Mathematical Modeling of Industrial Furnaces for Cement Production
Themes: High Tech
Market ready application
A TRL is a measure to indicate the matureness of a developing technology. When an innovative idea is discovered it is often not directly suitable for application. Usually such novel idea is subjected to further experimentation, testing and prototyping before it can be implemented. The image below shows how to read TRL’s to categorise the innovative ideas.
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Why?
Producing cement requires high temperatures. Operating the furnaces used in the process is typically based upon a trial and error process. We instead developed a mathematical model that allowed to identify the optimal temperature and to substantially increase the profit margins.
How?
The mathematic model proved valuable in two ways. 1) it allowed to locate too high temperature regions in the oven. 2) It allowed to validate changes in the operating conditions that reduce peak temparature.
When?
The proposed operation condition changes have been tested in the field in August 2011. Since, the furnaces has been operating without unscheduled shut-downs, resulting in hugely important cost savings. The method of mathematical modelling can also be applied to other industrial processes.
Dr. Domenico Lahaye