Displaying items by tag: Waste Heat Recovery

Belgium: Holcim kicked-off its Go4Zero project at its Obourg plant on 16 May 2024 in an event attended by the Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and the European Commissioner for Climate Action Wopke Hoekstra. The €500m Go4Zero project, supported with €230m of funding from the European Union, will enable the integrated plant to reduce its CO₂ emissions by 30% by 2027 and to produce 2Mt/yr of CO2-free cement by 2029. When fully operational, the Obourg plant will capture 1.2Mt/yr of CO₂.

The Go4Zero project incorporates a number of approaches to achieve net-zero CO₂ cement. The centrepiece is an oxy-fuel combustion process to generate an easy-to-handle exhaust gas with up to 80% CO₂. This will be coupled to a cryogenic purification unit to generate a >99%-pure CO₂ stream .The project will also make use of waste heat recovery (WHR), new exhaust filtration equipment and Europe’s largest floating solar panel farm.

India: Orient Cement has successfully commissioned Phase 2 of the new waste heat recovery (WHR) plant at its Chittapur cement plant in Karnataka. Reuters has reported that the new phase raises WHR power capacity at the plant to 10.1MW.

Mexico/Germany: Cemex and waste heat recovery (WHR) systems developer Orcan Energy plan to scale up WHR technologies supplied by Orcan Energy at multiple Cemex sites globally. This new multi-site portfolio approach extends an existing partnership, through which the companies trialled Orcan’s systems for electricity generation at Cemex Deutschland’s Rüdersdorf cement plant in Germany.

Cemex’s Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia regional president Sergio Menéndez said “We already have an initial collaboration with Orcan. Based on the modularity of their solution, Orcan offers the flexibility of both installation and contracts. Thanks to this crucial flexibility, we can adapt to any upcoming changes in our plants. The approach enables us to reduce carbon emissions right now without limiting ourselves in implementing any future technologies such as carbon capture, utilisation and storage. This partnership will help us achieve our sustainability targets and contribute to our aim to use all available heat.”

Orcan Energy’s chief executive officer Andreas Sichert said “We are looking forward to entering this large-scale decarbonisation partnership with Cemex after our initial cooperation in Germany. This step is a testament to Cemex’s forward-looking strategy and the company’s commitment to achieving net zero. For Orcan Energy, this is another milestone in scaling the business internationally with global enterprises. We are proud to be the partner of choice for the cement industry. Our large footprint across the industry shows the economic capability and the technical excellence of our modular and flexible solution, especially in view of uncertain future economic and regulative developments.”

India: The Ramco Cements plans to more than double the clinker capacity of its Kalavatala cement plant in Andhra Pradesh to 6.3Mt/yr at a cost of US$151m. The new Line 2 will be equipped with a 15MW waste heat recovery (WHR) unit. The line will raise the producer’s installed cement capacity to 26Mt/yr and its clinker capacity to 19Mt/yr with commissioned scheduled by early 2026. The Ramco Cements plans to source the funds through internal accruals and bank borrowings.

At the same time, the company will invest US$18.4m in the construction of a 10MW WHR plant at its Ramasamy Raja Nagar cement plant in Tamil Nadu, scheduled for commissioning by March 2025. Both WHR projects will raise The Ramco Cements’ total WHR capacity by 58% to 68MW.

The Ramco Cements said that Kalavatala plant is currently operating at full capacity utilisation. It added that it decided to expand the plant in response to this and further ‘demand potential.’ In the current, fourth quarter of the 2024 financial year (1 January – 31 March 2024), the company expects to make capital expenditure (capex) investments of US$47m, followed by US$205m in the upcoming 2025 financial year.

Germany: Orcan Energy has expanded its Kiel plant in order to produce its waste heat recovery (WHR) systems entirely on-site. The expansion aims to meet increased global demand, in line with Orcan Energy's strategy to help reduce CO₂ emissions from cement and other industries.

Orcan Energy CEO Andreas Sichert said "The decision to expand our in-house production capacity in Kiel reflects our commitment to growth and innovation in Germany. With roots in Munich and a range of global projects, we can promote sustainable change around the world from Germany. I look forward to working together with my colleagues in Kiel to contribute to a profitable and sustainable energy future."

Saudi Arabia: Najran Cement has informed investors via a posting on the Saudi Exchange that it expects its cost of sales to rise by 13%. This is due to an increase in the price of fuels by its supplier Saudi Aramco. The cement producer noted that the waste heat recovery (WHR) system installed at its Najran cement plant has partly reduced the anticipated impacts on costs.

Najran Cement said “The company will work during the coming period to explore ways to reduce the financial impact of this adjustment on the company’s profits and will continue to implement its plans to reduce costs and improve production and operating efficiency. It will also work with government agencies to explore ways to diversify energy sources.”

Iraq: Al-Riyadh Investment Companies Group subsidiary Al-Douh Iraqi Company for Cement Industries plans to expand its Al Douh cement plant’s capacity by 58% to 3Mt/yr. The expansion is part of an upgrade involving the installation of a new kiln, a gas-fired captive power plant and a new waste heat recovery (WHR) plant. The WHR plant will provide 30% of the plant’s energy. The US-based International Finance Corporation (IFC) has loaned Al-Douh Iraqi Company for Cement Industries US$130m on a long-term basis for the project.

The IFC says that it expects the Al Douh cement plant expansion to help boost economic diversification, spur sustainable growth in Iraq and generate 2700 new jobs in Muthanna Governorate.

