Chemical Recovery Island

Recovery Cycle Mission

The three purposes of recovery systems are:

Regeneration of chemicals used in cooking
Production of steam for turbine and process
Destruction of waste streams generated
elsewhere in the mill
Over all view of Pulp and Paper Industry
 Kraft pulp mill: recovery cycle
The process steps included:
Evaporation - (from weak black liquor to strong black liquor)
Recovery boiler (combustion of strong black liquor and reduction of
sodium sulfate to sodium sulfide)
Smelt dissolution (Green Liquor production)
Re-causticization (Reaction of green liquor with calcium oxide to
make white liquor and calcium carbonate)
Lime cycle (burning lime from calcium carbonate to calcium oxide)
To keep in memory
The 4 process steps

Concentration Evaporation

Combustion - Recovery boiler

Causticization Re-causticization

Calcination - Lime cycle

 Black Liquor?

Complex mixture
Spent pulping chemicals (Inorganic salts, caustic, etc.)
Organic matter (Lignin) dissolved from the wood
Non-Process-Elements (NPE) such as K, Cl, etc.
Brought in with wood, water and fresh chemicals
No purge points: Constantly recycled

Black Liquor Properties

Chemical composition
Major role on the performance of the evaporators
Na2SO4, Na2CO3 co-precipitate at high solids
Risk of scale formation
Critical physical properties
Boiling Point Rise (BPR)
Viscosity which impacts heat transfer
Black Liquor evaporation
Black liquor recovered from pulping contains 14-17% dissolved
solids
These solids are composed of about 1/3 inorganic chemicals that
were in the white liquor added to the digester
The remaining 2/3 consist of the organic chemicals extracted from
the wood
Black liquor must be concentrated to above 60% solids so that it will
burn without supplemental fuel

Black liquor + Heat Strong Black liquor + Water + Steam

Condensate + Steam Clean + Dirty condensate + NCG
Black liquor Black liquor + Soap (only softwood)
Evaporator Focus on
Strengthening of black liquor
Handling of Producing methanol fuel &
Biosludge
CNCG & DNCG to incineration
ClO2 plant waste
CTMP filtrates

Producing Warm/District
Closing
heating water
circulation with
secondary condensates

Cl/K purge
Treating cooking and bleaching effluents
Evaporation capacity
Typically expressed as ton H2O/h or kg H2O/s
Evaporation capacity is determined by the heating surface area(A), available
temperature drop(T) and overall heat transfer coefficients

Process governed by the heat transfer law

Q = U xAx
Basics of evaporation Tube wall

Steam to Steam from

next previous
effect effect

Heat evaporates Steam

water (= steam) from condenses
black liquor releasing heat

Drier Condensates
black liquor are
is removed removed
Basics of evaporation
Multi effect evaporation (MEE), 6-7 effects
1 st effect uses primary LP & MP steam
2-7 effects use secondary vapor
last effect vapor is condensed with cooling water in surface
condenser
evaporation done mainly by secondary vapor
Basics of evaporation
The more effects the better is the steam economy
But the higher is the equipment cost
Modern evaporator train
 Foul condensate formation

Each time black liquor is evaporated it forms steam that may be used at another
stage

When that steam is cooled it condenses to form a liquid that contains mainly water
with some other substances that condense at the same temperature as water

There are three main places in the pulp mill where foul condensates are formed:
evaporation plant
NCG handling
in cooking
Treatment of foul condensates
Foul condensates contain
methanol
malodorous sulfur compounds
turpentine
red oil (eucalyptus only)
water
Steam is used in the stripper to
remove contaminants
Evaporator and stripper are integrated
to get better heat economy
located between effects 1 and 2
Treatment of foul condensates

The higher is the condensate quality demand

the more foul condensate is segregated
the more stripping vapor is used
the more stripper losses are generated
foul condensate heating
vapor losses to stripper of gas & trim condenser
stripped condensate taken out hot

