Displaying items by tag: Kiln

Russia: Eurocement subsidiary Kavkazcement has installed and commissioned a dry kiln to replace its reserve kiln at its plant in the Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia. The new kiln is part of a Euro5.79m investment which will increase the current 3.1Mt/yr integrated plant’s capacity by over 40% to 4.4Mt/yr when commissioned in mid-2020. Oleg Lopatin, Kavkazcement director general, said “A significant increase in the plant’s workload was made possible by the high demand for our cements.”

Egypt: Germany-based HeidelbergCement subsidiary Egyptian Tourah Portland Cement has said that it will accept offers for some items proposed for sale under auction of equipment from its decommissioned 1.0Mt/yr Tourah plant in Tura near Cairo, from which it expects to raise a total of Euro1.71m. The company said it had received ‘several bids.’ It stopped production in June 2019 due to its inability to cover costs.

US: Ragland Town and St. Clair County administrators have approved France-based Vicat’s US subsidiary National Cement’s plans for a second kiln at its 1.9Mt/yr Ragland cement plant in Alabama, construction of which will begin in early 2020. Birmingham Business Journal has reported that National Cement, which has had legal permission to build a second line since 2006, has announced that the new kiln will enter clinker production in 2022 following a total investment of US$250. National Cement is Ragland’s largest employer, with a staff of 132 at the 111-year-old Ragland plant.

Switzerland: Maerz has reported the successful installation of two Maerz PFR lime kilns with a capacity of 200t/day and 300t/day at Daesung MDI in South Korea, which was commissioned on 19 October 2019. The company also installed a 150t/day E2 two-shaft lime kiln at Easternbulk Lime Products Private Ltd in July 2019. Three further new plants with Maerz kilns are scheduled to enter operation in 2020 in China, Mexico and Russia and a second kiln will increase production of petcoke at Caleras’ San Juan plant in Argentina beginning in mid-2020.

US: California-based Heliogen has developed concentrated solar-thermal plants (CSPs) with the ability to focus sunlight to generate temperatures over 1000°C by micro-adjusting mirrors using computer technology. It has now engaged Parsons Corporation to build arrays of its CSPs for installation in cement pre-calciners. Requiring 900°C heat, these represent the largest part of the industry’s CO₂ output. The technology will firstly reduce this by replacing fossil fuels with a clean heat source, which moreover entirely bypasses the electrical grid. Heliogen CEO Bill Gross says that the installations will make carbon capture and storage (CCS) of the remaining CO₂ emissions from the conversion of limestone to lime easier by removing other pollutants. Heliogen is now targeting 1500°C from its CSPs, which would enable them to supersede cement fuels in kilns.

Russia: Vostokcement subsidiary Spasskcement received a ninth belt to serve as a back-up for conveying materials into one of its two kilns at its Spasskcement plant. The belt is 7.65m wide and was manufactured in Louyang, China.

Cuba: Following 18 months of reduced operations in which time maintenance and repairs on its grey cement kilns were carried out, Corporacion Cementos Cubanos’ 0.7Mt/yr Siguaney plant is once more fully operational across its four wet lines. Esmerk has reported that the company hopes to re-open its white cement kiln at the nearest possible date.

Algeria/Iraq: Dal Machinery & Design (DMD), part of Turkey’s Dal Engineering Group, has been awarded a contract to supply a kiln shell to LafargeHolcim Algeria’s Oggaz cement plant. The shell has an internal diameter of 5mm. The shell will be manufactured from a single part, with one single welding in the axial direction. It is expected to be delivered by September 2019. No value for the order has been disclosed.

Other recent orders for DMD include the supply of two kiln shells for LafargeHolcim’s Bazian cement plant at Sulaimani in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The kiln shells were manufactured with a diameter of 5.2m. Delivery was made at the beginning of March 2019. DMD’s other kiln shell clients in Iraq included the Gasin cement plant in 2018. It also supplied a mill tunnion to LafargeHolcim’s Kerbala cement plant.

Austria: Unitherm Cemcon has launched the MAS DT rotary kiln burner, a new product in its Mono Airduct System (MAS) product line. The new burner is already in operation at six cement plants in Austria, Germany and France.

The new design uses a more efficient primary air injection, resulting in higher effective momentum and optimised combustion. Placing the adjustable primary air openings directly at the burner tip leads to unobstructed injection of the air jets into the kiln. With minimum losses at the air nozzles, the entrainment of secondary air is improved by approximately 15%.

The new primary air system, with discs instead of flexible hoses, requires less space inside the primary air channel. Therefore, the burner is smaller in diameter and lighter in weight, which reduces investment costs. Unitherm Cemcon says that the cooling of the outer jacket tube with the MAS system (hose and disc design) is superior to that of other rotary kiln burners, as 100% of the primary air is used for cooling. With the new disc system, the cooling of the burner tip is improved even further. The producer added that all new MAS DT burners showed improved lifetime of the refractory lining at the burner. On average the refractory lifetime is extended by approximately 20%.

Uzbekistan: Akhangarancement, part of Russia’s Eurocement, has installed a new Wikov gearbox on the rotary kiln at its plant in Akhangaransky as part of a US$1.5m upgrade project. Other work included upgrades to the clinker conveyors, the sludge line, the cooler, the heat exchanger and other equipment. A new production line is currently being built at the 2Mt/yr plant. It is scheduled for commissioning in 2020.