributed and the second
in lumped parameter zone. The former corresponds to the interior of the kiln whereas the latter describes its two ends known
as boundaries. We rst start with two expressionsthat are not
explicitly a part of the model but will be used to identify the operating functions in a later stagedescribing heat exchanges between
freeboard gas, bed materials, kilns body, and surroundings:

TC (x, t)
= f2,1 (x, t) + f2,2 (x, t) + f2,3 (x, t) + f2,4 (x, t) + f2,5 (x, t)
x
(4)
for bed materials temperature, and
C (x, t)
M
= f3,1 (x, t) + f3,2 (x, t) + f3,3 (x, t) + f3,4 (x, t) + f3,5 (x, t)
x
(5)

TB (x, t) = f0,1 (x, t) + f0,2 (x, t) + f0,3 (x, t)

(2a)

TS (x, t) = f0,4 (x, t) + f0,5 (x, t)

(2b)

for bed materials mass distribution. Detailed description of

functions fi ,j (x,t) in Equations (3)(5) representing phenomena
within the CRK is given in Table 2.

Figure 1. Kilns geometry and moving control volume.

348

THE CANADIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

VOLUME 89, APRIL 2011

and for clinker mass distribution as:

C (0, t)
M
=0
x

(8a)

C (L, t)
M
= f6,1 (L, t)
x

(8b)

where x = 0 is the lower end and x = L is the upper end of the kiln.
For freeboard gas, x = 0 is the xed and x = L is the free boundary
whilst for bed temperature and mass distribution x = L is the xed
and x = 0 is the free boundary. Detailed description of functions
fi ,j (x,t) in Equations (6)(8) is given in Table 3. As soon as the
model structure is established, we tackle with the identication
of the operating functions.

OPERATING FUNCTIONS IDENTIFICATION

Figure 2. Mass and energy balance in moving control volume.

Lumped Parameter Zone

Having developed model structure in distributed parameters zone,
we now focus on the boundaries of the CRK. Boundary conditions
are mathematically expressed for freeboard gas as:
TG (0, t)
= f4,1 (0, t) + f4,2 (0, t)
x

(6a)

TG (L, t)
=0
x

(6b)

for bed materials temperature as:

TC (0, t)
=0
x

(7a)

TC (L, t)
= f5,1 (L, t) + f5,2 (L, t)
x

(7b)

The rst step to calculate the operating functions is preparing an

identication data set. A series of observations and measurements
has been performed on a wet kiln in its nominal steady-state operation. Flame and clinker temperatures have been measured by a
spectrometer at the lower end of the kiln while thermocouples
have been used to observe TG (x) and TC (x) at the upper end. Also,
shell temperature has been observed at several points by installed
thermocouples on the shell through which TG (x) and TC (x) have
also been calculated by the I&C system (see Figure 3). To mitigate noise effect and perturbation, mid-value of the measured
temperatures over several minutes has been considered. Using
the mentioned measuring values, the temperature proles for full
range of x have been reproduced for TG (x), TC (x), and TS (x) using
piecewise cubic Hermite interpolation.
When the kiln has been operating in the respective steady state,
the ame has been shut down and the raw materials feeding
has been stopped for a mechanical maintenance. The kiln continued to rotate while the output mass ow rate and the materials
density have continuously been measured until the kiln is completely empty. Respective measured density for ve points and
the reconstructed bed materials mass distribution prole from
the measurements are illustrated in Figure 4. Although not ideal,
but this procedure has been identied as the best feasible way of
measuring mass distribution prole within the kiln.

Table 2. Distributed parameter zone operating functions

Function

Description

Proposed structure

f1,1 (x,t)
f1,2 (x,t)
f1,3 (x,t)
f1,4 (x,t)
f1,5 (x,t)
f1,6 (x,t)
f2,1 (x,t)
f2,2 (x,t)
f2,3 (x,t)
f2,4 (x,t)
f2,5 (x,t)
f3,1 (x,t)
f3,2 (x,t)
f3,3 (x,t)
f3,4 (x,t)

Diffusion of materials into gas

Displacement of gas along the kiln
Heat transferred from combustion of fuel to gas
Gas and bed heat exchange due to physical/chemical reactions
Gas and bed heat exchange due to radiation and conduction
Gas and refractory heat exchange due to radiation and conduction
Diffusion of gas into materials
Displacement of bed along the length of the kiln
Bed and gas heat exchange due to physical/chemical reactions
Bed and gas heat exchange due to radiation and conduction
Bed and refractory heat exchange due to radiation and conduction
Bed and gas mass exchange due to physical/chemical reactions
Gas and bed mass exchange due to physical/chemical reactions
Diffusion of materials into gas
Diffusion of gas into materials

