Displaying items by tag: Grinding mill

India: UltraTech Cement has commissioned a 3.35Mt/yr brownfield clinker line and one of two 2.7Mt/yr cement mills at its Maihar unit in Madhya Pradesh. The second grinding mill will be commissioned in the first quarter of the 2026 financial year. The producer also commissioned brownfield expansions at its Dhule grinding unit in Maharashtra (1.2Mt/yr) and Durgapur grinding unit in West Bengal (0.6Mt/yr), and launched its first bulk terminal in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, with a handling capacity of 1.8Mt/yr.

“Consequent to the above, the company’s total domestic grey cement manufacturing capacity stands at 183.36Mt/yr. Along with its overseas capacity of 5.4Mt/yr, the company’s global capacity stands at 188.76Mt/yr,” UltraTech Cement said.

Iraq: Gebr. Pfeiffer has won an order to supply a vertical roller mill for the Al Amir cement plant in Najaf. The MVR 5000 R-4 raw mill with SLS 4500 VR classifier will grind 500t/hr of cement raw material from a fineness of 10% R to 0.090mm, drying it from 12% to below 0.5% moisture. The mill will be delivered via China-based contractor Sinoma Suzhou. Commissioning is scheduled for the second half of 2026.

Australia: Maribyrnong council has unanimously rejected a proposal to expand Steel Cement's Yarraville plant. The US$113m expansion proposal involved the construction of new sheds, a workshop and two grinding mills for 24-hour clinker grinding, according to Star Weekly. The plan faced strong local opposition, with 109 objections citing environmental and amenity concerns. Lisel Thomas from the Maribyrnong Truck Action Group stated that pollution was already a big problem in the area, and would worsen following the expansion, while Steel Cement argued the expansion would offer environmental benefits, since its proximity to the Port of Melbourne would remove ‘1500 truck movements for every ship that arrives.’

Steel Cement was reportedly ‘disappointed but not surprised’ by the council’s decision.

US: Eagle Materials has awarded thyssenkrupp Polysius a contract for the modernisation and expansion of its Laramie, Wyoming cement plant. The modernisation project will result in an expansion of the plant's manufacturing capacity to approximately 1.1Mt/yr of cement. The project also includes the installation of an alternative fuel substitution system. The modernisation of the cement plant is expected to deliver benefits such as cost reductions, achieved with lower-cost alternative fuels and natural gas, simplified maintenance and improved operational efficiencies. The production expansion from the new finish mill will supplement the grinding capacity of the existing plant, which already operates with an integrated polysius booster mill. The polytrack ECO cooler will facilitate heat recovery and clinker cooling while improving process reliability. The project, which has received primary regulatory approvals, is slated to commence immediately [in November 2024], with construction scheduled for completion by the second half of 2026.

India: FLSmidth has won an order for the delivery of its core grinding technology. The order includes two high pressure grinding rolls (HPGR) (3m diameter × 2m width), installation, commissioning, start-up support and a service agreement. The equipment is expected to be installed and commissioned during 2026. With this new order in India, FLSmidth has won a total of 15 HPGR orders or commitments in 2024. The value of the order has not been disclosed.

Mexico: Cemento Cruz Azul will invest nearly US$40m to build a new grinding mill at its Lagunas cement plant in Oaxaca to increase cement production capacity. General manager  Mario Morán said that construction will be completed by October 2025.

Víctor Velázquez, chair of the board of directors, said "The mill is designed to be highly energy efficient and environmentally friendly, as it does not use water."

Australia: The Australian federal government has granted Adbri US$32.5m for a new front-end engineering and design study at its Birkenhead cement plant. The study will assess the possible installation of a new vertical roller mill and post-production blending system at the plant. InDaily News has reported that the proposed upgrade will increase the plant’s production capacity and help to expand its range of reduced-CO₂ cements. The funding falls under the government’s US$260m Critical Inputs to Clean Energy programme, which aims to help decarbonise the Australian economy by 2050.

CEO Mark Irwin said “With the Commonwealth’s support we have the potential to further accelerate the decarbonisation of our operations and products.”

UK: First Graphene has announced a third trial at Breedon Group’s Hope Cement Works to test an optimised formulation of its PureGRAPH-CEM product under full-scale production conditions. The trial aims to further improve the performance of graphene nanoplatelets in cement production using practical experiences obtained from the previous two trials. The third trial is based on a PureGRAPH grade with a particle size distribution and morphology optimised for use in cement grinding mills, designed for direct addition to the mill without the need for additional equipment. The trial will last eight hours and involves close monitoring of cement fineness during the process. It will use just over 2t of the graphene product in up to 1000t of cement, according to the company. The trial is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2024.

India: UltraTech Cement will integrate vertical mill technology from Gebr. Pfeiffer for three new clinker production lines. Gebr. Pfeiffer SE and its Indian subsidiary, Gebr. Pfeiffer India, will fulfil a subsequent order.

At the Happy 3 plant, cement raw material grinding will be conducted using an MVR 5000 R-4 mill, equipped with a 5300kW drive, capable of grinding about 705t/hr to a product fineness of 1.5% R 212µm. Additionally, three MPS 3550 BK mills, each with a 1300kW gearbox, will grind about 45t/hr of petcoke or 90t/hr of coal. These mills come with an integrated SLS 3750 BK classifier.

Gebr. Pfeiffer's MVR mills are distinct in their use of rollers according to the R=C principle. This design allows the same rollers to be used with parts for both raw meal and cement grinding. The MVR 5000 R-4 mill at Happy 3 features four actively redundant rollers, maintaining about 70% production capacity during maintenance. Gebr. Pfeiffer equips MVR mills with maintenance-oriented condition monitoring systems, enabling the implementation of digital maintenance strategies.

Handling of the order will be a collaborative effort between Gebr. Pfeiffer SE and Gebr. Pfeiffer India with all customer support and plant planning managed by Pfeiffer engineers in Noida. Core components like gearboxes, grinding bowls and roller suspensions will be shipped from Europe, while other parts like foundations and classifiers will be provided by the Indian subsidiary. Support for the plants will be managed by the customer support centre in Noida, accessible via remote data or on-site personnel.

India: Andhra Cements has commenced work to dispose of grinding mills from its Visakha grinding plant in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam District, Reuters has reported. The plant previously had a capacity of 600,000t/yr.

Sagar Cements concluded a deal to acquire Andhra Cements in January 2023.