Alternative fuels mixture in cement industry kilns employing Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm

• Autor(es):

  Carpio, Ricardo C.;

  Sousa Júnior, Francisco de (Federal Center of Technological Education of Bambuí);

  Coelho, Leandro dos Santos (Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná);

  Silva, Rogério José da (Federal University of Itajubá. Department of Mechanical Engineering).

• Fonte:

  Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering; volume 30, número 4, páginas 335-340. Dezembro 2008.

• Assuntos:

  portland cement;

  industrial co-processing residues;

  particle swarm optimization (PSO);

  sequential quadratic programming (SQP).

• Resumo:

  Most of the works accomplished in the optimization area in the cement industry are addressed to solve problems just considering only one variable, forgetting that it includes too many variables and they act at the same time. Among the main variables it can be mentioned the quality of the final product, the environmental ones, the costs along the process and the reduction of the fossil fuels (primary) employed through the use of alternative fuels (secondary), among others. The present work intends to build a mathematical model using optimization tools seeking to improve the cement production process foreseeing what can happen with the clinker and the emissions when the industrial residues co-processing technology is used as alternative or secondary fuel. In the optimization process a new approach called Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is employed, which is based on the Cauchy and Gauss distribution considering several process restrictions such as the specific fuel consumption, the cement quality and the environmental impact. The results obtained with PSO were precise and promising and they were compared with the classical Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP). It was also possible to evaluate the levels of primary fuels substitution through the alternative or secondary ones.

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