The Cemento Alión plant in Rio Claro is embarking on a significant transformation in its clinker production line. Equipped with an inline LowNOx calciner and a 5-stage cyclone preheater, the plant was formerly reliant on mineral coal. Now, Cemento Alión is witnessing first results of a promising strategic shift.
Evolutionary Steps: Identify improved geometry & AF feeding points
The plant's plan was twofold: boost production capacity first and then introduce alternative fuels. The plant is now able to push the Thermal Substitution Rate (TSR) to 20%. This translates to 70t AF (Alternative Fuels) a Day. The envisioned fuel mix includes Tire-Derived Fuel (TDF) and Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF). To accommodate this shift, the plant OEM had proposed an elongation of the existing calciner.
Operational Excellence: Insights from Advanced Computational Engineering
To ensure this success of this ambitious venture, a Computational Engineering study was conducted on the pyroline. The study is based on the aixprocess ‘Cement Real Physics’ model package, a set of well-proven cement-specific modules implemented in commercial CFD software. The investigated domain covers the entire area from kiln inlet to the lowest stage cyclone, The results confirm the proposed design with some geometric improvements obtained during the design process. The final configuration with some adjustments in the orifice region and feeding point positions was implemented in the Alión plant.
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