Carbon Re and ABB highlight collaboration at Cemtech Europe 2024

Last week at Cemtech Europe 2024 in Warsaw, Kenny Wong (Carbon Re) and Ryan Courts (ABB) detailed ongoing work between the two companies to achieve operational excellence in the cement industry through AI. In the presentation, the two highlighted how ABB and Carbon Re are formalising their joint approach to enable more cement producers to use AI-powered optimisation and decarbonisation to advance their production and strategic objectives.

Heidelberg Materials, a leading global cement producer and market leader in Czechia, has partnered with Carbon Re to achieve improvements in pyroprocess performance. Heidelberg have integrated Carbon Re’s AI technology on top of its ABB Ability^TM Expert Optimizer for cement at its Mokra plant (Czechia).

In the first month of continuous operation at the Mokra plant, the integration of Carbon Re’s software led to a 4.1 per cent reduction in the fuel cost index, a decrease in fuel-derived carbon emission by 4.5kg/t of clinker (2 per cent reduction) and a 33 per cent reduction in C₃S variance.

The Mokra team validated the results of the closed-loop evaluation period in a one-month on, one-month off test. When controlling for key variables, such as fuel mix and raw material quality, the plant observed a 2.2 per cent reduction in specific heat consumption. These improvements will assist the plant in grinding and cement blending, leading to additional costs and carbon savings. By augmenting the plant’s existing ABB advanced process control (APC) solution with Carbon Re’s AI, Heidelberg hopes to achieve new levels of operational excellence and digital innovation.

Jirí Strapping, Mokra plant director, said, “We had been searching for a system to enhance our APC solution using AI for a long time, and Carbon Re’s platform looked promising. Carbon Re’s understanding of the challenges of cement production and their expertise in AI were key to us working together.”

Josh Vernon, CEO of Carbon Re, said, “With the support of the team at Heidelberg Materials Czechia and ABB, we are delighted to showcase how Carbon Re’s AI can help cement producers leverage years of digital investments to reduce carbon emissions and save on fuel costs.”

Tyron Vardy, global portfolio manager for business line digital, ABB Process Industries, said, “ABB has been leading the way with advanced process control (APC) in the Cement industry for many years. Integrating Carbon Re’s AI capabilities is the next step in our portfolio’s evolution, as we continue to leverage the power of artificial intelligence into our industry leading APC solutions, increasing the benefits we can deliver to our customers.”