The more expensive equipment

Evaporator types

Thermal evaporation

rising film evaporator

falling film evaporator

film inside the heating surface

film outside the heating surface

Forced circulation

Direct contact evaporation

Mechanical vapor recompression evaporation

TYPES OF EVAPORATOR
 Preference of application
Falling Film Evaporator Rising Film Evaporator
Film formed by mechanical means Liquor film formed by generated
(Distribution plate) vapors from boiling liquor at the
High turndown, can handle higher bottom of the tubes
viscosity (Gravity helps)
Poor turndown, handle high
Primary technology worldwide for viscosities, minimum requirement
concentrations up to 50%TS
Can operate at low Was the workhorse of the Industry,
now found only in older mills
Flexible (High turndown)
Good resistance to scaling
Low operating cost.
Moderate HP consumption Low propensity for foaming.
Easily automated Low liquor viscosity and high flow-
Foams easily at low %TS rate are ideal conditions.
Only used today in WBL pre-
evaporation where foaming is an
issue.
 Falling film evaporator film inside tubes

Gravity pulls liquor

downwards (window
during rain principle)
Liquor inside the tubes
Steam outside the tubes
Fouls with high solids
liquor
Sold as 3 7 effect
 Falling film evaporator film outside tubes

Gravity pulls liquor

downwards (window during
rain principle)
Liquor outside the tubes
Steam inside the tubes
Used with high solids liquor
Sold as 1 - 3 effect and
as concentrator
 Forced circulation evaporator

Pump forces liquor through

heat exchanger
Liquor inside the tubes
Steam outside the tubes
Used with high solids liquor
Sold as 1 - 3 effect and
as concentrator
Lamella type evaporator

Liquor film
Steam flowing
flow downwards

Heat surface
Evaporator scaling
Soap and tall oil scaling

soap sticks to the surface

soap carries fibre and calcium

most of tall oil soap separates at 25-30%ds

Lignin scaling

precipitation at pH < 11
Evaporator scaling

Falling film lamella Tube evaporator

Resistant to scaling Plugging under

- severe scaling
Tolerates even non- conditions
soluble scaling Non-soluble
scaling requires
mechanical or
chemical
cleaning
 Typical process challenges
PROBLEM ROOT CAUSE SOLUTION
HEAT Low alkali (lignin precipitation) Ash mixing
TRANSFER High soap & fiber content Wash sequences
SURFACE High Ca, Si, Al concentrations Soap skimming
SCALING Calcium deactivation reactor
Liquor heat treatment (LHT)
FOAMING IN Low dry solids % Sweetening of WBL to over 20 %
BACK END
EFFECTS
POOR Too much MeOH in WBL Low secondary vapor velocities in
CONDENSATE Colour in condensate, caused by too high shell
QUALITY evaporation rate & carry over Droplet separators
Smell & high COD, improper segregation of Proper segregation in lamellas
Dedicated condensation packages
Liquor or fibers in fiber line foul condensate Duct stripper
HIGH DRY High viscosity effect temp (MP-steam)
SOLIDS Fouling High circulation rate effect
Poor heat transfer Liquor heat treatment (LHT)
Corrosion (high Effective Alkali) Ash mixing
Wash sequences
Duplex in HD-concentrator
Principle of operation:
Recovery Boiler operation of firing Heavy Black Liquor (HBL) to
produce steam for power generation and Green liquor
 Purpose of the recovery boiler

Recovery of Chemicals = Chemical Reactor

recovery of chemicals from the
black liquor through combustion
(reduction) to be used for cooking
chemical preparation

Recovery of Energy = Steam Boiler

burn the organic materials in the
black liquor and produce energy
(steam, electricity)
 Modern recovery boiler

Steam pressure > 100 bar

Steam temperature > 500 C
Capacity > 5 000 tds/d
Dry solids content > 80 %

Combustion air from several levels

DNCG combustion (Diluted gases)
Additional fuels
CNCG (strong gases)
methanol
turpentine
biosludge
soap
 Effects of dry solids
+ Steam generation increases 140

(less water to the furnace)

