Displaying items by tag: Upgrade
Peru: Grupo Gloria subsidiary Cemento Yura plans to transition its Yura cement plant from using coal to alternative fuels (AF) in its cement production. Additionally, the producer will build a 30MW solar power plant at the site. The Gestión newspaper has reported the total value of the upgrades as US$50m. Both projects are scheduled for commissioning in mid-2025.
In the 2023 financial year, which ended on 30 June 2023, Peruvian cement despatches fell by 8% to 12.6Mt.
India: Prism Cement has taken delivery of a pendulum cooler supplied by Germany-based IKN at its Prism cement plant in Maharashtra. The new equipment will replace the 6.1Mt/yr plant's existing air beam technology cooler. The supplier says that this will help to improve the efficiency of waste heat recovery (WHR) processes at the plant.
Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos has secured a US$150m loan from the International Finance Corporation for an upgrade to its Salto de Pirapora cement plant in São Paulo. The producer aims to increase the alternative fuel (AF) substitution rate at the 4.8Mt/yr plant, and reduce its CO2 emissions. It says that the loan is tied to sustainability performance indicators (SPIs), based on the reduction in the plant’s Scope 1 CO2 emissions.
Ramco Cements to invest US$91.3m in growth in Karnataka and Odisha during 2024 financial year
19 July 2023India: Ramco Cements plans to invest a total of US$91.3m towards growing its capacity during the 2024 financial year, which ends on 31 March 2024. Its planned investments consist of US$15.8m in an expansion to its Haridaspur grinding plant in Odisha and US$75.5m in the acquisition of land in Bommanalli, Karnataka, on which to establish a limestone mine.
During the previous financial year, which ended on 31 March 2023, Ramco Cements invested US$215m in capital expenditure.
Russia: Soyuzcement, the national cement manufacturing union, has held a meeting discussing reverse engineering components for cement plants. The meeting of the committee for cement engineering took place at Cementum’s Schurovsky plant. The context of the meeting was that, before international sanctions were imposed upon Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, around 70% of the equipment and components for the cement sector was imported. At the event representatives of Cementum shared best practice of reverse engineering, including methodology and specific examples of manufacturing spare parts including scanning them to build three-dimensional models. The sector intends to further collaborate with local manufacturers to source the necessary parts.
Poland: Germany-based Schade Lagertechnik has upgraded the bulk handling equipment for raw materials including limestone and flue gas desulfurisation (FGD) gypsum at a cement plant in Górażdże. A Schade cantilever reclaimer was supplied to double the conveying capacity to 400t/hr with an associated belt conveyor.
Notably, the subsidiary of Aumund says that the order presented several challenges such as integrating the new equipment into the existing infrastructure, adapting it to the design of the building that dated back to the 1970s and installing the new kit whilst allowing the plant to continue operating. Once the new equipment had been assembled the installation team only had 10 days to dismantle the old machine and to switch operation over to the new equipment.
Schade Lagertechnik was responsible for the engineering, design, fabrication and supply. Aumund Group Field Service also assisted with the installation.
Europe: Holcim has secured funding for three separate carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) projects at its cement plants in Europe. The recipient projects are the Go4Zero project at Holcim Belgium's Obourg cement plant in Belgium, the KOdeCO project at Holcim Croatia's Koromačno cement plant in Croatia and the eM-Rhône project at Lafarge Ciments' Le Teil cement plant in France. The Le Teil plant's system will be used to produce e-methanol, while the investment at the Koromačno plant will be part of a package of upgrades to turn the plant carbon neutral.
Alongside on-going projects in Germany and Poland, this will bring Holcim's total number of EU-funded CCUS projects to five. Holcim is committed to US$2.33bn-worth of investments of its own in over 50 carbon capture projects worldwide before 2030.
Holcim's Europe regional head Miljan Gutovic said “It’s exciting to be at the forefront of decarbonising the building sector in Europe. The support we are receiving from the EU Innovation Fund for five of our CCUS projects is a great testament to the strength of our engineering teams, the maturity of our technologies and our advanced partnerships across the value chain. Our robust pipeline of projects positions us as the partner of choice to scale up carbon capture technologies in Europe.”
