Displaying items by tag: Biomass

India: The Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) is considering using agricultural biomass as an alternative fuel. It says it is willing to offer support to different state governments to help find a way of delivering biomass directly from fields to cement producers, according to the Times of India newspaper. The CMA says it is offering a solution to the dust pollution caused by crop burning. However, the industry needs to resolves problems with transportation and seasonality. The CMA hopes to contact local governments and organisations to find a solution to these issues in 2019.

Brazil: BNDES, the national development bank, has approved a US$7.4m loan for Votorantim Cimentos to co-process alternative fuels. The funds will be used to adapt the company's industrial units to process industrial waste, tyres and biomass, according to the O Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper. The cement producer is preparing to spend US$13.6m towards modifying its plants at Salto de Pirapora in Sao Paulo and Edealina in Goias.

Sweden/UK: Siwertell, part of Cargotec, has signed a contract with the Spanish-Korean consortium, TR-Samsung, for a Siwertell ship unloader to support a new biomass-fuelled power plant under construction in Teeside, Middlesbrough in the UK.

"We provided extensive references demonstrating our ability to meet the owner's high standards and design criteria," said Peter Goransson, Siwertell Sales Manager & Senior Advisor. "Important factors included compliance with environmental directives, a proven track record of good reliability and safety, high through-vessel discharge rates and the ability to handle sensitive products with minimal cargo degradation or breakages."

Siwertell will deliver a customised rail-mounted ST 790-type D Siwertell unloader, which will be located close to the 299MW plant in Teesport. It will discharge wood pellets and wood chips to a matched Siwertell jetty conveyor with a movable transfer trolley, supplied as part of the contract. Siwertell biomass unloaders are also equipped with a new-generation safety system to mitigate the risks of fire and dust explosion when handling biomass in an enclosed space.

The unloader has a rated average capacity of 1200t/hr and a maximum rate of 1320t/hr, designed to meet the plant's requirements of 16,000t/day. It is equipped with a dual truck loading system for continuous direct truck loading at a rate of 300t/hr. This is a redundancy feature that allows operations to continue if the shore conveying system fails.

The unloader will be built in Europe by Siwertell's production partners and will be delivered fully assembled in 2018.

Canada: McInnis Cement and the St Elzear Forestry Cooperative Association (ACF) have signed a cooperative agreement to study the feasibility of using forest biomass as an auxiliary fuel for the cement plant under construction in Port-Daniel-Gascons.

The utilisation of forest biomass as an alternative fuel would enable the McInnis cement plant to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). McInnis Cement has provided the equipment necessary for the use of alternative fuels at its new cement plant.

"We are pleased to establish this collaboration with the region's forest industry in line with our GHG reduction plan," said Christian Gagnon, president and CEO of McInnis Cement. "Any operations that result from this agreement will be reviewed by the Environmental Committee, whose work began in April 2015," he added.

Forest biomass is a fuel source in abundant supply in Gaspé. McInnis Cement requires a local long-term quality source of supply at competitive costs. The St Elzear ACF is able to supply forest residues, wood chips, sawdust, shavings and bark.

"By studying the possibilities together, including from the outset the client's needs and the capabilities of potential suppliers, we are putting all the pieces in place to make this project a reality," said Sebastien Roy, executive director of the St Alzear ACF. "The success of a fruitful partnership between McInnis and our organisation would be a big boost to our industry. The situation is complex since, beyond availability, supply sources need to be guaranteed over the long-term and quality and prices must remain competitive, including product transportation and processing costs."