Application Note: Cement Industry

Condition Monitoring of Rotating Machines

Cement, ubiquitous binding material has stood tests of
geography, climate and other factors in its usage over
decades. Its application can be seen everywhere, be it
residential buildings, government offices, roads, bridges
etc. Cement contributes to almost 15-17% of the cost of
construction of any structure.
Cement manufacturing involves aggressive and harsh
production conditions due to high dust content in the plant
area. This creates an additional onus of accurate and stable
measurement on condition monitoring devices. These
instruments need to prevent any unplanned shutdown as
well as providing long term reliable solutions.

Need for Vibration Monitoring in

cement plants
Rotating Machinery is at the heart of cement plants. It is
very necessary to run the machine at high efficiency
without any trouble. The deterioration in the efficiency of
rotating machines cannot be predicted, but with the help
of the Vibration Monitoring and Analysis System, this can
be properly judged. Vibration Monitoring and Analysis is
the easiest way to keep machines healthy and efficient in
the long run. This reduces the overall operating cost as well
as the down time period, increases plant availability and
efficiency of rotating machines. To cope with global
competition and pressure, every plant wishes a 95%
uptime, hence maintenance planners are moving from
reactive maintenance to proactive maintenance

Objectives of Vibration Monitoring

Effective for many root causes such as imbalance, misalignment, abnormal roller bearing, abnormal sleeve bearing,
abnormal speed reducer, looseness etc.
Preventing unscheduled downtime
Reducing downtime when machine is down
Extending machine usable time
Preventing failures
Reducing energy costs

Cement making process

Cement industries typically produce portland cement, although they also produce masonry cement, which is also
manufactured at Portland cement plants. Portland cement is a fine, typically gray powder comprised of dicalcium silicate,
tricalcium silicate, tricalcium aluminate, and tetracalcium aluminoferrite, with the addition of forms of calcium sulfate.
Different types of Portland cement are created based on the use and chemical and physical properties desired. Portland
cement types I - V are the most common. Portland cement plants can operate continuously for long time periods (i.e., 6
months) with minimal shut down time for maintenance. The air pollution problems related to the production, handling, and
transportation of Portland cement are caused by the very fine particles in the product.
The stages of cement production at a Portland cement plant is as follows
Procurement of raw materials
Raw milling - preparation of raw materials for the pyro processing system
Pyroprocessing raw materials to form Portland cement clinker
Cooling of Portland cement clinker
Storage of Portland cement clinker
Finish milling
Packing and loading

Pre heating tower

Primary Crusher

Sec Crusher

VMS

VMS

Blending Silo

Vertical raw Mill

Raw Material iron, silica,

PFA or Bauxite

ID Fan
VMS

Electrostatic
Presipitator
Gypsum
VMS
Kiln
Shipping

Cement storage

Finishing Mill

Clinker Silos
Grate Cooler
VMS

VMS

Raw material acquisition

Most of the raw materials used are extracted from the earth through mining and quarrying
and can be divided into the following groups: lime (calcareous), silica (siliceous), alumina
(argillaceous), and iron (ferriferous). Since a form of calcium carbonate, usually limestone,
is the predominant raw material, most plants are situated near a limestone quarry or
receive this material from a source via inexpensive transportation. The plant minimises
the transportation cost since one third of the limestone is converted to CO 2 during the
pyroprocessing and is subsequently lost. Quarry operations consist of drilling, blasting,
excavating, handling, loading, hauling, crushing, screening, stockpiling, and storing.

Raw milling
Raw milling involves mixing the
extracted raw materials to
obtain the correct chemical
configuration, and grinding
them to achieve the proper
particle-size to ensure optimal
fuel efficiency in the cement
kiln and strength in the final
concrete product. Three types
of processes may be used: the
Motor
Fan
Vertical raw mill
dry process, the wet process,
or the semidry process. If the
dry process is used, the raw materials are dried using impact dryers, drum dryers, paddle-equipped rapid dryers, air
separators, or autogenous mills, before grinding, or in the grinding process itself. In the wet process, water is added during
grinding. In the semidry process the materials are formed into pellets with the addition of water in a pelletizing device.

Pyroprocessing
In pyroprocessing, the raw mix
is heated to produce Portland
cement clinkers. Clinkers are
hard, gray, spherical nodules
with diameters ranging from
0.32 - 5.0 cm (1/8 - 2") created
from the chemical reactions
between the raw materials.
The pyroprocessing system
Motor
involves three steps: drying or
Kiln
Fan
preheating, calcining (a
heating process in which
calcium oxide is formed), and burning (sintering). The pyroprocessing takes place in the burning/kiln department. The raw
mix is supplied to the system as a slurry (wet process), a powder (dry process), or as moist pellets (semidry process). All
systems use a rotary kiln and contain the burning stage and all or part of the calcining stage. For the wet and dry processes,
all pyroprocessing operations take place in the rotary kiln, while drying and preheating and some of the calcination is
performed outside the kiln on moving grates supplied with hot kiln gases.

