Displaying items by tag: AVIC International Beijing Company

Northern-Ireland based cement producer Cemcor said this week that it has completed trials of a calcined clay cement product called CalcinX. The company started its trials in 2023 and it has been supported by Queen’s University Belfast and funding from Innovate UK. Work with commercial partners has involved precast concrete paving manufacturer Tobermore producing paviours made from 50% CalcinX as a CEM II replacement and Moore Concrete has also manufactured precast units using 50% CalcinX as a CEM I replacement. So far over 3000t of CalcinX has been produced in a number of industrial-scale trials.

David Millar, the managing director of Cemcor, mentioned his company’s plans for calcined clay in June 2022 when he was interviewed by Global Cement Magazine. The company that became Cemcor bought the Cookstown cement plant and a few other assets from Holcim at the start of 2022. It then changed its name to Cemcor in November 2022. At the time of the interview the company was looking to “...develop new value-added products, including low-CO₂ options. This will allow us to use the same amount of clinker to produce more cement.” Millar couldn’t give away too many details at the time, however calcined clay was cited specifically. It was also noted that the company had the right material in its quarry and that it was already working with partners on it.

Amongst all the other decarbonisation options available for cement plants, a slow trickle of calcined clay projects keep being announced. In January 2025, for example, thyssenkrupp Polysius said it had secured a front-end engineering design contract from Circlua for the construction of the world’s largest activated clay plant in Brazil. This project in Para state will have a capacity of 3000t/day, will use renewable energy sources and will “improve the CO₂ footprint in cement production.” CBMI Construction also officially launched a flash calcination clay project in Tangshan, Hebei province in China. In December 2024, Vicat signed an agreement with the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations to develop the Lebec Net Zero (LNZ) project at its Lebec cement plant in California. This includes plans to produce calcined clay-based cement. Earlier in the autumn of 2024 Portugal-based Cimpor said it was preparing to convert a kiln at its Souselas plant to produce calcined clays, AVIC International Beijing and KHD said that they had secured a deal to build a 900t/day clay calcination plant for Ciments de l'Afrique (CIMAF) in Burkina Faso, and Holcim Česko said it was going to construct a calcined clay processing line at the Čížkovice cement plant in the Czech Republic.

One news story that stuck out in the autumn was the progress of a collaboration between Aumund and Holcim towards developing an electric linear calcination conveyor (eLCC). The two companies started work on the project in 2020 intending to look at the electrical calcination of clay using an Aumund pan conveyor. Initial tests of the eLCC reportedly demonstrated efficient thermal activation of clay through a combination of radiant heat and material circulation. The eLCC system is fully enclosed, insulated, has a compact design and can operate using electrical-powered renewable sources. The first industrial plant utilising this technology is scheduled for construction in 2025. Calcined clay technology and products by other industrial suppliers are available. The work by Aumund and its competitors show they are watching this market closely.

OneStone Consulting’s Joe Harder has found that only 14 clay calcination plants were operational worldwide in 2023 with a production capacity of just under 3.5Mt/yr. These are based in Latin America, Europe and Africa. In an article previewing a market report in the February 2025 issue of Global Cement Magazine, Harder predicts that by 2035 there will be 79 clay calcination plants with a capacity of just under 21Mt/yr. A steady growth of over 20 new plants annually is also expected subsequently from 2035 to 2050 as cement producers seek cost-effective ways to reduce their clinker factor. He identified installation costs, a lack of knowledge about clay-based cements, trouble obtaining mining rights and policy issues amongst other issues as holding back the use of clay calcination.

The current expectation is that calcined clay usage in the cement industry will be a minority option. Yet the size of global cement production can make a production share of, say, 3 - 8% a viable option for both cement manufacturers and equipment suppliers. The adoption of new cement products and standards can also take a long time and this clouds predictions of how far clay can go in the cement industry. At this point in the calcined clay story it is time to keep track of the new projects being set up.

Joe Harder will present a talk entitled ‘Calcined clay market trends by 2035’ at the Global FutureCem Conference taking place in Istanbul in early February 2025

China: The Conch Zongyang Line 4 preheater modernisation project, based on KHD technology, has been selected as a pilot project under the Sino-German Energy Efficiency Improvement Demonstration in Key Industries programme. The initiative will be executed by KHD, its parent company AVIC International Beijing, and Conch Group’s research and development department. Results are expected by the end of 2025.

The programme stems from a 2023 agreement between China and Germany on climate change and ‘green’ transition cooperation. The programme was announced in 2024. It evaluated 12 candidate projects before selecting the Conch Zongyang project for its integration of technologies to achieve energy efficiency and a reduction in CO₂.

This project is one of several provided by AVIC to Chinese cement producers using KHD’s pyroprocessing, grinding, alternative fuel and digitalisation solutions.

