Method and furnace for heat treating materials

Abstract

Abstract A method and apparatus for reducing the alkali content of cement clinker is disclosed as improvements to a system according to U.S. Pat. No. 3,313,534. The improved system includes a mixing box mounted on top of a furnace structure that defines a preconditioning chamber and a preburning chamber over a traveling grate, with the preburn chamber adjacent a material inlet opening end of a rotary kiln. A portion of the hot gases coming from the kiln and passing into the preburn chamber are drawn into the mixing box where such gases are mixed with atmospheric air and bypassed away from the material in the preburn chamber while the remainder of the hot gas coming from the kiln is permitted to pass through the material in the preburn chamber. Withdrawing some of the gases from the preburn chamber unloads most of the dust and some of the volatilized alkalies from the system. This hot dust laden gas is mixed with atmospheric air in the mixing box to drop the temperature from about 2,000* Fahrenheit to below the freezing temperature of the alkalies, which for NaOH and KOH would be below 600* Fahrenheit. This immediate quenching of the gas in the mixing box freezes alkali to very small particles, most of which are smaller than 10 to 20 microns, that do not then deposit on inner surfaces of a bypass conduit or on material in the preconditioning chamber. The other gas flow, passing through the material in the preburn zone, transfers heat to the material therein and this gas drops in temperature to an average temperature of about 500* to 750* Fahrenheit. This gas that has passed through the material in the preburn chamber after tempering with atmospheric air if necessary to lower the temperature to 500-600* Fahrenheit and the gas that has bypassed the preburn chamber may then be directed through one or more cyclone dust collectors to remove the dust particles larger than 10 to 20 microns and a minor portion of the frozen alkalies and then delivered to a preconditioning chamber in which the material is treated (i.e., dried) before passing into the preburn chamber. One or more auxiliary burners are mounted in the top of the furnace structure between the mixing box and the preconditioning chamber, to make up any heat deficit in preburn gases. Bypassed gases and preburn gases with entrained dust and alkali particles smaller than 10 to 20 microns are delivered to the preconditioning chamber and drawn through the material and into exhaust conduit means connected to the preconditioning chamber between the preburn chamber and the material inlet end of the preconditioning chamber. Provision is made for withdrawing controlled amounts of the bypassed gas directly to the exhaust conduit means, without such amounts passing through the material in the preconditioning chamber. A fine dust collector, which may be an electrostatic precipitator or gas permeable bags, is connected to the exhaust conduit means. The fine dust collector collects dust smaller than 10 to 20 microns, including a major portion of the alkalies.

Inventors

• 👤 Glenn A Heian

Bibliographic Details