Clinker cooling
The clinker cooling operation recovers up to 30% of kiln system heat, preserves the ideal
product qualities, and enables the cooled clinker to be maneuvered by conveyors. The most
common types of clinker coolers are reciprocating grate, planetary, and rotary. Air sent
through the clinker to cool it is directed to the rotary kiln where it nourishes fuel
combustion. The fairly coarse dust collected from clinker coolers is comprised of cement
minerals and is restored to the operation. Based on the cooling efficiency and desired cooled
temperature, the amount of air used in this cooling process is approximately 1-2 kg/kg of
clinker. The amount of gas to be cleaned following the cooling process decreases when a
portion of the gas is used for other processes such as coal drying.
Fan

Clinker storage
Although clinker storage capacity is based on the state of
the market, a plant can normally store 5 - 25% of its annual
clinker production capacity. Equipment such as conveyors
and bucket elevators is used to transfer the clinkers from
coolers to storage areas and to the finish mill. Gravity drops
and transfer points typically are vented to dust collectors.

Conveyor motor

Motor

Finish milling
During the final stage of Portland cement production known as finish milling, the clinker
is ground with other materials (which impart special characteristics to the finished
product) into a fine powder. Upto 5% gypsum and/or natural anhydrite is added to
regulate the setting time of the cement. Other chemicals, such as those which regulate
flowability or air entrainment, may also be added. Many plants use a roll crusher to
achieve a preliminary size reduction of the clinker and gypsum. These materials are then
sent through ball or tube mills (rotating, horizontal steel cylinders containing steel alloy
balls) which perform the remaining grinding. The grinding process occurs in a closed
system with an air separator that divides the cement particles according to size. Material
that has not been completely ground is sent through the system again.

Packing and loading

Once the production of Portland cement is complete, the finished product is transferred
using bucket elevators and conveyors to large, storage silos in the shipping department.
Most of the Portland cement is transported in bulk by railway, truck, or barge, or in 43 kg (94
pound) multi-walled paper bags. Bags are used primarily to package masonry cement. Once
the cement leaves the plant, distribution terminals are sometimes used as an intermediary
holding location prior to customer distribution. The same types of conveyor systems used at
the plant are used to load cement at distribution terminals.
Motor

Why do we need Condition Monitoring for fans, motors, mills?

It is now imperative to monitor the plant to increase the plant uptime to 95%.
In cement plants, the chart above shows the most critical machines.
In todays competitive scenario it is imperative to monitor these machines to increase the efficiency and
therefore reliability of the plant.
This vibration monitoring solution is cost effective as a maintenance tool and ensures the total availability of
plant.
Condition characteristics of the machine such as bearing damage, imbalance, alignment or cavitation
enable a differentiated evaluation of mechanical stress. This will indicate when to have the shut down and the
process can be ongoing without any manual interruption. Hence the equipment will be protected
from expensive consequential costs.
For taking the machines for maintenance, we need to know the state of health of the machine without
dismantling it. This is possible only by online monitoring. Implementing predictive maintenance
leads to a substantial increase in productivity by to up to (35%).

Philosophy of Condition Monitoring and Forbes Marshall Shinkawa

solutions for cement plants
Typical applications where condition monitoring is applicable are kiln drives, separators, crushers, screens,
gear boxes, conveyor belts, fans, raw mills, ball mills, elevators and blowers.
FM Shinkawa product range includes portable instruments, online systems and accessories of rotating
machinery and vibration monitoring equipment for detecting misalignment, gear problems, balancing
problems etc.
Machines
Motor, crusher motor, mill motor, etc
Vent fan, separator fan, cooler ESP fan, ID fan,
PH fan, etc
Kiln, vertical raw mill, ball mill, etc

Suitable products
Option 1: Accelerometer sensor with VibTrans monitor
(FM-ACCL-100/CB101)
Option 2: Loop power sensor with display
(FM-LPS-420/CBT420)

Typical schematic Option 1: Field mount transmitter

The motor has 2 bearings and the fan has 2 bearings ( DE & NDE )
Every bearing needs to have 02 sensors (accelerometer / velocity)

FM-VibTrans Field mount Housed

in IP-65 Junction box

Accelerometers

Motor

Fan
4-20mA Output
Relay Output
Buffer Output on rear terminals
Isolated Output / Modbus outputOptional - if required

The above figure shows a typical example of Fan-Motor, Crusher motor application.
Ideally acceleormeter sensors are mounted on DE & NDE bearings of machine casing in X-Y directions with the help of a
mounting pad. 10meter extension cable with SS conduit is used to connect sensor and VibTrans Monitor. Accelerometer
gives milli volt output which is connected to VibTrans Monitor. Further 4-20mA output is available through VibTrans
monitor which can directly be taken to PLC/DCS system.
VibTrans is a dual channel monitor which gives 4-20mA output, relay output, raw buffer output.

Typical schematic Option 2: Loop powered sensors

4-20mA output
directly from sensors
Junction
Box
Rotor
with
Hammer

Optionally display
Indicator (DVI) can be
connected for relay
output

Motor

Optionally, Loop powered velocity sensors are used for bearing housing vibrations. From these sensors, 4-20mA output is
directly connected to the DCS system. These are internally Amplified Accelerometer Loop powered sensors give a 4-20mA
output and hence a signal conditioner is not required.

