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.’

UK: Austrian shredder producer Lindner has released details about the installation of a Polaris 1800 shredder on the island of Guernsey in the English Channel. The machine was installed in early 2019 on behalf of Island Waste, part of the Guernsey Recycling Group, to produce solid recovered fuels (SRF). Upon delivery challenges had to be overcome including limited availability of hoisting equipment. At present he shredder processes around 8t/hr of municipal waste into SRF.

Germany: Beumer Group has developed a screw weigh feeder with automatic calibration. The company says it is especially well suited to exact and controlled feeding of inhomogeneous bulk materials of densities between 0.08t/m3 and 0.80t/m3 and extremely high moisture content such as alternative fuels. Its capacity is 30t/hr and its weighing tolerance is between 1% and 2%. It is completely covered to prevent dust and other environmental stresses.

UK: Helvellyn Group, a manufacturer of high energy, low impact solid fuels, has announced the official launch of its cement industry direct coal replacement product in Europe.

Helvellyn has chosen the Global Cemfuels Conference (Paphos, Cyprus 19 - 20 February 2020) as the location for the launch and will be sponsoring the event as well as attending in person.

Helvellyn solid fuels are designed to meet the needs of hard to adapt large industrial plants that are seeking to reduce, or even eliminate, their reliance on coal. The fuels are manufactured to replicate the physical and combustion properties of coal, while reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with mining, transporting and burning fossil fuels.

This latest renewable coal replacement fuel has been developed to address the specific needs of cement producers, many of whom have already introduced alternative fuels but are now struggling to increase the ratio due to physical, chemical and technical constraints.

Helvellyn’s product allows operators to maintain their existing alternative fuel mix while, in most instances, adding Helvellyn fuel as a direct drop-in replacement for coal from the point of delivery through pre-combustion processing and in combustion.

The Helvellyn fuel for cement production is based on four core principals, high energy, low moisture, low chlorine and ease of handling. While exact fuel specification and presentation can be fine-tuned to meet the specific needs of a given plant, fuel is typically presented as 50mm hard, hydrophobic lumps with the following properties: energy >25kJ/kg (10,750btu/lb, 5.97kcal/kg); ash content <6%; moisture <2%; chlorine <0.07%; carbon >60%; sulphur <0.2%; nitrogen <0.4%.

Frank Harris, CEO of Helvellyn Group, said, “We are delighted to be launching this important product at the Global Cemfuels Conference 2020. The cement industry has shown innovation and leadership in utilising alternative fuels and we believe we can help them to meet the challenges of the next decade as they further reduce the environmental impact of their product. We are excited to meet with the industry and let it see our fuel for the very first time - it is like nothing they will have seen before.”