Significant infrastructure investment in Uganda has been fuelling cement demand which is expected to exceed 2Mta in the near term. Located in eastern Uganda, Tororo Cement approached FLSmidth to help bring its plant to its rated capacity and achieve uninterrupted operation. FLSmidth responded by upgrading the raw mill and replacing all the major process fans, resulting in stable production of more than 1000tpd and reduced energy consumption, better positioning Tororo to meet the domestic demand needs of today and tomorrow. By Frank L Mortensen & Flemming S Poulsen, FLSmidth, Denmark.
The Tororo Cement plant was purchased second-hand from Germany and dates back to 1948. The plant was originally situated at mean sea level (MSL), but in Uganda it was installed at 1300m AMSL. This meant that the fans have not worked efficiently and the average output has been less than 50 per cent of the rated production level. In addition, the limestone in Germany was very soft, whereas at Tororo it is carbonatite, the hardest form of limestone, so the raw mill was also operating at 50 per cent capacity.