Germany: Rohrdorfer Zement has fired up a pilot clay tempering unit at its Rohrdorf cement plant in Bavaria. The project has received Euro8.65m in funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and the EU. It is one of a number of industrial projects under the EU’s Euro800bn NextGenerationEU post-Covid-19 economic recovery instrument. Sources of heat for the pilot unit at the Rohrdorf cement plant include waste heat from the plant’s clinker line. If the pilot succeeds, the introduction of tempered clay into cement production at the site will follow. This will entail the construction of an on-site full-scale clay tempering plant. Rohrdorfer Zement says that this would reduce the plant’s CO₂ emissions by 16 – 18%, or by 30% if it achieves carbon neutral clay tempering through the use of green hydrogen.

Rohrdorfer’s dedicated Net Zero Emissions Labs team is working to turn the Rohrdorf cement plant carbon neutral by 2038. Other initiatives include the installation of carbon capture systems at the Rohrdorf plant and another in Austria, and participation in the H2-Reallabor Burghausen hydrogen partnership.

Regarding the latest pilot, Rohrdorf Net Zero Emissions Labs project leader Helmut Leibinger said “As a cement component, tempered clays make a significant contribution to CO₂ mitigation. With the pilot project of process-integrated tempered clay, we are taking not just a step in our decarbonisation roadmap, but a leap.”

Kyrgyzstan had a couple of prominent stories in the press towards the end of December 2023 with news of a new plant and continuing data showing that cement production has grown.

The Chüy project was first announced by the government in mid-2022 when it signed an investment agreement with a consortium comprising representatives from Terek-Tash and ZENIT. More information on the unit emerged this week when the Russian-Kyrgyz Development Fund revealed that it made a loan of US$45m towards the scheme based in the northern Chüy region of the country. The plan is to build a 1.7Mt/yr plant with a budget of US$160m. Equipment to build the plant is reportedly being sourced from companies in China and Russia. Special features of the project include a waste heat recovery unit and the use of ash from the Bishkek Thermal Power Plant in the production process. The plant is expected to be launched in 2024.

Graph 1: Cement production in Kyrgyzstan, 2018 - 2023. Source: National Statistical Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic.

One reason why the government might be keen to build a new plant is because cement production has mostly grown in each of the past five years, with the exception of 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic began. In 2022 it increased by 7% year-on-year to 2.7Mt and the latest data from the National Statistical Committee indicates that it rose by 11% year-on-year to 2.6Mt in the 11 months to the end of November 2023. If this rate held in December 2023 then it looks likely that the country will have produced just under 3Mt in 2023. At the same time the country’s exports of cement have also been falling. In November 2023 the government of Kazakhstan’s Jambyl Region said that it had found investors to support construction of a railway line between the locale and Kyrgyzstan due to a ‘building boom’ in the latter country.

Earlier in 2023 the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) said it had earmarked US$48m for the modernisation of equipment at the Kant Cement plant, operated by Kazakhstan-based United Cement Group (UCG), also in Chüy region. The plant is the biggest in Kyrgyzstan, running five wet process production lines, according to the Global Cement Directory 2023. The EDB linked its investment to a hydroelectric project in the country that it is also funding, pointing out that such structures require lots of cement and concrete. This follows a previous upgrade project by owner Kazakhstan-based United Cement Group (UCG) at the plant from 2021 to March 2023. This involved efficiency and environmental gains such as installing bag filters and converting a cement grinding mill to a closed circuit. China-based and CNBM subsidiary China Triumph International Engineering was the lead project partner. In early December 2023 UCG announced that it had signed another contract with China Triumph International Engineering over the summer to build a new dry production line at the site with a clinker capacity of 0.8Mt/yr. At the time of the announcement it said that preparation of the construction site had started and that work had begun on installing a pile foundation.

Finally, one more Kyrgyz news story of note in recent months was the announcement in October 2023 that the government had effectively nationalised the Kurmentinsky Cement plant in Issyk-Kul Region. The reason why it had done so was unusual because it said that a 93% share in the company running the plant had been transferred to the State Property Management Agency following the death of its former owner. The former owner was one Kamchybek Kolbaev, an organised crime boss who had been listed on the US Department of State Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program and was reportedly killed by state security services in early October 2023. The remaining shares in the plant have been passed to its workers and the government further said that it intends to upgrade the site.

The cement sector in Kyrgyzstan is modest and in need of modernisation. It appears to be having a resurgence at the moment though with production mounting and at least two major plant projects underway. The country is in a compelling position economically and geopolitically given its membership of the Russia-backed Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and its proximity to China. Various projects backed by the latter’s Belt and Road Initiative, both underway and forthcoming, would certainly appear to benefit from more efficient local cement production and higher volumes.

India: Adani Group subsidiary Ambuja Cements plans to invest US$722m in renewable energy projects to help decarbonise its cement production. The producer has a renewable power capacity target of 1000MW, through solar and wind projects, by the end of the 2026 financial year. The proposals include a 600MW solar power project and 150MW wind power project in Gujarat, and a 250MW solar power project in Rajasthan. The company also plans to increase its waste heat recovery (WHR) capacity to 397MW by late 2028 from 103MW at present.

Ajay Kapur, the chief executive officer of Adani Group’s cement business, said "This strategic investment reaffirms our steadfast commitment to sustainable practices. We are not just aiming for a substantial increase in green power capacity but setting the stage for a transformative shift in the cement industry. They align not only with our growth trajectory but also with the national objective of decarbonisation and greener future and this helps us become competitive and sustainable."

Adani Group announced in mid-December 2023 that it was committed to investing US$100bn in the decade to the end of 2033 towards transitioning its operations to net zero CO₂ emissions by 2050.