Displaying items by tag: Upgrade

Brazil: Secil subsidiary Supremo Secil Cimentos will invest US$20.3m in an upcoming expansion of its Adrianópolis cement plant. Commencing in July 2024, the expansion will raise the plant’s clinker capacity by 10% and enable it to increase its alternative fuel (AF) substitution rate from 25 – 30% to 40%, and eventually to 50% by 2030. To date, AF use at the plant has reduced its cumulative consumption of petcoke by 100,000t.

CEO Paulo Nascentes highlighted the transformative impact of the Adrianópolis plant on its host community, with its initial investment of US$176m and a subsequent US$41.7m in previous upgrades to date. "One of the reasons why the Paraná government allowed the plant was because Adrianópolis was very neglected. The arrival of Supremo transformed the city," he said.

India: Nuvoco Vistas has commissioned a 1.2Mt/yr cement mill at its Haryana Bhiwani cement plant in Haryana. This expansion will help Nuvoco Vistas to raise its production volumes in Northern India and to diversify its product offering.

Managing director Jayakumar Krishnaswamy said “We are set to seize the opportunities. We continue to emphasise quality and innovation, and secure a larger market share in the North while retaining our leadership position in the East. On the ready-mix concrete end of the value chain, we have also commissioned five new plants in the current fiscal, bringing our total to 56 plants pan-India.”

Saudi Arabia: China National Building Material (CNBM) subsidiary Sinoma CDI has won a US$6m contract to upgrade cement and raw materials conveyors at Riyadh Cement Company’s Riyadh cement plant. The producer has opted for elevator conveyors for mechanical transportation, in place of its existing pneumatic conveyors. It expects this to increase energy efficiency and reduce necessary maintenance. The project is due for delivery in early 2025.

Riyadh Cement Company CEO Shoeil Al-Ayed said that the project aligns with the producer’s strategic energy reduction initiatives.

UK: Aggregate Industries has successfully removed gas duct sections from the electrostatic precipitation filter at its Cauldon cement plant in Staffordshire. This will make way for the installation of a new CTP Team process kiln bag filter, following an annual shutdown.

Cauldon plant capital expenditure manager Mark Powling said “The new bag filter not only provides the best available technology, but will enable the Cauldon plant to optimise its plant performance, driving its decarbonisation and alternative fuel strategies. Thanks to the project team for their efforts and hard work to date.”

Saudi Arabia: Sinoma Overseas Development has reported the successful construction of the first steel column for the kiln inlet of the new Line 3 at Yamama Cement’s Al Kharj cement plant in Northern Halal. The China-based supplier used a crawler crane to position the structural element, which is painted in its characteristic blue. In a post to LinkedIn, it said that the development ‘kicks off the steel construction and installation’ of the upcoming 12,500t/day (4.6Mt/yr) line.

Sinoma Overseas Development said “Meticulous preparations were made for the successful completion of the first installation as a landmark task in the project’s construction: civil engineers re-measured pre-embedded bolts multiple times, cleared pathways, and set the area ready for operation. Seamless coordination between commanders and operators, combined with whole-process supervision of managers, made the successful installation of the first steel column possible.” Looking forwards, it said “The project team, greatly inspired by the successful installation, will continue to face challenges head-on, chase for high quality while ensuring safety and make sure tasks are completed in due time for the safe and smooth operation of subsequent construction.”

US: Holcim US, in partnership with The Ohio State University and GTI Energy, will install membrane carbon capture technology at its Holly Hill, South Carolina, cement plant. The project is partly funded by a US$7m the US Department of Energy. The partners aim to capture 99% of the plant’s CO₂ emissions.

GTI Energy vice president of carbon management and conversion Don Stevenson said "This project will showcase the power of collaboration and innovation in tackling the complex challenge of transitioning to cleaner energy systems. The development and implementation of cost-effective carbon capture technologies are key to meeting our decarbonisation goals."

Egypt: Arabian Cement Company is replacing electrostatic precipitators at its Ain Sokhna cement plant with bag filters. Arab Finance News has reported that the project will commence in two phases. Arabian Cement Company will first install the filters in Line 1 of the plant, before subsequently installing them in Line 2. Italy-based air pollution control specialist Redecam Group will execute the upgrades.

Iraq: Al-Riyadh Investment Companies Group subsidiary Al-Douh Iraqi Company for Cement Industries plans to expand its Al Douh cement plant’s capacity by 58% to 3Mt/yr. The expansion is part of an upgrade involving the installation of a new kiln, a gas-fired captive power plant and a new waste heat recovery (WHR) plant. The WHR plant will provide 30% of the plant’s energy. The US-based International Finance Corporation (IFC) has loaned Al-Douh Iraqi Company for Cement Industries US$130m on a long-term basis for the project.

The IFC says that it expects the Al Douh cement plant expansion to help boost economic diversification, spur sustainable growth in Iraq and generate 2700 new jobs in Muthanna Governorate.

India: Ratna Cements has inaugurated its Mudhol cement plant in Karnataka after competing modernisation work. Following its previous upgrade in 2016, the plant had an integrated capacity of 365,000t/yr and an additional grinding capacity of 73,000t/yr. The Hindu newspaper has reported that parent company MRN Group marked the occasion of the latest inauguration with an announcement that it plans to build a new 1Mt/yr cement plant adjacent to the existing one in Mudhol.

MRN Group chair Murugesh Nirani noted importance of the group’s work to create jobs for Karnataka.

Germany: Holcim Deutschland has announced for the ‘most extensive’ modernisation of its Beckum cement plant to date. Local press has reported that the modernisation will commence with the installation of a Euro20m pendulum cooler to replace the plant’s existing tube cooler. The new cooler will reduce the plant’s CO₂ emissions and make separated CO₂ better suited for capture, according to the producer. The Beckum cement plant is the site of an on-going carbon capture trial.

General manager Jan Kristof Peters said “We want to implement all construction work as quickly as possible and with as little noise pollution as possible for the neighbourhood. As in previous years, we ask for our neighbourhood’s understanding.”