Steam flow / kg / s

135

+ Less flue gases 130

+ Lower SO2 emissions

125
60 70 80 90

Less desuper heating Dry Solids / %

More heating surface

Viscosity increases

black liquor flashing, fouling

Important Equipments:

water and steam system

Air System
Black liquor system
Spouts and dissolving tanks
Soot blowers
Electro static precipitator
Heat exchanger
Recovery boiler process
Recovery boiler main parts 5.Steam drum
6.Boiler generating bank
7.Economizers 1 and 2
5. 8.Rearwall screen
1.Superheaters (1B, 2, 6. 9.Furnace screen
3, 4, 1A)
1. 8. 10.Ash hoppers (3 pcs.)
2.Bullnose/nose arch 7.
11.Feedwater tank
3.Black liquor nozzle
openings 9. 2. 12.Ash conveyors
13. (*)
4.Start-up burners 10. 13.Downcomers
15. 11. 14.NCG ducts
12.
14. 15.Tertiary air ducts
3.
16.
16.Secondary air ducts
4.
18. 20. 17.Primary air ducts
17. 19. 18.Smelt spouts
19.Dissolving tank
20.Mixing tank
(*) Electrostatic precipitator
 Steam Drum

The chemical feed pipe is used to inject chemicals

into the boiler to maintain the proper pH and
phosphate balance in the boiler water.
The vortex eliminators are used to reduce the
swirling motion of the water as it enters the down
comers.
The cyclone steam separators remove moisture from
the steam.
The surface blow pipe is used to remove suspended
solid matter that floats on top of the water and to
lower the steam drum water level, when necessary.
The surface blow pipe is also used to blow water out
to lower the chemical level in the boiler when it
becomes too high.
Natural circulation
Steam
Drum
Driving force is static pressure difference between
water in downcomers and water- steam mixture
Downcomer (emulsion) in furnace tubes
Furnace tubes
Heat
Steam bubbles
Plosses = ( water - mixture) g h

Pressure increase reduces driving force

Heat to tubes by radiation and convection
Natural circulation
3
3

1
2

1 Water flows downwards to

furnace bottom and boiler
bank
2 2 2 Water steam mixture rises up in
furnace wall tubes and in boiler
bank panels
3 Water steam mixture flows to the
drum where water and steam are
separated
 Furnace process
Black liquor is injected into the recovery boiler
from meters
Combustion air is injected at three different zones in Tertiary air

the boiler Black liquor

nozzles

Burning black liquor forms the char bed at the Upper

secondary air

bottom of the boiler, where complicated reactions

Lower
secondary air
occur
Primary
air
Smelt is drained from the boiler and is dissolved with
Smelt

weak white liquor to form green liquor, which

contains the recovered cooking chemicals
High pressure steam is generated from feed water
by heat releasing from combustion reactions
 Chemical reactions in furnace
Drying
water is evaporated

Devolatilization
droplet size increases
gases are released

Char burning
carbon is burned off
inorganic salts melt, reactions

Upper furnace reactions

volatiles combustion
formation of sodium sulphate
and sodium carbonate
Objectives of Air System:

Supply Air for complete combustion.

3Ts (Time , Temperature and Turbulence)

Control the temperature and environment around char bed

Minimize the carryover of black liquor spray.

Minimize the Emission.

Achieve uniform flow and temperature entering the super heater

tube banks
Role of Air system:
Primary air controls the char bed of
perimeter.
Primary
Primary air keeps smelt hot and fluid.
air
Hot air improves combustion stability.

Secondary Control the char bed height

air Secondary air burns char and volatiles

Complete mixing and burning of

Tertiary air Combustible Gases (CO ,H2S)
It is essential for staged combustion
Air flow Arrangement:
Black liquor system:

Black liquor system preparing liquor for firing.

It contains Firing pump, AMT, Indirect heater ,Direct heater and Spray
guns.
HBL concentration 65% to 85% and liquor temperature is 125 to 130 deg
Celsius.
 Spout system:
Molten smelt is produced within the
recovery boiler is removed from the
furnace through the smelt spouts into
a dissolving tank, where its is
dissolved to form green liquor.

