Flame Control GB

Flame control and Ignition in rotary kiln and precalciner burners Daniel JULIEN Operations Manager, Fives Pillard, Marseille (France)

FLAME CONTROL FOR KILN AND PRECALCINER BURNER Flame control are recommended on kiln or precalciner burners since they insure operators safety during cold start up and help to anticipate flame defect. Kiln or precalciner burners may be equipped with 2 types of detectors: one UV scanner and one flickering scanner. Ǧ

Both of them can be installed in 2 locations: either through the burner (which may have a length up to 16 m) and in such case the scanner requires to be equipped with an optic fiber to bring the light to the sensor, or on the kiln hood. Ǧ

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In case the flame signal is lost, the operator is informed by an alarm in the control room. He can check the information and decide quickly any corrective action. As scanning a flame in a dusty environment is difficult, the above techniques are not fully reliable, which is not acceptable. Therefore, based on their expertise on flame scanning, Fives Pill ard have developed specific flame scanners for dark or dusty flames: the “Darkscan” type. Darkscan scanner is equipped with a very sensitive flame sensor based on the differential temperature variation between 2 points in the flame. (For more information, please refer to the product leaflet available in our website) For the kiln burner version, the sensor is located at the extremity of the burner head. The total length is not limited (we have already supplied scanners for 16 meters long burner). The scanner is mounted in a jacket pipe which crosses the burner and looks through the combustion head. A small purging air flow is sufficient to cool down the head and prevent dust deposit. The electronic flame relay is installed in an ATEX box at the back. The detection level indicator shows the level of flame detection and facilitates the burner commissioning. Moreover, a remote controller, available as option, makes the sensitivity adjustment easy. Providing a reliable flame detection in severe conditions with dusty flame, “DARKSCAN” brings a valuable assistance to the operator for the management of combustion.

“DARKSCAN” scanner mounted on a precalciner burner 1/2

IGNITION OF KILN AND PRECALCINER BURNERS Starting up a kiln or precalciner burner when the furnace is cold is a rather difficult operation which includes safety risk for operators. The safest way to conduct this operation is to use an auxiliary electric/gas ignitor installed inside the burner. Having already available a wide range of ignitors to fit other applications, Fives Pillard, has adapted an electric/gas ignitor to light up kiln and precalciner burners: the “PACKLIGHT” ignitor. Such ignitor is installed in the burner through a jacket pipe and develops an intense flame at the burner tip. Either natural gas or propane may be used. To simplify its integration inside the burner, the high voltage transformer and ionisation relay are located in a IP65 box at the back of the ignitor. The ignitor flame detection level visible on the box is of great help to simplify the burner commissioning. This system is available work for a burner length up to 16 meters.

Ignitor location (in yellow) in burner tip

CONCLUSION The PACKLIGHT electric/gas ignitor provides a reliable way to start kiln or precalciner burners in an efficient and a safe way.

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