Akmenes Cementas has been making cement at the same site in Naujoji Akmené in Lithuania since 1952. During the Soviet era, the plant was run as a wet process facility, with up to eight kilns that supplied cement to all over the USSR. After Lithuania regained its independence in 1990, the plant underwent a period of rationalisation to adjust to market demands and was progressively upgraded to modern standards. Since 2014 a new 4500t/day dry process line from Germany's KHD Humboldt Wedag has been in operation. Global Cement's Peter Edwards recently visited the plant and spoke with Production Manager Edmundas Montvila.
Many cement plants utilise a spray tower for temperature control and the removal of acid gases such as SO2 and HCl. Mississippi Lime has developed a high reactivity hydrated lime that allows cement plants to inject the hydrate as a dry sorbent (dry sorbent injection - DSI) into the flue gas instead of making a hydrate slurry and feeding to the spray tower as a liquid. Avoiding the slurry make-down minimises plugging and erosion of the spray nozzles while simplifying operation of the feed system in freezing environments.
Just as the dust had started to settle after the completion of the LafargeHolcim merger on 15 July 2015, HeidelbergCement surprised the global cement industry by announcing that it had acquired a controlling 45% stake in the Italian cement producer Italcementi. The German firm, already the second-largest multinational producer by installed capacity, purchased the stake for Euro10.60/share on 28 July 2015. It has since begun a procedure by which it aims to acquire 100% of the shares in its Italian rival. Here, Global Cement looks at the effects this will have on global, regional and national cement industries.
Nanjing Kesen Kenen Environment & Energy Co., Ltd (NKK), China, has recently conducted a successful engineering procurement and construction project to build a waste heat recovery (WHR) power plant at Sharjah Cement Factory (SCF) in the UAE. NKK completed the installation of the plant on SCF's two production lines in association with UAE-based subcontractor Petron Emirates Cont & Mfg Co LLC in the first quarter of 2015.
The People's Republic of China (PRC), which spans 9,596,961km2, is the world's second-largest country by land area, behind Russia. With an estimated population of 1.40bn in 2015, China is the most highly-populated country in the world. China is divided into 22 Provinces, five Autonomous Regions, four Municipalities and two Special Administrative Zones. Taiwan is China's '23rd Province,' although its status is contested and the region is governed by the Republic of China (ROC). China is home to a strong manufacturing industry and the world's largest cement market. Here Global Cement Magazine gives an overview of the Chinese cement industry and an update on developments since July 2014.