F1,1 (x, t)TC (x, t)

F1,2 (x, t)(TG (x, t)/x)
F1,3 (x, t)Mf (x)
F1,4 (x, t)(MC (x, t)/x)
F1,5 (x, t)(TG (x, t)TC (x, t))
F1,6 (x, t)(TG (x, t)TB (x, t))
F2,1 (x, t)TG (x, t)
F2,2 (x, t)(TC (x, t)/x)
F2,3 (x, t)(MG (x, t)/x)
F2,4 (x, t)(TG (x, t)TC (x, t))
F2,5 (x, t)(TC (x, t)TB (x, t))
F3,1 (x, t)(MC (x, t)/x)
F3,2 (x, t)(MG (x, t)/x)
F3,3 (x, t)TC (x, t)
F3,4 (x, t)TG (x, t)

f3,5 (x,t)

Displacement of bed along the length of the kiln

F3,5 (x, t)( M (x, t)/x)

VOLUME 89, APRIL 2011

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349

Table 3. Lumped parameter zone operating functions

Function

Description

Proposed structure

f4,1 (x,t)
f4,2 (x,t)
f5,1 (x,t)
f5,2 (x,t)
f6,1 (x,t)

Gas and bed heat exchange

Gas and refractory heat exchange
Bed and gas heat exchange
Bed and refractory heat exchange
Mass positioning in the upper end of the kiln

F4,1 (0,t)(TG (0,t) TC (0,t))

F4,2 (0,t)(TG (0,t) TB (0,t))
F5,1 (L,t)(TG (L,t) TC (L,t))
F5,2 (L,t)(TB (L,t) TC (L,t))
F6,1 (L,t)MC (L,t)

Heat Exchange Equations

Considering the kiln as a long horizontal cylinder, its thermal
equivalent circuit is obtained as shown in Figure 5. Respective
heat resistances to any heat exchange mechanism is calculated
from Rcond = ln(r2 /r1 )/2kx for conduction, Rconv = 1/2hrx
2
for convention, and Rrad = 1/(TS TSur )(TS2 TSur
) for radiation,
where k represents the conductivity and h the convection coefcients (Incropera et al., 2007).
The heat exchange between TB (x) and TS (x) is uniquely the
result of conduction. Assuming that the gas and materials temperatures in the control volume for x = 0.1 m are constant, and that
refractory and shell thermal conductivities are kref = 4.0 W/mK
and kshell = 46.0 W/mK, we have:
R4 =

Figure 3. Measured and reconstructed temperature proles.

The observed data including TG (x), TC (x), TS (x), and MC (x)

together with the design parameters given in Table 4 and thermal properties of the kiln are considered as the identication
data set. The identication procedure of the operating functions is
explained in which follows. The rst step is to determine the validity domain of any operating function through phenomenological
decomposition of the process and then to use complementary
mathematical equations to calculate it.

ln(r2 /r1 )
ln(r3 /r2 )
= 0.0462 K/W, R5 =
= 0.0005 K/W
2kref x
2kshell x

Heat exchange rate q6 (x) is the consequence of radiation

from the kilns surface to surroundings. Using shell temperature prole in Figure 3, R6 (x) is calculated for Tsur = 300 K,
StefanBoltzmann constant  = 5.67 108 W/m2 K4 , and emission coefcient = 0.9 m2 . On the other hand, q7 (x) represents
heat rate due to convection. The respective thermal resistance for
convection coefcient h = 5 K/Wm2 is:
R7 =

1
= 0.1721 K/W
2hr3 x

Knowing R6 (x) and R7 as well as the thermal potential

Tsur (x) TS (x), heat rate lost qloss (x) is calculated from:
qloss (x) =

TSur TS (x)
Req (x)

(9)

where Req = R6 (x)||R7 . As soon as qloss (x) is known, we have:

TSin (x) = TS (x) + R5 qloss (x)
TB (x) = TS (x) + (R4 + R5 )qloss (x)
For simplicity in this early work, we ignore materials coating
to the refractory layer and consequently, R3 is void. Therefore,

Table 4. Design parameters

Parameter
r1
r2
r3
L

Figure 4. Measured and reconstructed bed density and mass

distribution proles.

