Vertical Roller Mills

Vertical Roller Mills

The term Vertical Mill denotes equipment with the following

characteristics
A rotating, circular grinding table that turns around a vertical shaft
Spherical, cylindrical, tapered rollers that are pressed on to roller paths
on the surface of the table
A source of pressure on the rollers
A stream of gases flowing upwards around the table, entraining and
drying the material
A separator mounted directly on the mill housing

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Vertical Roller Mills in the TCEA zone

Very common to grind fuel (FCB

mill: E type)

More and more common on Raw

meal

New on cement

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Vertical Roller Mills advantages and disadvantages

Advantages

Disadvantages

Very compact workshop

Investment cost

Larger feed size

Prone to vibrations

Better grinding efficiency and thus

power consumption

Need a good maintenance

mastery

Accept very wet material (moisture

up to 20%)

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Mills technologies

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VRMs - Variations by supplier

Table design

Roller number and design (shape)

Ease of roller change

Roller tensioning arrangement

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The Grinding Tracks

F

A
Raymond
-LMF

A
Raymond
-LMF

G
A
Loesche
-LM-

Pfeiffer
-TGF
G

G
A

A FLS
-LM-

Polysius
-TG-

F
G

Kawasaki
-LM-

A
Onoda-Kobe
-LM-

G
A
Babcock CPAG
-TG-

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VRMs Technology Two main types

Track guided

Polysius

Pfeiffer (Allis Chalmers, KHD)

Babcock

Claudius Peters

Lever mounted

Loesche (Fuller-Loesche)

Kawasaki (CKP)

IHI

Raymond

OK (Onoda/Kobe - Fuller)

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Track Guided Characteristics

Rollers are held in place by the table

track

Hydraulics are used as springs and

some grinding pressure

Excellent on limestone. Difficulty with

hard materials

High replacement due to lost track and

wheel shape. Rollers wont stay in the
track
Polysius Design

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Pfeiffer MPS Design

3 rollers held by a triangular frame

Hydraulic cylinders at each corner

Low external recirculation

High internal velocity and wear

Air port design critical

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FCB Design

Several balls (blue)

1 rotating table in the lower

part (brown)

1 fix table in the higher part

which is pressed on the balls
(green)

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Lever Mounted - Grinding

Larger cylinders

Smaller rollers

Large linking elements required

between hydraulic cylinder and
roller arm

Hydraulics critical

Loesche Design
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Lever Mounted - Characteristics

Uses external shaft to hold roller in

place. Not dependent on track
condition

Usually no roller to table contact

Coal mills use springs, other design

use complex hydraulics

Rollers are smaller, more emphasis

on hydraulics

Roller speed monitoring on latest

models
ABB Raymond HP Coal Mill

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CKP Internal

Dedusting

Feed

Roller

Spherical rollers

Tapered track

6 cylinders

Center feed

Scrapers to bottom
discharge

Table
Reducer
Hydraulic Cylinder

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Main flow across Vertical Mills

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Operation principle

Mill feeding by the table center

Combined drying/grinding

Material travels outwards and

passes under rollers

External and Internal recirculation of

coarse particles

Product leaves mill with gas flow

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Gas flow circulation

Inlet gas can come from:

Mill outlet (re-circulated gas)

Hot gas source

Cold gas source

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Materials flows: the table rejects

Go back in the mill

with the fresh feed
Constitute the
EXTERNAL circulating
load

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Material flows: the internal rejects

Constitute the
INTERNAL
circulating load
The mill P is an
image of the internal
circulating load

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Material flows: the final product

Fines from
the table

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Theoretic approach on the grinding

by compression applied on VM

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Action of the grinding rollers

The grinding theory is based on 2 main angles:

The nip angle:

The pressure angle:

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Grinding theory: nip and pressure angles

Depend on:

Dam ring height

Quantity of material on the table

Material propriety

Roller surface state

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Grinding theory: angle variations

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Grinding theory: angle variations

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Synthesis: and angles variations

For the same hydraulic pressure

High grinding bed ( angle high)

