Displaying items by tag: Plant

US: Continental Cement has ordered a Fuelflex Pyrolyzer alternative fuels combustion system from Denmark-based FLSmidth for installation at its Davenport plant in Buffalo, Iowa. The supplier says that its product offers a lower capital expenditure compared to competing systems, can control NOx emissions without the need for ammonia water and can be installed without a long shutdown period. This is the first commercial installation of the Fuelflex Pyrolyzer system following a pre-commercial installation at the Mannok cement plant in Northern Ireland, UK, in 2022.

David Loomes, the president of Continental Cement, said “We’re very excited about what the Fuelflex Pyrolyzer will do for our process.” He added, “We’re planning to achieve 55% fossil fuel replacement across the plant, utilising non-hazardous waste that would otherwise go to landfill or incinerators. The economic and environmental benefits of this technology are very significant and a key element of executing our carbon reduction commitment.” Continental Cement, a subsidiary of Summit Materials, has been incorporating waste materials as fuels for more than 30 years.

Jens Jonas Skov Larsen, Head of Capital Sales at FLSmidth, said “Mannok has called the Fuelflex Pyrolyzer a game-changer for the cement industry.” He continued, “This system effectively rearranges the order of the combustion process to make use of hot preheater meal, which is the heat source for the waste fuel pyrolysis. It’s a more efficient way of burning alternative fuels and it comes with a host of benefits, including reduced emissions and a more stable process.”

The installation at Davenport cement plant is expected to start operation in 2024. The full commercial launch for the system is scheduled by 2025. No value for the order has been disclosed.

UK: Geminor opened a new waste processing facility in Hull on 25 April 2023 in the presence of close to 100 guests. Kalvin Neal, the Deputy Lord Mayor of Kingston upon Hull, and Geminor chief executive officer Kjetil Vikingstad jointly cut the ribbon at the new HUB site, which can produce 150,000t/yr of refuse-derived fuel (RDF). Following the ceremony, guests were taken on a tour of the 11,000m² that was built by engineering company Keltbray. The unit in East Yorkshire had an investment of Euro11.3m. Most of the HUB facility will be used to service Geminor’s existing 68,000t/yr waste processing contract with Hull City Council, which currently runs to 2030.

The HUB site is equipped with the latest industry requirements and technology, such as an Exeons Odour Abatement system and a Helios Fire Suppression system, alongside plant vs people proximity sensors to ensure safety.

David Singh, the project manager for the Hull processing facility at Geminor UK, said "The journey has been incredible, from the point of sourcing land back in 2018 and all the way up to the opening ceremony. Brexit, Covid-19, and the somewhat significant weather conditions sometimes caused challenges, but not more than we could handle. We are well underway in commissioning the facility and look forward to operating in May 2023.”

Lithuania: Arturas Zaremba, the head of Akmenes Cementas, has warned that government proposals to increase the import tax on coal in 2024 and the abolition of subsidies for the fuel will affect the company. The country’s parliament is also proposing scaling the import tax based on a CO2 scale, according to the Baltic Business Daily newspaper. Zaremba said that the cement producer uses 130,000t/yr of coal. However, it is currently investing Euro22m on an upgrade to its Akmenes integrated plant to allow it to switch to using a higher proportion of solid-recovered fuel. It currently has a 10% alternative fuels substitution rate using dried sewage sludge and tyres.

Zaremba said "There will be some impact because we will still have some of that coal left, but not as much as we would have had without the investment. I have not followed how much they plan to increase the excise duty, but we need to look into how much that would be in the financial terms. Any increase has an impact."

Ethiopia: East Africa Holding (EAH) has set up a subsidiary, Pan Afric Energy, to pilot using the prosopis juliflora shrub as a biomass alternative fuel at its integrated Dire Dewa plant operated by its National Cement subsidiary. The US$50m project testing using the invasive species is backed for a number of different partners, including the local government and the European Union, according to the Capital newspaper. So far the initiative has reached a 5% thermal substitution rate at the Dire Dewa plant. The project is also considering using the shrub as an alternative fuel at a new cement plant being built at Lemi town, in the North Shoa zone of Amhara region. EAH has formed a joint-venture with China-based West China International Holding to build the new plant.

Chile: Cbb Cementos and Ambipar Environment have announced an upgrade to the Curicó plant that will allow it to process refuse-derived fuel (RDF). The US$5m investment will allow the unit to process around 36,000t/yr of RDF. The work will include building a reception hopper, a screening system, a belt feed belt to the calciner and a dosing system. Three warehouses will also be constructed. The alternative fuels upgrade is expected to start operation in early 2024.

