Closed loop control with camera detection of pebble size of lime particles to ameliorate lime kiln ringing and improve uptime and operating efficiency

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11718559-B2
Application number	US-202016800703-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 25, 2020
Priority date	Mar 15, 2019
Publication date	Aug 8, 2023
Grant date	Aug 8, 2023

Abstract

An improved lime mud recycling system including a camera proximate the kiln outlet imaging the granular lime and providing outlet images of the granular lime exiting the kiln, a processor analyzing the outlet images of the granular lime and providing pebble size distributions for the granular lime exiting the kiln, as well as a controller communicating with the processor comparing the pebble size distribution of the granular lime exiting the kiln with predetermined prescribed operating parameters for pebble size distributions for the granular lime exiting the kiln and issuing (I) a notification and/or (II) a control signal prompting remedial action when the pebble size distributions for the granular lime exiting the kiln are outside of the predetermined prescribed operating parameters.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for recycling lime mud having closed loop control for ameliorating kiln ringing and ball formation with camera detection of pebble size comprising:
(a) a lime kiln with a lime mud inlet, a reburned lime outlet and a burner to heat the kiln;
(b) a lime mud feed system adapted to wash, filter and feed lime mud to the lime mud inlet of the kiln,

the kiln being adapted to heat the lime mud and convert the lime mud to lime in granular form while advancing the feed toward the reburned lime outlet of the kiln where lime in granular form exits the kiln;
(c) a camera adapted to image the lime in granular form proximate the reburned lime outlet of the kiln to provide in situ outlet images of lime in granular form inside the kiln proximate the reburned lime outlet of the kiln;
(d) an analyzer coupled with the camera adapted to analyze the in situ outlet images of the lime in granular form inside the kiln proximate the reburned lime outlet of the kiln to provide pebble size distributions for the granular lime exiting the kiln; and
(e) a controller communicating with the analyzer operative to: (I) compare the pebble size distributions of the granular lime inside the kiln proximate the reburned lime outlet of the kiln with predetermined prescribed operating parameters for pebble size distributions of granular lime exiting the kiln and (II) issue a notification and/or a control signal when the pebble size distributions of granular lime inside the kiln proximate the reburned lime outlet of the kiln are outside of the predetermined prescribed operating parameters for pebble size distributions for granular lime exiting the kiln,
wherein the camera adapted to image the lime in granular form proximate the reburned lime outlet of the kiln to provide in situ outlet images of lime in granular form as it exits the kiln is adjustably disposed a distance from 0.5-2 feet (0.15-0.6 m) from the kiln outlet to image the lime anywhere from 1-25 ft (0.3-7.6 m) inside of the kiln.

2. The system for recycling lime mud having closed loop control for ameliorating kiln ringing and ball formation with camera detection of pebble size according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined prescribed operating parameters comprise size distribution values for the pebble size distributions of granular lime exiting the kiln.

3. The system for recycling lime mud having closed loop control for ameliorating kiln ringing and ball formation with camera detection of pebble size according to claim 2 , wherein the size distribution values for the pebble size distributions of granular lime exiting the kiln require that 90% by weight or more of granulated lime exiting the kiln has a pebble size of less than 30 mm.

4. The system for recycling lime mud having closed loop control for ameliorating kiln ringing and ball formation with camera detection of pebble size according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined prescribed operating parameters comprise rate values corresponding to changes in size distribution values for pebble size distributions of granular lime exiting the kiln.

5. The system for recycling lime mud having closed loop control for ameliorating kiln ringing and ball formation with camera detection of pebble size according to claim 4 , wherein the rate values corresponding to changes in size distribution values for pebble size distributions of granular lime exiting the kiln require that the increases in the rate of formation of pebbles having a pebble size of 30 mm or more are below a threshold value of 1% by weight additional pebbles having a pebble size of 30 mm or more per 24 hours.

6. The system for recycling lime mud having closed loop control for ameliorating kiln ringing and ball formation with camera detection of pebble size according to claim 1 , operated such that the controller issues notifications with remedial instructions for adjusting one or more kiln parameters or one or more feed parameters when the pebble size distribution of the granular lime inside the kiln proximate the reburned lime outlet of the kiln is outside of the predetermined prescribed operating parameters for granular lime exiting the kiln.

7. The system for recycling lime mud having closed loop control for ameliorating kiln ringing and ball formation with camera detection of pebble size according to claim 1 , operated such that the controller automatically issues control signals to the kiln or the lime mud feed system for taking remedial action to adjust one or more kiln parameters or one or more feed parameters when the pebble size distribution of the granular lime inside the kiln proximate the reburned lime outlet of the kiln is outside the prescribed operating parameters for granular lime exiting the kiln.

8. The system for recycling lime mud having closed loop control for ameliorating kiln ringing and ball formation with camera detection of pebble size according to claim 7 , wherein the controller automatically issues control signals to the kiln to take remedial actions to adjust kiln temperature.

9. The system for recycling lime mud having closed loop control for ameliorating kiln ringing and ball formation with camera detection of pebble size according to claim 7 , wherein the lime kiln is a rotary kiln and the controller automatically issues control signals to the kiln to take remedial action to adjust rotational speed of the kiln.

10. The system for recycling lime mud having closed loop control for ameliorating kiln ringing and ball formation with camera detection of pebble size according to claim 7 , wherein the controller automatically issues control signals to the lime mud feed system to take remedial actions to adjust one or more of: (I) feed rate of lime mud to the kiln; (II) consistency of the lime mud fed to the kiln; or (III) impurity levels in the lime mud fed to the kiln.

Assignees

• Gpcp Ip Holdings Llc

Inventors

• Kicklighter Thomas
• Panchapakesan Bala

Classifications

• C04B2/108 Primary

  Treatment or selection of the fuel therefor · CPC title

• F27B1/005

  wherein no smelting of the charge occurs, e.g. calcining or sintering furnaces · CPC title

• F27D19/00

  Arrangements of controlling devices · CPC title

• F27D21/02

  Observation or illuminating devices · CPC title

• F27D2019/0003

  Monitoring the temperature or a characteristic of the charge and using it as a controlling value · CPC title