Smelt shattering jets are used to

break up the smelt stream as it out
the furnace to prevent the
accumulation of the molten smelt
within the dissolving tank
 Spout system:

Spouts are covered with

water cooled jackets.

Spout cooling water

systems are designed to
minimize the pressure
inside the spout while
providing an adequate
flow of cooling water
 Smelt-water explosion
Even a small amount of water mixed with
molten smelt at high temperature can cause
it
purely physical phenomenon
Water turns into steam in few ms
sudden evaporation causes increase of
volume and a pressure wave of
10 - 100 000 Pa
sufficient to cause furnace walls to bend

Furnace equipped with a weak corner to

control the direction of explosion
 Soot blower:
A soot blower is a device for removing
the soot that is deposited on the furnace tubes
of a boiler during combustion.

Wall Blowers also known as IRs (Insertable

Rotating)

Long Retractable Soot Blower (LRSB)

Air Heater Blower.

Steam blowing medium (steam)

Electrostatic precipitator :

An electrostatic precipitator (ESP) is an device that removes dust

particles from a flowing gas (such as air) using the force of an
induced electrostatic attraction
 Deaerator:

A deaerator is a device that removes oxygen

and other dissolved gases from water, such
as feed water for steam-generating boilers.

Dissolved oxygen in feedwater will cause

serious corrosion damage in a boiler by
attaching to the walls of metal piping and other
equipment and forming oxides (rust).

Dissolved carbon dioxide combines with water

to form carbonic acid that causes further
corrosion
 Deaerator:

Oxygen scavenging chemicals are very

often added to the de aerated boiler feed
water to remove any last traces of oxygen
that were not removed by the de aerator.

sodium sulfite (Na2SO3),

hydrazine (N2H4),
Ethylenediaminetetraaceticacid (EDTA),

Diethyl hydroxylamine(DEHA),

Nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA)

Indirect heat exchanger:
A heat exchanger is a device used to transfer heat between two or more fluids.
Types of flow are Counter Flow ,Co current Flow and Cross flow

Tube side out

shell side in

Tube side in
shell side out
 Boiler accessories:

Air pre heater:

The function of air pre-heater is to increase the temperature of air before
enters the furnace.

Economizer:
waste heat of the flue gases is utilised for heating the feed water.
To recover some of the heat being carried over by exhaust gases.
heat is used to raise the temperature of feed water supplied to the boiler.
Evaporative capacity of the boiler is increased.
Overall efficiency of the plant is increased.
 Boiler accessories:

Super heaters:
super heater is to increase the temperature of the steam above its
saturation point.
Super heaters are heat exchangers in which heat is transferred to the
saturated steam to increase its temperature.

Feed water pump:

Feed pump is a pump which is used to deliver feed water to the boiler.
 Boiler Mountings:
Water level indicator:
fitted in front of the boiler and generally present
two in number.
It is used to indicate the water level inside the boiler. It shows the
instantaneous level of water that is present inside the steam boiler
Pressure gauge:
measure the pressure of the steam inside the boiler.
The pressure gauges generally used are of Bourden type
Feed check valve:
Regulates the supply of water which is pumped into the boiler by feed
pump.
Non-return valve and fitted to a screwed spindle to regulate the lift.
 Boiler Mountings:

Safety valves:
It prevent explosion due to excessive internal pressure.
When the internal pressure inside the boiler exceeds its working
pressures than the safety valves blow off the steam and maintains the
internal pressure.
Steam stop valve:
Control the flow of steam from the boiler to the main steam pipe.
To completely shut off the steam supply when required.
 Boiler Mountings:

Blow off cock:

To discharge the scale, mud and sediments which gets collected at the bottom
of the boiler.
Fusible plug:
It is fitted to the crown plate of the furnace or firebox.
Its function is to extinguish fire in the furnace when the water level in the
boiler falls to an unsafe limit.
This avoids the explosion that may takes place because of the overheating of
the furnace plate.
Customer outputs:
Source of Customer
input process output
input outputs

