HEAT TRANSFER IN ROTARY KILNS

by Greg Palmer, B.E. Ph.D. and Tony Howes, B.E. Ph.D.

Palmer Technologies Pty Ltd, Brisbane, Australia

Introduction
Rotary kilns are one of the most widely used pieces of processing equipment. They are used
for drying or calcining a variety of products including sand, aggregates, limestone and food
products. With an ever increasing focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the continued
or increased use of rotating kilns can only be achieved by reducing the thermal and electrical
energy consumption used in these processes. Heat transfer in kilns is very complex, with
radiation, convection and conduction all contributing to energy transfer between the gas, the
feed and the vessel wall. A fluid bed calciner or dryer achieves rapid drying by the large heat
transfer coefficient obtained through the high air volume being circulated. The penalty is the
increase in electrical energy required to circulate this high air volume. Rotary kilns on the
other hand have poor heat transfer coefficients, hence higher thermal energy demand, due to
the need for larger devices and thus more opportunity for heat to be lost.

In most rotary kiln operations the chemical reactions in the bed require high temperature, for
example cement kilns will require temperatures of approximately 15000C. The energy to raise
the temperature and drive endothermic reactions is from the combustion of a range of fuels
such as natural gas, coal and more and more alternative fuels. Heat transfer from the gas to
the bed is complex and occurs from the gas to the bed surface and kiln wall to bed surface via
conduction, convection and radiation.

A number of rotary kiln models have been proposed over the years and recent computational
fluid dynamic models can be developed but all have their limitations. Most assume
isothermal conditions through the bed at any axial position. However, practically it is known
that such conditions do not exist as product variations are known to occur, for example in lime
kilns where fine particles are calcined and larger particles are only partly calcined. The bed
motion regime, either cascading, rolling or slumping depends on the rotational speed of the
kiln, the percentage fill and the feed physical properties.

The work carried out by Palmer Technologies is aimed at understanding and improving the
heat transfer in a rotary kiln and to provide a systematic basis for the efficient design of new
kilns.

Previous Work
A number of experimental studies on a pilot size rotary kiln have been carried out by
Brimacombe and Watkinson (1978) and others. The size of the kiln used in their studies is
approximately 5.5m long x 0.406 m diameter. One of the most significant findings of this
early work was the importance of transverse solids mixing to the overall heat transfer to the
bed. It was clear that heat flow within the bed was a two step process, one, heating of a thin
layer on the bed surface and two, mixing of this layer into the bed. Existing models provide
correlations for individual heat transfer from wall to gas and solid, wall to gas and heat
transfer through the wall and from the outside of the wall. These models have considered

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radiation, convection and conduction heat transfer, as well as solids and gas transverse and
axial mixing.

The validation of any model is extremely importance for the effective use of the model as a
design tool. Validation to heat transfer has been done using existing operational pilot plants
and small scale kilns. However, further validation is still required to scale up to larger kilns.
Obtaining good heat transfer in large kilns is difficult due to the physical size, steady
operating conditions, internal cycling and dust generation that can impact on temperature
measurements taken during trials and separating radiation and convection heat transfer.

A summary of the finds has been collated and presented in Table 1 below. It can be seen that
the most significant factor on the rotary kiln design and heat transfer is convective heat
transfer from the hot gas to the bed followed by radiation heat transfer from the flame. The
process impacts of kiln speed and throughput have little effect on the heat transfer to the
solids. However, the effect of secondary air temperature on heat transfer is significant and can
lead to a lower of the thermal efficiency or more importantly lower throughput.

Table 1
process effects

· increasing rotational speed increases slightly hgas ® solids

· increasing rotational speed decreases significantly hgas ® wall

· increasing the degree of fill decreases slightly hgas ® solids

· the degree of fill is independent of hgas ® wall

· both heat transfer coefficients are independent of solids throughput and inclination angle

· at high feed rates and rpm heat flow is limited by heat transfer from the gas to the bed

effect of secondary air temp

· raising the sec air temp significantly increases the flame length but only minor effect on max. flame temp
and solids heat flux. The increase in the flame length is due to a decrease in the entrainment rate of the
secondary air owing to its lower density.

