Displaying items by tag: Alternative Fuels

Vietnam: The Vietnam National Cement Corporation (Vicem) and Denmark-based supplier FLSmidth have announced a cooperation agreement with the aim of radically reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from cement production and improving air quality. The cooperation will consist of Vicem implementing solutions pioneered by FLSmidth. FLSmidth said that a key focus of the cooperation will be Vicat’s use of ‘municipal and other waste streams as alternative fuel sources,’ with the aim of achieving 100% substitution using FLSmidth solutions, in accordance with FLSmidth’s ambition ‘to enable cement companies to operate with zero emissions by 2030.’

Poland: Figures from the Polish Cement Producers’ Association (SPC) have shown a 30% reduction in specific CO2 emissions over the 30-year period from 31 December 2019 to the projected figure for 31 December 2019 due to the co-processing of alternative fuels (AFs) by cement producers in the country. It estimated a total cost of investments of Euro2.34bn but said that further developments would be slowed in the absence of governmental action to raise electricity and emissions costs for more pollutant competitors.

Lafarge Poland leads the pack in terms of AF substitution, meeting 75% of its fuel needs (0.4Mt/yr) with prepared unrecyclable refuse-derived fuel (RDF). The company says it will increase this figure to 0.5Mt/yr in 2022. Speaking of the planned 25% increase, Lafarge Poland president Xavuer Guesnu said “Concrete and cement products need not be a problem, but rather a solution to contemporary challenges both urban and climatic.” The LafargeHolcim subsidiary operates a 0.2Mt/yr RDF processing plant at its 2.0Mt/yr integrated Kujawy w Blelawach cement plant.

Egypt: Geocycle Egypt has opened a plant to process alternative fuels in Ain Sokhna. The unit had an investment of around US$12m, according to the Egypt Independent newspaper. The waste management subsidiary of LafargeHolcim will process agricultural and industrial waste into alternative fuels. It plans to supply 0.4Mt/yr to Lafarge Cemet Egypt’s Ain Sokhna plant.

Canada: The Alberta Climate Leadership Plan has allocated US$7.5m for the Lower Carbon Fuels Project at Lafarge Canada’s Exshaw cement plant. The funding is part of a total of over US$50m that will be distributed to 11 projects in the Province. Projects were selected and funded through Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA), an organisation that accelerates the development and demonstration of emissions-reducing technologies.

“This multi-partner, multi-site research project will help Lafarge Canada better understand the environmental benefits of introducing lower-carbon fuels at the Exshaw Cement Plant. The Exshaw low-carbon fuels project will go a long way in helping us reach our ambitious corporate goal to produce 40% less net CO₂/t of cement by 2030. This support from ERA helps us move this project forward. We hope that any positive results or lessons learned will encourage others in our industry to do the same, giving this investment a greater, far-reaching impact,” said Kate Strachan, plant manager at the Lafarge Exshaw Cement Plant.

The project at Exshaw involves studying the use co-processing alternative fuels to replace the use of natural gas. Technologies for fuel handling, processing, and injection will be installed at the site to replace 50% of its natural gas use. The implementation at Exshaw will be supported by development of a waste and fuel processing facility in Calgary. Eight fuel types will be examined including construction renovation and demolition waste, non-recyclable plastic, carpet and textiles, shingles, treated wood products, wood products, rubber and tire fluff.

Spain: Geocycle Spain’s Albox plant’s production of alternative fuels rose by 20% year-on-year to 53,000t of in 2018 from 49,000t in 2017. The company said it had invested Euro0.86m towards innovation in the business in 2018, including a new waste treatment line, according to the Ideal newspaper.

Egypt: Khaled Fahmy, the Minister of Environment, has opened a new production line at Arabian Cement Company’s Ain Sokhna plant in Suez. The line uses FLSmidth’s Hotdisc combustion device to allow it to use high levels of alternative fuels, according to the Watani newspaper. The opening was attended by Muhammad Shehab Abdel-Wahab, chief executive of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, Nahed Youssef, head of waste management organisation, as well as a number of representatives of the financiers, and director of the European Investment Bank.

In 2015 Arabian Cement Company commissioned another Hotdisc installation. At the time is said it had a designed fuel mix of 70% coal and 30% alternative fuels, using a mixture of agricultural wastes, municipal sludge, and refuse-derived fuel (RDF).

UK: The Mineral Products Association (MPA) has welcomed a report by the Government Chief Scientific Adviser on the value of waste for its referencing of co-processed recycling of waste derived fuels and raw materials in the cement industry. The report, entitled ‘From waste to resource productivity’ by Mark Walport, looks at waste as a resource.

It is accompanied by a case study report that brings together evidence and opinions from a range of stakeholders, including a study from MPA’s Richard Leese and Rebecca Hooper regarding co-processing waste in cement. This document is not a statement of government policy, but the MPA says it is the first UK government report to reference co-processed recycling of waste derived fuels and raw materials.

“UK cement manufacturers recycle 1.5Mt of waste and by-products annually. Government scientists have finally acknowledged the important recycling that the cement industry provides for UK society,” said Richard Leese, MPA’s Director of Industrial Policy, Energy and Climate Change. He added that the next step would be for the government to account for the ‘societal benefit’ of waste products in its official recycling statistics.

Egypt: Chemical Industries Holding, a industrial chemical manufacturer, has formed a committee for a consultancy to study offering a mixture of coal and alternative fuels for National Cement. The committee will also consider the financial and technical aspects of supplying a cement mill for the cement producer.

Ireland: Irish Cement is planning to cut the amount alternative fuels it intends to co-process at its Limerick cement plant to 90,000t/yr. The cement producer withdrew its initial planning application in March 2016 but has resubmitted a new application with a lower amount of alternative fuels, according to the Limerick Leader newspaper. It now aims to burn half of the original amount that was originally requested.

It originally announced its Euro10m plan to co-process alternative fuels including tyres at the plant in December 2015. The investment is intended to create 40 jobs. However, local citizens have opposed the plans with over 450 people signing a petition against the development.

Poland: Gorazdze Cement intends to cut costs partly by increasing its usage of alternative fuels, according to its CEO Ernest Jelito. As the Polish cement producer is currently operating at a 60 – 70% capacity utilisation rate it has no plans to increase its capacity. Gorazdze Cement has a thermal substitution rate of around 50% at present and it intends to raise this to 70 – 80%.