Global CemFuels News

Bolivia: Empresa Minera Industrial’s 0.1Mt/yr integrated cement plant has resumed operations across both dry lines following a fuel shortage. Tinformas has reported that a natural gas shortage caused the suspension of operations in November 2019 following an attack on a pipeline.

India: Waste-processing company Green Worms has won a contract for landfill extraction, refuse-derived fuel (RDF) processing and transportation to cement plants from the town authority of Fort Kochi in Kerala. The New Indian Express newspaper has reported that recyclable material will be removed before the waste is processed into fuel. “89% of waste is recyclable. But the rest can be converted into RDF,” said Green Worms project manager Thajudeen Abubacker.

UK: Germany-based shredders supplier Untha has reported that it has recieved an order from Lancashire Waste Recycling for an Untha XR3000XC for its Burnley line, where it produced solid recovered fuel (SRF) for the cement industry. The plant already operates with an XR3000C and an XR3000XC, while Lancashire Waste Recycling’s Fleetwood plant uses an XR2000 pre-shredder, an XR3000C and an XR3000XC.

US: The debate over proposed clean air regulations which may restrict or halt LafargeHolcim’s tyre-burning plans at its 2.0Mt/yr Ravena plant will take place on 23 December 2019. The Times Union newspaper has reported that councillors will debate whether to lower the maximum permitted pollutant emissions from incineration facilities to a level below that entailed by LafargeHolcim’s alternative fuel (AF) plans.

In mid-2018, LafargeHolcim’s licence from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for the combustion of 4.8M tyres per year expired. It announced ‘preliminary discussions’ with tyre suppliers in January 2019.

Hungary: Lafarge Cement Hungary has announced plans to upgrade clinker production at its 1.0Mt/yr Kiralyagyháza integrated plant with a Euro1.79m investment in chlorine bypass technology, which uses powdered limestone to remove chlorine and one tenth of the carbon dioxide (CO₂) from gases released in clinker production, which will then be used in clinker cooling. There will be a concomitant increase in the rate of alternative fuel (AF) substitution in the plant’s kilns, with an AF fuel store expansion in early 2020 set to raise AF usage to 80% from 60%.