Global CemFuels News

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos has won an award for its açaí stone co-processing project at its Primavera plant in Pará state. It won the atmosphere emissions category at the 14th Brazilian Environmental Awards organised by the American Chamber of Commerce for Brazil. The plant processes 6500t/month of açaí berry stones and it plans to target 10,000t/month. The state of Pará produces around 0.5Mt/yr of açaí stone.

Namibia: Ohorongo Cement’s plant at Walvis Bay has had an alternative fuels substitution rate of 40% for the last six months of 2018. Local recycling company Rent-A-Drum said that it has been supplying waste fuels to the plant, according to the Namibia Economist newspaper. As well as fuels from domestic waste the plant is using wood chips and charcoal dust in its kiln.

China: Guangzhou Zhujiang Cement has completed a dry sludge co-processing project at its plant in Shenxian, Baiyun in Guangdong. The plant can process 300t/day of the dry sludge. CNBM Sinoma’s subsidiary Tianjin Cement Industry Design & Research Institute (TCDRI) was the main contractor on the initiative. The project was agreed in early 2016, built in 2017 and then tested from late 2017.

India: The Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board has granted permission for the Ramki Group to build the first waste processing plant in Raipur. The project will have a budget of US$17m, according to the Times of India newspaper. Refuse-derived fuel (RDF) from the unit will be supplied to local cement companies. The unit will produce fertiliser for farmers as well. Ramki Group also plans to build a waste-to-energy plant at the site and the state government is considering a proposal.

Germany: Holcim Süddeutschland plans to co-process glass waste at the Dotternhausen cement plant. It has submitted an application to the local government to store 625t of glass waste at the site, according to the Zollern-Alb-Kurier newspaper. The glass waste will be used as a substitute for clay in the production process and it is proposed to be used at a rate no greater than 0.7t/hr. The plant will receive glass waste with a thickness no more than 3mm that cannot be recycled for glass production. The waste will be sourced from a processing plant in Bad Wurzach.