Displaying items by tag: Kiln

Kenya: East African Portland Cement Company has resumed production at its 0.6Mt/yr Athi River cement plant. The producer successfully replaced the shell of the plant’s kiln. Managing director Oliver Kirubai said that the upgrade will enable the plant to increase its cement production by 50%, and reduce the price of its Blue Triangle brand cement.

Kenya: East Africa Portland Cement began work to replace a 16.5m-length of kiln shell at its Athi River cement plant at the end of July 2022. The producer says that the project will increase the kiln line’s capacity by 1400t/day.

Managing director Oliver Kirubai said "Due to the high costs of energy and an old clinker line, the board has prioritised efficiency and reliability of our integrated plant operations to drive cost optimisation.”

US: National Cement Company of Alabama has reported that the new kiln line at its Ragland cement plant will reduce the plant’s CO₂ emissions by 40%. Its energy consumption will also fall by 30% as a result of the upgrade. The new line includes a 78m-high homogenisation silo, vertical crusher, five-stage preheater and automated clay storage system. AF used in the kiln will include waste tyres, woodchip and sawdust. The new kiln will help in the Ragland cement plant’s transition to 100% Portland limestone cement (PLC) production by 2023, further diminishing its carbon footprint.

Vicat CEO Guy Sidos said "Our ambition is to use AF in all our cement plants around the world. In addition to eliminating fossil fuel energy and replacing it with recycled regional waste, our investments contribute directly to local development. We are proud of the modernisation and transformation of our Ragland site, which was our very first acquisition outside France in 1974."

US: Vicat subsidiary National Cement Company of Alabama inaugurated its new US$300m production line at its Ragland cement plant on 21 July 2022. Local press has reported that the line includes a new rotary kiln, equipped for alternative fuel (AF) use.

President Spencer Weitman said “This puts us into the next 40 or 50 years. And it’s prolonged the life of the plant to move us forward into the next entry hopefully.”

UK: Tarmac has successfully produced lime at its Tunstead, Derbyshire, plant using net zero hydrogen to fuel its kiln. The achievement was the culmination of a series of trials substituting various proportions of hydrogen for natural gas.

Tarmac’s lime director Graham Cooper said “Lime has been manufactured in the Peak District for centuries and this forward-thinking project aims to ensure the future of this nationally significant industry as the UK transitions to net zero.”

India: Gujarat Sidhee Cement has stopped its kiln for a temporary period of 15 – 20 days due to high clinker inventory levels. Cement grinding and despatch will continue unabated. The cement producer operates an integrated plant at Sidheegram in Gujarat.

Kyrgyzstan: United Cement Group (UCG) subsidiary Kant Cement has begun installation of a lining on its Kant cement plant’s rotary kiln in order to reduce losses and improve the efficiency of the plant. The producer expects the lining to raise its kiln’s temperatures by 100°C. It consists of wear-resistent RMAG–H2 bricks and HALBOR–400 refractory bricks.

UCG said “Energy efficiency and energy saving are among the most important factors for the successful implementation of ongoing economic and social reforms.”

Russia: Local Press has reported that Altai Cement plans to start up Kiln 2 at its Altai cement plant. When operational, the kiln will double the plant’s capacity to 2400t/day.

Mexico: Cemex and Coolbrook have signed a memorandum of understanding to test technology to electrify the cement kiln heating process. Coolbrook says that its Roto Dynamic Heater (RDH) technology can heat a cement kiln to 1700°C using electrical power. If generated from renewable sources this could potentially remove around 45% of the carbon emissions in cement production that normally arise from the use of fossil fuels. The companies expect the technology to be ready for commercial use at an industrial scale in 2024. They will jointly evaluate the best production site to test and develop this technology.

Ilpo Kuokkanen, the executive chair of Coolbrook, said "Coolbrook has set a target to build a comprehensive ecosystem around its revolutionary technology and to test its use in as many industrial processes as fast as possible. Together with Cemex, we can bring the technology to cement production and achieve significant emission reductions in one of the most energy and CO₂-intensive industrial processes.”

Finland-based Coolbrook is a technology and engineering company that is developing processes to replace the burning of fossil fuels in major industrial sectors. Its RDH has potential applications in cement, steel and chemical production process. Its Roto Dynamic Reactor (RDR) is intended to eliminate CO₂ emissions from the steam cracking process used in the production of plastic.

Russia: SibCem subsidiary Angarskcement has restarted kiln four at its plant in Angarsk after a decade of inactivity. The kiln was last used in 2010. The decision to restart the kiln was made in 2021 due to growing demand for building materials in the Irkutsk region and an increase in cement sales. Kiln four was first lit in 1960 and was later upgraded in the early 1980s. It has a clinker production capacity of 720t/day. All four kilns are now running at the cement plant.