Model-based Control of a Gravimetric Dosing Conveyor for Alternative Fuels in the Cement Industry

Incorporating efficient and precise gravimetric dosing devices into conveyor lines for bulk material transportation is identified as a critical engineering step to create productive and cost-effective material feeding or mixing plants. So far different dosing equipment has been used to meter the bulk material transportation in cement industries. However, the implementation process of an accurate gravimetric dosing device for transporting Alternative Fuels (AF) in cement plants needs both a stable mechanical framework and an advanced controller architecture integration, since AF dosing performance usually suffers from volatile bulk material properties (e.g. varying bulk density and humidity). This work focuses on the model-based design of a new type of dosing equipment: The Gravimetric Plate Dosing Conveyor (GPDC) to transport fibrous and inhomogeneous low-density materials. Unlike conventional dosing screws of the belt weighing system, this novel dosing approach helps to regulate the mass flow rate accurately and to maintain equilibrium on the conveyor. A twin load cell measuring system has been proposed to accurately measure the material on the conveyor and thereby regulating the output mass flow rate of the material using control systems. A virtual simulation framework has been developed to verify and validate the controller architecture to regulate the speed of the conveyor to maintain a steady mass flow rate. It is shown that the proposed model-based approach supports the design and implementation stage for a more robust controller tuning and a more efficient overall design process.