Cement Manufacturing
Pyroprocessing and Kiln
Burning of Clinker
The kiln as a chemical reactor: controlling the burning zone to make clinker of the quality you intended.
- Duration
- 5 days
- Contact hours
- 30
- Level
- Intermediate
- Fee from
- On enquiry
Overview
Everything upstream of the kiln is preparation and everything downstream is handling. This week is about the kiln itself: the reaction sequence through the preheater, calciner and burning zone, flame shape and its effect on the clinker, coating and refractory behaviour, and the control strategy that keeps a line stable. Fuel and combustion are treated in detail because they determine the flame, and the flame determines the clinker.
Who should attend
Kiln operators and production supervisors, process engineers, burner and combustion specialists, and refractory engineers.
What you will be able to do
- Follow the reaction sequence and the temperature profile producing it.
- Control the burning zone through fuel, feed and draught together.
- Shape a flame and understand its effect on clinker and coating.
- Diagnose rings, build ups and coating loss.
- Keep a line stable rather than continuously correcting it.
How it is taught
Short input, then work, across 5 days of roughly 6 teaching hours each. Exercises run on situations delegates bring rather than on a case study written for a different organisation. Cohorts are capped so that everybody is asked something.
Available as classroom, live online, in house.
Programme outline
Day 1
The reaction sequence
- Drying, calcination and clinkering
- Liquid phase and nodule formation
- Temperature profile and residence time
Day 2
Fuel and flame
- Fuels and their combustion characteristics
- Burner design and primary air
- Flame shape, momentum and its effect
Day 3
Control
- Feed, fuel and draught as one system
- Free lime as the control target
- Stability, and the cost of constant correction
Day 4
Coating and refractory
- Coating formation and why it is wanted
- Rings, build ups and blockages
- Refractory wear and shell temperature
Day 5
Problems
- Volatile cycles: alkalis, sulphur and chloride
- Dusty clinker and its causes
- Upset recovery
What you leave with
- A kiln control strategy for your own line.
- A flame assessment and burner setting review.
- A build up and ring diagnosis guide.
Dates and fees
| Dates | Location | Format | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 to 27 November 2026 | Durban, South Africa | Classroom | R15,000 |
| 30 November 2026 to 4 December 2026 | Windhoek, Namibia | Classroom | R15,000 |
| 7 to 11 December 2026 | Lagos, Nigeria | Classroom | US$1,500 |
| 14 to 18 December 2026 | Live online | Live online | US$995 |
Fees are per delegate and cover tuition, all programme materials and the certificate. Travel, accommodation and visas are arranged by the delegate. Registration closes two weeks before a programme starts.
Certificate
A GATI certificate recording what was attended, issued after the programme has run and attendance has been taken. Attending at least 80 per cent of the days earns a certificate of completion; attending less earns a certificate of attendance stating exactly what was attended. Every certificate carries a code that anybody can check against GATI's own record.
It records participation. and GATI does not claim one it does not hold.