System for handling high sulfur materials

In a process for treating cement materials having a high sulfur and high alkali or a high sulfur content in a material treating furnace arrangement in which a stream of the material supplied by a pelletizer is progressed by grate means through a drying zone having a negative pressure drying zone wind box and a preheat zone having a bypass, a kiln and a cooling zone including a recoup system, and also having a double-pass fan system which pulls a gas stream from the kiln into the preheat zone and through the pellet bed on the grate and delivers the gases to the drying zone as drying heat, comprising the steps of:

• A. directing sulfur-laden kiln off-gases into preheat zone;
• B. adding a quantity of lime-bearing material which is chemically reactive with sulfur to sulfur-laden kiln off-gases in the preheat zone to effect a reaction between the sulfur in the gases and the added material to form a solid sulfur compound in dust form which moves with the gas stream;
• C. mixing kiln off-gases that have been treated with the chemically reactive material from the preheat zone with tempering air;
• D. passing the tempered mixed gases of step C through a dust collector to remove a major portion of the solid sulfur compound dust particles from the mixed gases;
• and,
• E. passing the cleansed gases of step D to preheat zone.