We have a problem related with high sand usage to make the consistent raw material mix. Sand addition for silica correction is roughly five per cent into raw material results roughly three per cent quartz content in the raw meal over 45 micron residue. Consequently the overall effect is frequent free lime formation in the clinker due to high quartz content in the raw meal, negatively effecting quality and high heat consumption in burning. In order to tackle with the problem following activities are already done
1. The burner pipe is replaced by a new design burner pipe with high momentum to improve burning and have stronger flame.
2. New coal dosing system is installed to have stable and accurate kiln fuel feed. Also with this system, we started to grind petcoke and other types of coal separately to facilitate burning. However the problem still persists.

I agree with you that the high quartz content above three per cent over 45 micron is the root of the problem. The new burner and the improved coal dosing can only be advantages but they are unlikely to solve this problem of low reactivity of the kiln feed. There are many white cement factories that are operating with very high silica sand additions. These would be the best references. My suggestion of a remedy would be to introduce duplex grinding where the rejects from the raw mill classifier are separately ground and reintroduced to the raw mix. This is a radical solution and requires process modifications to introduce, however it will solve the problem.

What is the best method to charge a ball mill ?

The normal method to charge balls into the ball mill is to position the doors at the top of the mill and remove them. Then to pour the barrels of grinding balls into the mill using an overhead crane. The exact grading of media required is identified by performing an axial test taking samples along the axis of mill. You want the desired fineness to be reached at the exit of the mill and adjust the ball grading to achieve this. For a new mill you need to rely on the experience of the commissioning engineer to determine the initial ball grading. It is normal practice to begin commissioning with only 65 per cent of the balls in the mill and bring this up to target by additions with monitoring between additions by axial testing.