Displaying items by tag: Filter

Malaysia: Lafarge Malaysia has allocated US$19.5m to spend on efficiency upgrades, including installing bag filters at its three plants. The project has started already with the commissioning of a new bag filter at its Kanthan plant for an investment of around US$5m. The upgrade to its Kanthan plant follows the installation of a vertical cement mill in 2016 at a cost of US$44m.

Germany: Two cement plants are installing selective catalytic reduction (SCR) units ahead of new environmental emissions limits that will start in 2019. CRH Opterra Zement’s Karsdorf plant has started a Euro23m upgrade project to its emissions systems. The plant will install SCR units on each of its production lines. Work on the upgrade is scheduled to be completed by the start of 2019.

Holcim WestZement is also installing a SCR unit purchased from Yara at its Beckum cement plant. The Euro14.2m project will start trial operation by the end of 2018.

US: Schenck Process has launched a new Vertical Cartridge Filter (VCF) that removes industrial dust when handling medium to high air volumes. A core feature of the product is a cartridge clamp system that is intended to simplify replacement of the filter media and minimise maintenance time.

The filter is also equipped with a smart timer which includes an on-board sensor that reads the pressure drop across the filtering elements for on demand cleaning. A standard radial inlet allows for material separation during moderate air volume applications while an optional high entry inlet with a pre-separation chamber is designed for high volume systems. The chamber separates the largest powder particles protecting the media from excess loads of pollutants and aiding longer media life.

Each unit is constructed with reinforced carbon steel that is rated for 6.5psi Pred. The VCF has also been Pred validated through a full scale third party explosion test. Explosion mitigation devices are also available with the new VCF. The new filter will be manufactured in the US.

Poland: LafargeHolcim has celebrated investing over Euro95m at its Kujawy cement plant since 2008. As part of the Pomeranian Special Economic Zone, the plant has had a number of upgrades over the last decade and has created over 60 jobs.

Projects at the site have included spending Euro24m on environmental improvements such as installing new filters, building a new clinker silo and four cement silos, and converting the plant to process alternative fuels. Euro56m has been invested on production upgrades including a new cement grinding mill, a new calciner and new constant monitoring systems. Euro18m has been spent on two bulk loading terminals, a new weighbridge and self-loading systems and a new laboratory.

Poland: BWF Envirotec Group has purchased Orwat Filtertechnik. Based in Mysłowice, Silesia, the company has been producing and distributing filter bags and filter pockets for dedusting and flue gas cleaning technology as well as pockets, cartridges and compact filters for air conditioning and ventilation technology since 1995. The company also has a sales office in Warendorf, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany giving it a European presence. No value for the acquisition has been disclosed.

"Orwat Filtertechnik, with its technologically outstanding equipment, is an excellent addition to our line-up with a high level of benefit for our customers, particularly for plant builders and operators of flue gas cleaning systems,” said Stefan Offermann and Philipp von Waldenfels, managing partners of BWF Group. They added that the acquisition also strengthens its Offingen-based headquarters.

US: Kuraray has entered into an agreement to buy Calgon Carbon for over US$1.3bn. Calgon Carbon produces filtration technologies and systems for a variety of industries, including cement. The deal will be subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2017. Kuraray, a Japanese chemical company, intends to run Calgon Carbon as a subsidiary.

Lebanon: Cimenterie Nationale has officially inaugurated a new bag filter at its Chekka cement plant. The new filter is expected to reduce dust, NO_x and SO₂ emissions by more than half, according to the L'Orient-Le Jour newspaper. The filter has been in operation since late May 2017.

UAE: Salem Al Shehi, a member of the Federal National Council, has called for stricter measures to mitigate emissions from cement plants and other industrial production units. The representative from Ras Al Khaimah has suggested that these sites be fitted with filters and be constantly monitored, according to the Gulf News newspaper. He cited the concerns of residents living close to industrial sites in Ras Al Khaimah, Al Ghail, Naseem, Suhaila and Al Manama.

Local legislation requires that dust-control techniques must be introduced in all quarries and mines, and owners of these sites are obliged to install air-monitoring stations linked to a control centre based at the RAK Environment Protection Authority’s headquarters. Despite this the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment issued pollution warnings to five cement plants between 2014 and the end of May 2017. 55 quarries were also temporarily shut down for breaching health and safety regulations in the same period.

UK: Fairport Engineering has reported work on its replacement of two electrostatic (ESP) filters at Hanson’s Ketton cement plant in Rutland. Following discussion in early 2016 Fairport was contracted to replace ESP filters at the plants Mills 9 and 10. Both mills were shut down for planned three-week periods each to remove the old filters and install the new ones. The new system on Mill 9 also required the installation of new screw conveyors, rotary airlocks and the reconfiguration of existing control panels, plus the installation of new 160KW central exhaust fans and associated clean gas ducting. Fairport reports that, to date, the daily averages on both filters are well below the target emission level.

Venezuela: The filter system at the Venezolana de Cementos (Vencemos) plant in Pertigalete is to be upgraded. The plant has reportedly had a capacity utilisation rate of 20% due to its filters, according to the Nueva Prensa newspaper. The state-owned company lacks the funding to import new equipment so the work will be conducted locally with a budget of US$25m. The upgrade is expected to be completed by the end of February 2017.

Following inspections at the plant, managers denied that the plant was operating at 20% of its capacity, despite the comments of workers at the plant. However, they did agree that its was operating below full capacity due to faulty equipment at the Planta I unit. Workers protested in mid-January 2017 over high levels of emissions at the plant

The Pertigalete plant reportedly produced 45% of all cement in the country in 2016 and it has a target of 66% in 2017.