Global Cement News

India: Two employees have died from a fall at the Birla Corporation’s cement plant at Maihar in Madhya Pradesh. The workers reportedly fell from an overhead platform, according to the Press Trust of India. Materials stacked on the platform also fell, burying the workers and other labourers. Piyush Tiwari, a mechanical engineer aged 35 years, and Prabhu Dayal Patel, a labourer aged 40 years, both died at the scene. The other labourers were unhurt. Local residents protested at the site following the accident setting fire to administrative buildings and two vehicles. Police are investigating the fatalities.

Pakistan: GE says it has delivered a turnkey power grid to DG Khan Cement’s Hub plant in Baluchistan. The grid includes a 132/6.3kV gas-insulated switchgear (GIS), 40MVA power transformers and other related auxiliary equipment. The power solution also includes an extension at K-Electric’s Hub Chowki grid station with a 132kV AIS bay connecting it to the DG Khan Cement grid station. GE also supplied engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the 132/6.3kV grid station.

“As one of the largest cement producers in Pakistan, our aim is to create a facility for the future, not only to meet local demand but also to serve the international market. To support these efforts, we needed a field-proven stable and reliable grid solution and therefore after thorough evaluation we selected GE’s solutions. Given GE’s experience spanning across a wide range of industries and applications, we are pleased to work with the team on this critical project,” said Arif Bashir, Director (Tech & Ops) at DG Khan Cement.

DG Khan Cement officially opened the Hub plant in July 2018. The unit has a cement production capacity of 2.8Mt/yr.

US: LafargeHolcim has received American Petroleum Institute (API) certification to produce oil well cement at its Holcim Theodore plant in Alabama plant. It says it is one of only four cement plants in the country with an API 10A Monogram and Q1 Quality Management System. Production of Class A oil well cement will start immediately at the site and the company plans to add Class H production in the future.

In order to earn the certification, LafargeHolcim spent more than a year in a process of investing in additional testing equipment, developing a quality management system, conducting internal audits and passing an audit by the API. Oil well cement is designed to meet demanding requirements. It is continuously tested for chemistry, thickening time, fluid loss, free fluid, rheology and compressive strength.

Production at the company’s Theodore plant will complement LafargeHolcim’s ability to maintain a consistent supply of oil well cement to customers in the Gulf region and beyond. The company also produces API A and H well cements at its Joppa cement plant in Illinois.

Russia: Eurocement has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Dry Building Mixes Manufacturers Union about using white cement. The deal was signed by Jaroslav Stoupa, the president of production and technical development at Eurocement, and Roman Borisov, the head of the Dry Building Mixes Manufacturers Union, at a trade conference in Moscow. The agreement connects the producers and users of white cement and it allows for the technical exchange of data about the product’s market requirements. It follows Eurocement’s plans to develop a white cement production line at its Zhigulovskiye Stroymaterialy plant in Samara in mid-2019.

Denmark: Dankalk is upgrading the lime hydrator at its Aggersund plant. A new KLV 02/630-4.0 type lime hydrator is being supplied by Germany’s Gebr. Pfeiffer. It is being replaced from a previous Gebr. Pfeiffer model installed in the 1980s due to tighter emission limits. Commissioning of the new lime hydrator is scheduled for mid-2019.