Displaying items by tag: Upgrade

Lebanon: Cimenterie Nationale has officially inaugurated a new bag filter at its Chekka cement plant. The new filter is expected to reduce dust, NO_x and SO₂ emissions by more than half, according to the L'Orient-Le Jour newspaper. The filter has been in operation since late May 2017.

India: The Tamil Nadu state Industries Minister M C Sampath says that the Tamil Nadu Cements Corporation (Tancem) upgrade project is 60% complete at its Ariyalur cement plant. The US$116m upgrade at the government-owned plant is being undertaken by Larsen & Toubro with FLSmidth, according to the Press Trust of India. US$24m has been spent on the project so far. Construction is expected to be completed in 2018 and the upgrade will increase the plant’s production capacity to 1.5Mt/yr from 0.5Mt/yr.

Pakistan: Gharibwal Cement has started commercial operation of a 20MW waste heat recovery unit at its Jehuml plant in Punjab. According to its website it will generate 12MW from the waste hot gases of the cement production process and 8MW from a coal-fired system. The plant has a clinker production capacity of 6700t/day.

Philippines: Republic Cement has released more information about its US$300m investment programme to increase its production capacity. The joint venture from Ireland’s CRH and Aboitiz Equity Ventures plans to increase the capacity of its plants at Luzon and Mindanao by 2019 in the first phase of the project, according to the Manila Bulletin newspaper. This will then be followed by a second phase that will build new clinker production lines.

Little additional detail was released but the cement producer intends to install several grinding mills to increase its cement production capacity by 3Mt/yr. In addition it will install improved process technology to increase clinker output from all of its plants in Luzon that it says will be equivalent in capacity terms to a new kiln line investment.

Bosnia & Herzegovina: Fons Technology International (FTI) has replaced the existing clinker cooler of Fabrika Cementa Lukavac’s (FCL) cement plant in Tuzla. The new cooler has a capacity of 2100t/day. After commissioning by FTI the cooler has achieved the targeted process figures with a smooth mechanical operation. As part of the project FTI reused the existing cooler casing, existing refractory, four of the existing fans and the existing hammer crusher.

Lithuania: Akmenės Cementas is fighting a legal battle over the repayment of a Euro40m loan it took out in 2007. The cement producer started negotiating in September 2016 with its creditors to have the repayment deferred by three years, according to the Baltic Business Daily. However the deal was blocked by the Baltijos Kredito Sprendimai, which inherited the portfolio of the bankrupt bank Snoras. On 15 June 2017 the Vilnius Regional Court temporarily banned Akmenės Cementas’ six creditors from taking loan repayments from its accounts with the exception of interest payments.

Akmenes Cementas built a new Euro110m production line in late 2014. The company used its own funds and the loan to finance the project.

Angola: Cimenfort has inaugurated the start of its clinker kiln project. Industry minister Bernarda Martins presided at the event that marks the second phase of its ongoing upgrade scheme at its cement grinding plant in Benguela, according to the Angola News Agency. The first phase of its upgrades saw its production capacity rise to 0.7Mt/yr through an upgraded grinding system. Equipment for the project is being supplied by Germany’s KHD Humboldt Wedag.

Honduras: France’s Fives has won a contract to supply a FCB Flash dryer for Cementos del Norte’s Bijao plant. The dryer will be installed on an existing ball mill that was supplied and installed by Fives FCB in 2001 for a production capacity of 90t/hr of pozzolanic cement. Since then the pozzolana content and moisture rate have increased. Once operational the grinding plant drying capacity will rise.

Peru: Grupo Gloria says that a US$80m upgrade project at its Cal & Cemento Sur lime plant at Caracoto-Juliaca near Puno is underway. Construction of a sixth line at the site scheduled for completion for the end of 2017, according to the Gestión newspaper. The new line will increase production by 1000t/day to 2000t/day. The investment follows a US$120m investment since 2012 that will see the plant’s production capacity rise to 1Mt/yr by the end of 2017 from 0.13Mt/yr in 2013.

US: The Holcim US Ada plant in Oklahoma, a member of LafargeHolcim, has seen the completion of its three-year, US$100m new kiln and modernisation project. The project has boosted the plant’s capacity by 20%, raising its clinker capacity to 0.68Mt/yr from 0.62Mt/yr. The upgrades allow the plant to conform to the US National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) regulations.

Mike Langan, Ada plant manager, said, "NESHAP is one performance standard that's fairly restrictive. New Source Performance Standards are the most restrictive environmental regulations in our industry and this plant meets that. So it is much cleaner environmentally (than before)."
The upgrades made it possible for the plant to increase its use of fuel derived from scrap tires, replacing at least 20% of the fossil fuel used in the new kiln line. That change will make the operation cleaner and more efficient, supporting LafargeHolcim's sustainable-development goals.