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Drive Solutions for the Global Cement Industry
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One company. A world of solutions.
Drive Solutions for the
Global Cement Industry Revised: 4-31-07
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© 007 TMEIC GE Automation Systems. All Rights Reserved.
About TMEIC GE
TMEIC GE is a joint venture between General
Electric, Toshiba, and Mitsubishi Electric in the
industrial system drives business. The adjacent
diagram shows how the companies came together
between 2000 and 2003 to create an organization of
2,200 people with annual sales exceeding $1B.
TMEIC GE is built upon the combined and proud
heritage of these great companies. We focus on the
customer, working to provide superior products and
excellent service, delivering customer success every
project, every time.
TM GE Automation Systems
Mitsubishi
Electric
Toshiba
General
Electric
Variable frequency drives in the Cement Industry
Every step of the way from the quarry to the finished
cement product, variable frequency drives (VFDs) are
used to smoothly start large motors and continuously
adjust the speed as required by the process. Induction
and synchronous motors driving excavators, crushers,
conveyors, mills, kilns, and fans use VFDs to provide high
power, speed control, and low-loss flow control with
significant associated energy savings.
Drives for Conveyors
Drives for ID Fans
Drives for the Finish Mill
Drives for the Kiln
Drives for Mills & Separators
Controlling fan flow by adjusting speed avoids wasting
energy in adjustable dampers and louvers. When large
flows are involved and the motor energy consumption is
significant, varying the speed is the answer. With large
machines, the electrical power savings can amount to
hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. In addition,
the motors are protected against starting inrush currents,
thus avoiding thermal stress and extending motor life.
Drawing courtesy Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.
Drives for the Kiln
Drives for Conveyors
Drives for Mills & Separators
Drives for ID Fans
Drives for the Finish Mill Revised: 4-31-07
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© 007 TMEIC GE Automation Systems. All Rights Reserved.
Why Use Electrical Variable Frequency drives?
Here are some of the reasons to use VFDs in the cement industry:
Increased Reliability Pages 4,5,9
Adjustable speed motor-drive systems are more reliable than traditional mechanical approaches such
as using louvers, valves, gears, or turbines to control speed and flow. Because electric drives have
no moving parts, they provide very high reliability, for example, the-16 year MTBF of the Dura-Bilt
drives allow us to offer a 5-year warranty.
Dramatic Energy Savings Pages 4,5,10
On an induced draft fan with a variable speed motor-drive system, the flow control louver or valve is
not required, avoiding large flow energy losses. In fact, the variable speed motor-drive system is
more efficient than all other flow control methods including turbines and hydraulic transmissions. For
more information on this topic, refer to Application 1, and the brochure Selecting Variable frequency
drives for Flow Control in the library at www.tmeicge.com.
Significantly Less Maintenance Pages 8,19
The cement plant demands high system availability. Because electric variable speed drive systems
have no moving parts, they require virtually no maintenance. This is in sharp contrast to speed and
flow control devices such as louvers, guide vanes, valves, gears, and turbines that do require
extensive periodic maintenance and associated downtime.
Soft Starting One or Multiple Mill Motors, and Improved Power Factor Pages 8,9
When electric drives soft start large motors, starting inrush current with associated mechanical and
thermal wiring stress is eliminated. This removes limitations on motor frequency of starts, reduces
insulation damage, and provides extended motor life. With synchronization logic, one drive can start
multiple motors. Finally, large variable frequency drives improve overall system power factor.
Why TMEIC GE Drives Make Sense
Choose TMEIC GE, a Global Supplier Page 18
TMEIC GE sells and services drive systems worldwide, supported by engineering and service offices
in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Weve got you covered! A Complete Family of Drives Page 19
Our family of low and medium voltage (LV and MV) drives covers all your needs from 450 hp up to
12,000 hp (335 kW to 8,950 kW) and beyond, with a wide output voltage range up to 6.9 kV, and a
line of DCdrives, to meet your requirements.
Our Cement System Experts can Help You Page 11
TMEIC GE drive and motor application engineers bring an average of 20 years of practical industry
experience to your application. After analyzing your system requirements, they can recommend the
most cost effective solution and design the complete drive system for you.
Common Toolbox Software Pages 19,20
The Control System Toolbox is world-class configuration software. It is used on all the TMEIC GE
drives and legacy GE drives, so once trained, your maintenance personnel can work on any of our
drives with minimal retraining. Revised: 4-31-07
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© 007 TMEIC GE Automation Systems. All Rights Reserved.
Drive Applications for Fans, Mills, and Kilns
Variable frequency drives are used to control the speed of fans, mills, conveyors and kilns in the cement industry. VFDs are
also used to smoothly start large mill motors, synchronize, and connect them across the line. The following seven pages
describe four typical applications and present the reasons why electrical drives were chosen. These applications are:
1. Induced draft fans
2. Cement kiln rotation
3. Crushers and roller mill drives
4. Slip Power Recovery drives
Application 1. Induced Draft Fan for Cement Kiln
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The ID fan induces kiln air flow, which must be continuously varied to match the process requirements. Because cement
making is a thermal and a chemical process, both air volume and mass flow must be controlled. The process control system
continuously monitors process conditions such as inlet air temperature, kiln feed, cement composition, and required fuel-air
ratio. The process control system then directs the blower and flow control system to provide the optimum air flow.
Traditional flow control methods use constant speed motors with
mechanical flow reducing devices such as:
Inlet louvers (dampers) in the ducting
Outlet louvers (dampers) in the ducting
Flow guide vanes in the fan casing
Variable slip clutches in the fan drive shaft
These mechanical solutions have significant disadvantages:
High energy consumption at reduced flow rates
Mechanical wear and required maintenance
Process interruptions due to mechanical problems
Limitations on motor starting duty
The electrical solution replaces the mechanical equipment with a
Dura-Bilt5i MV VFD. This brings a number of advantages.
Advantages of the TMEIC GE Dura-Bilt5i MV VFD System
Very High Reliability The Dura-Bilt5i MV uses 3,300 Volt Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBT)
allowing a simpler, more reliable inverter design. As a result of the very high reliability, the Dura-Bilt
offers the protection of a standard 5-year warranty. Since mechanical flow devices are not used,
process interruptions caused by mechanical failures are minimized.
Energy Savings Elimination of the air flow losses through the dampers is usually the most
compelling reason for applying a Dura-Bilt5i MV drive. The ID fan power can be several thousand hp
and using a drive to vary air flow can result in energy savings of over $100,000 per year, as described
on the next page.
Power System Friendly The converter is a 24-pulse diode rectifier with a design exceeding the
requirements of the IEEE 519-1992 standard for Total Harmonic Distortion (THD). This means that
other equipment connected to the power system is not adversely effected by harmonic frequency
disturbances.
Heat Pipe Cooling. The IGBTs in the three inverter legs are cooled with heat pipe technology, which
maintains uniform working temperature, prolongs the semiconductor life, reduces fan noise, and saves
valuable floor space in the plant.
Application 1. Induced Draft Fan for Cement Kiln Revised: 4-31-07
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© 007 TMEIC GE Automation Systems. All Rights Reserved.
Energy Sa