Ecocem Environmental Solutions, part of Faruk Group, is leading the way when it comes to RDF production in the Middle East. Global Cement spoke to the company's general manager Mohammed Fareed and Eugen Becker from Eggersmann Recycling Technology, the supplier of mechanical and biological treatment (MBT) equipment that made the plant possible...
Global Cement (GC): What led to the development of Ecocem's refuse-derived fuel (RDF) production plant in Sulaymaniyah?
Mohammed Fareed (MF): The topic of waste processing has not received as much attention in Iraq - indeed in much of the Middle East - as it has in other regions. However, in the early 2010s, the Governorate of Sulaymaniyah was searching for a solution to solve its waste problem involving an unregulated landfill. At the same time, Faruk Group was looking for a source of alternative fuels for cement production, to save money and to improve its environmental credentials. A partnership looked like a win-win.
GC: How did the project proceed from there?
MF: A decision was taken in 2013 to build a municipal solid waste (MSW) processing plant to produce RDF. Ecocem was set up as a joint venture between Faruk Group and Lafarge to invest, construct and operate said plant. It was decided that the plant would be located on government land to the south of Sulaymaniyah, next to the former unregulated landfill site. The site would be easy to access and cement plant off-takers were nearby. Convaero was contracted to supply technology and equipment for the biological treatment in addition to the primary MSW shredder in the Mechanical and Biological Treatment (MBT) plant. The other main partner was the Governorate of Sulaymaniyah.
Construction began at the end of 2013, but progress was unfortunately halted in 2014 due to a financial crisis within the Governorate. This delayed the provision of the key infrastructure, roads, electrical connections and so on, which were preconditions to some issues related to the investment license. There were also some challenges regarding the gate fees funding.
The delay led Lafarge to leave the project in 2018. However, Faruk Group signed a revised contract with Eggersmann, which had acquired Convaero, in December 2018. Construction of the MBT plant restarted in early 2019 and was finished in June 2020.
GC: How was the construction process?
MF: I was project manager during construction and am pleased to report that there were no technical difficulties. However, the Covid-19 pandemic added extra challenges. Thankfully, we were granted a curfew exemption from the government so that work on the project could continue in the first half of 2020. Travel between Germany and Iraq was also not possible at times, but we were able to work around this with online meetings.
GC: How was commissioning?
MF: The plant received its first MSW in June 2020, in small quantities at first. Everything went smoothly and all necessary targets were achieved. The problem at that time was that neither cement plant was ready to fire RDF until May 2021. We baled and stored the RDF during the interim.
GC: What is the process used to make RDF?
Eugen Becker (EB): Unsorted bagged municipal solid waste (MSW) is trucked to the plant at a rate of 1000t/day. An Eggersmann TEUTON ZS 55 primary shredder opens the bags and reduces their contents to 250 - 300mm in the first step. Then the MSW must be dried, as it arrives with 50 - 65% moisture. This is done by the bio-drying system, which comprises 22 bays. Each is 100m long, 10m wide and stacked 2.6m deep with MSW. That's 2600m3 of MSW in each bay.
The base of each bay is aerated. The air transports oxygen to the bacteria so that they can digest the organic fraction, generating temperatures of 60 - 70°C. The heat drives off the moisture, which is released through a Convaero membrane on top of each bay. Moisture can escape, but solid material cannot and odour is greatly reduced. Rain cannot penetrate the membrane.
A Convaero CON 100 turner passes over each bay once a week to turn its contents. This ensures that the MSW does not settle and that the bacteria can act on all of the organic fraction.
MF: Biological treatment bays from Eggersmann are typically 6m wide, but ours are 10m wide. This required a one-of-a-kind turner big enough for the job. We are grateful to Eggersmann for taking the time to build this especially for Ecocem. While relatively expensive in terms of capital expenditure, the alternative - moving MSW between bays with a front-end loader - is simply not an acceptable method at the scale we are working at. It is time-consuming, messy and does not produce a product as homogeneous as we see with the turner.
