09 December 2015
Mexichem to acquire another Peruvian company in 2016 09 December 2015
Peru: Mexico's Mexichem has announced plans to acquire a Peruvian company in 2016 in order to participate in a new sector, diversifying its operations to achieve further growth. This will be Mexichem's fourth acquisition in Peru, as it has already purchased Plastisur, Interquimica and Comindustrias del Peru.
Mexichem's national operations are mainly focused on the infrastructure and construction sectors, in which it offers comprehensive solutions via its Plastisur and Pavco brands. Mexichem will also compete within the telecommunications and gas markets in 2016 and it plans to enter the cement industry with the company's existing product portfolio.
The aim in the cement sector is to import and sell fluorite. There is potential in the market as Peruvian companies use a different substance and fluorite can help to improve the mineralisation of cement, as well as reduce fusion temperatures. Mexichem is in talks with several local cement companies and progress is being made with respective tests for the use of this product.
Cold causes a halt to gas supplies for Iranian cement plants 09 December 2015
Iran: The National Iranian Gas Company has stopped supplying gas to a number of cement plants due to a wave of cold sweeping the country.
As gas consumption has peaked in the recent cold days, some cement plants, including those in the west of the country, have stopped receiving gas, according to Abdolreza Sheikhan, Secretary of Iran's Cement Association. He complained that with the shortage of gas, the plants cannot use the heavy fuel oil mazut either because a government law to provide the factories with mazut at the same price as gas has not been implemented. Despite the fact that the cement plants store enough mazut to run for 7 - 10 days, they are not using their reserves because they are not sure if they will receive mazut as the law has stipulated. Sheikhan said that, when the plants stopped working for 20 days under similar circumstances in 2014, the Oil Ministry refused to pay them from the income it had made by economising on gas.
HeidelbergCement’s Burglengenfeld cement plant to be upgraded 09 December 2015
Germany: HeidelbergCement has decided to modernise its Burglengenfeld cement plant in Germany with parts and services from IKN and Gebr. Pfeiffer.
IKN won the contract for the engineering, supply and installation of a complete 4000t/day pyro line, from raw meal feeding to clinker discharge. Included in the scope of supply are integration engineering, supply and installation of add-on components for the raw meal grinding plant. The upgraded plant will feature state-of-the-art technology to comply with the targeted production level and future emission limits.
The new line will consist of a two-string, five-stage preheater tower with inline calciner. IKN's preheater and calciner design will ensure minimum pressure drop at maximum performance and high efficiency. The kiln line will be optimised to use of a variety of alternative fuels. Among several innovative features will be a tertiary air duct damper, which has proven successful in operation for more than three years with outstanding reliability and performance. Another essential component of the plant is IKN's Pendulum Cooler, which is highly reliable and has low maintenance and operational costs. Its design allows recirculating bypass gas into the recuperation zone to boost cooler efficiency.
As part of the modernisation of the kiln line, the four existing MPS vertical roller mills will be replaced after forty years of successful operation. HeidelbergCement has ordered two new Gebr. Pfeiffer MPS 4250 B roller mills as replacements. Each mill is designed to achieve a capacity of 200t/hr of cement raw material ground to a fineness of 12% R90µm. The drive power per mill is 2250kW. Gebr. Pfeiffer will also supply the complete equipment for the external material circulation system as well as the cyclone collectors and mill fans. The supply of the mechanical equipment will be completed by engineering services covering the plant layout and the integration of the process-related ductwork within the existing, complex plant. Raw mill 1 is scheduled to go on stream at the end of 2016 and raw mill 2 is scheduled to start operations in 2017.