After a 15-year absence the CBC Congresso do Cimento (CBC) returned for its sixth edition on 19 – 21 May 2014 in São Paulo, Brazil. Around 300 delegates from across the Brazilian cement industry and visitors from around the world, including Global Cement's David Perilli, came together to discuss, debate and deliberate the issues facing the industry.
Day one
Renato José Giusti, Chief Executive of the Brazilian Portland Cement Association (ABCP), and José Otávio de Carvalho, Chief Executive of the National Union of the Cement Industry (SNIC), formally opened the conference with a discussion of the challenge facing the Brazilian cement industry. Today the country is experiencing a new growth period with 87 cement plants controlled by 17 companies that have a capacity of 87Mt/yr. Cement consumption was 70Mt/yr in 2013, making Brazil the fourth largest consumer of cement in the world and the sixth largest producer.
In the first keynote Yushiro Kihara, Technology Director of the ABCP, cheered on the efforts of the Brazilian cement industry, pointing out how well the domestic industry is performing in each of its three pillars of sustainability: energy-efficiency, alternative fuels and cement additives. ABCP data says that 1.2Mt of alternative fuels were processed by cement plants in Brazil in 2014, with 37 plants holding licences. Tyres and biomass represent nearly 40% of the country's co-processed fuels, performing well internationally for biomass use. However Kihara did admit that Brazil could improve its overall substitution rate compared to many European countries.
Discussion then turned to the Brazil Cement Technology Roadmap and the 'non-sensical' idea of treating Brazil as a single country, given its large size. This means that cement operators in different parts of the country have different situations, for example in terms of the availability of fly ash, natural pozzolans and other cement additives. Despite calling for sustainable cement production within a low carbon economy Kihara said that the industry itself could only have a sustainable future if the rate of innovation surpasses the rate of environmental legislation.
Philippe Fonta, Programme Director of the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI), described how the CSI measures and reports upon CO2 emissions from cement plants. Despite the impressive work that the CSI does, Fonta admitted that it only covers two thirds of global cement production, mainly due to a lack of Chinese members.
After a break for lunch, Luiz Carlos Busato, managing director of consultancy Signus Vitae Intelligent Environmental Projects, argued that the distribution of new cement plant builds in Brazil in the north of the country (despite the majority of the population living in the south) was due to environmental clearance reasons. This then led to a discussion of the benefits of planning ahead for environmental issues.
Bárbara Borges Fernandes of Cinar Brazil followed with a joint paper (with Joana Bretz de Souza) on a Mineral Interactive Computational Fluid Dynamics (MI-CFD) simulation that demonstrates the effects that different flame momentums could have upon clinkerisation. In their example 5N/MW caused excess CO2 emissions, ring formation and damaged kiln refractory compared to 15N/MW, which allowed for complete burning of the coke fuel used with a greater focus on the central axis of the kiln and in the firing area.
Next up, Cembureau's Vagner Maringolo attempted to untangle the thicket of European resource efficiency legislation in the final keynote presentation of the day. Starting off gloomily, Maringolo conceded that Europe accounted for just 7% of global cement production and that it had fallen behind the Americas following the financial crisis. Maringolo's parting shot was that, at present, the cement industry is (and will remain for now) CO2, energy and material intensive. He added that Cembureau is looking downstream from the production process towards more efficient buildings in order to offset this inherent truth about the cement production process.
Of the commercial presentations of the day, Marcos Fuscaldi of Schneider said that energy consumed represents 40 - 70% of the cost of cement production, hence the need for energy efficiency products like the Energy Optimization System. Allan Andersen, FLSmidth, talked about the company's work with supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) and its development of a clay flash calciner. The new calciner allows higher SCM substitution rates, of up to 35 - 40%. Luciano Gobbo of PANalytical's talk on X-ray diffraction in the cement industry offered insight into an automated application of the Rietveld refinement method for looking at crystalline materials.
