Cement News tagged under: Manufacturing technology
Advanced vertical milling28 January 2014, Published under Cement NewsDue to evolving market requirements and trends towards higher capacities, new orders for grinding systems with high throughput rates and tailor-made cement qualities have become prerequisites. To meet this challenge, Gebr Pfeiffer has developed trendsetting mill and drive concepts for the cement industry. With supply of the world’s largest vertical roller mill (VRM) for Holcim Brasil’s Barroso works in progress, the German milling specialist shares operational experiences with recent project... |
Understanding dependency22 January 2014, Published under Cement NewsIn the first of a two-part Technical Forum, Dr Clark considers the complex dependencies involved in delivering a successful cement project. He uses a fictional cement company and country to illustrate those dependencies leading up to the placing of a contract and the contract effective date. In the second part, next month, the dependencies between the contract effective date and handover will be elaborated. The project goal is clear – to establish an 8000tpd cement factory and to sell... |
Alternative fuel characteristics20 January 2014, Published under Cement NewsMost microscopic analysis is based on classic studies carried out when single natural (traditional) fuels were the norm. How has the use of alternative fuels affected the microstructures observed? These observations start with a view on what differences new fuels can bring to the clinker. Figure 1: a belite cluster (150µm across) after the presence of coarse fly ash in the kiln feed Reducing conditions occur where there is an absence of oxygen such as at the bottom of an ocean o... |
The fuel shop of the future13 January 2014, Published under Cement NewsAs CO2 reduction targets approach, cement plants of the future will need to have a well-defined fuel strategy in place. As part of a series of articles on cement plants of the future, Kline Consulting looks at the most widely available alternative fuel sources and discusses what impact they may have on a plant’s design and its chosen business model. By John Kline & Charles Kline, Kline Consulting, USA. A look at the potential effects of increased biomass and biogenic fuels on new c... |
Marine terminal options18 December 2013, Published under Cement NewsTerminal concepts have changed greatly over the years and the complexity of projects has increased. Today, terminals are not only designed for a number of technologies but also with differing design options and contract terms. With customer-specific concepts increasing, turnkey solutions are more in demand, as it is virtually the only way that customers can guarantee their requirements are met. In this article IBAU Hamburg explores the various aspects of marine terminal planning using exampl... |
Kiln feed and clinker quality16 December 2013, Published under Cement NewsCommissioning a new cement plant generally centres around the performance in terms of tonnes per day, kWh/t, or other operational matters. It is easy to lose sight of the need to achieve the required quality while fulfilling these other requirements. The following article describes a case study of quality issues and the means of improvement during the commissioning of a 4000tpd precalciner kiln. Coarse (brown) alite crystals, coarse prismatic C3A and degraded alite indicating poor-qua... |
Consistent, reliable results26 November 2013, Published under Cement NewsQuality control has been automated to such an extent that we run the severe risk of turning into a generation of button-pushing operators instead of thinking analytical scientists. It is imperative that analytical scientists responsible for the quality control in a plant remain vigilant and regularly evaluate their data because automated sampling systems, plant process control systems, analytical equipment and data management systems need so little human input once set up correctly. By Maggi... |
Alternative binder advances13 November 2013, Published under Cement NewsDue to increasing environmental regulations, cement producers are striving to replace even larger parts of the Portland cement with low-carbon alternative cementitious materials. Highly- to moderately-reactive cementitious materials such as slag, fly ash or partial inert fillers (limestone) are predominantly used as replacement constituents but their limited availability and the requirement to meet performance criteria restrict the use of these substitutes. However, the development of new al... |
Optimising filter media28 October 2013, Published under Cement NewsAs environmental regulations are tightened and pollution control equipment is required to function at higher efficiencies, baghouse performance and maintenance is becoming increasingly important. The operational efficiency of baghouse dust collection systems can be improved by integrating all dust collection system controls. By Vahid Mirsaiidi, FilterSense, USA. Figure 1: B-PAC integrated baghouse control, sensing and diagnostic system At a time when plant managers are looking t... |
Revamping Rezzato22 October 2013, Published under Cement NewsAs Italcementi looks forward to celebrating the groups 150th anniversary next year, the company plans for the future via a series of key investments. Following the firm's report earlier this month on its modernisation project at Devnya Cement , Bulgaria, Italcementi now offers an update on its progress at its Rezzato plant in Italy. By Italcementi, Italy. Rezzato under construction Italcementi is Italy’s leading building materials company and largest cement producer with a 30 p... |