· increasing the sec air temp by a factor of 2.5 doubles the heat transferred to the solids in the flame zone.
Since the max. heat flux is not increased significantly the use of preheat air is a good method to improve
kiln productivity without overburdening the product.

· Oxygen enrichment of the flame reduces the flame length and increases the flame temp and peak solids
heat flux. The net effect is to increase the heat received by the solids. O2 enrichment may be used to
increase solids throughput.
Gas to solids heat flow

· gas to solids heat transfer is about ten times higher than gas to wall heat transfer

· gas to solids heat flux has little effect at high rpm but larger effects at low rpm

· the effect of gas temperature increases with rotational speed

· under rolling bed conditions the heat flux is independent of solids throughput, rpm and percentage fill

· convective heat transfer to the bed plays the dominate role contributing 70 to 80 % of the total heat flux

· radiation appears to account for less than 30% of the gas to solids heat flow on the gas to solids side

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The Rotary Kiln Model
The rotary kiln model being developed encompasses a general mass and energy balance over
the process. The mass energy balance uses measured input and output; temperatures,
pressures and mass flows (where possible) and gas composition at the kiln backend.

In many cases it is not possible to measure gas flow rates at the kiln backend (gas exit) due to
the configuration of the ductwork. However, in most large rotary kilns the backend O2 is
continuously measured along with the temperature and pressure. Similarly at the kiln front
end (product discharge) the kiln hood and cooler configuration make it impossible to measure
the gas flow rate. Also at this end the gas temperature is also very difficult to measure due to
the influence of radiation energy on measurement devices. The presence of backend gas
analysers makes the calculation of the gas flow rate at this point simple to calculate if perfect
combustion is assumed. The calculation of the gas flow rate and temperature requires the
solving of simultaneous equations.

The mass flow rates for the solids feed and gas form the basis of the heat transfer calculations.
The kiln is divided into axial segments, in this case one metre increments, though this can be
varied. A heat transfer resistance model was then developed over each increment. The
thermal resistances from the gas to the wall, gas to bed surface, wall to bed surface, bed
surface to bed centre, bed centre to wall and from wall to atmosphere were developed as
shown in Figure 1.

Heat transfer at the interfacial surfaces is complex and involves radiation, conduction and
convection. Although the heat transfer coefficients at each slice can be calculated it is
extremely difficult to determine realistic values. The model developed by Tscheng and
Watkinson (1979) was used to calculate the heat transfer coefficients for the gas to wall
convection, and the conduction from feed surface to feed centre and from the wall to feed
centre. These coefficients were determined from a 2.5metre long by 0.19metre diameter
rotary kiln. However, these parameters need to be further validated on larger operating kilns.

The conduction resistance, R is equal to Dx/kA, where Dx is the solid thickness, k is the
thermal conductivity of the solid and A is the area. Convection resistance is equal to 1/hcA
where hc is the overall convection heat transfer coefficient and A is the contact surface area.
In series the resistances are additive and when parallel the reciprocal of the resistances are
additive. The surface areas used in the heat transfer equations are calculated as smooth
surfaces, for example, the bed surface is assumed planar and is calculated from the volume of
feed per segment. As the material properties are functions of composition and temperature,
characteristics such as heat capacity, Cp, and thermal conductivity, are determined at each
segment. Radiative heat transfer from the gas to the walls and bed surface, from the walls to
the bed surface, and from the outside of the kiln to the atmosphere is modelled using
equivalent heat transfer coefficients.

The combustion to the fuel is assumed to occur at a point two metres into the kiln and is
complete at a point 32 metres into the kiln. The energy release profile follows a parabolic
function. However, this energy release profile can be changed to accommodate longer less
intense flames. This is a novel feature of our model and has not been included in other work.

Solution of the model involves varying the values of the temperatures of the bed material, gas,
kiln inner and outer surfaces in each segment until the energy balances and heat transfer
equations are solved. The scheme is iterative, as the heat transfer coefficients, heat capacities
and thermal properties are functions of temperature, but converge rapidly.
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 Figure 1 Thermal Resistance Model

The model developed is for a rotary kiln 132 metres long and 4.2 metres in diameter. In this
paper only the drying of an alumina de-watered slurry in the kiln will be discussed. The feed
rate used is 42 tph with a moisture content of 9%. Only drying of the feed has been included
in the model. A process flow diagram is presented in Figure 2. Whereas in the real situation
both drying and calcining of alumina occurs. The reason for using alumina is that it is a
simpler starting point for future model validation. The process data is presented in Table 2.

