An ABB multidrive solution for Huaxin Cement is saving 1.6GWh of electrical energy a year on as the cement producer selects ABB technology for a demanding conveyor application at its showcase Huaxin production plant in Hubei. ABB outlines the benefits of the new equipment.
Founded 105 years ago in 1907, Huaxin Cement is the oldest cement manufacturer in China. Its products have built the Three Gorges and Danjiangkou dams. The company is also one of the country’s leaders in sustainable production and industrial ecology and has become a model in China’s Circular Economy (CE) initiative.
The CE initiative requires companies to minimise their consumption of resources, reduce their emission of pollutants, and recycle waste and byproducts in their production processes.
Part-owned by Holcim, Huaxin Cement produces 1.8Mt of cement and 75GWh of electric power annually at its Zigui plant in Hubei province. The power is generated using waste heat from the production process as well as by collecting and incinerating the debris that floats past the plant in the nearby Yangtze River.
When Huaxin Cement installed a new 2km downhill conveyor belt to transport crushed limestone from a nearby mine to a storage yard at the plant, it looked to ABB for a solution that would operate at the highest levels of reliability and energy efficiency, as well as strengthen Huaxin’s profile of sustainable “circular” production.
Downhill conveyors are demanding applications. Continuous braking is necessary to prevent excessive movement of the belt as it moves downhill. At Hubei, the difference in elevation between the top and bottom of the 1965m conveyor is 320m and the inclination is 10.7°. To deliver the performance required, the belt is powered by two 500kW motors, controlled by an ABB ACS800 multidrive with a regenerative supply unit that feeds energy back into the grid.
