Displaying items by tag: Plant

North Korea: Upgrades to two cement plants have been reported by the Korean Central News Agency. The Sunchon cement plant near Pyongyang has installed a multi-channel pulverised-coal burner. The upgrade has allowed the unit to both save coal and increase cement production. The Chonnaeri cement plant in Hamgyongnam province has started operating a new clinker cooler. The companies supplying the new equipment to either plant have not been revealed.

India: Dalmia Bharat says its has executed definitive agreements with Jaiprakash Associates to buy cement, clinker and power plants. The latest part of the acquisition process has cleared Dalmia Bharat to buy the JP Super Cement plant in Uttar Pradesh for US$183m, subject to various clearances and approvals. In addition, Dalmia Bharat has also agreed to buy a 74% share of Bhilai Jaypee Cement for an enterprise value of US$81m and is in the process of signing a seven-year lease agreement with Jaiprakash Power Ventures for its 2Mt/yr Nigrie Cement grinding plant in Madhya Pradesh. Dalmia Bharat will have the option to purchase the Nigrie unit anytime within the lease period for an enterprise value of around US$30m.

Dalmia Bharat agreed to buy selected assets from Jaiprakash Associates for US$684m in December 2022. Cement and grinding plants under the deal are situated in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the deal in February 2023.

Ethiopia: Berenta Cement has signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with China-based Sinoma Cement to build a cement plant at Shebele Berenta in Amhara region. The two companies will form a joint venture to work on the unit, according to the Ethiopian News Agency. The regional government will support the initiative. The wider scope of the project also includes plans to supply products and services such as gypsum, gypsum wallboard, glass and glass fibre.

India: Dalmia Bharat's wholly owned material subsidiary – Dalmia Cement (Bharat) has commenced commercial production at its second cement line at its Bokaro, Jharkhand Cement Works 2 (JCW2). The JCW2 line has a capacity of 2.5Mt/yr, bringing the total capacity of DCBL and its subsidiaries to 41.1Mt/yr.

Poland: Germany-based IKN says that erection works of a new IKN-supplied cooler are in progress at Lafarge Poland’s Małogoszcz cement plant. The Euro100m upgrade project is building a new 3700t/day clinker production line at the unit to replace the existing three lines. A new alternative fuels line will also be installed to reduce the plant’s CO₂ emissions by 20% and its energy consumption by 33%. China National Building Material (CNBM) subsidiary Nanjing Kisen International Engineering was previously reported as being the lead contractor on the project.

Cuba: Corporación Cementos Cubanos’ Siguaney plant is supplying oil well cement products for Empresa de Perforación y Reparación de Pozos de Petróleo y Gas (EMPERCAP) and Australia-based Melbana. It has contracts to supply around 300t to both companies for local projects, according to the Prensa Latina news agency. It is also supplying PP-25 and P-35 types of oil well cement to the government.

US: Holcim US has joined the Department of Energy's (DOE) 'Better Climate Challenge' to reduce CO₂ emissions and save energy. It is the first cement producer to commit to the DOE program. The subsidiary of Switzerland-based Holcim plans to power the electrical operations at 13 cement plants in the country with 100% renewable energy by 2030 and to reach net zero CO₂ emissions by 2050. As part of the 'Better Climate Challenge' it has committed to reduce CO₂ emissions in the US by at least 25% by 2033.

Examples of current renewable power usage at Holcim US cement plants include the installation of three onsite wind turbines at the Paulding plant in Ohio that generate 11,500MWh while a forthcoming solar unit at the Hagerstown plant in Maryland will generate up to 18,440MWh. All 13 Holcim cement plants will conduct reviews to identify projects that could contribute to meeting goals of the challenge.

With grant support from the DOE, Holcim is also investigating the feasibility of using carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) at its cement plants in Portland, Colorado, and Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. In addition to involvement in the Better Climate Challenge, Holcim US is a continuing partner of the DOE's 'Better Plants Challenge', sharing facility-level energy data and solutions to help guide other industrial companies with implementing energy solutions in their facilities.

France: Ciments Calcia has announced an investment of Euro86m to further decarbonise cement production at its integrated Beaucaire plant. The subsidiary of Germany-based Heidelberg Materials has allocated a total of Euro600m towards reducing CO₂ emissions from all of its operations in the country in response to a government initiative, according to The Tribune newspaper.

The current funding follows a spend of just under Euro7m on upgrades at the site, including installing a new clinker cooler that will allow for greater recovery of waste heat, and the addition of a new computer control system. Following this work, the single production line plant was restarted in early April 2023.

The next stage of investment has started with a feasibility study. If successful, a tendering process could start in the second half of 2023 with work planned to start in 2025. The company intends to renovate the plant’s electricity network, modernise the production line with a preheater and a pre-crusher and make further changes to target an alternative fuels thermal substitution rate of 75%. A third stage, involving carbon capture and utilisation and/or storage, is tentatively planned to start in 2030.

Türkiye: Ahmet Eren, the chair of Eren Holding, says that its Medcem Çimento subsidiary will double its cement production capacity to 7Mt/yr in 2024. Eren made the comments in an interview amongst revealing investment plans, in other sectors, according to Bloomberg. Medcem Çimento selected Sintek Group to build a new 9000t/day production line at its integrated Mersin plant in late 2021. Germany-based Aumund was also reported in 2022 to be supplying equipment for the project.

Portugal: The first batch of clinker has been manufactured on the new upgraded production line at Secil’s Outão plant. Construction and start-up teams from ThyssenKrupp Polysius reached the milestone in mid-April 2023 after a heating period of 72 hours. Germany-based ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions was appointed by Secil to work on the Clean Cement Line project in 2020. It said it was going to modify the existing rotary kiln and preheater tower, install a new calciner and add a new grate cooler. Once finished it will produce Portland limestone cement (PLC). It is scheduled for commissioning in mid-2023.

Italy-based CTP Team was contracted in mid-2020 to supply and install a 29MW waste heat recovery (WHR) unit for the project. It planned to use an organic rankine cycle (ORC) unit using a 7.2MW turbine supplied by Turboden.

Italy-based Bedeschi also revealed in early April 2023 that it was in the cold commissioning phase for a new pipe conveyor at the plant to handle different kinds of alternative fuels. The conveyor has a diameter of 250mm and conveying length of 350m and will transport alternative fuels at a rate of 300m³/hr.