Germany: Schenck Process has launched CONiQ, a cloud-based software product designed to access data from machines. The company said that it builds the foundation for all digital services of Schenck Process, enabling data-driven maintenance and performance optimisation. Users are able to monitor equipment using CONiQ’s integrated knowledge base. The supplier said that the product will open up ‘new functionalities’ for various cement plant equipment. Its first version will focus on vibrating screens and provide dashboards and functions to improve condition monitoring.

Nigeria: BUA Cement has announced that it will commission the second production line at its Kalambiana cement plant in Sokoto state in July 2021. The Daily Independent newspaper has reported that the upgrade will bring the plant’s cement production capacity to 3Mt/yr. The group intends for the plant to serve the growing domestic cement demand and to stabilise prices.

Germany: Former HeidelbergCement technical director Rainer Nobis has published a book entitled Illustrated History of Cement and Concrete. The over 300-page volume traces the development of cement and concrete from prehistory to the present day, exploring the question of how cement and concrete came to be so closely intertwined with our prosperity, way of life and mobility. It is both a technical history and a story of the people who contributed to the development and application of cement and concrete. Nobis described the book as of interest both to cement experts and laypeople. More than 700 pictures accompany the text. Its first edition is available in English and German versions.

The Illustrated History of Cement and Concrete is currently available prior to its launch on online retailers in mid-March 2021.

India: ISGEC Heavy Engineering has won a contract for a double waste heat recovery (WHR) unit installation at Shree Cement’s Raipur cement plant. The Business Standard newspaper has reported that the supplier will install one unit on the plant’s pre-heater exhaust, and the other on the 10,500t/day kiln’s cooler exhaust.

Industrial and green energy boilers business head Vinod Luthra said, “This is indeed a very prestigious order for us and we thank Shree Cement for once again showing confidence in ISGEC's capabilities. This is the second project that ISGEC will be successfully setting up for Shree Cement."