ESP ash mixed

Evaporator HP steam Boiler house
with HBL
Heating of Heavy Black liquor
and firing into recovery boiler
steam Heating of Furnace oil Condensate Boiler house
Heating of Primary and
Boiler house Secondary air
Collection of Condensate
Furnace oil Handling of ESP Ash Flue gas
Production of HP steam (64
ksc) and supplied to 16 MW
Weak white Turbo generator for power
Recausticizer Green liquor Recausticizer
Liquor generation
Production of green liquor and
supplied to Recausticizing plant Bagged and sent
Atmosphere Air ESP Ash to authorised
vendors
Boiler tube failure:
Creep:
Creep is a time-dependent deformation that takes place at elevated
temperature under mechanical stresses, such failure results in
overheating or overstressing the tube material.
Fatigue:
Fatigue is a phenomenon of damage accumulation caused by cyclic
or fluctuating stresses, which are caused by mechanical loads, flow
induced vibration.
Dissimilar Metal Weld (DMW) Failure: Material fails at the ferritic
side of the weld, along the weld fusion line. A failure tends to be
catastrophic in that the entire tube will fail across the circumference of
the tube section.
Boiler tube failure:
Erosion :

surface.
Corrosion:
Deterioration and loss of material due to chemical attack.
Internal corrosion:
hydrogen damage, acid phosphate corrosion, caustic gouging, and pitting
External corrosion:
water wall fireside corrosion, super heater (SH)/re heater (RH) fireside
corrosion, and ash dew point corrosion
Useful numbers

ADt (bleached) 1.3 - 2.0 tds

Dry solids (virgin) 65 - 83 %
Density 1.35 - 1.43 kg/l
HHV 13.0 - 15.0 MJ/kgds

Furnace bottom loading 18 - 25 tds/d/m2

3.0 - 4.0 MW/m2

Steam production 3.0 - 4.5 kg/kgds

 Liquor spraying
Target
spray the liquor evenly on the charbed
optimize the droplet size
Liquor gun openings on all walls
Locations adjusted to the air system between secondary and tertiary air ports

Tertiary air

Firing liquor

Secondary air
Smelt and green liquor
Smelt is molten inorganic chemicals produced in the reducing zone of
furnace
Sodium carbonate Na2CO3 %)
Sodium sulfide Na 2 S %)
Sodium sulfate Na2SO4 %)
Green liquor is a mixture of smelt from RB and Weak White Liquor
from Causticizing Plant
temperature at dissolving tank outlet 95 C
dregs content (unburned carbon) 500 1000 mg/l
reduction efficiency (in smelt): 93 %
Na2S/(Na2S + Na2SO4)
increasing reduction efficiency decreases steam production
 Modern white liquor plant
Lime Cooling Burnt Lime Bin
Make-up Lime Flash Dryer Green Liquor
Limestone Silo Storage Tank
White liquor
Lime Kiln preparation
Raw Green
Liquor Storage
Lime Dryer Tank

Green Liquor
Cooler

Lime Slaker Green liquor

filtration
White liquor filtration
White Liquor Lime Free
Storage Tank dregs handling
Weak White
Liquor Storage Tank
Electrostatic
Precipitator Lime Mud Storage Tank
Key terms to know:
TTA = TOTAL TITRATABLE ALKALI
NaOH + Na2S + Na2CO3
AA = ACTIVE ALKALI
NaOH + Na2S
EA = EFFECTIVE ALKALI
NaOH + ½ Na2S
SULFIDITY %
Na2S / AA or Na2S / (NaOH+Na2S)
CE = CAUSTICIZING EFFICIENCY %
NaOH /(NaOH + Na2CO3)
Basic flow chart:
 Re causticizing Plant
Mission:

Lime
Production of white
Smelt

liquor for cooking by

converting sodium
Grits

carbonate to
hydroxide with lime
and removal of non
process elements
Dregs
Terminology
Green liquor dregs are solids separated from green liquor
by filtration
Slaker grits are solids separated during lime addition
Burnt lime is a solid stream from lime kiln containing
mainly CaO
Make-up lime is an incoming solid stream containing
mainly CaO
Recausticizing
The three main processes that
occur in recausticizing are:

CaO + H2O Ca(OH)2

Na2CO3 + Ca(OH)2 2NaOH + CaCO3

solids in liquor solids + liquor

Recausticizing
There are three processes undertaken in the
recausticizing stage:

cooking liquor is produced from green liquor by

adding slaked lime which produces white liquor and
lime mud (calcium carbonate)
lime mud (calcium carbonate) is fed into lime kiln
to produce lime
process residue is purged as dregs and grits
Recausticizing unit operations
Smelt dissolving tank (in RB area)
molten smelt from recovery boiler and
weak white liquor are mixed to
produce green liquor
Raw green liquor stabilization tank
variations in green liquor composition are
reduced by sufficient retention time
Green liquor filtration
particles in green liquor removed by
filtration
Recausticizing unit operations
Slaker
lime and green liquor are mixed to
produce white liquor
Causticizers
three or more agitated tanks in series are
used to ensure as complete a reaction as
possible
White liquor filtration
lime mud is separated from white liquor by
filtration
Equipment loading rates
Recausticizing Process

LimeMilk

LimeFree
Green liquor
Na g/kgds 90.8
K g/kgds 14.5
Stot g/kgds 24.1
Cltot g/kgds 1.9
S2- g/kgds 19.1
NaOH g/kgds 18.8
Na2S g/kgds 42.7
Na2CO3 g/kgds 134.9
Na2SO3 g/kgds 1.41
Na2S2O3 g/kgds 7.08
Na2SO4 g/kgds 8.7
Total alkali g NaOH/l 165.2
Active alkali g NaOH/l 62.7
Effective alkali g NaOH/l 40.7

Figures are given to show indicative magnitude of the various chemical compounds.
 White liquor definitions and reactions
White Liquor (WL) Definitions Reactions
Containing small amount Active Alkali (AA)
Suspended Solids (SS) < NaOH + Na2S
20 mg/l Lime slaking
WSA (Water Soluble Alkali)
Concentration is given g Soluble Na as Na2O
as Na2O/liter or g as CaO + H2O -> Ca(OH)2 + 1130 kJ/kg
NaOH/liter Causticizing Degree (CE)
NaOH/(NaOH + Na2CO3)
Main compounds as
NaOH are: Suspended Solids (SS)
Na2S 40 g/l Compound insoluble in WL
Na2CO3 20 g/l Typically measured after
White Liquor filter
NaOH 100 g/l
Concentration < 20 mg/l,
Na2SO4 10 g/l mainly CaCO3
Suspended Solids < Lime
Causticizing reaction
20 mg/l Lime Kiln product or make-up lime Ca(OH)2 + Na2CO3 <-> 2 NaOH + CaCO3
Mainly CaO > 90%
Lime Milk
GL + Lime
Green liquor filtration
Green liquor contains 800-1 200 ppm of impurities called
dregs
Impurities originate from raw material sources, primarily wood
chips
Dregs contain almost all the minerals in the wood
Dregs only place where these minerals are removed
Often separate stabilization tank to minimize variations in
density
temperature
flow
Storage after filtration
Process steps
Once green liquor is produced to a stabilized concentration it is mixed
with lime and the slaking process commences

The lime reacts with the water in the green liquor producing slaked
lime

Slaking occurs in a short time

Slaked lime then reacts with sodium carbonate in the green liquor to lime
mud and sodium hydroxide (white liquor)
This second reaction is called causticizing and occurs in the causticizing
tanks, long residence time needed to complete reactions
The lime mud goes to the lime kiln to produce lime
The white liquor is then used in the digester
Slaking chemistry
Causticizing chemistry
Slaking +1130 kJ/kg CaO

CaO (s) + H2O (aq) Ca(OH)2 (s)

