Displaying items by tag: Upgrade

Spain: IKN is progressing with its satellite replacement project at Grupo Cementos Portland Valderrivas’ Fábrica Els Monjos plant. The project includes the replacement of a cooler with an IKN grate cooler, with a new cooler building, burner and a complete vent air dedusting system. On pier two, IKN is fitting a new shell section and replacing the equipment on the pier, including a new base frame, rollers with bearings and CFU.

The company reported two major milestones: the new kiln section, including the tyre, was successfully lifted into place as one piece, shortening installation time; and the pre-assembly and positioning of the cooler, which was moved into its final position.

There have been a few burner and related stories to note in the cement industry news this week. Firstly, Canada-based PyroGenesis announced that it had signed a deal with an unnamed-European cement company to supply a plasma torch system for a ‘calcination furnace.’ Around the same time UBE Mitsubishi Cement (MUCC) revealed that it had successfully tested natural gas co-firing at MUCC’s Kyushu Plant using a newly developed burner.

The PyroGenesis project is a potential game-changer for the sector because it alters the way cement production lines are heated. Roughly one third of CO₂ emissions associated with cement manufacture arise from the fossil fuels used to heat the kiln and the pre-calcination system. Cut out some of that and the specific CO₂ emissions of cement production drop. PyroGenesis’ approach uses electricity to generate high-temperature plasma. This then gives the cement plant the option of obtaining its electricity from renewable sources. PyroGenesis signed a memorandum of understanding with the power conversion division of GE Vernova in March 2025. This had the aim of targeting high temperature processes, such as cement production, with electric plasma torches. The current deal with a cement producer has been valued at US$871,000 with delivery to the client scheduled for the first quarter of 2026.

We don’t know who the mystery client might be. However, Heidelberg Materials reportedly operated a 300kW plasma-heated cement kiln at its Slite cement plant in February 2025 as part of the ELECTRA project. The producer said it had achieved 54 hours of continuous operation, with 60% CO₂ concentration in the flue gas. The aim was to reach 99%. It then said that it was planning to build a larger 1MWel furnace at its Skövde cement plant in 2026 with tests to continue in 2027. In an interview with Global Cement Magazine in May 2025, Heidelberg Materials said that it was using commercially supplied CO₂ as the ionising gas in the plasma generator but that it was considering using captured CO₂ from the production process in the future. It also mentioned issues from its trials such as the effective ‘flame’ being hotter than the conventional process but not as long. This increased the reactivity of the resulting clinker. Finally, Heidelberg Materials noted from a feasibility study that a 1Mt/yr cement plant would need around 170MW of plasma generation, but that typical plasma generators topped out at around 8MW. Hence, any full set-up would likely require multiple plasma generators. For more on non-combustion style kilns see GCW561.

UBE Mitsubishi Cement’s burner installation is more conventional but again it is concerned about sustainability. In this case the line has tested burning natural gas. The cement producer says it is the first such installation at a cement plant in Japan to do so commercially. The burner was jointly developed by UBE Mitsubishi Cement, Osaka Gas and Daigas Energy. Firstly, the plant will consider switching to natural gas. This will reduce the unit’s CO₂ emissions from fuel combustion. However, a later step being considered is to move on to e-methane. This is a synthetic methane made from CO₂ and hydrogen using renewable energy.

Finally, another recent story on this theme is the installation of a new satellite burner by Northern Ireland-based Mannok at its Derrylin cement plant in August 2025. This is Phase One of a two-part project to upgrade the pyro kiln system at the site. The cement company worked with FLSmidth on the €2.5m upgrade. The new burner has now allowed the plant to burn solid recovered fuel (SRF) by up to a 30% substitution rate in the kiln. This followed a project, also with FLSmidth, to install a FuelFlex Pyrolyzer in 2022. This is used to replace coal with SRF in the pre-calcination stage of cement production. Phase two will be an upgrade of the main burner to a new Jetflex burner. Once this part is completed, Mannok is aiming for an overall substitution rate of 65 - 70% on the whole pyro-processing system.

