Displaying items by tag: Upgrade
South Korea: Voith has reported on a contract to engineer and install a belt conveyor drive and controller system for SsangYong Cement’s Donghae plant. Changes made by the engineering firm to two belt conveyors from the main limestone quarry to the plant managed to double the production of the quarry.
The engineering company installed new drive trains on the longer 12.8km SB500 belt conveyor, one of the longest single conveyors in the world. The installed power is now 2 x 1.2MW at the head and 1 x 1.2MW at the tail of the conveyor. The existing drives from the longer conveyor were used to double the number of drive trains on the shorter 2km SB200 conveyor. The new configuration of the SB200 drive system consists of 4 x 600kW installed power at the head equipped with new gearboxes. A Voith TurboBelt DriveControl system was also installed to reduce the start-up time of the longer conveyor by half, from originally over 10 minutes. The system includes active-load sharing, belt conveyor control, slip detection and remote service capability. It is also expected to extend the belt lifetime by reducing the mechanical stress as well as the dynamic impacts.
“Due to this retrofit project, we were able to reduce the working hours of plant workers, achieved cost savings, and a flexible operation is now possible. Thanks to Voith’s technical support and efforts, the plant will enjoy sustainable operations providing value to its community, its owner, and the employees,” said Dukgi Lee, General Manager of the plant.
Semen Indonesia sales fall in 2017
03 March 2017Indonesia: Semen Indonesia’s sales revenue fell by 3% year-on-year to US$1.95bn in 2016 from US$2.01bn in 2015. Its gross profit fell by 7.4% to US$737m from US$796m. Its overall cement sales volumes remained stable at 28.9Mt although sales from its Vietnamese subsidiary rose by 10.9% to 2.59Mt and its domestic subsidiary Semen Padang saw its sales fall by 3.5% to 6.29Mt. Exports from Indonesia rose by 24.4% to 0.6Mt.
Despite its static cement sales in Indonesia, the cement producer has two new 3Mt/yr cement plant projects respectively underway. The Indarung cement plant in West Sumatra is scheduled for commercial operation in April 2017. The Rembang cement plant in Central Java remains suspended whilst the company seeks environmental clearance. The government revoked permits for the site in late 2016 and it has been the focus of protests. In addition, a 30MW waste heat recovery system at the Tuban plant is scheduled to start operation by the end of 2017.
ARM Cement to increase grinding capacity in Kenya by early 2018
24 February 2017Kenya: ARM Cement plans to increase its grinding capacity by 50% at its 1Mt/yr cement plant at Athi River. Pradeep Paunrana, the managing director of ARM Cement, made the comments in an interview reported on by Reuters. The new grinding capacity will use clinker from the company’s plant at Tanga in Tanzania. The upgrade plans follow an equity deal in late 2016 with the CDC Group to secure US$140m in funding. However, most of this money has been used to pay off debts.
Paunrana noted that cement demand in the East African region is expected to rise at 8 – 10%/yr. The cement producer is preparing to build a new cement plant at Kitui in Kenya but it wants to increase its capacity utilisation rate from its plant in Tanzania first.
LafargeHolcim Kujawy cement plant in Poland to have chlorine bypass system upgraded by A Tec
17 February 2017Poland: LafargeHolcim has awarded a contract to A Tec to upgrade the chlorine bypass system at its Kujawy cement plant. A Tec will upgrade its existing Reduchlor bypass system to increase the rate to 10% from 5%. The upgrade will retain the system’s existing bypass filter and filter fan. The project will be commissioned in spring of 2017.
A Tec’s Reduchlor bypass system consists of a take-off chamber above the kiln inlet, specifically designed for each installation, and a specially designed quenching chamber, to which the chlorine condenses on and adheres to fine dust particles. After this condensation process the chlorine-enriched material is collected in a filter.
Fairport Engineering reports work on filters at Ketton cement plant
15 February 2017UK: Fairport Engineering has reported work on its replacement of two electrostatic (ESP) filters at Hanson’s Ketton cement plant in Rutland. Following discussion in early 2016 Fairport was contracted to replace ESP filters at the plants Mills 9 and 10. Both mills were shut down for planned three-week periods each to remove the old filters and install the new ones. The new system on Mill 9 also required the installation of new screw conveyors, rotary airlocks and the reconfiguration of existing control panels, plus the installation of new 160KW central exhaust fans and associated clean gas ducting. Fairport reports that, to date, the daily averages on both filters are well below the target emission level.
Long Son to open second production line in August 2017
13 February 2017Vietnam: Long Son plans to open its second production line at its Long Son cement plant in Thanh Hoa in late August 2017. The new line will more than double the plant’s production capacity to 5Mt/yr, according to the Viet Nam News newspaper. The company has spent US$176m on the new line.
Keerthi Industries starts 2.24MW waste heat recovery unit at plant
13 February 2017India: Keerthi Industries has started operation of a 2.24MW waste heat recovery unit at its Keerthi cement plant at Mellacheruvu, Nalgonda district in Telangana. The cement producer says that the upgrade cost US$3.9m to buy and install, according to local press. Keerthi Industries operates a 0.6Mt/yr cement plant.
Dangote Cement building upgrades at Mugher plant in Ethiopia
13 February 2017Ethiopia: Dangote Cement is building a bagging plant and a third silo at its Mugher cement plant. The US$19m bagging plant will have a capacity of 120 million bags/yr, according to the Ethiopian Reporter newspaper. It is scheduled for completion by July 2017. The silo should be completed by the third quarter of the year.
Deep Kamara, the managing director of Dangote Industries Ethiopia, also said that the company is considering building a second production line in the country. However, procuring spare parts is proving difficult for the plant due to shortages of foreign currency and delays in shipping new parts. The company is expecting help from the government and it needs to spend up to US$15m on spare parts for the plant.
The Mugher cement plant opened in 2015 with a cement production capacity of 2.5Mt/yr. Equipment at the plant was set on fire in late 2016 in a series of riots in the region.
Pioneer Cement signs deal with Chengdu Design & Research to build new line at Chenki
10 February 2017Pakistan: Pioneer Cement has signed contracts with Chengdu Design & Research Institute of Building Materials Industry (CDI) to build a new 8000t/day clinker production line at its cement plant in Chenki, District Khusshab in Punjab. The order also includes a 12MW waste heat recovery unit and a captive 24MW coal power plant. No value for the order has been disclosed.
Government auditor criticises Jammu and Kashmir Cements for allowing contractor to abandon cement plant project
30 January 2017India: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has criticised the management of Jammu and Kashmir Cements for allowing a contractor to abandon a contract to upgrade a cement plant without incurring a financial penalty. The subsequent reduction in production between 2010 and 2014 led the plant to loose an estimated US$5.6m, according to a report seen by the Early Times newspaper.
Engineering contactor Promac Engineering Industries was originally awarded a US$10.5m contact to upgrade the plant in 2005. Work started in June 2006 but the contractor left the site in 2010. The original terms of the agreement required Promac to complete the upgrade within 26 months and pay a financial penalty if the plant’s production capacity fell, if any increase in power or fuel consumption occurred or if the contract was delayed. Additionally, a packing plant that was built as part of the contract remained unused until 2015.