Displaying items by tag: Tamil Nadu

Dalmia Cement threw down the gauntlet this week with the announcement of a large-scale carbon capture unit (CCU) at one of its plants in Tamil Nadu, India. An agreement has been signed with UK-based Carbon Clean Solutions Limited (CCSL) to use its technology in building a 0.5Mt/yr CCU. The partnership will explore how CO₂ from the plant can be used, including direct sales to other industries and using the CO₂ as a precursor in manufacturing chemicals. No exact completion date or budget has been disclosed.

The move is a serious declaration of intent from the Indian cement producer towards its aim of becoming carbon neutral by 2040. Dalmia has been pushing its sustainability ‘journey’ for several years now hitting targets such as reaching 6Mt of alternative raw materials usage in its 2018 financial year and reaching a clinker factor of 63% at the same time. In an article in the November 2018 issue of Global Cement Magazine it said it had achieved CO₂ emissions of 526kg/t from its cement production compared to 578kg/t from other Indian members of the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI). In its eastern operations it had gone further to reach 400kg/t.

Using CCU is the next step to this progression but Dalmia’s approach is not without its caveats. Firstly, despite the size of the proposed project it is still being described as a ‘large-scale demonstration.’ Secondly, the destination of all that captured CO₂, as mentioned above, is still being considered. CCSL uses a post-combustion capture method that captures flue gas CO₂ and then combines the use of a proprietary solvent with a heat integration step. Where the capture CO₂ goes is vital because if it can’t be sold or utilised in some other way then it needs to be stored, putting up the price. Technology provider CCSL reckons that its CDRMax process has a CO₂ capture price tag of US$40/t but it is unclear whether this includes utilisation sales of CO₂ or not.

The process is along similar lines to the Skyonic SkyMine (see Global Cement Magazine, May 2015) CCU that was completed in 2015 at the Capitol Cement plant in San Antonio, Texas in the US. However, that post-combustion capture project was aiming for 75,000t/yr of CO₂. Dalmia and CCSL’s attempt is six times greater.

Meanwhile, Cembureau, the European cement association, joined a group of industrial organisations in lobbying the European Union (EU) on the Horizon Europe programme. It wants the budget to be raised to at least Euro120m with at least 60% to be dedicated to the ‘Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness’ pillar. This is relevant in a discussion on industrial CO₂ emissions reduction because the scheme has been supporting various European cement industry projects, including HeidelbergCement’s work with the Low Emissions Intensity Lime And Cement (LEILAC) consortium and Calix at its Lixhe plant in Belgium and its pilots in Norway. As these projects and others reach industrial scale testing they need this money.

These recent developments provide hope for the future of the cement industry. Producers and their associations are engaging with the climate change agenda and taking action. Legislators and governments need to work with the cement sector to speed up this process and ensure that the industry is able to cut its CO₂ emissions while continuing to manufacture the materials necessary to build things. Projects like this latest from Dalmia Cement are overdue, but are very encouraging.

India: CARE Ratings has identified Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh as the key states expected to lead cement production capacity additions over the next decade to 2030. In a sector report the credits agency forecast growth of 120Mt in this period. It noted that Rajasthan, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were among the top states in installed capacity at present. It said that the southern region led with highest installed capacity of 33% followed by the North, East, West and Central regions. Rajasthan, Karnataka, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are among the states with highest limestone resources.

India is the world’s second largest second producer but its per capita consumption is low, at 210kg. This is well below the global average of around 575kg/capita.

India: Ramco Cements’ Ramasamy Raja Nagar integrated plant has won the ‘Green Award 2018 for Industries of Tamil Nadu’ from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board. It was bestowed in recognition of the contribution towards protection of environment made by the company. Special focus is acknowledged to best practices adopted to achieve best environmental quality in emissions, discharge of waste water, solid and hazardous waste management and green belt development.

India: The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has issued a show cause notice to Ramco Cement’s Ariyalur plant in Tamil Nadu for breaching air pollution limits. CPCB inspectors found that the particulate matter (PM) and NO_x emissions were higher than allowed during an inspection in March 2019, according to the New Indian Express newspaper. The CPCB has recommended that the unit supplies continuous data transmissions and calibrates of all of its monitors to CPCB Online Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems guidelines.

India: The Builders Association of India has urged that the state government of Tamil Nadu take measures to reduce the price of cement following a 37% rise in the cost of the commodity. Chairman S Ayyanathan said cement prices had witnessed ‘sharp’ increase in the last 10 days, despite the cost of raw materials, labour and transportation remaining static, according to the Hindu newspaper. He also cited falling demand for cement due to a slowdown in construction activity in the state.

India: The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has penalised four cement producers in Tamil Nadu for failing to follow emission standards. Chettinad Cement’s plants at Puliyur and Karikkali, Tamil Nadu Cements’ plant at Alangulam, Dalmia Cements’ plant at Salmiapuram and ACC’s plant at Coimbatore have been accused by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change for not complying with emission standards for particulate matter, SO_x and NO_x, according to the New Indian Express newspaper. ACC and Dalmia Cements have been fined around US$420/day since 31 August 2018, Chettinad Cement has been fined around US$5000 for a 12 day delay in compliance and Tamil Nadu Cements has been fined over US$23,000 for a delay of 55 days.

India: A welder has died at UltraTech Cement’s Reddipalayam plant in Tamil Nadu. The contract worker died following a fall from a height of 8m, according to the New Indian Express newspaper. Relatives and local residents staged a protest following the incident.

India: Tamil Nadu Cements Corporation plans to start commercial operation of a new 1Mt/yr production line at its Ariyalur plant in Tamil Nadu in early 2019. Construction work on the US$100m project was originally started in May 2016 and it is due to be completed in October 2018, according to the Hindu newspaper. Testing and trial runs will then start in November 2018. Following the upgrade, the state-owned plant will have a total production capacity of 1.5Mt/yr.

India: Commissioning of the new 3000t/day production line at Tancem’s Ariyalur plant in Tamil Nadu is expected to take place in the second quarter of 2018. Construction work is reported as almost complete. Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is the lead contractor on the project with Denmark’s FLSmidth hired by L&T to provide the design, engineering, manufacturing and supply of all equipment. FLSmidth’s scope of supply includes providing key components for the line including raw material crushing equipment, limestone storage, raw and coal grinding, single-string ILC pyro processing system with cooler, cement grinding and packing and loading systems.

India: The state government of Tamil Nadu has scaled down its support for the Amma Cement Supply Scheme. Sales data shows that the scheme failed to meet its targets in 2015 – 2016 and 2016 – 2017, according to the Hindu newspaper. Its highest level of sales was 52% of procurement in August 2016. The subsidised cement scheme was launched by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in 2014 to help lower and middle income groups purchase cement at subsidised prices.