Displaying items by tag: KHD

With events moving fast in Europe with regard to the on-going health crisis, here are a few threads to consider from the cement industry news this week.

Firstly, there have been two solar power stories over the last week in North America. Grupo Argos said that it had installed a 10.6MW solar power plant at Cementos Argos’ Piedras Azules cement plant in Comayagua. Then US-based Alamo Cement Company was reported to have signed a contract with Renergetica to build a solar power plant at its integrated plant in San Antonio, Texas. Global Cement has looked at this topic on and off over the years from the steady addition of photovoltaic (PV) solar plants around the world to supply electricity to cement plants to more ambitious plans such as research into using concentrated solar power to start powering creating clinker directly. These two latest PV stories follow projects in El Salvador and Cyprus so far this year. We’re not going to comment now on the overall progress the cement industry is making towards moving away from fossil fuels but the general trend is encouraging.

Next, there are on-going investments and upgrade projects being announced. Germany’s KHD revealed on 17 March 2020 that is building a new raw mill and pyroprocessing line for an ACC plant in India. FCT combustion recently announced that it has won a deal to supply Titan Cement in the US with an upgrade to a kiln line to natural gas. Buzzi Unicem’s SLK Cement in Russia has agreed to co-process solid municipal waste at its Sukholozhskcement plant. South Africa’s PPC has invested in a pneumatic offloading facility and a silo for its George Depot cement terminal in the Western Cape. These will have likely been agreed before the global coronavirus outbreak but they are reminders that some level of capital expenditure by cement companies is happening.

In China the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said this week that the domestic cement sector’s net profit grew by 20% year-on-year to US$26.6bn in 2019. With this in mind the first quarter results for 2020 from cement producers in China will make essential reading for producers from elsewhere around the world wondering what to expect. However, a recent interview with the president of Huaxin Cement, a company based in Hubei province at the epicentre of the outbreak, revealed that despite the short term economic disruption from the quarantine the company was expecting a rapid economic rebound after April 2020 provided that there is a suitable government stewardship. He also mentioned the key role the company was playing in disposing of clinical waste. As such it was hoping for tax breaks to support continuing incineration and the advancement of co-processing in general.

Finally, also on the health crisis, many cement industry events have been cancelled or postponed as work practices change including those organised by Global Cement. We’re taking our events online in the short term as virtual conferences with opportunities for information exchange and networking. We encourage as many of you as possible to register.

India: KHD’s subsidiaries Humboldt Wedag India and Humboldt Wedag have signed a deal with LafargeHolcim’s subsidiary ACC to build a new raw meal grinding unit and a pyroprocessing line for an existing cement plant. The contracts also include the supply and installation of the electrical and instrumentation package for the entire cement plant. The entire contract package is worth over Euro35m.

Germany: Matthias Mersmann has been appointed by the Supervisory Board as a new member of the Management Board of KHD Humboldt Wedag International AG, effective 1 February 2020. He contributes his long-term expertise in the technology of cement manufacturing processes and equipment design, which he has acquired in various executive positions with OEM suppliers as well as an independent consultant. From 1994 to 2008, Mersmann worked for KHD Humboldt Wedag in Cologne and became familiar with the product portfolio, the staff and cement clients.

After leaving KHD in 2008, Mersmann founded the cement consultancy aixergee GmbH and specialised on the optimisation of equipment of all kinds and makes for the manufacture of cement. He was also called into the Executive Committee of Loesche GmbH for five years, where he was responsible for the technology of the Loesche products.

"While the cement industry emits 7% of all man-made CO2-emissions alone, a future without cement is unthinkable,” says Mersmann. “This, along with the digital transformation, will set the frame for all industry participants to re-shape their way of doing business. For KHD this provides so much more an opportunity than it provides a problem. KHD has a combination of advantages that can help it to develop a prosperous future, if we work it out right. It will take all our ambition and motivation and maybe a lot of ‘new thinking, ’ but it will be worthwhile. I am looking forward to cooperating with the best engineers in the industry and a highly qualified and motivated team in the management board to bring KHD back into a leading position of the cement equipment suppliers.”

Mario Zhu, CEO of KHD, said, “We are all very happy at the return of Matthias back to KHD! I am sure with his leadership KHD technology team shall be further strengthened and thus bring further benefit to our clients and the global cement industry.”