350

THE CANADIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Description

Value (m)

Inner radius with refractory

Inner radius without refractory
Outer radius
Kiln length

1.625
1.825
1.85
120

VOLUME 89, APRIL 2011

Figure 5. Thermal equivalent circuit of the kiln.

q1 (x) =

TG (x)TBin (x)
R1 (x)

(10a)

q2 (x) =

TC (x)TBin (x)
R2 (x)

(10b)

q(x) = q1 (x) + q2 (x)

(10c)

To calculate R1 (x) and R2 (x), one more equation is required. We

assume that R1 (x) and R2 (x) are proportional to the gas-refractory
and materials-refractory contact surfaces mathematically stated
as:
((x))R1 (x) = (x)(x)R2 (x),

0<(x)1

(11)

where (x) is the lling angle and (x) is a corrective coefcient.

Combining Equations (9)(11) we have:
R1 (x) =

1
(x)(x)
(TG (x)TB (x)) +
(TC (x)TB (x))
qloss (x)
((x))qloss (x)
(12a)

R2 (x) =

(x)
1
(TG (x)TB (x)) +
(TC (x)TB (x))
(x)(x)qloss (x)
qloss (x)
(12b)

Again for simplicity, we chose (x) = 1.0 in this work. Thermal resistances R1 (x) and R2 (x) are then calculated by solving
the system of Equations (10) and (12). The respective operating
functions are consequently computed as follows:
F0,1 (x) =

R1 (R4 + R5 )
R1 R2 + (R1 + R2 )(R4 + R5 )

F0,2 (x) =

R2 (R4 + R5 )
R1 R2 + (R1 + R2 )(R4 + R5 )

F0,3 (x) =

R 1 R2
R1 R2 + (R1 + R2 )(R4 + R5 )

F0,4 (x) =

Req
Req + R4 + R5

F0,5 (x) =

R4 + R5
Req + R4 + R5

which are illustrated in Figure 6. Considering Equations (9)(12),

the effect of thermal properties of the kiln on heat loss qloss (x),

VOLUME 89, APRIL 2011

and temperature proles TB (x) and TS (x) are determined helping

to assess the effect of any further modications; for example, the
effect of convection and radiation from the shell on the total heat
loss using Equation (9), or the thermal residence of the refractory
layer R4 on the temperature proles as well as the heat loss of the
kiln using operating functions F0,i (x) and Equation (2).

Freeboard Gas Temperature Equations

As the rst step to identify the operating functions in Equation (3),
their validity domains are determined through decomposition of
the process into four operating zones that are drying zone where
TC [0, 500], preheating TC [600, 1050], calcination TC [1100,
1400], and clinkerization TC [1500, 1800] (Bogue, 1947; Spang,
1972; Guruz and Bac, 1981). Considering temperature proles
in Figure 3, these ranges correspond to x [90, 120], x [65,
80], x [40, 60], and x [15, 35], respectively. Mainly due to
the lack of adequate information and precise measurements,
heat generated from exothermic reactions and the effect of the
diffused materials into freeboard gas on TG (x) are not taken into
account in this work. Therefore, F1,1 (x) and F1,4 (x) are void. On
the other hand, considering the proposed zone decomposition
and the denition of TG (x) operating functions given in Table 2,
F1,2 (x,t), F1,3 (x,t), F1,5 (x,t), and F1,6 (x,t) are valid in x [10, 30],
x [0, 120], x [5, 120], and x [0, 120], respectively. F1,6 (x)
represents heat loss in the kiln. Total kilns heat loss rate qloss (x)
has already been calculated in the Heat Exchange Equations
Section. The evolution of freeboard gas temperature due to heat

Figure 6. Operating functions of heat exchange equations.

THE CANADIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

351

loss in the mobile control volume is characterised by:

1
TG (x)
=
qloss (x)
t
Cp,G (x)MG (x)

(13)

where Cp,G (x) is the specic heat and MG (x) is the mass distribution of freeboard gas. As for the latter, following data are available:
vG (x)|x=0 [14.76, 36.3] m/s

G (x) = 4.600 kg/s

m

in Equation (13) and F1,5 (x) is identied from a similar expression as in Equation (14). The only unknown term is qC (x) which
consists of two parts. The rst part is associated with the drying
zone to evaporate moisture from raw materials and the second
part elsewhere in the kiln to heat up bed materials. Dried mass
distribution prole including the mass coated in the chains and
diffused in the gas has already been dened as MC (x). The initial concentration of water in raw materials is known to be 30%.
Considering the operating zone limits, moisture concentration is
approximated by the empirical hyperbolic function Cmoisture (x) =
0.15 tanh(0.1(x90)) + 0.15 in drying zone and therefore, moisture mass distribution prole is:
Mmoisture (x) = Cmoisture (x)MC (x)

TG (x)|x=0 = 557 K

Water evaporation rate is therefore:

Since no direct measurement is available on the kiln, the

gas velocity is approximated by hyperbolic function vG (x) =
2.5 tanh(0.03(x60)) + 27.5 m/s from which freeboard mass
distribution prole is calculated as follows:
MG (x) =

