US: LafargeHolcim US has revealed more information about a commercial-scale carbon-capture study based at its integrated Ste. Genevieve cement plant in Missouri. The project aims to deliver a front-end engineering design (FEED) study for a carbon capture retrofit that can separate up to 95% of CO₂ emissions at the plant. The captured CO₂ will be ‘pipeline ready’ for geological storage and analysis of the project socio-economic impact will also be part of the study. The US Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory awarded US$4m to the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois to work on the project in early October 2021. LafargeHolcim and Air Liquide are also making cost share contributions.

The design will use Air Liquide’s Crycocap FG system at the cement plant. LafargeHolcim US says that it combines pressure swing adsorption capabilities with cryogenic refrigeration technologies to achieve high CO₂ capture rates with high CO₂ purity rates. Notably, for a carbon capture project, the Ste. Genevieve plant has one of the largest single clinker kilns in the world.

Russia: SLK Cement says it has purchased over 230 gondola-style railway wagons so far in 2021 as it modernises its fleet. At present the company owns 701 units of rolling stock. 445 of these are open wagons. Its latest addition was 61 gondola wagons in October 2021. The cement producer has made the investment to reduce its delivery costs. It added that it has subsequently reduced its unit costs for rail transportation in 2021.

US: Bruks Siwertell has received an order for two 5000 S type road-mobile ship unloaders for cement handling in North America. The first unit will be delivered to the US midwest in the summer of 2022 with commissioning scheduled for the winter of 2022. The second unit, for the southeast region, will be delivered in the summer of 2022 with commissioning by the spring of 2023. Both unloaders will have a rated cement handling capacity of 300t/hr for vessels up to 5000 dwt. Other features include technology for diagnostics and trouble-shooting. The customer for the order has not been disclosed.

UK: Road building company Hanson Contracting has begun rolling out Causeway Ermeo mobile workforce management software across its operations. The technology will replace paper forms and workflows. The software connects construction sites and offices through digital workflows, with easy-to-use reporting functions. Hanson Contracting plans to also digitise its timesheets, risk assessments, plant inspections, holiday requests and other manual processes.

Business manager Chris Harrison said “There is a lot of excitement from our business improvement team for Causeway Ermeo. We are always looking for any efficiencies and lean improvements to make in the business, and we see this solution as a key one." He added “We want data and technology to be at the heart of everything that we do. It gives us better operational and commercial performance on-site and also aligns us with our key customer’s vision for the future, in line with the National Highways Digital Roads strategy.”