Global Cement News
Search Cement News
Proposal to amend the National Building Code could jeopardise Canadians' health and safety 13 December 2013
Canada: The Cement Association of Canada (CAC) held a press conference on 12 December 2013 to demand that the changes proposed for the next edition of the National Building Code of Canada (NBCC) be significantly improved to provide better safety for all Canadians. One such change would increase the maximum wood building height to six storeys from the current limit of four.
The CAC contends that the construction of five and six storey wood frame buildings could present many safety concerns for Canadians. "If these taller wood frame buildings are included in the Code, Canada could see an increase in fires and put vulnerable Canadians at risk," said Michael McSweeney, president and CEO of the CAC.
The current proposal has many deficiencies, and the CAC strongly recommends that a number of additional provisions be implemented. These include non-combustible stairwells and elevator shafts to provide fire-fighters with a safe refuge area from which to stage their fire-fighting and rescue operations and residents with a safe place to go so they can be rescued; non-combustible cladding and non-combustible roofing which is fundamental to preventing a fire from spreading to adjacent buildings. Additionally, non-combustible two-hour firewalls should be mandated on these buildings along with the installation of sprinkler protection during the construction phase. Finally, the CAC believes that the protection of the lives of fire-fighters should be included in the NBCC.
"The proposed changes have potentially life and death implications," said Carl Pearson, a First Captain with the Thorold Fire and Emergency Services and the Past President of the Fire Fighters' Association of Ontario. "For fire-fighters, our number one concern is to safely rescue people, without casualties. If these proposed changes to the NBCC are implemented, Canadians lives could be at risk. We don't want that to happen."
Sinoma signs US$536m deal with Dangote 12 December 2013
Nigeria: Sinoma International Engineering has signed a US$536m deal with Dangote to build two 6000t/day clinker production lines and accessories in Sagamu. The contract includes engineering design, equipment procurement and supply, civil construction, electrical equipment installation, debugging, performance appraisal and accessory projects covering the production process from crushing to packaging and delivery by the bag and in bulk.
Ultratech Cement to build two cement plants in Uttarakhand 12 December 2013
India: Ultratech Cement plans to spend US$810m to build two cement plants in the state of Uttarakhand. The Industrial Development Department has issued a letter of intent to the Indian cement producer asking it to set up its new plants at Tuni, Dehradun district and at Someshwar, Almora district. The plant at Tuni will have a cement production capacity of 3.5Mt/yr and the plant at Someshwar will have a capacity of 2Mt/yr.
Fracking up the cement industry
Written by Global Cement staff
11 December 2013
Water conservation is on the agenda this week with two water-related news stories from the multinational cement producers.
First came a story that Lafarge Canada is preparing to run a trial using waste water from hydraulic fracking at its Brookfield cement plant in Nova Scotia. Currently the plant uses 35ML/yr of fresh water from a nearby lake to control temperatures of its rotary cement kiln. Potentially some of this water could be replaced with water produced during the fracking process. This water would then evaporate and be emitted from the stack.
The background to this pilot project is that the Nova Scotia regional government introduced a two-year moratorium on fracking in 2012 while it reviews the situation. Given the high level of public debate on fracking, any process using waste products from it is going to receive a high level of attention. One of the major arguments against fracking concerns the toxicity of the fluids used. Hence Lafarge stressed in their statement how safe the waste water would be before it would even be used in the plant. Safe enough to drink apparently.
Focusing on the industrial aspects of the pilot for cement production, it will be fascinating to see what effects the fracking waste water might have even just as a coolant on plant equipment. Among other contaminants, fracking waste water often contains high levels of salt. Managing a transition from a fresh water coolant source to a saltier more corrosive one may pose the first of many challenges.
Later in the week Cemex announced the latest stage in its work on water conservation with the implementation of a corporate water policy. The policy aims to focus on resource availability, resource quality, and ecosystem integrity. It continues Cemex's Water Project, developed in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Notably Cemex's water policy aims to maximise efficiency by managing water consumption with increased captured recycled or captured water usage given as an example. How Cemex might use recycled water from a contentious industrial process such as hydraulic fracking is not specified. However, the policy does aim to actively reduce pollution and limit the effects of discharge upon water ecosystems from its operations.
Water policies such as a Cemex's are great for an industry that often has an image problem in the eyes of environmentalists. Linking cement production to fracking runoff will not improve this image. Yet placing science before lobbying is the way to go. Bring on the results of the pilot.
Cembureau issues joint statement on European Commission air policy review proposals 11 December 2013
Belgium: Cembureau has issued a joint statement with other members of the Industrial Emissions Alliance declaring its concern for aspects of the upcoming European Commission proposals regarding the Air Policy Review. In particular the European Cement Association (Cembureau) singled out emissions reduction targets and the target year of 2025.
The statement calls for 50% 'gap closure' for emission reductions as it views a proposed rate of 75% as 'unobtainable' due to issues with how emissions reductions will be delivered by current legislation, the costs of going beyond current legislation and the environmental benefits of further measures. It added that the high rate would damage European Union (EU) industrial competiveness and EU jobs. The statement also calls for the target year to be extended to 2030 to align it with the Framework for Climate and Energy Policies dates.