Displaying items by tag: GCW221

Japan: Osaka University and a cement company in Hokkaido have co-developed a low-alkaline cement that uses rice chaff to strengthen the durability of final nuclear waste disposal sites, according to Kyodo News.

The cement is essential for the construction of final nuclear waste disposal facilities that need a durability of up to 100,000 years to prevent harm from radioactive materials. In such repositories, nuclear waste is solidified with glass and placed in metallic containers before being covered with clay and buried underground. If normal cements are used underground, they react with groundwater to produce calcium hydroxide, making the groundwater highly alkaline. This causes cracks and deterioration in the clay and bedrock at the facility.

To lower the alkaline levels in cement, professor at Osaka University's Joining and Welding Research Institute, Katsuyoshi Kondo, and Nippon Steel & Sumikin Cement Co mixed silica dioxide extracted from rice chaff with cement. The silica reacts with calcium hydroxide and weakens alkaline.

The team has developed technology to extract highly purified silica with numerous holes measuring 5 – 7nm in diameter by washing rice chaff with organic acid and burning it. The surface area of the silica extracted from rice chaff is 50,000 - 90,000 times larger than that contained in existing cements, enhancing the reaction between silica and calcium hydroxide and thus lowering the alkaline level.

Japan is looking for a place to build a final repository for the highly-radioactive nuclear waste generated from power plants. In Finland, a disposal site for high-level radioactive waste is already under construction. "We aim to utilise the low-alkaline cement at facilities abroad after repeated tests to verify its performance," said a Nippon Steel & Sumikin Cement official.

Mozambique: Limak Holding has started the construction of its 2Mt/yr cement plant in Maputo. The plant is scheduled to come into operation in the first quarter of 2016.

Serdar Bacaksız, a Limak Holding board member, said that the company has been closely monitoring the African market for a long time and might increase its investment by up to US$150m if needed. Underlining that Mozambique falls short of satisfying the rapidly-increasing demand for cement, Bacaksız said that the country offers major incentives to foreign investors, as it needs new investments in all fields.

Limak Holding is also set to lay the foundations of a cement plant on the Ivory Coast in November 2015 with an investment of US$55m. "We plan to open it in 2016," said Bacaksız, adding that the company will continue to seize different opportunities in the region. Limak Holding aims to achieve a turnover of US$3bn by the end of 2015.

Turkey: Oyak Aslan Çimento has awarded KHD Humboldt Wedag a contract for engineering and delivery of equipment to upgrade its cement grinding line at its plant in Darica-Kocaeli. The installation will be Oyak's seventh KHD roller press at the facility.

The contract to install a new Comflex grinding system will increase the capacity of cement grinding unit no. 1, by more than 100% and save approximately 20% energy. KHD's scope includes the engineering and delivery of mechanical and electrical equipment, as well as advisory supervision of erection and commissioning for the new Comflex SC20-3250. This will be KHD's fourth Comflex grinding unit and 15th roller press system with a V-Separator in Turkey.

The core equipment to be designed and delivered by KHD, as specified in this contract, includes a Comflex SC20-3250 clinker grinding system with:

• Roller Press RPZ 20-170/180 with Rolcox system for control and monitoring
• Cascade separator, type VS 620 as static classifier
• High efficiency separator Sepmaster, type SKS-VC 3250 as dynamic classifier
• System fan HKF 190/280

The new Comflex system will be integrated with the existing ball mill system. However, according to KHD, a primary reason Aslan Çimento chose KHD's Comflex for this project is it's ability to produce finished product without a ball mill unit. The commissioning of the new Comflex system is planned for 2016.

India: The real estate developers' association Credai has moved the Competition Commission of India (CCI) against cement manufacturers that it claims have unduly increased the cost of cement. Credai has also highlighted the violation of CCI's 'cease and desist' order of 2012 by cement manufacturers, according to a statement from the industry body.

Credai said that the cost of raw materials used in cement manufacturing fell between January 2015 and September 2015, but that cement companies have not passed on the benefit to customers. Hinting at a cartel-like operation, it was also alleged that cement companies seem to be working together to control supply and prices. Housing and other real estate sectors account for nearly half of the cement demand in India. Despite low demand, cement prices have jumped by 20 – 40% in top cities across the country in the past couple of months.

