1156 posts
Cooling Question 1
Regarding silicon carbide blocks in cooler to ease the removal of snowman, would you kindly send installation's name available in cement plant. Can you also please suggest LSF, S/R & A/F values to be maintained to avoid snowman. Kindly suggest any other parameters for raw mix and process to be maintained.
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1156 posts
Re: Cooling
I am unaware of the use of silicon carbide blocks to ease the removal of snowmen, and therefore cannot give any references. I also do not think there a value for LSF, SM or AM which will avoid the formation of snowmen. Snowman formation is caused by a complex interaction of the clinker chemistry and process conditions in the kiln & cooler. The chemistry cannot be considered in isolation. However you might expect that a higher silica modulus and alumina modulus will lead to less snowman formation as the amount of flux in the kiln will be reduced. Other factors to consider are the alkali and MgO content of the clinker and also the secondary air temperature and its stability.
1156 posts
1156 posts
Re: Cooling
I can't recall any really good articles on the formation of snowballs but know they can be quite frightening. They are caused by variations in the clinkering range or flux content of the feed. Mostly they break up under the flame but I have seen monsters fall into the cooler, which is quite alarming and can cause major damage. This happened occasionally in one kiln where I was involved and we traced the problem to variations in the MgO content of the limestone and kiln feed. That might be the answer.