Low pressure inside the material bed

Low grinding efficiency

Pressure resultant less vertical (high angle)

Increase of the absorbed power
Leads to
High recirculation
High mill delta P
Low vibrations

Low grinding bed ( angle low)

Reverse consequences on grinding efficiency and mill absorbed

power
Leads to:
Sensitive of vibrations
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Typical values for material and gas flow

Concerning material flow:

Circulating loads range: from 500% - 1000%

External circulation allows reduced airflows. Spill Over

Ranges from 0 to 50%, depending on manufacturer and mill
operations

Bed thickness:
From 30 mm to 60 mm

Concerning gas flow

Gas speed at the ventilation ring

From 40 to 90 m/s depends on the VRM supplier

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Hydraulic units

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Hydraulic circuit for grinding rollers

Equipment present in all hydraulic circuit type

1 hydraulic pomp

1 cylinder

1 or several nitrogen accumulators

Typical arrangement:

Nitrogen

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The nitrogen accumulators

Two main types:

Bladder accumulators

Piston accumulators

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Hydraulic circuit operations

PH=0

Nitrogen pressure = PN

PH=P w = 2 x PN

Cylinder moving due

to instability
Nitrogen pressure increase
Hydraulic pressure
increase
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Nitrogen pressure and hydraulic rigidity

1st case:
PW = 100 bars
PNinit= 0.8 * PW = 80 bars

2nd case:
PW = 100 bars
PNinit=0.4 * PW = 40 bars

PH= 0
PN = 80 bars
VN = Vaccu = 5 liters
Moving of 1.3
litres due to
instability

PH= 0
PN = 40 bars
VN = Vaccu = 5 liters

PH= PW = PN = 100 bars

VN = V1 = 4 liters
Moving of 1.3
litres due to
instability

VN = V2 = V1 1.3 liters = 2.7 liters

PFinal= PH * V1 / V2 = 148 bars

<

PH= PW =P N = 100 bars

VN = V1 = 2 liters

VN = V2 = V1 1.3 liters = 0.7 liters

PFinal= PH * V1 / V2 = 286 bars
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The hydraulic circuits: synthesis

Operating principles:

Hydraulic pressure set point:

Used to control an average grinding pressure

Nitrogen pressure setting:

Used to manage the system rigidity

Availability of the levers:

Hydraulic pressure set point:

Every time during the operations

Nitrogen pressure setting

During system shut down.

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Grinding equipments wear:

Table, Rollers and Dam ring

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Typical Wear cycle

New
rollers
T/H

Vibration worsens

Rollers partly
worn peak
efficiency

TIME
Rollers need to be replaced.
Grinding efficiency worsens as you lose roller
shape.
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Roller Shear Forces

Crushing

Synchronized speeds

m/s

Fine grinding

Difference in surface speeds,

creates shear forces that help
grinding, BUT accelerate wear
(fine grinding zone).
From center
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Main roller wear in the FOS /MER slag mill

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Main roller wear in the BORDEAUX slag mill

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Wear patterns

EWEKORO Fuller/Loesche

QUADROPOL

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Dam ring function and impact of its wear

Main function:

Keep the material on the table and under the rollers

Main impacts on the VM operations:

Direct impact on bed height

Acts on the absorbed power and the grinding efficiency

Acts on the mill vibrations

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Dam ring following

The dam ring is a VM key point, thus it must be followed properly

Mechanical state, continuity

Its height should be adapted to the table wear.

Objective: keep constant height between track bottom and dam ring high part.

