Baumit's Wopfing cement plant in Piestingtal, Austria, has invested EUR5.6m in the modernisation of the plant's clinker cooler.
"The new clinker cooler uses an innovative cooling system that saves us almost 20mkWh of energy per year in the cement works – 90 per cent of which is thermal energy and 10 per cent electrical energy," explains Manfred Tisch, technical director of Baumit GmbH. "This corresponds to the energy consumption of 1000 households per year."
The clinker cooler type has only been installed a few times worldwide. The tertiary air duct was renewed and enlarged. This means that more hot air from the cooler is used and less fuel is used in the furnace. "After 12 months of monitoring, the measurements have confirmed this," said Manfred Tisch, pleased with the result.
Georg Bursik, Baumit managing director, said: "We have been using waste heat for drying systems in the plant for decades. This saves 4000t of CO2 annually and relieves the burden on the environment. The best energy is that which is not needed."