Chris Oesch and Adriano Greco, Gebr. Pfeiffer, discussed the company's vertical roller mills: swing mills and MVR with the MultiDrive system. Case-studies provided included a MPS 2500 at San Marcos, Colombia with a clinker capacity of 37.6t/hr and a fineness of 4200 Blaine, and a raw material capacity of 60.4t/hr where, despite hard raw materials, the mill met performance criteria. Gebr. Pfeiffer is currently supplying a MVR 6700 C-6 mill with 11,500kW MultiDrive designed for slag-based cements to the Holcim Barroso cement plant in Minas Gerais, Brazil....
Finally Filipe Miguel Eusebio Apostolo of Densit and Silvana a De Morais Ottoboni of Ciplan discussed how its system MillExCS uses a series of rules to standardise the process, increasing production (81.5t/hr to 87t/hr of CPV Cement) and decreasing energy consumption (59.3KWh/t to 50.4 KWh/t) after installation at a Ciplan mill.
Day two
Martin Schneider from the German Cement Association (VDZ) earmarked electrical energy used at cement plants as a potential area of future innovation in his keynote presentation on innovation in the cement industry. Currently plants' electricity usage has remained at 10%, mainly used for grinding, despite higher alternative fuel substitution rates. In the meantime the VDZ maintains a database of grinding metrics across different industries that may aid eventual improvement. Schneider's more evangelical thoughts lay in the possibilities for the industry in selling sequestered CO2 as methane fuel turning a waste by-product into a commodity. Unfortunately though, many of the steps in this process remain theoretical.
In the morning's second keynote, Vanderley John, Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo, suggested that secondary cementitious materials like fly ash and slag were in insufficient supply globally, suggesting that increasing the cost of cement due to issues like CO2 mitigation is a social problem for developing countries. As John put it, "Doubling the cost of cement is a social tragedy." Increased binder usage in concrete was his solution with the ambition of 50% reductions due to engineered fillers, better aggregates and dispersants. As ever though more research will be required.
Tarcizo Da Cruz Costa De Souza, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, found that creating carbon nanotubes in clinker increased tensile and compressive strength as per previous studies. The team suggested that the decreased pore size combined with higher density could improve the impermeability of the materials against corrosive agents.
Later in the morning Ana Isabela Soares Martins da Silva, Federal Institute of Brasilia applied an environmental life-cycle assessment (LCA) approach to the cement industry.
After lunch Cary Cohrs, Portland Cement Association (PCA) (the North American cement association) promoted his organisation's resilience agenda or, as Cohrs put it, "The greenest building is the one still standing." The PCA wants to strengthen US building codes and standards, promote the resilience and hazard resistance properties of concrete and concentrate on the residential market. In line with this, Cohrs pointed out that he had taken to television to reinforce the PCA's resilience message as well as media and social media synergies.
Later in the day, Luiz Felipe de Pinho from Dynamis argued in his commercial presentation that only focusing on one aspect of a kiln burner, such as the momentum of the flame, ignored other aspects of a burner such as secondary air-flow, which Dynamis' products concentrate on.
In other presentations, James Jose Varela of ThyssenKrupp revealed that 29 semi-mobile crushing plants had been supplied by his firm from 2003 to 2013. Anthony Shave from FLSmidth highlighted the grooved roller profile of the OK mill that has two grinding zones, an inner and an outer, each with their own pressure profile. Hossy Rohm from Beumer talked about his company's belt and pipe conveyors. An interesting example was a belt conveyor for Sichuan Yadong Cement in China where a 12.5km long conveyor coped with a 100m elevation as it wound its way around hillsides. The project was commissioned in 2009 and it has a capacity of 1500t/hour pulling raw material at 4m/s.
As the last keynote presentation of the day Rosy Wang, Schneider Electric, discussed her firm's Energy Optimization system and its capability to help maximise energy usage from a plant to a company-wide level. The system helps collate key performance indicators that common environmental legislature requires, for example even gathering data needed for CO2 trading schemes, a new initiative in China. One of the notable pieces of data that Wang mentioned was a comparison between energy-efficiency on a piece of plant machinery across different shifts. Efficiency spiked following a daily meeting only to drop during subsequent evening and night shifts.