G (x)
m
vG (x)

1
qloss (x)
Cp,G (x)MG (x)

(14)

from which F1,6 (x) is identied and illustrated in Figure 7 for

Cp,G (x) = 1200 J/kg K. The operating function acquires higher
numerical values symbolising more heat loss for the same temperature potential TG (x) TB (x) where the absolute gas and materials
temperatures are higher, that is, around the ame position which
also agrees with evidences and observations on the kiln.
F1,5 (x) represents freeboard gas and bed materials heat
exchange. The evolution of freeboard gas temperature due to gas
and bed heat exchange rate qC (x) is expressed in a similar way as

(Mmoisture (x)vC (x))

x

where vC (x) is the bed materials velocity. Bed velocity has

an inverse relation with bed mass distribution. Mathematically
stated:
vC (x)

Also, from Equations (3) and (13) we have:

F1,6 (x)(TG (x)TB (x)) =

Rate(x) =

1
MC (x)

Using mean value vC = 0.015 m/s provided in Spang (1972) for

a similar kiln, bed velocity prole is computed along the length
of the kiln. Required heat rate for drying is then calculated from:
qC1 (x) = Rate(x)CW
where CW = 2.270 106 J/kg is the latent heat of water evaporation. qC (x) also raises the bed materials temperature. Thermal
energy E(x) accumulated in the bed along the kilns length is:

E(x) = Cp,C (x)MC (x)TC (x)

where Cp,C (x) is the specic heat of bed materials. Consequently,
qC,2 (x) =

(E(x)vC (x))
x

In this work, we x Cp,C = 1200 J/kg K (Lide, 2008). It is also

observed in the kiln in operation that about 30% of materials are
partially melt in above TC > 1600 K that in this case takes place in
x [10, 35]. Consequently, the required heat rate for melting is:
qC,3 (x) =

Figure 7. Operating functions of freeboard gas temperature equation.

352

THE CANADIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

(HC Cm (x)MC (x)vC (x))

x

where Cm (x) is the melting percentage of the materials along the

kiln. The latent heat is assumed to be HC = 2 106 J/kg from
the value given for CaO in Lide (2008). As soon as qC (x) =
qC,1 (x) + qC,2 (x) + qC,3 (x) is calculated, F1,5 (x) is identied from
an expression similar to Equation (14) which is also illustrated in
Figure 7. Two facts are pointed out; rstly the operating function
is negative at the lower end of the kiln before the ame position
revealing an inverse heat gradient from bed to gas. This is in accordance with heat recovery from the hot clinker leaving the kiln by
inlet air. Secondly, a peak value in the ame position is observed

VOLUME 89, APRIL 2011

The discontinuity of F1,2 (x) in the neighbouring of x = 20 m is

due to the fact that the derivative of gas temperature prole is zero
resulting a division-by-zero while computing the function. However, it causes no inconvenience since the term F1,2 (x)(TG (x)/x)
is employed together as seen in Figure 8 rather than F1,2 (x) and
TG (x)/x individually. This is shown in the fourth section while
performing semi-dynamic simulation of the process.

Bed Materials Temperature Equations

As stated before and due to the lack of information, heat generated from exothermic reactions and the effect of the diffused gas
into materials on TC (x ) are ignored. Therefore, F2,1 (x) and F2,3 (x)
representing these two phenomena are void. Also, considering
the kiln decomposition into operating zones, operating functions
F2,2 (x,t), F2,4 (x,t), and F2,5 (x,t) are valid in x [0, 120].
Operational function F2,4 (x) represents the effect of the freeboard gas temperature on the evolution of bed temperature
through time. Heat exchange rate qC (x) has already been calculated in Freeboard Gas Temperature Equations Section. Knowing
the value of qC (x) and considering energy balance in the mobile
control volume, we have:
Figure 8. Weights of the phenomena on the evolution of gas
temperature.

which is due to the fact that radiation from the ame increases
considerably the heat exchange rate from gas to bed materials.
Thermal energy required to heat up the kiln is provided by
combustion of fuel. Considering energy balance equations in the
mobile control volume we have:
F1,3 (x)Mf (x) = qF (x)

1
Cp,G (x)MG (x)

where qF (x) is the heat rate produced by combustion. The operating function F1,3 (x) is then calculated and illustrated in Figure
7 for qF (x) = 16.75 106 J/s. The function is non-zero only in the
ame position where the fuel is injected into the kiln and zero
elsewhere.
As mentioned before, the observations have been performed
in steady-state operation of the kiln leading to TG (x)/t = 0 in
Equation (3). Therefore, operating function F1,2 (x) is computed
as the residual from:
F1,2 (x)