Burners at cement plants are replaced fairly commonly. However, the supplier companies don’t advertise every installation due to the commercial relationships with their clients and other factors. Hence the more interesting upgrades tend to get the publicity. Typically this means if a burner uses new technology, meets sustainability goals and so on, we find out about it. It’s a similar situation when a new heating technology such as plasma is trialled. Changing trends in fuel types for cement plants suggest different types of conventional burners. Some of this can be seen in the burner stories above with the trend moving towards ever higher rates of alternative fuels usage. Combustion in cement kilns is here to stay for the time being but plasma trials will be watched carefully.

The 18th Global CemFuels Conference & Exhibition on alternative fuels for cement and lime 2025 will take place in Milan on 17 - 18 September 2025

Ireland/UK: Mannok has completed Phase 1 of a two-phase upgrade to its pyroprocessing system with the installation of a new satellite burner in collaboration with FLSmidth. The €2.5m project enables the use of solid recovered fuel (SRF) as a replacement for coal, achieving up to 30% substitution and reducing CO₂ emissions by 23,000t/yr.

Phase 2 will involve upgrading the main burner to a Jetflex system, targeting 65–70% coal substitution across the kiln. Mannok produces about 1.4Mt/yr of cement for customers across the UK and Ireland.

India: Nuvoco Vistas will invest US$24m to expand its grinding capacity in eastern India by 4Mt/yr, according to local press. A new mill will be installed at the Arasmeta plant in Chhattisgarh, with upgrades, process improvements and debottlenecking at Jojobera (Jharkhand), Panagarh (West Bengal) and Odisha plants.

Phase one will add 1Mt/yr by the third quarter of the 2026 financial year, 2Mt/yr by the end of 2025, and 1Mt/yr by the 2027 financial year. The company said that the work at Jojobera, Panagarh and Odisha will be achieved with limited capital expenditure.

Following the acquisition of Vadraj Cements, Nuvoco Vista’s total capacity stands at 31Mt/yr, with eastern capacity set to rise by over 20% to 23Mt/yr within 18 months. Capacity utilisation was 78% as of March 2025.

We return to Brazil this week where Cimento Itambé has inaugurated a new kiln at its plant in Balsa Nova, Parana. The US$92m investment has added 0.6Mt/yr of cement production capacity to the unit, bringing its total to 3Mt/yr. Notably, the new kiln is intended to support the use of alternative fuels (AF) such as biomass and industrial waste. Local press reports that the new kiln can operate with a 50% AF thermal substitution rate (TSR) and in tests it has reached as high as 67%.

Local market leader Votorantim Cimentos has also embarked on an upgrade programme linked to increasing co-processing rates. In May 2025 it said that it had received and begun installing a new cement mill, supplied from China, at its Salto de Pirapora plant near São Paulo. Earlier in August 2025 it revealed that it was spending US$60m on upgrades at its Nobres and Cuiabá plants in Mato Grosso. A new cement grinding mill is to be installed at the Nobres plant. This should increase the site’s cement production capacity to 1.2Mt/yr from 0.6Mt/yr. At Cuiabá the company is installing a tyre shredding unit via its Verdura subsidiary to support increased rates of co-processing of AF. Work on these projects is set to start in 2025 with completion scheduled by the end of 2026.

These schemes are part of the group’s larger US$920m upgrade investment plans across the country. Announced in early 2024, this is intended to increase competitiveness and co-processing capacity and reduce CO₂ emissions. It will also add 3Mt/yr to the company’s production capacity. An investment of US$150m from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in 2023 to Votorantim to support the uptake of AF is likely to have helped the decision to upgrade. The company currently has a target of a 50% TSR by 2030.

Of the other major producers, CSN is also aiming for a 50% TSR by 2030. It said in its 2024 sustainability report that all of its kilns were capable of processing AF. It also highlighted upgrade work at its Alhandra, Paraíba, plant in 2024 to handle, store and transport fuels, including biomass. InterCement reported some relatively high TSRs at individual plants in Brazil in 2023. For example, its Ijaci plant in Minas Gerais reportedly had a rate of 42%.

National Cement Industry Union (SNIC) data shows that the co-processing rate of AF reached 32% in 2023. The union says that this puts the sector ahead of its next target of 30% in the mid-2020s. The next one is to reach 35% by 2030. For reference, back in 2019 the country’s Cement Technology Roadmap reported that around 60% of cement kilns in the country were licensed by environmental agencies to co-process waste.

