Displaying items by tag: Wyoming

US: Eagle Materials will modernise and expand its Laramie, Wyoming cement plant, increasing its capacity by 50% to approximately 1.2Mt/yr. The expansion includes a new cement distribution facility in northern Colorado. This project aims to cut manufacturing costs by about 25%, generated by the replacement of traditional fuels with lower cost alternative fuels and natural gas, as well as improved operating efficiency. This upgrade will also reduce CO₂ intensity by nearly 20%, according to the company. The US$430m investment also includes upgrading the existing plant, which became operational in 1927 and currently has a capacity of 800,000t/yr. Construction is set to begin immediately, with completion expected in the second half of 2026.

US: ThyssenKrupp Polysius, a subsidiary of Germany-based thyssenkrupp, has delivered a Polysius booster mill to Mountain Cement's Laramie grinding plant in Wyoming. The Eagle Materials subsidiary will take delivery of further ancillary equipment, including material handling, process gas management and machine protection systems, throughout mid-late 2023. The supplier said that the mill will help to increase the Laramie plant's flexibility. It will also provide site services and technical support for optimisation and maintenance for two years after commissioning, also slated for 2023.

ThyssenKrupp Polysius' project manager Matthew Burchfield said "This is a very important and interesting project for ThyssenKrupp Polysius. This is the first booster mill system sold in the US and one of the first booster mills worldwide. We are tasked with a very tight engineering and supply schedule. ThyssenKrupp Polysius is working closely with Mountain Cement and its engineering teams."

US/Canada: XPrize has named CarbonBuilt and CarbonCure Technologies as the winners of carbon capture and storage (CCS) design prizes worth US$20.0m. The competition ran at two power plants in Wyoming, US and Alberta, Canada. CarbonBuilt won the contest at the Wyoming plant with a concrete-curing based system. The concrete produced has a lower carbon footprint than conventionally produced concrete, according to XPrize. CarbonCure Technologies won the Alberta contest with a design based on carbonating the water used in washing cement trucks. This reportedly formed a concrete-strengthening slurry.

XPrize has partnered with Elon Musk and the Musk Foundation to launch a second round of CCS design prizes worth a total US$100m.

US: Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua’s (GCC) Rapid City plant in South Dakota is working with Black Hills Energy to use wind power for around 50% of its electricity requirements. GCC has joined Black Hills Energy’s Renewable Ready Program, which will supply energy for 15 years.

Black Hills Energy will build a wind-power generating facility in 2020 to supply the plant located near Cheyenne in Wyoming. The Corriedale Wind Energy Project is anticipated to produce energy by the first quarter of 2021 that will be shared with subscribers in South Dakota and Wyoming. The program was designed for large commercial and industrial customers and governmental agencies in the company’s electric service territories in South Dakota and Wyoming.

“By choosing low-cost renewable energy resources to power our business, we’re able to advance our business goals and sustainability objectives while also supporting the expansion of affordable, renewable energy development in the region,” said Ron Henley, US division president of GCC.

US: The Japan Coal Energy Center (JCOAL), GreenOre Clean Tech, Columbia University and Wyoming Infrastructure Authority (WIA) have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to test carbon utilisation and recycling technology. GreenOre Clean Tech, using technology under license from Columbia University, will use testing space at the Integrated Test Center (ITC) near the Dry Fork Station coal-fired power station in Gillette, Wyoming. Calcium carbonate produced through CO₂ mineralisation could then potentially be used for aggregates, concrete production or in paper production. The test will be funded by JCOAL with additional support from project partners.

The State of Wyoming and JCOAL have been working together since 2016, when they signed an initial MOU committing to cooperation in coal research and development of technologies and coal trade. JCOAL operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan and is supported by more than 120 member coal-related businesses, including Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Nippon Steel and Toshiba. Kawasaki is scheduled to test its solid sorbent capture technology at the ITC beginning in 2021.