TG (x)
= F1,3 (x) + F1,5 (x)(TG (x)TC (x))
x
+ F1,6 (x)(TG (x)TB (x))

One more informative diagram presented here is the effect and

the weight of any individual phenomenon on the evolution of the
gas temperature prole through time by multiplying the operating
functions and the respective process variable. We note in Figure
8 that the gas displacement represented by F1,2 (x,t) (upper left) is
the dominant factor in the equilibrium before the ame position
whilst it is the fuel who takes the main role where the ame is
positioned (upper right). Heat recovered by the inlet air (lower
left) before the ame cannot be neglected either in this regard
which is then used to heat up the materials in the upper parts
of the kiln. However, heat exchange between gas and refractory
layer (lower right) follows a smooth pattern, it is higher in the
ame position and reduces as it approaches the upper end of the
kiln.

VOLUME 89, APRIL 2011

TC (x)
1
=
qC (x)
t
Cp,C (x)MC (x)

(15)

which implies:
F2,4 (x)(TG (x)TC (x)) =

1
qC (x)
Cp,C (x)MC (x)

(16)

from which F2,4 (x) is identied.

Heat exchange rate q2 (x) between the bed materials and the
kilns body which is mostly a result of conduction and radiation has also been calculated in the Heat Exchange Equations
Section. The evolution of the bed materials temperature in the control volume in terms of q2 (x) is described by a similar expression
as Equation (15) and operating function F2,5 (x) is consequently
computed from a similar expression as Equation (16).
Being in steady-state operation implies that TC (x)/t = 0 in
Equation (4). Therefore,
F2,2 (x)

TC (x)
= F2,4 (x)(TG (x)TC (x))F2,5 (x)(TC (x)TB )
x

from which F2,2 (x) is calculated. The operating functions of the

bed materials temperature equation are illustrated in Figure 9.
We observe in this gure that the results follow the same patterns
and are consistent with the ones from Figure 7; likewise F1,5 (x)
and F2,4 (x) have a negative peak before the ame position demonstrating heat gradient from bed to gas which corresponds to the
heat recovered by the inlet air from the hot outlet clinker. It is then
followed by a positive peak in the ame position showing the maximum heat exchange rate from the gas to bed to provide required
clinkerization heat as well as melting latent energy. At the end,
it takes a smooth pattern for almost a constant exchange rate.
The same similarity is also observed for F2,5 (x), the counterpart
of F1,6 (x) representing heat transfer from bed to refractory layer.
As for F2,2 (x), it represents the effect of bed materials displacement on its temperature evolution through time. Since TC (x)/x
is zero in the neighbouring of x = 20 m, a discontinuity is observed
in the respective prole. However, as stated before, it is not problematic since F2,2 (x)(TC (x)/x) rather than F2,2 (x) and TC (x)/x

THE CANADIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

353

Table 5. Initial species mass fraction in raw materials

CaCO3
SiO2
Al2 O3
Fe2 O3
CaOMgO
CaSO4

66%
22%
5%
4%
2%
1%

Mass Distribution Equations

Figure 9. Operating functions of bed materials temperature equation.

is used in Semi-Dynamic Simulation of the Process Section (see

also Figure 10).
As before, the weight of any individual phenomenon on bed
temperature evolution is calculated by multiplying the operating
functions and its respective process variable. As seen in Figure
9, the most inuential factor is bed displacement (upper left)
demonstrating that any increase in bed motion will increase bed
temperature after and decrease it before the ame position which
will result in the moving of the peak temperature toward the lower
end. An important amount of heat required for the process is
recovered from the outlet clinker by the inlet air (upper right)
which reduces considerably the consumption of the energy in the
kiln. The discontinuity due to division by zero for F2,2 (x) is also
disappeared. Bed-gas heat transfer with the least effect (lower left)
follows the same pattern identied in Figure 7.

