Increasing cement grinding capacity with vertical roller mill technology

With the many large-scale plant expansions made in the US in recent years, there has been a need to use new and complex burning and emission control technologies to comply with modem emission regulations. However, in many cases these same plants have chosen to use very traditional technology for finish grinding-typically a ball mill and separator. With today's power price issues in the US, and the large experience base that the rest of the world has with the use of new technology in finish grinding, the US market is considering the use of modern vertical roller mill technology for cement grinding. This paper discusses the different options available for upgrading the capacity of an existing plant, provides comparisons of operating costs, simplicity of operation, product quality considerations, etc., based on the OK mill project at Phoenix Cement Company (PCC) as the first vertical mill for cement grinding in the US.