Finland: Kuusakoski is planning to spend over Euro4m towards building a new composite shredding and treatment plant at Hyvinkää. The investment includes the renovation of a building that currently exists at the Kuusakoski Hyvinkää site, as well as the construction of the new processing line. The new plant will consist of two shredders, several covered conveyors, a magnet and a dust control system. 35% of the spend will be financed by Business Finland from RRF (Recovery and Resilience Facility) funding. Commissioning is scheduled by the end of 2025.

Mikko Kuusilehto, the president and chief executive officer of Kuusakoski, said "Our investment brings the circular economy solution piloted in Germany to Finland. With it, we can provide the best industrial scale recycling process for composite materials locally." He added, "The demand for a recycling solution for composites is rising already, as the amount of composite waste will increase: wind turbines, airplanes, boats and other vehicles contain considerable and increasing amounts of composites."

The shredded composite material will be supplied to cement plants for use as an alternative fuel.

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos has installed a chlorine bypass at its integrated Vidal Ramos plant in Santa Catarina. The US$10m upgrade is intended to allow the unit to process more alternative fuels such as plastics, fabrics and personal protective equipment. The company says it is the first such installation in the country. It will allow the plant to increase its co-processing volumes by 62% to 73,000t/yr from 45,000t/yr. In 2021 the plant used 65,000t of petcoke. This is expected to fall to 53,000t/yr with the addition of the chlorine bypass, reducing CO₂ emissions by 5% or 12,200t.

South Korea: Halla Cement has awarded a supply and engineering contract to Germany-based KHD Humboldt Wedag for an upgrade of line 2 at Okke plant. KHD will supply a new Pyroclon R type calciner, with a Pyrotop type mixing chamber, and a 4.2m x 15m Pyrorotor type combustion reactor. Other equipment being provided includes: a Pyrobox type coal firing system for process start-up and operation balancing; replacement of stage five cyclones with new high-efficiency cyclones; and a new kiln inlet chamber with orifice. Erection and commissioning of the modernised production line is scheduled for the first quarter of 2024.

This latest project marks the second installation of a Pyrorotor at Halla Cement’s Okke plant. The installation of line 3 at the site is currently ongoing with commissioning scheduled for the first quarter of 2023. Overall, this will be KHD’s ninth installation of a Pyrorotor in South Korea.

The Pyrorotor has been promoted to cement plants as a way of using low-quality alternative fuels with minimal pre-processing. It offers a thermal substitution rate of over 85% and will also allow the Okke plant to reduce its NO_x emissions. The installation of the new Pyroclon R type calciner and the high-efficiency cyclones in the lowest preheater stages will also provide the production line with an increase in efficiency due to an overall pressure drop reduction in the entire preheater.

UK: Mexico-based Cemex has inaugurated the Climafuel unit at Rugby cement plant. Climafuel is a waste derived fuel which is made using domestic and commercial waste. The upgrade is intended to allow the cement plant to operate at a 100% alternative fuels (AF) substitution rate. This is the first Cemex plant to be able to do this.

Sergio Menéndez, the President of Cemex Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia, said, “With the completion of this considerable development, we have set new records in alternative fuel substitution, the highest of any of our plants and eventually expect to phase out completely the usage of fossil fuels at the plant. We expect the Rugby plant to be a model for other Cemex cement plants around the world.”

Switzerland: Switzerland-based ABB is launching the ProKiln inlet gas sampling system to help cement producers reduce the volatility associated with using higher levels of alternative fuels (AF) and allow kilns to run for longer. The product offers probe cleaning with increased mechanical strength, which includes a dual probe retraction system to ensure no sampling interruption.

The supplier says that its product uses an extractive filter in the tip of the probe which separates sample gas from the dust load to reduce problems faced with scaling of material when gathering data. It also uses two air blasters to clean the tip to maintain a sample path for analysis. A three-dimensional printed stainless steel nozzle is intended to ensure that no blockages at the tip of the probe occur and the system is mounted on a buggy running on a retractor which carries the probe in and out of the kiln allowing it to be cleaned automatically. Measuring 3m long, the gas probe is water cooled with an extractive filter placed at the sample and flow is maintained by the blasters. A cooling system also provides recirculating water for temperature control.

The ProKiln has been tested for six months at Holcim’s Lägerdorf site in Germany, a cement plant that has an AF substitution rate of over 80%.