Considering the operating zones and the denitions provided in

Table 2, the validity of operating functions F3,1 (x,t), F3,2 (x,t),
F3,3 (x,t), and F3,5 (x,t) are determined as x [60, 120], x [60,
120], x [40, 100], and x [0, 120], respectively. Again due to
lack of precise information and measurements on the amount of
diffused bed materials into freeboard gas, we assume that the diffusion does not change the bed mass distribution which implies
F3,4 (x) = 0.
Operating functions F3,1 (x) and F3,2 (x) represent mass
exchanges between gas and solid phases due to physical and
chemical reactions that are briey recalled in Appendix A. To
identify F3,1 (x), the initial concentration of water in raw material
is known to be 30%. Moreover, considering raw materials initial
composition provided in Table 5 and the clinkerization reactions,
we estimate that 5% of raw materials mass enters into the freeboard gas in zones 1 and 2 in the form of CO2 and SO2 and that no
more mass exchange due to physical or chemical reactions takes
place in zones 3 and 4. Therefore, the distribution of mass released
from the solid into gas phase is expressed by:
Mreleased (x) = MC (x)Creleased (x)
The released mass concentration is approximated by the empirical hyperbolic function Creleased (x) = 0.15 tanh(0.068(x80)) +
0.15 in the rst and the second operating zones. Operational function F3,1 (x) is then identied from:
F3,1 (x)

Mreleased (x)
MC (x)
=
x
x

On the other hand and due to mass balance between solid and
gas phases in the control volume, we have:
F3,2 (x)

MG (x)
MC (x)
= F3,1 (x)
x
x

from which F3,2 (x) is calculated.

As for operating function F3,5 (x), it represents the bed materials
displacement along the kilns length. We therefore have
F3,5 (x)

C (x)
(vC (x)MC (x))
M
=
x
x

C (x) = vC (x)MC (x).

which implies F3,5 (x) = 1 knowing that M
Since MC (x)/x = 0 in the steady-state operation, F3,3 (x) is
calculated from Equation (6) as the residual as follows:
F3,3 (x)TC (x) = F3,1 (x)
Figure 10. Weights of the phenomena on the evolution of bed
temperature.

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THE CANADIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

C (x)
MC (x)
MG (x)
M
+ F3,2 (x)
+ F3,5 (x)
x
x
x

The respective operating functions of the bed materials mass

distribution are illustrated in Figure 11.

VOLUME 89, APRIL 2011

Figure 11. Operating functions of bed materials mass distribution

equation.

The main factors affecting the evolution the mass distribution

prole through time is its displacement represented by F3,5 (x).
Mass exchanges between gas and bed represented by F3,1 (x) and
F3,2 (x) cancel each other while diffusion has a minor part.

Boundary Condition Equations

Computing the operating functions in Equations (6)(8) is the last
stage in the identication procedure. The evolution of freeboard
gas temperature in the mobile control volume with respect to heat
exchange rate q1 (x) has already been calculated and expressed as
follows:
q1 (x)
TG (x)
=
x
Cp,G vG (x)MG (x)
which implies:
F4,2 (x)(TG (x)TB (x)) =

q1 (x)
Cp,G vG (x)MG (x)

from which F4,2 (x) is identied for x 0. It is void for x < 0 since
the gas is not in contact with the refractory layer in this region.
Accordingly, operating function F4,1 (x) is computed for x 0 from:
TG (x)
F4,1 (x)(TG (x)TC (x)) =
F4,2 (x)(TG (x)TB (x))
x
Being acquainted with the kilns feeding installation is mandatory to identify F4,1 (x) for x < 0.
Likewise for freeboard gas temperature, we have:

Figure 12. Operating functions of boundary condition equations.

from which F5,2 (x) is identied. As soon as F5,2 (x) is determined,

F5,1 (x) is obtained from:
F5,1 (x)(TG (x)TC (x)) =

In Figure 12, the negative sign of operational function F5,1 (x)

is due to the counter-current ow of materials with respect to the
horizontal axis. It is also observed that operating function F5,1 (x)
is negligible compared to that of F5,2 (x). This demonstrates that
heat at right-hand side of the kiln is mostly provided from the
refractory rather than the freeboard gas to the bed materials.
To identify F6,1 (x), we assume that raw materials are fed in a
constant rate M0 = 30 kg/s and the feeding installation provides
a homogeneous distribution in the entrance of the kiln from
x = L l to x = L. Here, l represents the transition zone between
the distributed and lumped parameter regions at the upper end
of the kiln. We also suppose that no mass exchange takes place
between gas and solid phases and the velocity of the materials
in L l x < L is constant value vC . Kilns geometry implies that
MC (x)|xL = 0. Mass distribution is then expressed as:
MC (x)|xL = 0

MC (x)|Llx<L

1
=
vC

MC (x)|x=Ll =

Ll
L

which implies:

and consequently:

(MC (x)vC (x))

|xL = 0
x

VOLUME 89, APRIL 2011

q2 (x)
Cp,C vC (x)MC (x)

M0
dx
l

M0
vC

q2 (x)
TC (x)
=
x
Cp,C vC (x)MC (x)

F5,2 (x)(TB (x)TC (x)) =

TC (x)
F5,2 (x)(TB (x)TC (x))
x

(MC (x)vC (x))

M0
|Llx<L =
x
l

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355

(MC (x)vC (x))

|x=Ll = 0
x
Operating function F6,1 (x) is then computed from Equation (8)
and the above system of equations as follows:
F6,1 (x)|xL = 0

F6,1 (x)|Llx<L =

M0
lMC (x)

F6,1 (x)|x=Ll = 0
The operating functions of lumped parameters zone are illustrated in Figure 12. Although they are not employed in this work
for process simulation, their identication paves the path to implement the proposed model in process control algorithms in future
works.

