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A Tec commissions Rocket Mill in Wiener Neustadt 30 November 2016
Austria: A Tec has commissioned a Rocket Mill RM 2.50 for ASA at its waste treatment plant in Wiener Neustadt. The mill has a capacity of 7 – 40t/hr and is equipped with two grinding chambers, which can be independently loaded. Each one has a main drive with 315kW. Due to the grinding technology, it also has an additional drying effect of approximately 10%. The mill is designed to produce refuse-derived fuels (RDF) with an output size of 5 - 80mm from pre-sorted and shredded household and commercial waste. It was principally built at A Tec’s plant in Eberstein.
Loesche reports on Unicem Calabar cement plant order 30 November 2016
Nigeria: Loesche has released details on its order for the United Cement Company of Nigeria (Unicem) cement plant at Mfamosing, near Calabar in Cross River State, which was commissioned in September 2016. The order was for two vertical roller mills (VRM): one type LM 60.4 for grinding cement raw material and one LM 70.4+4 CS, the biggest Loesche VRM built for grinding cement clinker.
Loesche worked with Renk to develop the Compact Planetary Electrical (COPE) drive due to the high power requirements of the LM 70.4+4 CS mill. This mill was designed for a capacity of more than 370t/hr to a fineness of 4700 Blaine that required a drive system that could power it up to 8800kW. So the COPE system was designed for mill drive powers ranging from 4000 – 15,000kW. The COPE gearbox is also equipped with eight individual drive units, which are each designed for a capacity of 8800kW, allowing for redundancy in case of unit failure.
Other notable highlights of the installation that Loesche have highlighted include the equal size as standard drive units for VRMs that allow for the exchange of conventional gearboxes with the setup. The installation is also the first usage of an eight-drive unit in a VRM gearbox and the first time a multiple drive in a VRM can operate with or without a variable frequency drive.
Delivery of the order started in October 2015. First production of cement on the new production line began in September 2016. The new line increased the plant’s cement production capacity to over 5.5Mt/yr from 2.5Mt/yr. It was built by China’s CBMI Construction.
Dangote Cement defends temporary production shutdown in Tanzania 30 November 2016
Tanzania: Dangote Cement has clarified that a temporary production shutdown at its Mtwara plant has been made due to technical problems. Country chief executive officer Harpreet Duggal made the announcement in response to claims that the stoppage was due to high production costs in the country, according to the Tanzania Daily News newspaper. The plant is expected to resume production in a few days.
Duggal described operating costs in Tanzania as ‘high’ due to the producer’s dependence on diesel generators. He also cited high transport costs due to the plant’s distance from its key markets.
Colombia: Cemex Latam, the Latin American subsidiary of Cemex, intends to enter dialogue with the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Antioquia (Corantioquia) to revoke its environmental permit for Maceo cement plant project. Corantioquia has requested that the permit from Central de Mezclas, a subsidiary of CHL, be returned to the CI Calizas y Minerales, according to the El Colombiano newspaper. The government agency has removed the clearance on procedural grounds and over the mining rights in the area.
Tarmac opens rail facility at Aberthaw Cement Plant 30 November 2016
UK: Tarmac’s Aberthaw Cement Plant has opened a rail facility to despatch bulk cement. The rail depot will mean that trains will be used to transport cement in Wales for the first time in over 20 years. The yard is expected to replace 2500 annual truck movements on the local roads. Jane Hutt, the Welsh Assembly Member for Vale of Glamorgan, officially opened the facility.
“Reducing our road movements by 25% is a significant achievement and it puts us in an even better position to supply materials to our customers across Wales and the south west of England in a more sustainable way. The plant has been in operation for over 100 years and we employ 109 people, the majority of whom live within 10 miles of the site, so this development demonstrates our commitment to the Vale of Glamorgan,” said Aberthaw Cement Plant manager, Chris Bradbury.