Forbes Marshall Shinkawa products and solutions for cement plants

Accelerometers / Velocity sensors/ Loop Powered Transmitters
Multi-purpose accelerometers. Available in both top and side connectors, or
with top and side exit integral cables.
Piezo velocity transducers. Available in both top and side connector
versions.
Loop power, velocity 4-20 mA output sensors. Available in both top
and side connectors, or with top and side exit integral cables.
Forbes Marshall-VibTrans Single/Dual Channel Transmitters
VibTrans is a simple, cost effective solution to protect machines by giving on line
information which can be connected to the PLC or DCS of a plant and have a shut down
whenever required through proper planning.
Modules for a wide range of inputs accelerometers, velocity sensors
Communicates overall values to PLC /DCS via 4-20mA output, relay output, buffered
output, Isolated output, Modbus output optional
Simple, cost effective solution for bearing housing/casing vibration monitoring for
power, steel, cement, oil & gas(safe area), fertilizer and process plants
on-pump, fan, motor, gear box, crusher, blower, mounting options - field mount /
panel mount available

Portable analysers
Vib Pax and Vib Soft portable Vibration analyser data collector and predictive
maintenance and vibration analysis software
Two channel vibration analyser, collector, balancer, recorder, and software
VibPax
Vib Pax is a high performance tool to collect data associated with Predictive Maintenance
software,
To accurately meet your requirements
at the most competitive price
With its integrated sensors (laser-sighting pyrometer and tachometer, automatic identification of the measurement point),
only one cable (that of the vibration transducer) is required to identify the measurement point and measure data that are
characteristic of the operating state of your machines (vibration, rotation speed, temperature).

VibSoft
Nowadays, communication is of the utmost importance, to share and analyse results with other departments within the
company, thus adding value to everyone's tasks. In addition to the Web mode, the Vib-Soft includes many features designed to
help the user to exchange information: SQL-standard Oracle database, data importation and exportation, report editing and
publishing (PDF, RTF, etc, formats). As for group work, Vib-Soft relies on a multi-user concept that allows different users to work
on the same data set, each user keeping his/her own preferences (language, display, units, etc) independent of the others'.

Vibration Consultancy Services Agreement (VCSA)

(Proactive care for critical rotating machines)
Imagine if you could monitor the health problems of Critical
Rotating Machines even before the symptoms become
evident.
A FM specialist will be promptly available at your doorstep to
address the problem.
The Consultancy Services Agreement (CSA) is a suite of
proactive asset care services tailored to your individual needs
and designed to help you harness the full potential of the
installed condition monitoring systems.

Key Features
Real solutions with real profits
A Consultancy Service Agreement (CSA) from Forbes Marshall is a customized asset care service program designed to
maximise the value of your investment in asset condition monitoring technology. We will help ensure that your system is
properly maintained and is used to its full potential. Your service agreement is designed to deliver:
Proactive problem management Focus efforts where needed.
Actionable Information ensuring the right people have the right information in time to make the right decisions.
Speed of response and resolution - value realized.
Continuous Improvement solving new problems, achieving new objectives.
Specialists available on call
When there is a problem, we can perform diagnostics and give you advice on the cause and how to fix it. We
can provide this service, quarterly, monthly or on demand.
Personalized solutions for individual needs
With a complete knowhow of on line vibration monitoring systems and machine details, we have
developed VIBRATION CONSULTANCY (Vib Con), a unique service for customers in all types of industries.
Through this service, we offer our clients remote vibration analysis and give reports for each and every
critical rotating machine in the plant, by either remote monitoring of critical machines 24 X 7 and/ or periodic
measurements by visits to the plant for other critical machines such as large Pumps, ID/FD/PA fans,
centrifuges, large blowers, gear boxes, motors, crushers, compressors and other rotating machines.

Scheduled shutdown
Production

Production

Unexpected failure

time

Prod.

Stop

Prod.

time

Stop

Prod.

Implementing predictive maintenance leads to a substantial increase in productivity (upto 35%), on the one hand
preventing unpredicted shutdowns, while on the other, anticipating corrective operations so that they can be carried out
under the best conditions.

 Survey of rotating machines in your plants.

Possible suggestions for Vibration
Monitoring requirements.
Vibration Consultancy support for giving
reports monthly / quarterly for critical
machines and secondary critical machines.
Right proposal to optimize the on line
monitoring cost.
Complete turnkey execution, engineering
and documentation.
Vibration Analysis and diagnosis reporting
for the right time shut down to save cost.
Customized condition monitoring and
reporting plan for your plant.

www.forbesmarshall.com
Forbes Marshall Pvt. Ltd.
A-34/35, MIDC, Industrial Estate, H Block, Pimpri, Pune - 411 018. India.
Tel.: 91(0)20 - 27442020
Fax: 91(0)20 - 27442040 E-mail: mvyas@forbesmarshall.com
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