The drying only model balances the energy input in the natural gas and the energy lost in the
exit gas and radiation and convection from the kiln shell. As mentioned previously the model
takes into account convection, radiation and conduction from combustion and from the hot
gas. A combustion profile is incorporated into the model to simulate the non instantaneous
combustion process.

Drying of the solids in an alumina kiln is not assisted by a chain system, as is the case with a
long wet cement kiln. The drying occurs by a gradual heating of the solids surface, then
mixing of the top layer as the kiln turns then conduction within the bed. It is known that the
average bed temperature will continue to increase as the material moves along the kiln in the
axial direction, ie not all the energy to the bed goes into the latent heat of vapourization.

The output form the model in Figure 3. The plots give the axial temperature profile heat flux
profile and gas velocity profile.

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Secondary air temp C 185
Secondary air Sm3/hr 38,781

72.13 tph hydrate

ESP exit
105,836 Sm3/hr (wet)
270 C
5.00% O2
42.7% moist
Kiln BE
Primary air Sm3/h 94,947 Sm3/h
10,000 300 C
1.50% % O2

Nat gas Sm3/hr

4500 1011 t/d
3,703 kJ/kg Al2O3

false air Sm3/hr alumina tph 1.47 tph dust

996 42.11 false air Sm3/hr to FBC
10,889

rad & conv. MJ/hr

30,211

Figure 2 Process Flow Diagram (energy balance)

The model for this simple case shows that the heating of the solids is by convection from the
gas to the feed solids then from the feed surface to the feed centre. Thr negative sign in the
attached graphs is not a loss of energy from the system but the direction of energy flow. For
example the negative value for energy in the kiln wall (internal wall) to the feed centre means
that the energy flow is from the wall to the feed and continues up until the feed almost leaves
the kiln then the energy value becomes positive which means that the feed is cooling down by
allowing energy to flow from the feed to the kiln wall.

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 Temperature C
2000
Temperature (C)
1500
feed centre
gas
1000 shell (ext)
feed surf.
avg feed
500

0
0 50 100 150
Axial Distance (m) from feed end

Figure 3 Axial Temperature Profile from Model

Conclusions
The kiln model which uses existing heat transfer correlations for rotating kiln and incorporates
in-kiln combustion provides a tool for modelling temperature, calcining, drying, in a rotating
kiln. This model, when further validated using literature and other experimental data, will
provide an exciting tool for tuning the operation of existing kilns, and to provide a systematic
basis for the efficient design of new kilns.

In further development of the model the aim is to incorporate not only thermal profiles for the
rotary section of dry process kilns but the effect of chain systems in long wet kilns including
dust entrainment through the chains.

Other work being undertaken is the drying of materials like sand, aggregate and slag with
internal lifter arrangements. In this area the aim it to design and manufacture units with the
latest technological design features which are highly energy efficient and simple to operate.

References
1. Brimacombe and Watkinson, Heat Transfer in a direct fired rotary kiln: 1. Pilot plant and
experimentation, Metallurgical Transactions B, Vol 9B June 1978
2. Brimacombe and Watkinson, Heat Transfer in a direct fired rotary kiln: I1. Heat flow
results and their interpretation, Metallurgical Transactions B, Vol 9B June 1978
3. Tscheng and Watkinson, Convective heat transfer in a rotary kiln, The Canadian Journal of
Chemical Engineering, Vol 57 August 1979
4. Gorog, Adams and Brinacombe, Heat transfer from flames in a rotary kiln, Metallurgical
Transactions B, Vol 14B September 1983
5. Barr, Brimacombe and Watkinson, A heat transfer model for the rotary kiln: Part II
Development of the cross-section model, Metallurgical Transactions B, Vol 20B June 1989
6. Barr, Brimacombe and Watkinson, A heat transfer model for the rotary kiln: Part II Pilot
kiln trials, Metallurgical Transactions B, Vol 20B June 1989
7. Boateng and Barr, A thermal model for the rotary kiln including heat transfer within the
bed, Int. J. Heat Transfer Vol. 39 No. 10 1996

Cement Industry Federation Technical Conference 1998