South Korea: Asia Cement has awarded a contract to Germany’s Humboldt Wedag, a subsidiary of KHD Humboldt Wedag International, to supply and provide engineering for the modernisation of its third clinker production line at its Jecheon plant. The target of the upgrade project is to increase the alternative fuel substitution rate to above 85% of calciner fuel, as well as the reduction of NOx to satisfy local emission limits.

KHD’s scope includes the engineering and supply of mechanical equipment for the clinker production as well as electrical equipment for the overall modernisation of the production process. During the project, the existing preheater will be modernised with the installation of a new Pyroclon R calciner, as well as a Pyrorotor rotary combustion reactor for low-processed alternative fuel.

The overall project scope consists of: a Pyroclon R calciner with Pyrotop mixing chamber; a Pyrorotor alternative fuel combustion reactor; a Pyrobox coal firing system for process start-up and operation balancing; replacement of stage five cyclones with new high-efficiency cyclones for calciner connection and an overall pressure drop reduction; bypass mixing chamber installation; and a new kiln inlet chamber with orifice.

The commissioning of the modernised production line is planned for the first quarter of 2021.

China: KHD has reported NO_x emissions consistently below 50mg/Nm³ at Tianrui’s 2.0Mt/yr Weihui integrated cement plant in Henan province, where its Pyroredox gasifying reactor has been installed between the kiln inlet chamber and preheater calciner. The NO_x reduction after several months of operation was 66%, while reagent usage fell by 78% compared to with the plant’s selective non-catalytic reducer without a Pyroredox fitted. No extra power or fuel was used and production was unaffected. The Pyroredox requires two to four weeks’ downtime for its installation and is now operational at multiple cement plants across China.

US: Humboldt Wedag, a subsidiary of Germany’s KHD, has signed a contract with Lehigh Cement to supply a cement plant for a cost of more than Euro100m. The contract includes engineering, supply of equipment and structural steel as well as advisory services related to erection and commissioning of the unit. Lehigh Cement, a subsidiary of HeidelbergCement, has separately announced that it is currently preparing for a US$600m upgrade to its integrated Mitchell plant in Indiana. Construction work on the project is scheduled to start in 2020.

North America: Humboldt Wedag, a subsidiary of Germany’s KHD, has concluded a non-binding letter of intent with an unnamed customer in North America. The letter of intent for the engineering, supply of equipment and structural steel as well as advisory services related to erection and commissioning covers a potential order volume of more than Euro100m. The customer and Humboldt Wedag intend to enter into negotiations with the aim of concluding a corresponding engineering and procurement contract. Most of KHD’s orders come from the cement sector.

Germany: The executive board of Humboldt Wedag (HWG), a subsidiary of KHD Humboldt Wedag International (KHD), is preparing to cut approximately 80 jobs. It has made this decision in response to a ‘difficult’ business environment in cement plant construction industry in the near future. It said that in light of this, ‘personnel capacities cannot be sufficiently utilised.’ The measures required to implement the reorganisation will be discussed with the works council soon.

Germany: Gerold Keune has resigned as the chairman of the management board of KHD. He cited personal reasons. His resignation takes immediate effect. 

He will be succeeded by Yizhen ‘Mario’ Zhu. He will hold the post until the end of December 2019. In addition, Tao Xing has been appointed as an additional member of the management board. Zhu already served on KHD’s Management Board from 2011 to 2017. Xing served as member of KHD’s Supervisory Board in 2015 and as member of the Management Board in 2016.

Nepal: Germany’s Gebr. Pfeiffer has received an order via KHD to supply an MPS 225 BK vertical mill to grind coal for Samrat Cement. The cement company is building a new integrated production line at a plant in the Dang region.

The mill, with a drive power of 370kW, will grind 35t/hr of coal to a product fineness of 15% R 90µm. At the same time, the coal, which may have a feed moisture of up to 10%, is dried in the mill. An SLS 1800 BK integrated classifier will separate the ground coal into fine product and coarse product, with the latter being returned to the grinding zone to be again. The classifier will also allow petroleum coke to be separated to fineness degrees of <1% R 90µm.

The order was received via Gebr. Pfeiffer’s subsidiary in India. It will supply the main equipment for the mill and associated equipment for the grinding plant.