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Increasing Reliability by Maintaining Kiln Stability

John H. Ross
Technical Training Manager
Industrial Kiln & Dryer Group (IKD)
12711 Townepark Way
Louisville, KY 40243, USA
jross@industrialkiln.com

Abstract In todays industry there has been more emphasis placed on increasing the reliability of key equipment to reduce cost and
maximize profits. As the cement industry strives to come out of the recent recession and prepare for increased demands in production,
equipment reliability will become more important. For many companies, the recession brought about downsizing of plants, personnel
and budgets utilized on anything other than essential maintenance of equipment. Consequently, we are faced with equipment that will
need more maintenance with less maintenance staff to actually perform the required maintenance. Management is faced with the
challenge of finding the resources both in experienced personnel and the maintenance budget to optimize the efficiency of plant
equipment. With this in mind, it is increasingly more important to look at ways to keep the equipment in stable operating condition.
The purpose of this paper is to define what is necessary to increase the reliability and stability of a cement kiln.

I. INTRODUCTION
The cement kiln is a key component to the manufacturing of cement and therefore it is important to keep operating as
stabile as possible. Although for the most part a kiln is a relatively slow turning durable piece of equipment; because of the
size of the components, the lead time on critical spares and the time associated with repairs, unplanned outages will
significantly affect the financial stability of the plant. This is especially true on a single kiln operation. Fortunately, by
making key measurements, analysis, proper adjustments and utilizing good lubricants, it is possible to significantly increase
the reliability and stability of the kiln.
Increasing reliability by maintaining kiln stability: There are several areas of mechanical interaction on the kiln that are
critical to maintaining good kiln stability, they are:

1- Tire and support roller interaction

2- Tire and shell ID interaction
3- Roller shaft and bearing liner interface
4- Kiln shell ovality
5- Kiln shell run out conditions
6- Pinion and drive gear interaction

II. TIRE AND SUPPORT ROLLER INTERACTION

It all starts with the alignment of the kiln, whereby the axis of the shell is parallel to the axis of the individual support rollers.
See Figure 1 If the rotating axis of the kiln shell is in line with the structural steel bases and the support rollers, the kiln will
roll freely with very little friction.
When a kiln is in this position there will be a horizontal component of movement between the tire and the support roller.
As long as the support roller rotational axis is fairly close to the rotational axis of the tires there will be very small amounts
of thrust loads on the thrust roller and the individual thrust components of the roller bearings.
However, if the support roller axis is not parallel as outlined in Figure 2, there will be thrust applied to the individual
roller bearings and will create unstable overall kiln thrust.
Additionally, the more the roller is moved away from the parallel position, the greater the friction will be between the tire
and the support roller.
For this reason, it is necessary to keep lubrication between the tire and support roller. Correcting the high thrust loads as
result of the horizontal components will require the adjusting of support rollers so the rotational axis of the rollers and tire
are as parallel as possible. In order to maintain this balance, it is necessary to check the kiln alignment frequently.

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Fig. 1. Tire and support roller interaction

Fig. 2. Support roller axis is not parallel to tire

III. TIRE ID AND SHELL OD INTERACTION

The tire ID is larger than the shell OD to allow for the thermal expansion of the shell that will expand more than the tire. The
difference between the sizing is a factor in what we call creep of the tire, which is a relative movement between these
components.
The relationship of the tire rotational axis and the kiln shell rotational axis is a critical one because they need to be parallel. In
Figure 3, we see that if a kiln has a design slope of .362 per foot of elevation, then the relationship of the tire to the shell has to
have the same slope in the vertical plane.
If for any reason the tire is not perpendicular to the shell then a horizontal or thrust component will be applied to the creep and
the tire will begin to thrust excessively against the retaining/stop blocks or bands. In Figure 4, the tire is not perpendicular to the
shell as a result of the support rollers slopes being out of alignment because of the structural steel bases.

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Consequently, there will be high wear rates on both the retaining blocks and the support pads because of the tire to shell
misalignment.
Again, performing an alignment check on the kiln will determine if all structural steel bases are on design slope as well as
determining the kiln shell axis. In the cases where there is wear on tires or support rollers causing the misalignment it will be
necessary to resurface the tires and rollers.
If the structural steel bases are off significantly, it may be possible to shim bearings on some kiln whereas, on other kilns, it
may be necessary to reset the bases.

