Optimum grinding of raw materials, cement and coal

For the 4^th time, Gebr. Pfeiffer AG in Kaiserslautern, Germany, a leading manufacturer of vertical roller mills, is hosting the PFEIFFER Convention. Over 200 guests from more than 40 countries were invited to attend this year’s conference (Fig. 1). The Convention took place at the Novotel and the Fraunhofer Centre, at the premises of Gebr. Pfeiffer AG and at the historical hall Fruchthalle in Kaiserslautern. As with the previous conferences, the topcis at the conference were the market position of Gebr. Pfeiffer AG as well as the technical and economical prospects of the cement market. In addition, Gebr. Pfeiffer AG presented its newly developed MVR vertical roller mill, a new member of the product family besides the well-known MPS mills.

This mill covers a capacity range of more than 1000 t/h and an installed power of up to 12000 kW. The mill can be equipped with up to six grinding rollers and features the newly developed MultiDrive^®, a system which operates the machine with up to six individual drives (s. article in this issue, Webcode ZKG0L3M6). Another feature of the MVR roller mill is the active redundancy of the grinding rollers and drives, i.e. operation of the mill continues in the case of outage of one grinding roller or one drive. This new mill concept marks a revolutionary progress in the area of roller mill technology thanks to the active redundancy of rollers and drives. Active redundancy allows even the largest units to obtain a level of availability that has never been achieved before. This innovation enables large cement producing facilities to be designed with the one-mill-concept on both the raw meal side and the cement grinding side.

The advantages of the new mill and the new drive, respectively, as well as operating experience were presented within the framework of the lecture program. Representatives of those plants, where the first mills and drives had been commissioned, were invited as guests of honour. Manoj Gaur (Jaiprakash ­Associates Limited), Ahmed Mansouri (Holcim France S.A.S.), Karol ­Podhora (CEMMAC A.S. for Fabrica Cementa Lukavac D.O.O.) as well as Thomas Hauri (Hans G. Hauri Mineralstoffwerk) were awarded for their readiness to support the start of innovative grinding concepts in the industry (Fig. 2).

During the plant tour the company-owned pilot plant was visited (Fig. 3). There it is possible to carry out grinding tests with materials from the customers, amongst other things, with the MVR test mill. Reduced to scale, it allows direct investigation of characteristic features, such as desired finenesses and the energy consumption. Thus, the plant concept can be perfectly adjusted to the materials to be processed. The manufacturing department could also be visited within the framework of the conference. With a considerable in-house production depth, from the company’s own foundry up to the complete grinding plant, most of the mill components are manufactured or finally machined and installed in Kaiserslautern. Also the new grinding rollers with bearing stand and roller arm, in addition to the proven MPS mill equipment, are already waiting in the manufacturing department to be delivered to the Balaji works in India (Fig. 4).

Conclusion

The PFEIFFER Convention 2010 consisted of a program that left plenty of time to discuss the new and interesting mill and drive concept. In the breaks mill animations were shown and the mode of operation was presented with the help of a model (Fig. 5). The next event will be awaited with great interest. There it will certainly become clear how the new concept has been accepted in the market and what further applications will be possible or have already been implemented.