Global CemFuels News

Egypt: Suez Cement’s Kattameya plant has started using a 10% waste-derived alternative fuels substitution rate in its main kiln burner. It brings the plant’s total thermal substitution rate up to 25%, in combination with the 15% rate of alternative fuels it already uses in the calciner. The plant’s volume of waste and biomass will double to 75,000t/yr. The subsidiary of HeidelbergCement’s plans to increase its substitution rate to 30% in the future.

China: Huaxin Cement has released an Environment Impact Report for a proposed domestic waste co-processing project at its Huangshi plant in Hubei province. The project will process 3000t/day of waste for the plant’s 2.85Mt/yr production line.

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos is ready to start co-processing 400t/month of solid waste at its Rio Branco do Sul plant in Parana. The project has been approved by IAP, the state environmental institute, and is being run in conjunction with the local authorities, according to the Parana Portal. The initiative was started August 2018 with agreement between Votorantim Cimentos, Itambe and Supremo.

Belarus/Hungary/US: Italy’s Entsorga is working on alternative fuel projects for cement plants in the US, Belarus and Hungary. In the US it has signed a contract to supply a Pelican feed line at Argos Cement’s Martinsburg plant in West Virginia. It follows a long-term off take agreement in place with the cement producer to supply alternative fuels. The 60,000t/yr feed station is similar to a feed station already delivered in 2016 in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.

In Belarus the waste engineering company plans to install an alternative fuel feed line at the Krasno cement plant. Local subsidiary EntsorgaFin will define the material acceptance standards and provide the design for the fuel feed station and feed line.

In Hungary Entsorga was awarded a contract for the supply of an alternative fuels automated handling and feeding system in January 2019 with an unnamed global cement producer. It will provide its Spider and Pelican products to the end user. Commissioning of the plant is scheduled for early 2020.

US: BioHiTech Global started operations at a waste treatment plant in Martinsburg, West Virginia in March 2019. It has completed the first phase of plant commissioning including the facility's reception area, overhead bridge cranes, and its primary mechanical sorting equipment. It has begun the next phase of plant commissioning and progressing operations, which includes receiving limited amounts of waste and beginning runs of its mechanical and biological treatment process for producing solid recovered fuel (SRF). The limited processing runs are expected to result in the production of SRF in the coming weeks with the facility reaching full operations in the second quarter of 2019. The unit uses Entsorga Italia’s proprietary high efficiency mechanical and biological treatment process (HEBIOT)

The majority of the waste, to be delivered as feedstock to the facility, is covered under a ten year agreement with a local waste hauler owned by Gold Medal Group, a regional waste management services company. The SRF will be supplied to cement producer Argos USA under a similar ten-year deal.

"The initiation of revenue generating operations at this first facility of its kind in the US is a pivotal moment for our company and an important step forward in the movement to lessen the environmental impact of waste management,” said Frank E Celli, the chief executive officer (CEO) of BioHiTech Global.

BioHiTech is the largest owner of the Martinsburg SRF plant through a majority owned subsidiary company with a 78% controlling interest in its operations. Gold Medal Group owns the remaining minority stake in the subsidiary.