Displaying items by tag: preheater

Saudi Arabia: Sinoma Overseas has marked the construction of the preheater tower as part of a relocation and upgrade of Yamama Cement’s production line. The previously 10,000t/day line now has a capacity of 12,500t/day. The placement of the final structural element on the preheater tower was attended by representatives from both companies.

Sinoma posted on social media that the company had “overcom[e] significant engineering and logistical challenges – from dismantling and moving massive equipment to integrating new technology.”

With the preheater tower now complete, the company looks ahead to the plant’s commissioning and final delivery.

China: The Conch Zongyang Line 4 preheater modernisation project, based on KHD technology, has been selected as a pilot project under the Sino-German Energy Efficiency Improvement Demonstration in Key Industries programme. The initiative will be executed by KHD, its parent company AVIC International Beijing, and Conch Group’s research and development department. Results are expected by the end of 2025.

The programme stems from a 2023 agreement between China and Germany on climate change and ‘green’ transition cooperation. The programme was announced in 2024. It evaluated 12 candidate projects before selecting the Conch Zongyang project for its integration of technologies to achieve energy efficiency and a reduction in CO₂.

This project is one of several provided by AVIC to Chinese cement producers using KHD’s pyroprocessing, grinding, alternative fuel and digitalisation solutions.

Saudi Arabia: Turboden, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, has announced its first project in Saudi Arabia — a 13MW organic rankine cycle (ORC) power plant at Riyadh Cement Company. This marks the first ORC plant in the Kingdom and the largest globally.

The plant will capture residual heat from the cement plant's clinker coolers and pre-heaters (2 kilns of 5000t/day each), offering high energy efficiency and eliminating water consumption. Sinoma Energy Conservation serves as the project's engineering, procurement and construction contractor.

General manager Andrea La Gioia said "Turboden is honoured to spearhead this groundbreaking project in collaboration with Riyadh Cement Company. With around 460 ORC plants in 52 countries, 50 in ‘waste’ heat recovery application, our ORC technology represents a game-changer in the global energy landscape, and we are proud to support the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in its transition towards cleaner, more sustainable energy sources."

Czech Republic: Engineering company Aliacem started trial operation in February 2024 of an upgrade project to the preheater at Cement Hranice’s integrated plant. The project was reportedly completed on schedule, met quality standards and occurred without any injuries. Cement Hranice is a subsidiary of Italy-based Buzzi.

France: Lafarge France has ignited the new kiln at its Martres-Tolosane cement plant following a Euro120m upgrade. Local press has reported that the upgrade replaced the plant’s existing kilns and preheater tower with entirely new equipment. The new kiln has tripled the plant’s capacity, to 2.1Mt/yr from 0.7Mt/yr. Meanwhile, the new preheater tower will help to reduce the plant’s electricity consumption by over 20%. As a result of the upgrade, the Martres-Tolosane plant can now support an alternative fuels (AF) substitution rate of 60%, compared to 20% beforehand. Lafarge France aims to carry out further work to reach 85% AF substitution at the plant by 2027. Other planned projects include the installation of a carbon capture system.

Lafarge France chief executive officer François Petry said “We are going to create a research and innovation centre here dedicated to the capture of CO₂, with the ambition of ultimately making the Martres-Tolosane plant net zero carbon.”

Ghana: CIMPOR has appointed Germany-based ThyssenKrupp Polysius to build a 1280t/day flash activator for clay. The activator will supply calcined clay for use in the production of cement with a clinker factor as low as 50%. This can reduce the cement’s CO₂ emissions by 40% compared with ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The supplier’s contract covers engineering, supply of core equipment and supervision of the project. The equipment includes parts for clay handling, a hammer mill, a flash dryer and preheating and cooling equipment, as well as storage silos. The activator will be natural gas-fired.

Polysius Activated Clay product owner Leo Fit said "Our technology is not only more environmentally friendly, but also creates cost benefits for our customers like CIMPOR. In many regions, limestone is scarce and clinker has to be imported at high cost. At the same time, suitable clay sources are available. The increasing pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is leading cement manufacturers to rethink. They need an alternative that is cost-efficient and at the same time provides high-quality cement. This is exactly what Polysius activated clay offers."

Greece: Titan Group has successfully commissioned an upgrade to the pre-calciner system of its Kamari cement plant in Voiotia. Titan Group says that this will enable the 3.1Mt/yr plant to expand its range of lower carbon cements, reducing its CO₂ emissions by 150,000t/yr. It also increases the plant's maximum possible alternative fuels (AF) substitution rate.

Titan Group’s Europe regional executive director Yanni Paniaras said "The completion of the Kamari plant upgrade represents a significant achievement for Titan Group. We are witnessing tangible results as our green innovation gains momentum and takes shape. This successful implementation of one of our major capital expenditure projects exemplifies our dedication to sustainable operations and strategic growth, while we continue to pursue more growth opportunities in all our active markets. We are committed to offering our customers and communities greener products and solutions, playing our part in building a sustainable future for all.”

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.

Brazil: Secil Supremo Cimentos has appointed FLSmidth to carry out a pyro process upgrade at its Adrianópolis cement plant in Paraná. The Denmark-based supplier says that it plans to carry out modifications on the plant's preheater, cooler and related auxiliary equipment. It says the new equipment will expand the plant's capacity to 3900t/day, corresponding to an annual production capacity of 1.42Mt/yr. It will also enable it to increase its alternative fuel (AF) substitution rate to 40%. Secil Supremo Cimentos' AF mix consists of shredded tyres, wood and other refuse-derived fuels.

FLSmidth's head of capital sales, Jens Jonas Skov Larsen, said “We are grateful for our continued partnership with Supremo, which has consistently invested in the latest technology. As the plant was already operating an ILC five-stage preheater from FLSmidth, it was well positioned to use AF.”

Saudi Arabia: Yamama Cement has commissioned its second cement plant, with 20,000t/day in capacity across two clinker lines. The producer invested US$1.25bn in the plant's construction, which was carried out by Germany-based ThyssenKrupp. The facility is equipped with seven raw materials crushers, a 3.7km-long limestone conveyor belt, 110,000t of storage capacity, four Quadropol roller mills, two Dopol preheater towers, two Polro rotary kilns, two Polytrack clinker coolers, three 100,000t clinker silos, four Polycom high-pressure roller mills, six 22,590t and 25,000t cement silos and 22,000m³
in water storage basins. The new plant is situated in the eastern Arabian Desert, 80km from Riyadh.

Yamama Cement also operates the 6.4Mt/yr Al Karj Cement plant, 70km from Riyadh.