Displaying items by tag: automation
Advancetec changes names to Schmersal Finland
06 September 2022Finland: Advancetec has changed its name to Schmersal Finland. The company was originally founded in 1993 in Helsinki as a sales company for automation technology. Germany-based Schmersal Group entered into a sales cooperation with Advancetec in the 1990s and eventually fully acquired the company in 2019.
Schmersal Finland sells products from the Schmersal portfolio and the safety services of Schmersal’s services division under the brand name tec.nicum, primarily in Finland and Estonia. Customers include well-known companies from the sectors paper manufacturing, food processing, robotics, marine industry and heavy industry.
Jukka Harmoinen, the managing director of Schmersal Finland, said “The new name will make it easier for us to increase the visibility of the Schmersal brand in Finland. In the future we would like to expand our product range and to develop new projects in cooperation with engineering and consulting companies.”
Loesche publishes first Sustainability Report
11 August 2022Germany: Loesche has published its Sustainability Report of its performance in 2021. The supplier’s Scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions declined by 6.1% year-on-year to 229t from 244t in 2020 and by 19% over the two years from 2019, when they totalled 282t. It reduced the share of Scope 2 emissions in the figure to 40% from 41% in 2020 and 45% in 2019.
Loesche offers emissions-reducing products to the global cement industry under the label Greenkey Solutions. These include its A/Fuel and H/combust ranges for alternative fuels and green hydrogen upgrades, its C/Clay range for clay calcining and grinding, its Digital/Ready 4.0! range for predictive process optimisation and smart asset management, its E/Slag range for ground granulated blast furnace slag upgrades and its S/Crete range for waste concrete recycling, as well as audits for retrofits. Together, Loesche says that its products can reduce the global cement sector’s carbon footprint by 90%. Within this, Loesche believes that calcined clay technology alone can reduce cement’s CO2 emissions by 40% and its energy demand by 21%.
Loesche said that its launch during the year of its H2Optimum grinding bed spraying system can reduce grinding mills’ water consumption by 50%.
Egypt: Misr Cement Qena commenced automated cement production at its Qena cement plant in early July 2022. The automation systems also cover plant maintenance processes. Misr Cement Qena awarded a technical management contract for the plant to Arab Swiss Engineering Company in June 2021.
Misr Cement Qena said "This step came in line with the company’s growth strategy to reduce operating costs and maximise asset utilisation in order to meet current challenges."
Morocco: Holcim subsidiary LafargeHolcim Maroc has released information about its 1.6Mt/yr Agadir cement plant in Souss-Massa Region. The producer invested US$299m in the plant’s construction and it has been operational since late 2021. The plant is highly automated in line with Holcim’s Plants of Tomorrow strategy. It will run off wind power from 2023, and also uses alternative fuel (AF). 200 people work at the plant.
In conjunction with its work in setting up the new cement plant, LafargeHolcim Maroc developed drinking water networks in the surrounding area, including the construction of three solar-powered water towers.
India: Bharathi Cement plans to build a US$17m automated terminal and packaging plant at Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. United News of India has reported that the facility will package the company’s bagged and bulk cement and supply the South West Tamil Nadu and Kerala markets.
On 23 April 2022, the subsidiary of France-based Vicat despatched its first rake of cement aboard custom-built tank and box container cars to Coimbatore from its Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh, cement plant. Vicat’s India CEO Anoop Kumar Saxena said that the first-of-its method of bulk cement transportation will reduce the company’s logistics costs and carbon emission and increase the service level for customers.
Greece: Titan Cement Group has secured an EU patent for its robotic remote preheater system, previously installed at the company’s Kamari cement plant in Viotia. Titan Cement Group designed the system to maximise operational efficiency and safety.
The company carried out a Euro25m precalciner installation at the Kamari plant in 2021 – 2022.
China: Fujian Jianfu Cement has hired Citic Heavy Industries to carry out engineering design, procurement, construction and delivery of its upcoming 4500t/day ‘green smart’ cement plant. Process Worldwide Online News has reported that the plant will cost US$136m and operate with a high degree of process automation. As such, Citic Heavy Industries will rely on 3D parametric equipment design and digital twin technology in order to generate equipment models, incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) and maximise data potential for lifecycle operations.
FLSmidth to carry out Shree Cement’s digital transformation
04 February 2022India: Shree Cement has hired Denmark-based FLSmidth to carry out its digital transformation. The supplier will install its ECS/PlantDataManagement monitoring system at Shree Cement’s cement plants. It says that the technology will increase efficiency.
Shree Cement’s joint managing director Prashant Bangur said "We are always looking at ways to optimise production, and the decision to apply FLSmidth's information management system to all our sites is a natural next step." Whole-time managing director Prakash Narayan Chhangani said "FLSmidth is a trusted partner for us, as we demonstrated by the milling and pyro order we announced last year. And we are confident that this next step in our digital transformation will prove to be profitable."
Cemex signs service deal with HCL Technologies
22 December 2021Mexico: Cemex has signed a five-year agreement with India-based HCL Technologies for information technology (IT) services related to employee services, increased automation and analytics. HCL will work on IT managed services, infrastructure and application services and end-user support. It will also collaborate with Neoris, a subsidiary of Cemex, on customer services and supply chain resiliency. HCL will use its DryICE and Software products, along with various other automation products.
“Cemex selected HCL Technologies because we have a vision of working smarter to cater to the global company’s fast-growing operations,” said Fausto Sosa, vice president of Information Technology of Cemex.
FLSmidth to carry out Pacasmayo cement plant upgrade
15 December 2021Peru: FLSmidth has secured a contract for the supply of a new pyro line for Cementos Pacasmayo’s Pacasmayo cement plant near Lima. The new line will give the plant an additional production capacity of 0.6Mt/yr. The supplier says that it plans to install a Cross-Bar cooler, low-NOx calciner, Jetflex burner, equipment for dosing and feeding and process automation. FLSmidth says that the upgrade will reduce the plant’s energy consumption and open new opportunities for the use of alternative fuel (AF).
FLSmidth’s head of projects and upgrades and senior vice president Anders Josefsen said “We are very excited to work with Cementos Pacasmayo on this project – not only on growing the business, but doing it in a sustainable way. The new line will be equipped with a state-of-the-art pyro system including several of our MissionZero solutions. With this, Pacasmayo makes a significant investment in future-proofing its production.” He added “The Pacasmayo project is a prime example of our capabilities within process design: ensuring the integration to an existing plant, while also demonstrating our ability to deliver equipment that meets demands for energy and fuel efficiency.”