T

he spurt in cement demand in

India has prompted many local
producers to increase kiln capacity
by debottlenecking as well as establishing
new production facilities, the majority of
which now have over 2Mta of capacity.
These newer kilns also utilise cheaper
grade, primarily petcoke/lignite and
industrial waste as fuel. Such changes in
operational practices have led to newer
problems for the refractories and its
accessories used in the kiln. In addition,
now almost 60 per cent of the fuels are
burnt in the precalciner, as a result of
which the volume of tertiary air increases.
On many occasions, designers make
compromises on the tertiary air (TA)
duct diameter to curtail the project cost,
leading to higher tertiary air velocity.
The newer kilns also yield finer
clinker as kiln operators opt for higher
calcination in the calciners, which
offers higher production and better kiln
operation stability. This situation becomes
aggravated when utilising alternative
fuels. The two aforementioned factors
make the conditions in the passage to the
tertiary air duct highly abrasive, especially
at the bends. The situation is further
heigtened where
system designers
do not provide a
cyclone collector
ahead of the TA duct.
Dusty clinker also
creates an abrasive
environment for the
cooler bull nose.
Customised
monolithic
system
ACE Refractories
introduced a castable
formulation, branded
ACCMON CAR, to
counteract the high abrasion problem.
ACCMON CAR is based on aluminous
raw material and has high resistance to
abrasion. The abrasion resistance of this
product is ~ 1.0 cc, when tested as per
ASTM C 704, compared to 2.2 cc for a
90 per cent alumina low cement castable.
ACE Refractories has found this product
to be performing exceedingly well in the
tertiary air ducts area in over 30 kilns,
compared to the conventionally used
products. ACCMON CAR has also performed
well in high abrasion areas like the cooler
bench and planetary cooler elbows.
Another problem faced by the Indian
cement makers is the build up formation
in the kiln inlet area. To combat this,
ACE Refractories introduced ACCMON
CRC, a silicon carbide based low cement
castable formulation designed primarily to
resist build up in the kiln inlet areas. This
product has also been successfully used
in resisting the snowman formation in the
kiln outlet and buildup in the cooler throat
wall area.
ACCMON CRC has further been re-
formulated, to exploit the higher thermal
conductivity as well as abrasion resistance
of silicon carbide, for application in tip
casting, the burner pipe and cooler bull
nose. These products are currently in
use in over 40 cement kilns in India.
Encouraged by the success of ACCMON
CAR and ACCMON CRC in India, it is now
being promoted for overseas clients.
Design and engineering
Humboldt Wedag (India) has outsourced
the majority of its refractory lining design
work to ACE Refractories, for both
Indian as well as overseas projects. ACE's
achievement in the design segment has
been attributed to the rationalisation
of the brick sizes and shapes, which, in
turn, has reduced the number of shapes
required for lining rotary kiln systems.
Refractory solutions
Additionally, ACE Refractories has been
successful in providing solutions through
refractory design for certain other
vulnerable locations. For example, it has
successfully improved the performance
of kiln hood refractories by using a
combination of bricks and castables. This
IRefractory solutions
Increases in Indian cement capacity and changes in types of fuel utilisation
have ushered in certain refractory-related problems for local producers.
ACE Refractories have been working to combat these issues through the
development of customised monolithic systems. Thanks to the encouraging
results achieved through the use of these products, particularly in
application on greenfield sites in India, the company is now extending its
products abroad, securing orders in Bangladesh, Oman and Kenya.
by ACE Refractories, India
REFRACTORY TECHOLOGY
82 ICR DECEMBER 2007
ACCMON CRC in kiln inle
ACCMON CRC in tip casting
change in design has eliminated
the frequent stoppage of the
kiln operation for carrying out
the localised repair of kiln hood
refractories.
For one 750tpd wet-process
unit, based on waste sludge
from the fertiliser unit, ACE
had designed tumblers for the
precalcining zone, in consultation
with Cement Energy Saving
Services Limited of UK. The
incorporation of tumblers
increased kiln productivity to
900tpd and the thermal energy
consumption reduced by
approximately 12 per cent.
Turnkey projects
In the last 18 months ACE
Refractories has completed three
overseas projects at the following
cement plants:
Lafarge Bangladesh
Athi River Mining, Kenya
Raysut Cement, Oman.
Its scope for all these projects included
refractory selection, refractory lining
design, material supply, refractory
installation and its pre heating. In each
instance it provided engineers and skilled
manpower for refractory installation.
Additonal personnel required for carrying
out the job were hired locally.
ACE Refractories says its credentials
and track record in India for the execution
of greenfield projects had been one of
the prime criteria for selection for these
overseas projects. One such project is
ACC's Chaibasa greenfield plant in India.
For all these projects ACE used a
variation of ACCMON CRC in the kiln
inlet, tip casting burner pipe and cooler
bull nose. ACCMON CAR, meanwhile,
has been used in take off ducts and the
cooler bench. These projects had been
completed as per the schedule and their
commissioning has been trouble free.
These plants have been operating for the
last 6-15 months without any trouble in
terms of their refractories.
_________________________________ I
REFRACTORY TECHNOLOGY
DECEMBER 2007 ICR 83
ACE acquired by Calderys
In August 2007, a A final agreement was
signed between Imerys and ICICI Venture, a
major Indian LBO fund, for the acquisition of a
99 per cent stake in ACE.
ACE has two plants located in central India and
five sales agencies in the countrys major cities,
the company achieves annual sales of over
50m. It employs almost 550 people.
With this acquisition, Calderys, Imerys
subsidiary specialising in monolithic refractories,
which has had a sales agency in India since
2002, will be able to benefit fully from
the strong growth expected on the Indian
monolithic refractories market (+ 10% per
annum excepted for the next few years) by
combining its technological expertise with
ACEs industrial assets and excellent commercial
platform. In addition, ACEs product ranges and
technical teams will enable Calderys to serve
the fast-growing Middle Eastern and Asian
markets more effectively.
Flexible on-line training for the
global cement industry
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