0.362 IN/FT 0.359 IN/FT 0.364 IN/FT

TABLE 2-3 TABLE 2-2 TABLE 2-1

NEAR SIDE
NEAR SIDE NEAR SIDE
0.362
0.362 0.362

FAR SIDE FAR SIDE FAR SIDE

0.362 IN/FT 0.362 IN/FT 0.362 IN/FT
TABLE 3-3 TABLE 3-2 TABLE 3-1

TIRE 1 TIRE 2 TIRE 3

Fig. 3. Relationship of the tire to the shell

Fig. 4. Tire is not perpendicular to the shell

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IV. ROLLER SHAFT AND BEARING LINER INTERFACE

The interaction between the roller shaft and the bearing liners will generate high temperatures if there is a significant amount of
misalignment. Applying high viscosity oil will help in alleviating some of the temperature issues; however, there will still be
misalignment of the roller shaft and the bearing liner that can eventually cause mechanical problems.
It is important to try and maintain a balance of adjustment on the support rollers so that all rollers are adjusted share the load
equally as shown in Figure 5.
In order to do this maintenance personnel should keep some kind of form as outlined in Figure 6, identifying the position of the
rollers and the direction that each roller is thrusting the kiln. In Figure 7, this illustration shows the result of heavy thrust of the
roller shaft on the thrust plate of the bearing housing (this is a typical design of various OEMs).
If the thrust load of the roller is high, a tilting of the structural steel base will occur and a misalignment between the roller shaft
and the bearing liner will generate high temperatures.
It is important to check the amount of thrust that is present on each individual roller during the alignment of the kiln to
distribute the loads on each support roller equally.

Fig. 5. All rollers are adjusted share the load equally

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FEED END
.010 TO REPOSITION 16 15 .010 TO REPOSITION
K
14 I 13
L
N
.010 TO REPOSITION .010 TO REPOSITION
12 11
T
H
10 R 9
U
S
.010 TO REPOSITION 8 7 .010 TO REPOSITION
T

6 5

4 3

.020 TO REPOSITION 2 1 .030 TO REPOSITION

DISCHARGE END KILN ROTATION

SUPPORT ROLLER POSITIONS TO ADJUST FOR KILN THRUST

Fig. 6. Maintenance personnel framework

Fig. 7. Heavy thrust of the roller shaft on the thrust plate

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V. KILN SHELL OVALITY

One of the largest maintenance costs on cement kiln is the refractory brick. Replacing brick in a kiln is not only expensive
from a material standpoint but is time consuming as well. To avoid premature refractory loss as a result of a mechanical
failure caused by high shell ovality is an unnecessary expense. Measuring shell ovality is a part of routine alignment checks
and is visibly measureable in the form of ovality charts, see Figure 8.
By measuring the shell ovality we can determine if there is excessive creep on a tire, high radial run out conditions on the
kiln shell (dog-leg) conditions and if the kiln is misaligned. Taking shell ovality measurements will assist the plant in
determining if an adverse mechanical condition is present with the kiln. In Figure 9, we can see how kiln shell ovality
adversely affects the refractory brick inside the kiln.

Fig. 8. Ovality chart

Fig. 9. Kiln shell ovality adversely affects the refractory brick inside the kiln.

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VI. KILN SHELL RUN-OUT CONDITIONS

Another mechanical condition that occurs on a rotating kiln shell is the run-out occurring from damaged shell. We commonly
refer to this as a dog-leg condition or some other form of damage. As a result of the shell damage the kiln shell will have
elliptical rotation at each tire pier and the loads will be intermittent as a result.
This shifting of loads will cause bending of the kiln shell that affects the refractory brick, overloading of the support roller shafts
that may cause breaking and misalignment between the drive gear and pinion if the run-out is near the drive pier.
It is important to measure and quantify the amount of run-out that occurs on a kiln shell and this is best done during a kiln
alignment that actually measures the radial run-out at each tire as outlined in Figure 10. Although it is informative to measure the
profile of the kiln shell, it is more important to determine what the affect the shell run-out is having on each tire pier.

Fig. 10. Radial run-out at each tire

VII. PINION AND DRIVE GEAR INTERACTION

One of the most expensive and critical components on a cement kiln is the drive gear and pinion. In todays market, a
delivery of a gear on a larger kiln can take up to close two years from the time of order. A gear failure has to be put very
high on the risk analysis of every plant. To make sure the gear is reliable and stabile it is important to monitor
temperatures and alignment on a frequent basis, especially checking root clearances. In addition to this, monitoring the
lubrication system and doing visual checks on a daily basis is an absolute requirement by plant personnel. Most gear
failures occur as a result of a lubrication issue and if plant personnel are diligent in inspecting the gear, gear damage can
be minimized if not fully avoided.

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VIII. CONCLUSION

Cement kilns are not a complicated piece of equipment. In understanding what makes them reliable and stabile in operation
there are a couple of factors to remember, they have very high temperatures and very high load conditions. On any rotating
piece equipment, alignment is critical.
If the loads are not uniform on the kiln, damage can occur quite suddenly. Kilns that have operated for years can have a
series of failures when the life cycles of the components have reach load limits.
Analysis is important and understanding the operating condition of the kiln will assist plant personnel in determining what
can be done to minimize risk and improve the operational stability.

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