Foundation for roller

press in a cement plant

A case study

J.D. Buch

The paper describes roller press structure in a cement mill of

a cement plant. When provision of press is planned along with
mill building, it is possible to provide suitable structural
arrangement. This provision is sometimes made in an existing
mill or in mill structure already under construction. In such
a case, limitations are imposed on planning of supporting
structure. Since the introduction of press is a new development, there is still a lack of reliable machine load data and
vibration constraints. A case study of such a foundation in
recently-constructed cement plant is given with recommendations on proposed structural arrangement.

Case study
In a certain cement plant, it was decided to provide a roller
press after column and mill foundations of a cement mill were

A roller press is installed in front of grinding installations to

cut down energy consumption in the grinding unit. Installation of a roller press before rolling mill or cement mill in
cement plants is now becoming a common feature.
In a roller press, clinker material is subjected to extreme
pressure between opposing rollers for a short time, Fig 1. One
roller is fixed and other roller can move by about 50 mm
laterally (perpendicular to rotating axis) to adjust space for size
of material to be rolled between the rollers. This movement is
achieved by hydraulic/pneumatic supporting system and
keeps roller gap or pressure constant. Each roller is driven by
an electric motor through a gear reducer. The products discharged from roller press are compacted cakes of irregular
size.

J. D. Buch, M.S.E. (USA), B.E. (Hons.), F.I.E., Engineering Associate with

Kothari and Associates, G-65, Connaught Circus, New Delhi 110 001.

October 1992 * The Indian Concrete Journal

Fig 1 Roller press in a cement plant where clinker is ground under

high pressure

559

fluctuation of horizontal motion of the movable roller.

13500
'2,

Since press structure was a part of mill floor at +9.8 m level,

lateral stiffness was very large and horizontal natural frequency would be much larger than the specified range. This therefore did not cause any concern. However, the vertical natural
frequency of the already-constructed supporting structure
was 7.4 Hz. In order to keep this frequency at about 20 percent
away from the specified range, vertical deflection of the supporting beam had to be reduced from 0.51 cm to 0.17 cm to
increase natural vertical frequency value from 7.4 Hz to 12 Hz.
Since it was not possible to increase beam stiffness, the only
alternative was to reduce beam span by providing additional
column supports. This also was an operational obstruction.

I
n

--

800 1345

2540

(400 x 600)

I 120 x 1

o
44-4

xI
81
25 I

0"--o
---- .

1r

20

through
I pockets
I (10 Nos.)
I

5235
400

..

(880 x 650)

II

=r
1I1=
11 M

L I

=UM

I?,
I I.
I

,..,

0.
0i,,,

---,

o0

1490i rl 260 "'

TT
(400 x 600) fig
0
0._

-- -
.
-r-

12501,1050i1050
.

I-

g and roller
o press

-311111==
to.
.
n o
1
(830 x 650) !
I 11,1

260

t of mill

0
Q
co

-I

It was explained to suppliers that the hydraulic system,

operating roller movement, will partly absorb oscillations and
the supporting structure may not be subjected to such wide
range of oscillations. The suppliers agreed to accept the struc-

t of roller press

. 23 500
I

Pozzolona

Clinker

21900
Fig 2 General arrangement under mill hopper area at +9.8 m level

(case study)

constructed. The arrangement under the mill hopper area was

revised. The general arrangement is shown in Figs 2 and 3.
Roller press is mounted at +9.8m level floor in front of the
mill and below mill hopper. Rollers are mounted on a steel
frame bolted to reinforced concrete beam-column frames. Four
reinforced concrete columns of size 800mm x 800mm in M-20
mix (28-day characteristic cube strength = 20 MPa) are
provided upto +9.8m level only to support roller press floor.
Since provision of press was made after a part construction
was complete, it was not possible to isolate this area from
cement mill structure. It was also not possible to provide
columns right under roller framing beams, since free space on
ground floor was not available. For designing +9.8m slab, the
suppliers gave the following load data :
For rollers mounted on 10 bolts,
vertical load on each bolt

= 81.5 kN

Total vertical load

= 815 kN

.18 500

.16500
.1 5 0 00
t of press
81 5 k N
11 500

Roller
press

.96 0 0

9800

Cement

Lateral force along centre line of

press (that is along axis perpendicular to rotating axis of press)

mill
.2610

= 163 kN
0.00

The horizontal force of 163 kN is due to horizontal motion

of the movable roller, which is prompted by the feed materials
when pressed through the roll gap. This force is independent
of roller speed. The structure was designed and constructed
for these loads. Before the roller erection, suppliers informed
that the supporting structure should withstand 2 to 10 Hz

560

Sec iron

Fig 3 A cross-section of the general arrangement under mill

hopper area (case study)

The Indian Concrete Journal * October 1992

(t_ of roller press

(750 x 850)
1490
300

1050 1050 1

0
0
Fig 4 Roller press installed at +9.8 m level in a cement mill.
Moveable roller and hydraulic system can be seen

6 Nos
120 x170
through
pocket

4 Nos
120x120
x503 deep

ture to withstand oscillations in 2-5 Hz range.

No modification in structure was made and additional
columns were not provided. The press is installed and is in

5000

5000

Fig 6 Recommended arrangement : (I) isolation joint (ii) columns

directly under roller frame
operation. No significant vibrations are so far reported in the
structure. Figs 4 and 5 show photographs of the installed
press.

Conclusion
Due to movement of roller, there is a wide range
of oscillations, though suppliers should not
specify this on adhoc basis.
It is advisable to isolate press supporting structure from the main structure of the mill to prevent
transfer of vibrations to the main structure. It is
also advisable to provide supporting columns
directly under the beams on which rollers are
mounted. Such arrangement is provided in a
plant where roller press was planned along with
the mill building, Fig 6.

Non-receipt of Journal
We have been receiving a number of complaints from subscribers/agents regarding non-receipt of the Journal. Till
now, we have promptly attended to these complaints.
However, henceforth it has been decided not to entertain
complaints which are received late. We therefore request
out subscribers to send their complaints within a period of
one month after the publication of a particular issue. For
subscription agencies, this period would be two months.
The replacement copy/copies would be supplied only
once. This practice would be followed strictly.

Fig 5 Enlarged view of hydraulic/pneumatic supporting system

for keeping roller gap constant

October 1992 n The Indian Concrete Journal

Circulation Manager

561