"It is unfair that the cement manufacturers indulge in practices that control the prices of cement. The CCI has warned cement manufacturers in the past as well, but it is unfortunate that they seem to be continuing with their price and market manipulation," said Credai national president Getamber Anand.

At its annual general meeting in September 2015, Credai's board took the decision to stop procurement of cement from companies like UltraTech, Lafarge and others that unilaterally increased cement prices in the past month.

Puerto Rico: The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that Cemex de Puerto Rico will spend US$1.7m on pollution controls that will reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides. In addition, the company will pay a US$160,000 penalty for Clean Air Act violations.

"Nitrogen oxides emissions can lead to a number of serious health and environmental problems, including respiratory problems, heart disease and smog," said Judith A Enck, EPA regional administrator. "The EPA settlement protects children with asthma and other vulnerable populations from harmful air pollution by requiring that Cemex install state-of-the-art technology and take immediate steps to reduce pollutants."

The Cemex cement kiln system in Ponce has operated for over 20 years and is a major source of nitrogen oxide emissions. The settlement addresses modifications Cemex made to its cement plant without obtaining the proper permit, as required by the Clean Air Act. Businesses that produce large quantities of air pollution are required to obtain permits and install pollution control technology before making changes that would significantly increase emissions.

Following an EPA inspection, Cemex conducted a smokestack test at its Ponce facility and potential violations were discovered. In the settlement, Cemex will install control technology, which will reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides by approximately 1423t/yr.

France: The industrial and technology group ThyssenKrupp is has announced that it is 'strengthening its plant technology capabilities in France' by merging the formerly separate entities Polysius and KH Mineral to become ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions (France). The step came into effect on 1 October 2015.

The group said that the strategic move is another 'milestone' for the plant engineering and construction company in its efforts to further promote the integration and regionalisation of its plant technology business worldwide. It said that the move pursues ThyssenKrupp's overriding goal of integrating its businesses more closely to create sustainable value as a diversified industrial group. As of today, ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions (France) employs around 300 employees at two locations in Aix-en-Provence and Sarreguemines.

Samir Abi Ramia, CEO of ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions (France), said, "On the basis of decades of experience in European, Middle Eastern and African markets, excellent engineering skills and proven technologies, we can now offer tailor-made solutions for the cement, mining and raw materials industries in general from a single source. Joining our forces in France, while at the same time benefiting from the global network of one of the world's leading engineering and construction specialists, will enable us serve our customers' needs even better."

Egypt: Egyptian cement production hit 969,403t in September 2015 and the total amount put forth for sale by the producing companies was 945,315t, according to a Ministry of Supply statement. The amount of cement distributed the domestic market amounted to 1.02Mt and the amount exported came to 8260t.

Norway: FLSmidth has agreed with HeidelbergCement on a one year service agreement contract to support its Norcem cement plant in Kjøpsvik, Norway. The plant is the most northerly in the world. An FLSmidth team will monitor the plant and diagnose and advise the Kjøpsvik-based operators in real-time. This will enable improvement in performance, increased availability and reduced operating costs.

"Optimising equipment performance is difficult without access to a wide range of specialists," said Skage Hem, FLSmidth's vice president for Global Research and Development. "It is not easy for customers with plants in remote corners of the world to recruit specialists. We have an experienced global specialist team ready to support the customers at all
hours of the day anywhere in the world."

Service is increasingly important for FLSmidth and is a growing business. In the last quarter alone service business across FLSmidth grew by 24% compared with the same quarter of 2014. Although global growth has slowed down, the equipment of many of its existing customers still needs to be maintained and optimised in order to increase plant productivity. With more than 90% of the lifecycle cost of cement plants being operating expenditure cost, service agreements are an area of continued growth potential for FLSmidth.

Read Global Cement's visit report from the Kjøpsvik plant here.

Colombia: Cementos Molins has signed a deal with Grupo Colombiano Corona for US$370m to jointly produce cement in Colombia. The firms will launch a 1.35Mt/yr cement production plant in Colombia in the middle of 2018.