Burner management system design and application for cement plants

Though it only directly controls a few safety shutoff valves, a Burner Management System (BMS) is an important tool for the safe and efficient operation of a cement plant. As a required safety element of a combustion system per code, a BMS design reflects not only many code requirements, but the design is also heavily influenced by the process design, equipment design and desired operating methods. The two primary safety functions provided by a BMS are to ensure a safe atmosphere to begin the combustion process and also to provide flame supervision while combustion is ongoing. Equally important is how the information processed by the BMS is presented to the process operator enabling efficient decision making related to the combustion system. This paper shall discuss the design and implementation challenges of applying Burner Management System design practices to a modern cement plant.