Specialized Tools
See what is going wrong at each stage, and decide the same day.
Special tools, built as simple Excel files, for the problems that cost a plant the most: the mill that will not make its tons, the customer who complains of false set, the stretch of mill that has stopped grinding. Each file starts from a problem you may already have, shows how close you are to it and what it costs, and tells you what to correct first.
- 15 files ready today
- US$30 a file, one-time
- No macros, no internet
- Updates for life
- Your name on every sheet
Cement Mill package
Ball mills, separators and grinding media
Is your separator sending finished cement back to the mill?
The mill runs hard, the power climbs, and the tons will not come. Often the reason sits on top of the mill: a separator sending finished cement back to be ground again.
What it savesStops the mill grinding cement that was already fine.
- Know in minutes if the separator is the reason the mill is slow or uses too much power
- Know what to fix first: guide vanes, rotor seal, air or feed spread, with the reason
Where along your mill does the grinding stop?
The mill was relined and topped up, and still the tons will not come. Somewhere along the shell, a stretch of mill has stopped grinding.
What it savesFinds the metres of mill that turn, wear and draw power without grinding.
- Dead and slow stretches found sieve by sieve, with where to look
- Where the coarse job really finishes, against the diaphragm
Is your mill drive pulling what the ball charge needs?
The drive pulls more power than last year for the same cement. Is the charge heavier than the records say, are the liners worn, or is the mill empty of work?
What it savesFinds the kW the drive takes for no grinding.
- The power the charge should take, chamber by chamber, at the motor
- The panel reading checked against it, with the reason when they differ
How many tons of balls should go in at the next stop?
After the top-up the mill draws more power and grinds no more. Too much steel cushions the charge; too little wears the liners. Both cost output.
What it savesEnds the guesswork on top-ups: the exact tons, and the tape reading that proves they went in.
- The filling of each chamber from one tape reading
- The tons to add or take out to reach the target
Is your ball charge still the one the mill needs?
The Blaine drifts down month after month and the same power buys less fineness. The charge sheet says nothing is wrong, but the steel inside has changed.
What it savesKeeps the steel grinding instead of just adding weight.
- The average ball and the grinding surface of each chamber, graded
- The filling from the recorded tons, and the tape reading it implies
Where are your top-ups taking the ball charge?
The first chamber slowly fills with small balls nobody ordered. Each top-up adds the right tons and, quietly, the wrong grading.
What it savesStops paying for steel that ends up as small balls doing no work.
- Each chamber worked through the coming top-ups, size by size
- The sizes drifting off target, and the new sizes appearing
Is your top ball big enough to break the feed?
A coarser feed arrives and the first chamber stops breaking it. Lumps circulate, the return climbs and the output falls.
What it savesAvoids a first chamber full of balls too small to break the feed, or bigger than it needs.
- The top ball from the feed size, the work index and the mill speed
- Rounded to a size that can be bought
How much water keeps the gypsum in its window?
A ready-mix customer calls: the concrete stiffens in minutes, then softens again. False set, made in the mill when the gypsum loses its water above the window.
What it savesProtects the setting time and the silo from a mill that runs too hot or too cold.
- The outlet and the cement temperature from a full heat balance
- The water that holds the target, and the change to make
Is the air carrying the cement out of your mill?
The balls and liners are coated, the mill feels tired and the return climbs. Often it is the air: too slow to carry the cement out, or so fast it carries unfinished material.
What it savesCatches coating and over-sweeping before they cost weeks of output.
- The gas speed in each chamber and over the mill
- The speed through the intermediate and outlet diaphragms
What does finer cement cost you in tons?
Sales asks for a finer cement at the same output. Production knows it will cost tons, but not how many, and the decision is made on a feeling.
What it savesPuts a tonnage on every request for a finer cement.
- The output at the Blaine wanted, by two independent relations
- The tons a day gained or lost
How wide is the particle size spread of your cement?
Two cements with the same 45 µm residue: one needs more water and loses early strength. The difference is the shape of the spread, which one fineness number hides.
What it savesExplains why two cements with the same residue behave differently in concrete.
- The spread n and the position d′ from any sieve analysis
- The fit quality that reveals two grinding actions mixed
Kiln package
Heat, gas, raw mix and volatile cycles
Where does the heat of your kiln go?
The heat crept up 20 kcal/kg this month and nobody can say where it went. On a 5,000 t kiln that is about 17 t of coal a day, burnt for nothing.
What it savesFinds the kilocalories above target, and puts a daily cost on them.
- The heat of every fuel, main burner and calciner, per kg of clinker
- The full balance in and out: preheater gas, cooler exhaust, clinker, radiation
Is your ID fan moving kiln gas, or leaked air?
The ID fan is at its limit and the kiln cannot take more feed. Very often the fan is pulling air that leaked in through doors, flaps and joints, not kiln gas.
What it savesTurns the air leaking into the tower back into capacity for feed.
- Excess air at the kiln inlet, the calciner outlet and the preheater exit
- The false air between them, and what one point of O2 costs a day
Is your kiln working in the band of its type?
Free lime jumps, the coating falls and the burning zone shell runs hot. The flame, the kiln speed and the load decide it, and they are rarely checked together.
What it savesKeeps the burning zone and the flame where the clinker is made, not the shell.
- Residence time, filling and loads against kilns of the same type
- The flame of the main burner: primary air, tip velocity, momentum
How much more chlorine will your kiln take before it blocks?
The lowest cyclone blocks again and the kiln stops. Chlorine and sulfur circulate unseen until they condense, and every ton of new alternative fuel adds to them.
What it savesTells how much alternative fuel the chemistry will take, before the cyclones find out.
- LSF, moduli and the clinker phases from the kiln feed
- The heat of clinker formation for the heat balance
Need a file for a question of your own plant?
Tell us the question and what you measure. The next files are chosen from what engineers ask for.