A little later in the running order, Joana Bretz de Souza, Cinar Brazil used operational data and MI-CFD simulations to maximise alternative fuels substitution rates. Key findings were that understanding the SO3 cycle in the kiln could offer improved clinker with higher substitution rates, increasing the momentum of the burner, monitoring CO2 and O2 at kiln inlets and outlets to follow the fall of unburnt material in the kiln, improving the mixture in the calciner by using MI-CFD modelling and limiting alternative fuel flow to prevent thick ash formation.
Of the remainder, Maurice Paul Wicks, IMP discussed the capabilities of the X-ray diffraction automation process for sample processing. A graph comparing the differences between manual and automated preparation really hammered home the efficacy of the automated method for improving precision. Regiane Veloso of Votorantim praised the collaborative action that the Brazilian cement producer has been taking with environmental stakeholders such as the Brazilian Speleological Society. Sun Hai Quan, TCDRI Sinoma, progressed rapidly through the Chinese equipment manufacturer's product brochure, admitting that despite Sinoma's market lead it was behind in South America - hence his presence at the event. Finally Prasad Rao Kotagiri of Reitz India, talked about retrofitting fans. The three solutions the manufacturer offers range from trimming or tipping the fan impeller, to replacing the impeller altogether or mounting an entirely new fan on the existing base.
Day three
The third and final day of the CBC opened with a standing ovation for Yushiro Kihara of the ABCP led by Edvaldo Araújo Rabello, the director of Votorantim, for his decades of dedication to the Brazilian cement industry. As Rabello put it, Kihara had been the 'professor' for himself and many other members of the Brazilian cement industry. Rabello stayed at the lectern to present his company's sustainability work. Votorantim has pushed expansion projects considerably since 2008. In that year it spent US$445m on capital expenditure, commissioning 10 new expansion projects. In 2013 it spent US$1.1bn and commissioned 11 new projects. Rabello concluded with some information on the producer's CO2 capture plans with its North American subsidiary, St Marys Cement, and its work with Pond Biofuels to convert CO2 into biofuel using algal biomass.
Mario Interlenghi and Carlos Roberto Moreira da Cunha, Votorantim, followed their boss to speak about the difficulties encountered on optimising NOx emissions from a Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction (SNCR) system at the Vidal Ramos cement plant, such as low temperature injection of urea and the temperature profile of the preheater. The team moved the injection points and modified the distribution of meal in the third and fourth stages. They concluded that for any NOx reduction process, low cost measures such as optimising operation, process and co-processing should be considered first. High cost measures like SNCR and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and low NOx burners could then be considered on top.
Daniel Mattos, Lafarge Brasil presented the next keynote on Lafarge's sustainability targets for 2020. Points to note included Lafarge Brazil's progress in alternative fuels use, generally at about 37% (in 2011). This figure is approximately 20% above the average for Brazil. Local initiatives that Mattos mentioned included the first city waste co-processing project in Brazil at Cantaglo, Rio de Janeiro state. Investment costs for projects like this in Brazil are still much higher than in Europe.
After lunch Francisco José Piffer Leme, InterCement explained that Portugal has faced many problems licensing alternative fuel co-processing since 1997. Portugal has one of the lowest landfill costs in Europe, Euro80/t less than in the UK, which affects the quantity and quality of solid municipal waste for cement kilns. The thermal substitution rate in the country was just below 30% in 2011, below the EU average. However he couldn't resist comparing Portuguese and Brazilian alternative fuels usage. In 2012, according to ABCP figures, Portugal used 258,000t but Brazil only used 825,000t despite producing more than 10 times as much clinker per year. Looking at the types of alternative fuels used in Portugal he suggested that tyres/rubber and biomass were losing share due to price and poor quality and sewage sludge was set to increase its share in the future as collection systems improved.
