UltraTech Cement Ltd and Coolbrook, a transformational technology and engineering company, will jointly develop a project to implement Coolbrook’s RotoDynamic HeaterTM (RDH) technology in one of UltraTech’s cement manufacturing units.
The RDH technology uses electrification from renewable sources for the heating processes in cement production and removes the need to use fossil fuels, thus helping to accelerate the decarbonisation of cement manufacturing. The successful implementation of the RDH technology is expected to reduce the use of coal-based thermal energy in cement production processes. The project envisages the use of Coolbrook’s RDH technology initially for replacing the use of fossil-fuel based energy in the drying of alternative fuels and the learnings from the project will be used to scale it up for deployment in the use of cement production processes.
UltraTech had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Coolbrook in June 2022 to jointly explore the use of RotoDynamic Heater technology to electrify the cement manufacturing process. Coolbrook and UltraTech are now extending their cooperation following the successful large-scale pilot of an RDH unit at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen, the Netherlands, in December 2022. Using 100 per cent renewable energy, the heat generating capabilities of RDH units were demonstrated in real time at the pilot, proving the technology’s capability of hitting the temperature target required for cement production.
Mr K C Jhanwar, managing director of UltraTech Cement Ltd, said: “As a founding member of the GCCA, we are committed to the sectoral aspiration of delivering Net Zero concrete by 2050. Towards this end, we are continuously striving to innovate at every stage of the whole life of concrete. Coolbrook’s RDH technology represents an exciting technological pathway that we believe has the potential to exponentially accelerate our progress towards full decarbonisation. Every megawatt of clean energy we add to our mix makes a big difference.”
Mr Joonas Rauramo, CEO, Coolbrook; Mr K C Jhanwar, MD, UltraTech Cement; Ilpo Kuokkanen, executive
chairman, Coolbrook; and Mr E R Raj Narayanan, business head and chief manufacturing officer, UltraTech Cement,
at the signing of the continued collaboration