Germany: The EU Innovation Fund has granted funding to the GeZero carbon capture project at Heidelberg Materials' Geseke cement plant in North Rhine-Westphalia. The project consists of a 700,000t/yr carbon capture system and an oxyfuel kiln upgrade. A captive solar power plant will provide energy for the new systems. CO2 storage partner Wintershall Dea will receive purified liquefied CO2 from the capture system via its Wilhelmshaven distribution hub for storage under the North Sea.
Heidelberg Materials Germany general manager Christian Knell said “This project sets an important milestone for the cement industry and for effective carbon management in Germany. We are now counting on the tailwind of Germany’s future Carbon Management Strategy and the regulatory framework to come.”
CEO Dominik von Achten added “With GeZero, we will once again show how Heidelberg Materials’ pioneering spirit is paving the way for the decarbonisation of our industry. We will be the first to realise a full CCS chain for the capture, transport and permanent storage of all CO₂ emissions from an inland location in Germany. I appreciate the support of the EU Innovation Fund, which expresses both an important recognition and the required backing from the political side.”
Portugal: Cimpor Portugal has signed a contract with Germany-based KHD Humboldt Wedag (KHD) for an upgrade to production line 7 at its Alhandra cement plant. The project is intended to increase the production capacity at the plant to 3600t/day from 3000t/day and increase the line’s alternative fuels thermal substitution rate to over 80%. It will also be the first installation of KHD’s Pyrorotor alternative fuel combustion reactor in the country.
The scope of the engineering and supply contract comprises:
- New HKSK 224/335 preheater ID fan
- New downcomer duct
- New preheater with 8064/5-type HEM cyclones
- Pyroclon R calciner with Pyrotop mixing chamber. The Pyroclon R will utilize fine refuse-derived fuel (RDF) and natural gas
- 4m x 10m Pyrorotor alternative fuel combustion reactor
- Pyrobox coal firing system for process start-up and operation balancing
- Shortening of the existing kiln and installation of new kiln inlet chamber with bypass extraction
- New kiln drive station 2 (the existing girth gear and two pinions will be reused)
- New kiln hood and take-off of tertiary air from the cooler roof
- New main kiln burner designed to use more than 50% alternative fuels (but will also be capable of burning natural gas, as well as liquid fossil and alternative fuels)
- New Pyrofloor PFC²829AW cooler with a Pyrocrusher PRC 420-3ES clinker crusher.
KHD will also be supplying its KHD ProMax software product as part of the project.
Matthias Mersmann, chief technology officer at KHD, said “The decision by Cimpor Portugal to opt for KHD pyroprocessing equipment - and especially the Pyrorotor - underlines the leading market position of KHD, as well as the outstanding capability of KHD’s unique alternative fuel-processing solution.”
Project execution will be led by KHD Germany, with support from Humboldt Wedag India and the Turkish branch office of Humboldt Wedag. Commissioning of the upgraded production line is scheduled for 2025.
France: Heidelberg Materials has announced plans for its CIRCO₂BETON concrete recycling project. It intends to build an industrial-scale selective separation unit at its Achères quarry near Paris. Here it will recycle demolished concrete by crushing it and separating it into its components: sand, aggregates, and recycled concrete paste (RCP). The recycled sand and aggregates will be reincorporated into new concrete.
The RCP will be transported to the Ranville cement plant in the Normandy region. There, a reactor for enforced carbonation will be installed to carbonate the RCP by exposing it to CO₂-containing exhaust gases from the kiln. The carbonated RCP acts as a carbon sink and will replace clinker in new low-carbon cement types. The project has the potential to reduce the CO₂ emissions of the Ranville cement plant by 20%.
CIRCO₂BETON is supported by the ‘Investment for the Future’ Program coordinated by the Ecological Transition Agency (ADEME). In addition, the Île-de-France region supports the selective separation plant at Achères through its zero-waste and circular economy plan. Subject to the funding, construction of both industrial pilots is scheduled to start in 2024 with production of RCP starting in 2025. The carbonation reactor is planned to be operational by 2026.
Nicola Kimm, the chief sustainability officer at Heidelberg Materials, said ”We are investing in a pioneering large-scale project based on innovative process technologies. Selective separation and CO₂ mineralisation are important levers to reduce the carbon footprint of our products. By closing the materials loop, we prove that concrete has the potential to be the most sustainable building product over its entire life cycle from production to recycling.”
Read more about RCP in the Decemeber 2022 issue of Global Cement Magazine