Displaying items by tag: Upgrade

Uzbekistan: United Cement Group subsidiary Qizilqumsement says that it has awarded contracts for the upgrade of Lines 1 and 2 at its Qizilqum cement plant in Navoiy Region. Uzbekistan Newsline has reported that the producer has completed testing to ascertain the lines' parameters of operation, fuel and energy consumption and output. This will inform its decisions, with a view to reducing the cost of clinker production.

Qizilqumsement is currently in the process of building the Qizilqum plant's new 767,000t/yr Line 4, which will also increase its clinker capacity by 657,000t/yr. The producer expects this to lower the cost of its clinker production by 30%.

Nigeria: Lafarge Africa has opened a bag manufacturing unit at its Ewekoro cement plant in Ogun State. It has a bag production capacity of 105m/yr. The company says it is the first of its kind in the country. It is intended to increase the availability of bags through large-scale production locally. The project is a joint-venture run with MDV Industries.

Khaled El Dokani, the country chief executive officer for Lafarge Africa, said “We are using the best technology that produces the most efficient and durable bag in Nigeria. It is a very great day for us at Lafarge Africa.”

US: Swede-based Bruks Siwertell has received a conveyor system order for use at the integrated Capitol Aggregates cement plant in San Antonio, Texas. The order has been placed by Borton, a construction company.
Three new conveyor systems will modify the site’s existing material transport system and the addition of a new storage silos. They are all standard widths of 91cm. The C-810 type conveyor will be 148m in length and will transfer clinker to a bucket elevator at a rated capacity of 150t/hr. The 84m long C-940 type conveyor will have a rated capacity of 200t/hr and will transfer clinker to the silo reclaim, while the C-975 type conveyor will be 40m long and connect to an existing conveyor. It will also have a rated capacity of 200t/hr.

The conveyors are being fabricated in Mexico and will be delivered to the operator later in 2023.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement’s sales totalled US$1.2bn during the first nine months of the 2023 financial year, a rise of 28% year-on-year from US$941m during the corresponding period in the 2022 financial year. The Balochistan Times newspaper has reported that Lucky Cement attributed the growth to the commencement of operations of its new subsidiary, utilities provider Lucky Electric Power. The company increased its profit after tax by 83%, to US$172m.

Lucky Cement commissioned its Pezu cement plant’s new Line 2 at the end of the second quarter of the 2023 financial year. This increased the company’s installed production capacity by 26% to 15.3Mt/yr. The producer also inaugurated a new 34MW solar power plant, and completed negotiations for another, 25MW, solar power plant at its Karachi cement plant. The latest solar power plant is scheduled for commissioning later in 2023.

Belgium: France-based Air Liquide has signed a memorandum of understanding with Holcim to supply and operate a Cryocap Oxy carbon capture unit for the forthcoming upgrade to the Obourg cement plant. The intention is that 95% of the CO₂ generated from the new production line will be captured and then transported via the Antwerp@C export terminal for under-sea sequestration. Air Liquide and Holcim have co-applied for the European Innovation Fund to support the project.

Pascal Vinet, Senior Vice President at Air Liquide Group, said “The decarbonisation of the industry is at the heart of our Advance strategy. We are committed to accompany our customers through providing a wide range of innovative solutions. As an example, Air Liquide's proprietary Cryocap technology is particularly well suited to decarbonise the cement industry.”

US: Heidelberg Materials says that the first clinker has been produced on the new production line at its integrated Mitchell cement plant in Indiana. Construction work on the project started in 2019 and the majority of the work is now completed. The US$600m upgrade is expected to increase the production capacity at the unit to over 2.4Mt/yr. It will also create 50 new full-time jobs at the site, bringing the total to 170.

Chris Ward, president and chief executive officer of Heidelberg Materials North America, said “We are extremely pleased to have the new Mitchell kiln online and producing clinker.” He added “With the capabilities of the new facility, we will be able to supply our customers more efficiently, consistently and sustainably than ever before.”

North Korea: Upgrades to two cement plants have been reported by the Korean Central News Agency. The Sunchon cement plant near Pyongyang has installed a multi-channel pulverised-coal burner. The upgrade has allowed the unit to both save coal and increase cement production. The Chonnaeri cement plant in Hamgyongnam province has started operating a new clinker cooler. The companies supplying the new equipment to either plant have not been revealed.

Poland: Germany-based IKN says that erection works of a new IKN-supplied cooler are in progress at Lafarge Poland’s Małogoszcz cement plant. The Euro100m upgrade project is building a new 3700t/day clinker production line at the unit to replace the existing three lines. A new alternative fuels line will also be installed to reduce the plant’s CO₂ emissions by 20% and its energy consumption by 33%. China National Building Material (CNBM) subsidiary Nanjing Kisen International Engineering was previously reported as being the lead contractor on the project.

France: Ciments Calcia has announced an investment of Euro86m to further decarbonise cement production at its integrated Beaucaire plant. The subsidiary of Germany-based Heidelberg Materials has allocated a total of Euro600m towards reducing CO₂ emissions from all of its operations in the country in response to a government initiative, according to The Tribune newspaper.

The current funding follows a spend of just under Euro7m on upgrades at the site, including installing a new clinker cooler that will allow for greater recovery of waste heat, and the addition of a new computer control system. Following this work, the single production line plant was restarted in early April 2023.

The next stage of investment has started with a feasibility study. If successful, a tendering process could start in the second half of 2023 with work planned to start in 2025. The company intends to renovate the plant’s electricity network, modernise the production line with a preheater and a pre-crusher and make further changes to target an alternative fuels thermal substitution rate of 75%. A third stage, involving carbon capture and utilisation and/or storage, is tentatively planned to start in 2030.

Türkiye: Ahmet Eren, the chair of Eren Holding, says that its Medcem Çimento subsidiary will double its cement production capacity to 7Mt/yr in 2024. Eren made the comments in an interview amongst revealing investment plans, in other sectors, according to Bloomberg. Medcem Çimento selected Sintek Group to build a new 9000t/day production line at its integrated Mersin plant in late 2021. Germany-based Aumund was also reported in 2022 to be supplying equipment for the project.