Burkina Faso: AVIC International Beijing, in collaboration with Humboldt Wedag GmbH (KHD), has won an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract from Ciments de l'Afrique (CIMAF) to build a 900t/day clay calcination plant. This plant aims to integrate with CIMAF's existing clinker grinding line to produce calcined clay cement, potentially reducing CO₂ emissions by up to 30%, according to the company. KHD will be responsible for designing and equipping the plant with clay calcination technology, while AVIC, as the EPC contractor and KHD's parent company, manages the overall project execution.

KHD's system features a two-stage preheater and flash calciner with a pre-combustor, offering adaptability for the future installation of KHD’s Pyrorotor technology to maximise secondary fuel usage. The technology also includes a colour stabilisation process to maintain consistent supply of grey or black calcined clay. The project is scheduled for completion by mid-2026.

CIMAF Group Vice-President, Malik Sefrioui, said "This project is a major piece of our group decarbonisation roadmap, fully financed by IFC under a green loan form. Two other similar projects are being studied and will be launched very soon. The choice of AVIC/KHD is based on their long track record in cement pyro-processing projects. We are sure that this inaugural partnership will deliver significant added value for both parties."

China: Anhui Conch Cement (Conch Group) and AVIC International Beijing have entered a strategic agreement to combine their expertise and promote technological solutions for decarbonising cement production. The partnership will leverage Conch Group's experience in cement production and equipment manufacturing with AVIC International Beijing subsidiary KHD Humboldt Wedag International (KHD)'s expertise in equipment and engineering. The collaboration aims to expand their cooperation to include building AI-powered, smart and ‘green’ research and development platforms overseas. This will involve modernising traditional cement plants and enhancing operation and maintenance services.

Additionally, the Conch Technology and Industry Research Institute will work with AVIC International Beijing and KHD to apply cement decarbonisation technologies, such as calcined clay, oxyfuel clinker lines and electro-calcining, on an industrial scale at selected Conch production lines.

China: Sibo (Steven) Yan has been appointed as the general manager of KHD’s Chinese unit KHD Beijing. His new role is intended to help KHD grow its market share in China in conjunction with the company’s main shareholder, AVIC.

Yan started working for KHD in 2016 as Manager of the Tendering Department before becoming Vice President - Tendering & SCM in 2019. Previously he worked as a Technical Manager for AVIC International Beijing. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the Beijing University of Technology.

China: Anhui Panjing Cement has ordered an upgrade to its production line from KHD and AVIC. The project includes: installing new triple cyclones in conjunction with existing preheater top stage twin cyclones; a partial modification of downcomer duct; installing a new preheater fan; adding optimised and larger dip tubes for the existing cyclones; installing a new Pyrobox type calciner firing system; adding new raw meal pipes for the two lowest cyclone stages; making calciner modification within the existing preheater building; and installing a new kiln drive system. Where possible the project plans to use reuse existing equipment. It is scheduled for completion by January 2022. It follows a previous upgrade at the plant in 2020 – 2021.

Other recent orders that KHD has announced with China-based cement companies include an upgrade to a production line at Hongshi Group’s Lanzhou plant in Gansu province and the installation of NOx-reducing modifications on a 5000t/day clinker production line operated by China United Cement Baoding.

Venezuela: AVIC International Beijing Co Ltd and its customer Industria Venezolana del Cemento (INVECEM) have ordered two vertical roller mills for INVECEM's new cement plant in Monay, Trujillo, Venezuela. The order comprises a LM 53.3+3C for grinding clinker and an LM 48.4 raw meal mill.

The new cement plant is a joint venture project of the governments of Venezuela and China, which have agreed to build three new cement plants in Venezuela, each with 2500t/day of cement production capacity.

The LM 48.4 LOESCHE vertical roller mill will grind cement raw material with a capacity of 280t/hr at 12% R0.09mm. The LM 53.3+3C cement mill will produce 200t/hr of Ordinary Portland cement with a fineness of 3200 Blaine. LDC classifiers are also included. Delivery of the key parts is planned for November 2015.

Germany: AVIC International Beijing Company (AVIC) has lead an offer to buy KHD Humboldt Wedag International AG in a deal worth US$433m. It hopes to acquire all of the remaining KHD shares by way of a voluntary public takeover offer.

At the same time it has entered into share purchase agreements with numerous sellers to purchase 19.03% of shares in the German cement plant builder. Through its subsidiary, Max Glory Industries, AVIC already owns 20% of KHD, which will bring its total to 39.03%.

"This is a long-term investment for us. A more stable shareholder base will benefit KHD's worldwide employees, customers, suppliers and financing partners and KHD will continue providing environmental friendly and state-of-the-arts products and services," said Mr Diao, president of AVIC Beijing Company.