Figure 13. Evolution of freeboard gas temperature prole in

semi-dynamic simulation of the kiln.

SEMI-DYNAMIC SIMULATION OF THE PROCESS

The objective of this section is to perform a semi-dynamic simulation of the process using the proposed model structure and
identied operating functions. This section can also be seen as
a model validation procedure. However, contrary to many other
processes and systems and due to technical constraints and measuring difculties, few observations and measurements of the
kilns process variables in transient periods are available. Therefore, we limit ourselves in this work to qualitative rather than
quantitative reasoning to validate the simulation results.
The simulation is called semi-dynamics since the coupling
between Equations (3), (4), and (5) for simplicity reasons is not
considered. This simplication is justied considering the different response times of the state variables (long response time of
order of several 10 min for materials temperature and mass distribution proles while short response time of order of some seconds
for gas temperature prole) and the simulation period. We rst
start with the freeboard gas temperature prole. The manipulated
variables are the primary/secondary airow rate and the amount
of the injected fuel while other variables and parameters are kept
constant. As for the rst case, we reduce 50% of the airow rate
in the kiln. vG (x) is consequently reduced by 50%. This is simulated by multiplying operating function F1,2 (x)representing
gas displacement along the kilnby 0.5. Equation (3) is then
solved through time using an appropriate solver. The gas temperature prole is calculated after 24 s and is shown in Figure
13. We observe for the rst simulation case that two events take
place; the peak temperature and equivalently the ame position
move toward the lower end of the kiln while its absolute value
increases considerably. As for the second case, we decrease the
airow rate by 50% while the amount of injected fuel is also
diminished by 80%. Similar to the previous case, the airow
rate reduction is applied by multiplying operating function F1,2 (x)
by 0.5 and injected fuel rate by multiplying operating function
F1,3 (x)representing heat transferred from the combustionby
0.2. After 24 s, we observe that the peak temperature moves again
toward the lower end of the kiln due to vG (x) reduction while the
absolute temperature also decreases since the amount of injected
fuel is diminished. It should be mentioned that the gas temperature does not decrease considerably since a signicant amount
of heat is always recovered from the hot clinker at the lower end

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THE CANADIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Figure 14. Evolution of mass distribution prole in semi-dynamic

simulation of the kiln.

of the kiln. Evidences and experiences on the kiln justify qualitatively the simulation results while quantitative observations are
unfortunately not available at this stage to validate them.
The second semi-dynamic simulation is performed on mass
distribution prole while inlet raw materials mass rate is considered as the manipulated variables. Other process variables are
kept invariant. The simulation is performed for 90 min applying
M0 = MC (x = 120) shown in Figure 14. The evolution of the mass
distribution prole through time for t = 400 and 1800 s is also
illustrated in the same gure. The mass prole follows the raw
materials entry pattern which is in accord with the qualitative
evidences on the kiln. However, likewise the previous case, quantitative observations due to technical constraints are not available
in this stage to validate the results. Meanwhile, a preliminary conclusion is that the effect of manipulating the raw materials entry
will be seen approximately after 30 min at the other end of the
kiln which is quite reasonable for the kiln under study.

CONCLUSION AND PERSPECTIVE

In this work, a new model has been proposed to describe the complex dynamic of a CRK. The model structure has been in the form

VOLUME 89, APRIL 2011

of a state-space representation of the process having three state

variables whose evolution through time has been described by
a system of partial differential equations. The model parameters
called operating functions have then been identied both for distributed and lumped parameter zones for a steady-state operation
of the kiln through a phenomenological decomposition of the process into four operating zones. The model has then been used to
perform a semi-dynamic simulation of the process to predict the
evolution of the freeboard gas temperature and bed materials mass
distribution proles while manipulating some process variables.
The operating functions in this work have been identied for a
given steady-state operation of the kiln and the model would be
valid in the neighbouring of this point. Considering the fact that
CRK is designed to work in a specic operating pointwhich is in
this case the steady-state pointand is generally operated around
this point, model validity can be justied for a large portion of
the kiln operation time. However, continuous real-time identication is suggested to re-tune operating functions to follow minor
changes of the kilns dynamics.
The ultimate objective of this project is to use the proposed
model to underpin a kilns simulator and a model-based optimal/predictive control system of the process. As for the former, a
semi-dynamic simulation has been performed to test the feasibility and to validate the results qualitatively. Though the numerical
values of operating functions are only valid in the neighbouring of
the current operating state and therefore, simulation may diverge
from the real proles for long prediction horizons. Determining
the evolution of the operating functions with respect to the kilns
dynamics is then the rst problem to be tackled in future works.
As for the control of the process, the model structure has been
developed in the form of a state-space representation providing
facilities to be easily embedded into classical algorithms. However, this should also be scrutinised in more details in further
studies.