EB: After the 20 days, the moisture level is 20%, dry enough for cement production, but not so dry that it spontaneously combusts or is otherwise hard to handle. The dried material is refined in a separate mechanical treatmal plant, comprising of a drum screen, magnetic separator, air separator and a fine shredder, which reduces the material to a target size of ≤50mm. This is RDF with a calorific value of 14-16GJ/t, used as a calciner fuel. Material below 10mm is considered inert and is removed. Everything passes magnetic separators to remove ferrous metals and a wind-shifter to remove stones and other heavy materials.
MF: Overall, for every 1t of MSW fed to the MBT plant, we despatch 0.38 - 0.40t of RDF. Around 0.30-0.40t is moisture and 0.13t is inert, with just 1 - 2% ferrous metals. These proportions vary depending on the season. There is more moisture in winter than in summer, but in summer there is a lot of polyethylene due to the high consumption of bottled water. The inert fraction can also vary widely, between 10 - 20%. We also receive some agricultural wastes from time to time. Thankfully, the MBT plant is great at homogenisation.
GC: You said that the inert material is 'removed'. What happens to it?
MF: This is disposed of in a new landfill within the plant. Unlike the unregulated landfill, it is sanitary and needs just 13% of the land compared to before.
GC: Which cement plants use the RDF?
MF: Ecocem currently supplies two cement plants in the local area. Around 65% goes to the Gasin Cement plant, owned by Faruk Investment Group. Around 35% goes to the Lafarge Bazian cement plant, which is 30% owned by Faruk Investment Group. We are working with both plants - and others - to help them take more RDF.
GC: What led you to select Convaero / Eggersmann for the project?
MF: We are working with a highly-specialised supplier with an excellent record in the field of MBT processing that also supplies all complementary equipment. There are very few suppliers that can provide end-to-end service like this.
GC: What specific advantages does an MBT plant offer compared to a mechanical-only solution?
EB: An MBT plant for MSW requires slightly higher capital expenditure, but there is more fuel produced per tonne of waste fed into the process and the output is more consistent.
The use of biological treatment, as well as mechanical treatment, allows us to process organic waste as well as the other calorific fractions, paper, plastics, textiles and so on. It reduces the amount of energy input and provides a higher biogenic carbon content, which is of rising importance for cement producers in all regions. In comparison, mechanical-only systems produce RDF that is 30 - 40% moisture and do not convert the organic fraction.
And this is crucial... as only the inert material is landfilled as part of the MBT approach. This means that there is no generation of methane, a greenhouse gas 28 times more potent than CO₂, from the landfill. This is a key way through which plants such as Ecocem's can save around 0.5Mt/yr from entering the atmosphere.
GC: What are your aims for the plant in the coming years?
MF: Sulaymaniyah already generates about 1000t/day of MSW and this is expected to increase by 3% annually in the future due to its growing population. It is clear that the plant, with a capacity of 1100t/day, will soon not be able to handle the MSW generated. There is a clear need for expansion on this basis alone, but we are also considering processing the waste in the former landfill, where another 4 - 6Mt of MSW was dumped from the early 2000s onwards.
There are also some aspects of the plant, which was designed in 2013 remember, that will need to be upgraded. This will increase the efficiency of the plant and make it more flexible. Discussions regarding additional plants in other areas around Sulaymaniyah are also ongoing. We will report further on these developments later in 2024.
Finally, it can be easy for Ecocem to forget how unusual this plant is in the Middle East. As the largest MBT facility in the region, we are already at the forefront of the waste processing sector. Our plant provides a great example of how other cement plant operators in the region can tackle waste in cities, reduce their CO₂ emissions and save money that would otherwise have been spent on fossil fuels. We are showing the way, and hope to inspire others to follow.
GC: Thank you for a fascinating discussion today.
MF/EB: You are very welcome indeed!
Mohammed Fareed
Mohammed Fareed is General Manager at Ecocem Environmental Solutions, located in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. The company is part of Faruk Investment Group, which also has cement plant assets in the region. Mohammed has a background in the oil and gas and chemical engineering sectors. He has worked for Ecocem since 2012.
Eugen Becker
Eugen Becker is Business Development Manager at Eggersmann Anlagenbau GmbH, a German plant engineering company for mechanical as well as biological waste treatment plants. It is part of Eggersmann Recycling Technology. He has extensive business development experience for major suppliers in the cement sector.