Graph 1: Sales of cement in Brazil, 2017 - 2025. Source: SNIC.

Looking at the domestic industry in general, SNIC reported growth in 2024 and the first seven months of 2025. Sales for the first seven months of the year grew by 4% year-on-year to 38.2Mt. This has been attributed to the real estate sector, boosted by the Minha Casa Minha Vida housing programme, and an expanding job market. Yet jitters remain, with fears of an economic slowdown in the second half of 2025 and uncertainty on how new US tariffs might affect the cement industry indirectly. Despite only exporting around 65,000t of cement in 2024 though, the association is wary of any indirect effects of tariffs.

It’s no surprise that cement plants in Brazil are prioritising AF usage. The market is buoyant and co-processing offers one of the cheapest routes to decarbonising cement production in the short-to-medium term. Increasing the use of AF can also potentially hedge against the cost of imported conventional fuels, such as coke, that are priced in US dollars. This is one example of SNIC’s concern over indirect effects on the cement industry from US tariffs via currency volatility. Expect AF rates to carry on rising.

The 18th Global CemFuels Conference & Exhibition on alternative fuels for cement and lime will take place on 17 - 18 September 2025 in Milan, Italy

Brazil: Cia. de Cimento Itambé has inaugurated a new kiln at its Balsa Nova plant in the Curitiba metropolitan region following a US$91.8m investment, according to the Curitiba government. Mayor Eduardo Pimentel and other members of the government were in attendance. The project reportedly increases clinker production capacity by 120% and adds 600,000t/yr of cement capacity, raising the plant’s total to 3Mt/yr.

The kiln will replace up to 50% of fossil fuels with renewable energy sources like biomass and industrial waste.

Belarus: Krasnoselskstroymaterialy is preparing a US$100m modernisation project at one of its cement plants and is seeking investment from Chinese companies. CEO Alexander Golda said “A large cement plant modernisation project is currently at its pre-investment stage. We are actively working with Chinese partners, and representatives of several large companies have already visited us with proposals.” He added that work will continue through 2025 ‘and the following years’ before a final decision is made.

The company reduced its net loss by 45% year-on-year to US$9.50m in 2024, while sales grew by 21% to US$139m.

Saudi Arabia: Qassim Cement has signed a US$298m contract with Sinoma International Engineering to build a fourth production line at its Buraydah plant. The new line will have a production capacity of 10,000t/day.

CEO and board member of Qassim Cement Omar Al-Omar said that the project will replace ‘outdated’, low-efficiency production equipment while optimising the plant’s existing infrastructure. Al-Omar added that the project will support the company’s sustainable growth strategy, aimed at meeting domestic demand and diversifying products in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos announced a US$54.5m investment in the state of Mato Grosso, covering expansions and modernisation at its Cuiabá and Nobres plants. Construction will begin in 2025 and finish by late 2026, creating over 150 direct and indirect jobs in the state while retaining more than 700 existing positions.

At Nobres, a new cement mill will boost capacity by 60% from 0.75Mt/yr to 1.2Mt/yr, and the expansion will also add a new storage warehouse and logistics infrastructure. Votorantim Cimentos’ sustainable waste management arm, Verdera, will install a used tyre shredding facility at the Cuiabá site, supplying its kilns with co-processed fuel.

Global CEO Osvaldo Ayres Filho said the investments will “Increase our competitiveness and our production and storage capacity, and improve our efficiency to better serve our customers and the consumer market, while also reducing CO₂ emissions.”

The expansions are part of a comprehensive investment programme by the company, focused on modernisation, capacity growth, competitiveness and decarbonisation. Announced in early 2024, the plan includes US$909m in investments to be deployed by 2028.

North Korea: The Sangwon Cement Complex has reported that it ‘successfully fulfilled its economic plan for July 2025,’ following an overhaul of its No. 1 cement production which is reported to have increased its capacity. This includes an upgrade to the microalloying process used to cast components for the plant, which has enabled longer service life for components and reduced costs.

Local press reported that the plant was ‘intensifying the drive for increased production to send more cement to the forefronts of socialist construction.’