Process and equipment for the thermal treatment of sinterable material, in particular for producing white Portland cement

In a process for the thermal treatment of sinterable material such as cement clinker from minerals containing limestone, dolomite or similar raw materials, the raw materials in the form of raw meal being preheated in the course of a burning process in a preheating stage, being at least partially calcined in a calcining stage, being burnt in a burning stage to give sintered burnt material such as clinker and the hot burnt material being cooled in a cooling stage under oxidation-inhibiting conditions, in particular for producing white Portland cement, it is proposed, in order to prevent harmful oxidation phenomena during cooling of the clinker, that cooled clinker is added as coolant to the hot burnt material by continuously branching a part stream off from the mass flow of the cooled clinker and adding it as coolant to the hot burnt material. Equipment with a preheater, calciner, burning unit and cooling unit is designed in such a way that means for branching off a part stream from the cooled clinker are associated with the cooling unit and that the discharge zone of the rotary kiln has a device for charging cooled clinker, with transport means which convey the part stream of cooled clinker to the charging device and charge to the latter in a controlled quantity.