Causticizing -560 kJ/kg CaO

Ca(OH)2(s) + Na2CO3 (aq) 2NaOH (aq) + CaCO3(s)

 Dregs washing
3-8 % of suspended solids in green liquor
Sodium recovery
Drum filter with precoat
coating with lime mud of 50-10 mm thick
dry solids 40 50 %
White liquor
Final product from causticizing system
Cooking chemical to the digester
Active ingredients NaOH and Na2S
White liquor analysis

Na g/kgds 78.0
K g/kgds 14.1
Stot g/kgds 22.4
Cltot g/kgds 1.7
S2- g/kgds 18.0
NaOH g/kgds 88.2
Na2S g/kgds 41.8
Na2CO3 g/kgds 40.3
Na2SO3 g/kgds 0.1
Na2S2O3 g/kgds 8.99
Na2SO4 g/kgds 0.5
Total alkali gNaOH/l 161.6
Active alkali gNaOH/l 131.2
Effective alkali gNaOH/l 109.8

Analysis is given to show indicative magnitude of various chemical compounds

Objective of causticizing

High active alkali concentration

high causticity
high reduction

Clean white liquor to minimize chemical consumption

Efficient lime mud washing

Causticizing in modern mill

White liquor active alkali (NaOH) g/l 136

White liquor sulfidity % 32

Causticity % 82

Reduction efficiency % 95

Green liquor filtration

White liquor filtration

Capacity m3WL/d >10 000

Lime kiln

Mission Converting used lime mud into lime

Lime kiln
The main processes that occur in lime kiln are:

Lime mud + Heat CaCO3 + vapor

CaCO3 + Heat CaO + CO2

Lime product quality
Ideal reburnt lime forms soft pebbles of
approx. 2 cm in diameter pebbles
Reburnt lime quality is judged in terms of:
availability - refers to the fraction of lime
(as CaO) in the reburnt lime product
residual calcium carbonate
reactivity
particle size
Lime product quality

Fresh lime Reburnt

Soft Hard

Density, kg/l 1.6 >2,2 1,7-2.1

Porosity, % 50 <34 44-67

Surface area, m2/g >1.0 <0,3 0,21-0,43

Reactivity, oC/min >10 <2 low

From Adams, 1997
Lime kiln fuels
Natural gas
Fuel oil

Methanol
Gasification gas
Saw dust
Pet coke
Lime kiln
Lime mud + heat burned lime + carbon dioxide
Adiabatic flame temperature 1750 C

CO2 Fuel: Oil, Gas,

CaCO3

CaO
Energy balance
MJ/t CaO
Water heating & evaporation 2 090
Energy in kiln product and dust 140
Enthalpy of calcination 2 890
Enthalpy in CO2 from calcination 90
Enthalpy of combustion products 410
Radiation loss 820
Total input 6 440
 OPERATIONS IN LIME KILN

Receiving of lime mud from recausticizing plant

Filtering of Lime mud using LMCD filter and feed to lime
kiln through conveyor
Handling of Weak white liquor
Handling of Limestone and Furnace oil as inventory
Conversion of Lime mud into Burnt lime through
calcination process
Handling and supply of Burnt lime to recausticizing
OPERATION:
The feed is given through the ribbon screw conveyor and it is fed
inside the kiln
The length of the kiln is +70 m long. (wet kilns)
As the kiln rotates the feed gets rotates and the calcination
reaction takes place which is the conversion of calcium
carbonate to calcium oxide
The furnace oil is heated up using heat exchangers and using
suction and delivery strainers it is pumped to kiln where light up is
done
The product as it reaches the burner side it gradually enters the
satellite coolers which brings down the temperature of lime using
secondary fan
The primary air is given for combustion using a fan in radial and
axial direction
The flue gas generated is sucked through the ID fan and the ash
generated is collected in the ESP and sent inside to kiln again
Satellite coolers
Chain section
Baffles:
Refractory inside kiln:
Critical parameters:

Kiln feed end

LMCD mud moisture
Burning zone temperature
O2
ID RPM
Oil flow and temperature
References

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