NOMENCLATURE
c() (T() (x, t))
Cm (x)
Cmoisture (x)
Cp,C (x)
Cp,G (x)
Crelease (x)
CW
Gf
h
hf (x,t)
HC
k()
l
L
() (x, t)
m
G (x)
m
MC (x,t)
Mf (x,t)
MG (x,t)
q() (x)
qF (x)
Qair (x,t)

specic heat of primary air, secondary air, and

fuel at temperature T() (x, t)
melting percentage of the materials along the kiln
moisture concentration in raw materials
specic heat of bed materials
specic heat of freeboard gas
release mass concentration from the bed to freeboard phase
latent heat of water evaporation
gas ow rate
convection coefcient
heat released per fuel mass unit
latent heat of materials melting
thermal conductivity of shell and refractory layers
transition zone between the distributed and
lumped parameter regions
Kilns length
primary and secondary air distributed mass
entering freeboard gas mass rate
bed materials mass distribution
injected fuel mass rate
freeboard gas mass distribution
thermal heat exchange rate
heat rate produced by combustion
heat recycled by primary and secondary air

VOLUME 89, APRIL 2011

Qfuel (x,t)
Qtotal (x,t)
Ri (x)
TB (x,t)
TC (x,t)
TG (x,t)
TS (x,)
TSur (x,t)
vC (x)
vG (x)

heat supplied by the combustion of fuel

total heat transferred to the kiln
thermal resistance
rebrick temperature
bed materials temperature
freeboard gas temperature
shell temperature
surroundings temperature
bed materials velocity
freeboard gas velocity

Greek Symbols
(x)
(x)

 = 5.67 106 W/m2 K4

lling angle
a corrective coefcient
inclination angle
StefanBoltzmann constant

END NOTES
As soon as the missing information would be available, the model
can be updated, respectively. The fact that a phenomenon can be
eliminated/embedded easily from/into the modelconsidering the
availability of the corresponding informationshould be regarded as
an advantage of this structure that adapt itself to available measuring
system on the kiln.

APPENDIX A: PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL

REACTIONS IN A CLINKER ROTARY KILN
A typical initial species mass fraction in raw materials is given
in Table 5. The physical and chemical reactions in the kiln are
briey mentioned in four operating zones along the kilns length.

Drying Zone
In a wet process, fed raw materials contain 2540% of moisture.
This water is evaporated while the following chemical reactions
take place:
CaO + H2 OCa(OH)2 + E
CaMgO + H2 OCa(OH)2 + MgO + E

Preheating Zone
This zone begins after the drying zone and ends before the temperature of clinker reaches 875 K. In this zone, materials are heated
up and the calcination begins. The following reactions take place
in this zone:
CaCO3 MgCO3 + ECaOMgO + 2CO2
CaCO3 + ECaO + CO2
CaO + SO2 +

1
O2 CaSO4
2

CaSO4 2H2 O + ECaSO4 + 2H2 O

Calcination Zone
This zone begins where the bed temperature reaches 975 K and
ends as soon as the temperature achieves 1325 K. Calcination is
completed in this zone. Other reactions in this zone are as follows:

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Ca(OH)2 + CO2 CaCO3 + H2 O

CaCO3 + ECaO + CO2

Clinkering Zone
In this zone, the bed materials are partially melted and the following reactions take place:
2CaO + SiO2 C2 Si + E
C2 Si + CaOC3 Si + E
4CaO + Al2 O3 + Fe2 O3 (CaO)4 Al2 O3 Fe2 O3
3CaO + Al2 O3 (CaO)3 Al2 O3
C + O2 CO2 + E
2H2 + O2 + N2 2H2 O + N2 + E
2H2 + 2O2 + S2H2 O + SO2
S + O2 SO2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The present work is made possible partly by grants from the
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
(NSERC) and the Research Center on Concrete Infrastructures
(CRIB).

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Manuscript received April 23, 2009; revised manuscript

received April 20, 2010; accepted for publication April 20, 2010.

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