Dair Favaro Junior of Itambé Cement said that the 2.8Mt/yr Balsa Nova cement plant in Paraná started co-processing alternative fuels in 1993, partnered with Rio Bonito Co-processing in 2013 and today it processes 120,000t/yr. Its main alternative fuel is industrial waste that comprises about 75% of its mix. Of its two lines accepting alternative fuels, Line Three is seen as more thermally efficient, with lower NOx emissions due to its in-line pre-heater calciner system with staged combustion. The plant plans to spend US$7m installing a solid fuel injection system on Line Three to increase the co-processing volume rate to 47,000t/yr for a provisional start in the second half of 2015 alongside other smaller modifications. The next goal will be to invest US$11m towards reaching a volume of 250kt/yr with a substitution rate of 45% in Line Three and 21% in Line Two by the end of 2018.
The final tranche of presentations commenced with Alexandre de Oliveira Lopes, Universidade Federal de Itajubá, leading an academic view on co-processing. Of interest here was a summary of the key legislation in Brazil concerning the use of alternative fuels. National Environment Council (CONAMA) resolution 264 in 1999 allowed for the use of alternative fuels in rotary clinker kilns requiring the monitoring of particulate matter, O2, CO, NO2, SOx, HCl/Cl2 and HF amongst other emissions. Resolution 216 in 2002 then added standards and practices for operating thermal waste systems and added dioxins and furans to the monitoring list. Subsequent laws in 2010 then added national policies for dealing with solid waste.
Later Ana Paula Kirchheim, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, talked about the Core Innovation Building Group's (NOIRE) work on producing low carbon calcium sulphoaluminate-belite cement (CSAB) clinker in the laboratory. Three types of CSAB cement were tested using aluminium, limestone and gypsum as usual but with varying amounts of anodising aluminium sludge and pot slag. The anodising sludge-based CSAB cement was found to possess a higher compressive strength after 28 days than the conventional CSAB cement. The pot slag-based cement was found to be weaker, possibly due to the higher levels of Al2O3 found in its composition. Ronaldo Feu Rosa Pacheco, University of São Paulo, found that the steel slag he analysed chemically and with X-ray diffraction was broadly in line with other researchers both in Brazil and internationally.
Of the final day's commercial presentations Tais Mazza, Loesche, gave an overview of the Loesche product catalogue from mills to classifiers to automation technology to thermal applications and other equipment. Marcelo Caldas De Oliveira, PragoTec examined installations of the Fons Delta Cooler, a modular clinker cooler with examples and results from retrofits in Horne Srnie, Slovakia and Yurt Çimento, Turkey and a reconstruction at Aşkale Çemento, Turkey. Klaus Gruene, Aumund talked about his company's bulk handling and storage products and compared the benefits of their bucket elevators to competitor pneumatic systems. Essentially he argued that using air-lift systems waste energy when conveying material and cleaning exhaust air. Bruno Massi, FLSmidth then gave a rundown of the equipment provider's servicing options finishing with the unforgettable image of a snapped kiln shaft.
William Barraugh, Bricking Solutions demonstrated his company's suspended work platform used to install a dip tube in a preheater cyclone. The method proved faster to install, saving five days, and was promoted as being the safer option in this example. Leopoldo Jose Naves Alves, Automaton detailed a control system upgrade at a cement plant where a system that had been in place for two decades had been replaced. Reasons for the modernisation included obsolete hardware and software, with resulting high maintenance costs, as well as the desire to cut diagnostic test times.
Sun Hai Quan, TCDRI Sinoma, returned to promote more of Sinoma's offerings, this time focusing on the company's research and development team, other ancillary services and the company's work ethic. One lively example he discussed involved the successful transfer of a 4Mt/yr Votorantim cement plant, late in the planning stage, from Canada to Brazil. At the time of the conference Sinoma was about to start work on another Votorantim cement plant in Bolivia. Finally, José Mateus da Silva Neto, Automaton gave the last talk of the CBC on the Brazilian regulatory standard NR12 for machinery and equipment and the implications for the cement industry.
Hugo da Costa Rodrigues Filho, ABCP closed the event by summarising the papers delivered at the event and describing the event as, 'something good that makes me very happy.' The ABCP hopes to repeat the event sometime in the next three years.
