Displaying items by tag: Upgrade
Flender enlarges Voerde production plant
17 May 2023Germany: Flender has officially completed construction work on an expansion at its site in Voerde with the opening of its new logistics and storage hall for the assembly of large gear units. The hall has been built on an open area on the company's premises covering almost 8000m2. The new building is part of the drive manufacturer’s investments to be able to handle the expected growth in the global wind energy business and to drive the energy transition in Europe. In addition to large components for wind power gearboxes, the logistics hall will also serve its industrial business. The company has also leased another 10,000m2 hall, directly next door to its Voerde unit, to further support its logistics.
Flender’s chief executive officer Andreas Evertz said "With the new storage areas, we are making our logistics processes sustainable and thus reducing a considerable part of the previous transport routes and the associated CO2 emissions. Components that were previously stored elsewhere can now be stored centrally and made available for assembly more quickly with optimised transport routes.”
Flender’s Voerde plant is the company’s largest in Germany with an area of 276,000m2. It employs 1500 people.
Heidelberg Materials to invest Euro65m in Bussac-Forêt cement plant calcined clay upgrade
15 May 2023France: Germany-based Heidelberg Materials announced a planned Euro65m upgrade to its Bussac-Forêt cement plant in Charente-Maritime Department on 14 May 2023. The project will involve the installation of systems for the production of calcined clay cement. The producer says that this will enable the 0.8Mt/yr plant to reduce its CO2 emissions by 20%.
Chief sustainability officer Nicola Kimm said “In Bussac-Forêt, we are investing in a technology with great potential. It will allow us to significantly expand the range of low-carbon products. Using calcined clay as a clinker substitute is an important measure to reduce the carbon footprint of cement and concrete. In principle, a CO₂ reduction of up to 40% is possible when substituting cement clinker with calcined clay.”
Heidelberg Materials is already involved in the on-going pilot trial of a 400,000t/yr clay calcination plant in Ghana.
Qizilqumsement to upgrade Qizilqum cement plant
12 May 2023Uzbekistan: United Cement Group subsidiary Qizilqumsement says that it has awarded contracts for the upgrade of Lines 1 and 2 at its Qizilqum cement plant in Navoiy Region. Uzbekistan Newsline has reported that the producer has completed testing to ascertain the lines' parameters of operation, fuel and energy consumption and output. This will inform its decisions, with a view to reducing the cost of clinker production.
Qizilqumsement is currently in the process of building the Qizilqum plant's new 767,000t/yr Line 4, which will also increase its clinker capacity by 657,000t/yr. The producer expects this to lower the cost of its clinker production by 30%.
Nigeria: Lafarge Africa has opened a bag manufacturing unit at its Ewekoro cement plant in Ogun State. It has a bag production capacity of 105m/yr. The company says it is the first of its kind in the country. It is intended to increase the availability of bags through large-scale production locally. The project is a joint-venture run with MDV Industries.
Khaled El Dokani, the country chief executive officer for Lafarge Africa, said “We are using the best technology that produces the most efficient and durable bag in Nigeria. It is a very great day for us at Lafarge Africa.”
US: Swede-based Bruks Siwertell has received a conveyor system order for use at the integrated Capitol Aggregates cement plant in San Antonio, Texas. The order has been placed by Borton, a construction company.
Three new conveyor systems will modify the site’s existing material transport system and the addition of a new storage silos. They are all standard widths of 91cm. The C-810 type conveyor will be 148m in length and will transfer clinker to a bucket elevator at a rated capacity of 150t/hr. The 84m long C-940 type conveyor will have a rated capacity of 200t/hr and will transfer clinker to the silo reclaim, while the C-975 type conveyor will be 40m long and connect to an existing conveyor. It will also have a rated capacity of 200t/hr.
The conveyors are being fabricated in Mexico and will be delivered to the operator later in 2023.
Pakistan: Lucky Cement’s sales totalled US$1.2bn during the first nine months of the 2023 financial year, a rise of 28% year-on-year from US$941m during the corresponding period in the 2022 financial year. The Balochistan Times newspaper has reported that Lucky Cement attributed the growth to the commencement of operations of its new subsidiary, utilities provider Lucky Electric Power. The company increased its profit after tax by 83%, to US$172m.
Lucky Cement commissioned its Pezu cement plant’s new Line 2 at the end of the second quarter of the 2023 financial year. This increased the company’s installed production capacity by 26% to 15.3Mt/yr. The producer also inaugurated a new 34MW solar power plant, and completed negotiations for another, 25MW, solar power plant at its Karachi cement plant. The latest solar power plant is scheduled for commissioning later in 2023.
Belgium: France-based Air Liquide has signed a memorandum of understanding with Holcim to supply and operate a Cryocap Oxy carbon capture unit for the forthcoming upgrade to the Obourg cement plant. The intention is that 95% of the CO2 generated from the new production line will be captured and then transported via the Antwerp@C export terminal for under-sea sequestration. Air Liquide and Holcim have co-applied for the European Innovation Fund to support the project.
Pascal Vinet, Senior Vice President at Air Liquide Group, said “The decarbonisation of the industry is at the heart of our Advance strategy. We are committed to accompany our customers through providing a wide range of innovative solutions. As an example, Air Liquide's proprietary Cryocap technology is particularly well suited to decarbonise the cement industry.”
US: Heidelberg Materials says that the first clinker has been produced on the new production line at its integrated Mitchell cement plant in Indiana. Construction work on the project started in 2019 and the majority of the work is now completed. The US$600m upgrade is expected to increase the production capacity at the unit to over 2.4Mt/yr. It will also create 50 new full-time jobs at the site, bringing the total to 170.
Chris Ward, president and chief executive officer of Heidelberg Materials North America, said “We are extremely pleased to have the new Mitchell kiln online and producing clinker.” He added “With the capabilities of the new facility, we will be able to supply our customers more efficiently, consistently and sustainably than ever before.”
Upgrades reported at North Korean cement plants
28 April 2023North 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.
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.