Votorantim Cimentos SA has requested a US$150m investment loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for a capex project at its Salto plant in São Paulo, Brazil. The modernisation will give the plant new co-processing capacity. Kiln W4 will be upgraded and a new residue-derived fuel (RDF) facility will be constructed for refining solid non-hazardous and hazardous waste with the installed capacity of 120,000tpa.
Currently, the Salto plant substitutes fossil fuels with approximately 34 per cent of alternative fuels, using biomass, wood chips, used tyres, non-hazardous and hazardous RDF. After the upgrade both types of RDF and tyres will be used. The project aims to approximately double use of alternative waste fuels after the upgrade of Kiln W4. The upgrade of the kiln W4 will see increased calciner residence time, a new raw mill conversion of ESPs to bag filters and application of selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR), which will be used to control NOx air emissions.
The Salto plant has been in operation since 1977 and produces cement, aggregates and agricultural lime. The total site comprises 242km2 and includes two limestone quarries. Limestone is transported by a closed conveyor belt from the Ponte Alta quarry crossing a road by overhead conveyor and with trucks on internal roads from the Salto quarry. The nearest town is Piraporinha, 3.2km to the south and the small community of Alta Vista, 1.5km to the west.
