Displaying items by tag: Kiln

Bolivia: The Bolivian National Institute of Statistics (INE) recorded total national cement production of 3.3Mt during the first 10 months of 2022, up by 12% year-on-year from 2.9Mt in the corresponding period of 2021. Meanwhile, cement sales rose by 5.6% year-on-year to 3Mt, from 2.84Mt. Compared to 2019 volumes, cement sales fell by 5.6% from 3.96Mt. Nonetheless, Bolivian Cement and Concrete Institute (IBCH) general manager Marcelo Alfaro said that the results 'consolidated the rebound' that began in 2021. Cement sales volumes previously dropped by 23% year-on-year to 3.03Mt in 2020, amid successive Covid-19 lockdowns.

Fábrica Nacional de Cemento (FANCESA) commercial manager Álvaro Cuéllar said "FANCESA is making the necessary efforts to meet its share of the domestic market." Cuéllar added "We are close to 9Mt/yr of capacity for a market that in 2019 approached 4Mt/yr. That is why we have many kilns stopped and the industry is working at half speed."

Pakistan: Lucky Cement commenced clinker production from a new 3.15Mt/yr kiln line at its Pezu integrated cement in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in late December 2022. This latest expansion increases the producer’s domestic production capacity by 26% to 15.3Mt/yr, from below 12.2Mt/yr earlier in 2022. The company also operates cement plants in Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq with an additional capacity of 4.4Mt/yr.

The International News newspaper has reported that Lucky Cement anticipates domestic cement demand to grow due to the rebuilding of homes destroyed by flooding in 2022.

India: Gujarat Sidhee Cement has temporarily shut down the kiln of its Sidheegram cement plant in Gujarat's Junagadh District for maintenance work. Reuters has reported that the closure will last from 19 December 2022 until 27 December 2022 at the earliest, during which time cement grinding and despatch operations will run as normal.

Switzerland: Cemex's innovation investments subsidiary Cemex Ventures has made a further investment in solar-powered clinker production system developer Synhelion. Synhelion's technology enables cement plants to entirely replace fuels in their cement production with concentrated solar heat. Cemex Ventures said that its investment reflects the importance of sustainable fuel alternatives for Cemex's 2050 net zero CO₂ emissions strategy.

Other investors include oil company Eni, engineering company SMS Group and airline Swiss.

India: Wonder Cement has completed a successful kiln ignition in its Chittorgarh cement plant's new Line 4. The three pre-existing lines gave the plant a former capacity of 8Mt/yr. Wonder Cement additionally operates grinding plants in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, with a total capacity of 5Mt/yr.

Vice chair Vimal Patni's technical assistant Lokesh Lohar congratulated the entire Chittorgarh cement plant team on its work on the latest expansion.

Sweden: Germany-based KIMA Process Control has secured a contract for the supply of a kiln shell cooling system for Cementa's Slite cement plant in Gotland. 88 water jets will deliver centimetre-precision cooling for the 55m-long kiln, while IR pyrometers measure temperatures over areas of 10cm². According to KIMA Process Control, the equipment can avoid unnecessary cooling of the kiln shell, conserving the heat energy supplied by the main burner.

The new cooling system will eliminate the use of energy intensive electric fans, slashing 1700t/yr in CO₂ emissions, according to the supplier. It said that noise emissions will also 'drastically' decline as a result of the upgrade. The system's operating costs are reportedly 98% less than those of the plant's existing fan system.

The supplier said that the new equipment will 'bring the cement plant in Slite an economic benefit in the shortest possible time.' It said "For the cement industry, this project represents a new milestone in terms of best available technology in the operation of rotary kilns."

Saudi Arabia: Yamama Cement has commissioned its second cement plant, with 20,000t/day in capacity across two clinker lines. The producer invested US$1.25bn in the plant's construction, which was carried out by Germany-based ThyssenKrupp. The facility is equipped with seven raw materials crushers, a 3.7km-long limestone conveyor belt, 110,000t of storage capacity, four Quadropol roller mills, two Dopol preheater towers, two Polro rotary kilns, two Polytrack clinker coolers, three 100,000t clinker silos, four Polycom high-pressure roller mills, six 22,590t and 25,000t cement silos and 22,000m³
in water storage basins. The new plant is situated in the eastern Arabian Desert, 80km from Riyadh.

Yamama Cement also operates the 6.4Mt/yr Al Karj Cement plant, 70km from Riyadh.

Pakistan: Askari Cement has ignited the newly installed 6500t/day kiln at its Nizampur cement plant in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The kiln increases the plant's capacity by 73% to 4.85Mt/yr. The project, along with parent company Fauji Cement's construction of a new 2.05Mt/yr integrated cement plant in Dera Ghazi Khan, cost US$339m. Fauji Cement took a US$212m loan to support the works in January 2022. The group expects both projects to raise its capacity by 56% to 10.5Mt/yr and to increase its market share to 13%.

Fauji Cement's upcoming Dera Ghazi Khan cement plant is scheduled for commissioning in mid-late 2024.

Kenya: East African Portland Cement Company has resumed production at its 0.6Mt/yr Athi River cement plant. The producer successfully replaced the shell of the plant’s kiln. Managing director Oliver Kirubai said that the upgrade will enable the plant to increase its cement production by 50%, and reduce the price of its Blue Triangle brand cement.

Kenya: East Africa Portland Cement began work to replace a 16.5m-length of kiln shell at its Athi River cement plant at the end of July 2022. The producer says that the project will increase the kiln line’s capacity by 1400t/day.

Managing director Oliver Kirubai said "Due to the high costs of energy and an old clinker line, the board has prioritised efficiency and reliability of our integrated plant operations to drive cost optimisation.”