How to follow the table wear and the dam ring height:

Regularly draw the track profile

Reduce the dam height as the table wear or

Recharge the table profile regularly to keep constant the global dam ring height

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Dam ring following: PLN RM example

kWh/t

mm/s

5
4,5

2003
ADFshutdown
Sept 03
Kiln
Nvle
cerce 60mm
10/2003
New dam ring:
60 mm

2004
Dam ring
cut
dcoupe
cerce
fromde60
passage
60to

40mm 40mm

2005
dcoupe
Dam ringcerce
cut
passage
from de
4040
to
30mm30mm

ADFshutdown
Jv05
Kiln
nv01/2005:
profil
-table/galets
New table &
nvlerollers
cerce
- New
60mm dam ring:
60 mm

2006

Water en
nettoyage
injection
profondeur
system
circuit
cleaning
injecteurs

2007

Damdcoupe
ring cut: cerce
-12/2006: from 60 to 50mm
- passage de 60 50mm dc06
- Kiln- puis
shutdown
01/2007: from
50 30mm ADF Jv07
50 to 30mm

4
3,5

12

11

10
3.2 mm / s

9
3
8

2,5

2
1,5

6
Vibrations
vertic (mm/s)
Separatorsparateur
vertical vibrations
(mm/s)

KWh/T
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Separation process in VM

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VM separation: 3 stages
3rd separation: separator selection
Go back to the table

2nd separation: settling in the mill body

Go back to the table

1st separation: table reject

Go to the external recirculation

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Dynamic
Old design

Types of Separators

Ventilation+ final product

Separator
Variable speed

Static
Rejects
Ventilation+ final product
Adjustable Blades
Static Separator

Rejects Cone

Ventilation +
Final Product +
Rejects
Rejects Cone (option)

Gas + Final product

Ventilation +
Final Product +
Rejects

Dynamic
New design
Rotating cage

Fixed blades

Rejects
Gas + Rejects
+ Final product

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Standard flow sheets

and control loops

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Typical flow sheet

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Gas flow circuit: key points

T

Constant flow through the

separator
Final product
dry

Gas speed through

the ventilation ring
P
T

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Gas flow circuit: control loops

Mill outlet T; controlled
by hot gas sources

Mill inlet pressure:

controlled by the
recirculation damper

Mill gas flow rate:

controlled by the mill fan

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Normal Grinding
Coarse material is
ground under the roller.
If the table material is
presented uniformly, the
roller passes over the
bed smoothly.

Table rotation
Fines (and some coarse)
fall over the edge of the table

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Over Loaded Table

The roller tries to ride
over the bed, but
swims through it.
Causes a low
frequency vertical
movement.

Causes:
-Too much feed
-High internal recirculation
-Not enough grinding
-Speed of de-aeration

Snow-plowing
pushes at the roller,
causing a twist in the
mill body. When it
snaps back, causes a
higher frequency
torsional vibration.

More ungrounded material

is spilled over the edge
As long as it is not snowplowing, a deeper
bed is generally a quieter mill, BUT draws
higher kW.

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Unstable beds

Flushes create thick and thin bed

zones

Irregular feed

Irregular size (fines)

Material fluidity

Poor gas control

Too much recycling makes bed too

fine and unstable

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Material feed rate: key points

The three main sensors which are useful to fix the mill throughput:

Mill P, Vibration, kWh/t

Mill P

Vibrations

Mill kWh/t
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Parameters to follow up: direct impact on performances

Continuous control of the air

flow measurement (annubar
vs exhaust fan efficiency)

Water injection
peripheral:
clogging on-line
detection.
Water injection on
table inconclusive

Dam ring: height

regularly controlled. To
adapt to table profile

False air
reduction

Reduction of the gap

Between the table and
the
Nozzle ring

Maintain in good state

the belt height sensors,
have a proper calibration

Periodic control of
nitrogen pressure

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Main differences between grinding:

Raw materials or slag compare to cement

Raw material or slag

Cement

Wet material

Dry material

No quality impact of water injection

Quality impact of moisture

No gypsum dehydration
management

gypsum dehydration management

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Conclusions

Main Advantages of Vertical Roller Mills

Better grinding efficiency Better production costs (higher energy savings)

Drying capacity (up to 20%)

Quick product change (cement mills)

One single machine for drying, grinding and separation

Restrictions

Maintenance

Sensitive to vibrations

Frequent recharge of rollers (automatic)

Water injection, dam ring height adjustment

Few industrial references at high Blaine

Slag grinding tests at 6000 Blaine

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