
Displaying items by tag: Mercury
World: The United Nations (UN) has reviewed the progress of initiatives towards the reduction of mercury emissions from cement and other industries under its Environment Programme (UNEP). Mercury is sometimes present in the raw materials and fuel used in cement production. The sector currently emits 2220t/yr of mercury, 11% of global anthropogenic mercury emissions. The UNEP’s Cement Partnership Area aims to ensure ‘globally significant’ emissions reductions. Its priority actions include: establishing sectoral mercury inventories and baseline scenarios, encouraging techniques for the minimisation of mercury releases, increasing awareness in the industry, governments and regulatory bodies and supporting the development of policies in line with the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
The Cement Partnership Area said that it has achieved progress in expanding its cement plant mercury emissions management knowledge base and in reducing emissions. It called on governments to increase funding for projects, the development of new technologies and the publication of guidance documents.
LafargeHolcim Croatia commissions Gasmet continuous mercury monitoring system at Koromačno cement plant
27 October 2021Croatia: LafargeHolcim Croatia has successfully commissioned a continuous mercury monitoring system in the stack of its Koromačno cement plant in Istria. Gasmet supplied the system via its regional distributor RACI.
LafargeHolcim Croatia Production Engineer Ivan Marićsaid “The product gives us exactly what we want – peace of mind. We now know where we stand with our mercury emissions.”
US: Vicat subsidiary National Cement has received a fine of US$148,000 from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) for exceeding mercury emissions regulations over a 123-day period between May 2019 and February 2020 at its integrated Ragland plant in Alabama. The Daily Home newspaper has reported that unexpectedly high mercury levels in coal and other raw materials burned as fuel during that time caused the breach, which the company immediately reported to ADEM.
National Cement president Spencer Weitman said, “The issue took several months to fix.” Multiple upgrades and operational changes solved the issue, including installation of a US$400,000 mercury absorption carbon injection system. ADEM said, “National Cement did not economically benefit from the emissions violations.”
In January 2020 National Cement began work on construction of a new US$250m kiln line, due for completion in 2022.
Conifers indicate cement plant’s carbon footprint
04 September 2019China: Research conducted by the North-West Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources has ascertained detailed data on carbon dioxide (CO2) and mercury (Hg) output at a cement plant in Lanzhou using local spruces.
VerticalNews has reported of distance-dependent variations of Hg concentration in needles close to the cement plant, with the highest concentrations observed in needle samples from the site nearest to the plant. Hg in tree rings increased gradually for all sites by year, reaching a concentration of 65.8ng/g in the last growing period at 0m from the plant.
The study fuels hopes of accurate quantification of historical accumulation of air pollutants, including heavy metals, as well as contributing to our understanding of biochemical Hg cycling in forest ecosystems.
HeidelbergCement releases Sustainability Report 2015
21 July 2016Germany: HeidelbergCement has released its seventh Sustainability Report so far. Highlights from the report include a reduction of specific net CO2 emissions by 22% to 606kg/t of cement (compared to 1990 levels) and a decreased clinker factor of 75%. However, specific emissions for NOx, SO2 and mercury all rose slightly from 2014.
“The numbers show what kind of progress HeidelbergCement made in 2015,” said Bernd Scheifele, CEO of HeidelbergCement. “We have also substantially intensified our commitment to the development of technologies to use CO2 as a resource, and we have entered into very promising cooperative research projects. This puts us at the forefront of the movement in the cement industry.”
The 2015 report is also the first to present data on water management, following the implementation of industry indicators for water reporting at all cement plants in 2013 and 2014.