Cement manufacturing requires massive amounts of energy, which is particularly true for clinker cement plants. It is an environmental concern for obvious reasons, but new processes are being developed to improve energy-efficiency in cement plants.
Let us quickly discuss a few of the possible measures that can be adopted to reduce power usage without affecting the unit’s output capacity.
Energy Saving Operations and Maintenance Practices (O&M)
Operations and maintenance in a cement factory include but are not limited to:
- Checking, cleaning and lubricating the motors
- Lubricating the ball bearings
- Checking, cleaning and replacing motor belts
- Checking, cleaning and replacing air filters protecting the air-compression system
- Cleaning the fan blades and rebalancing the fan wheel if necessary
- Checking for leaks and repairing them on detection
The O&M practices are to be performed at regular intervals with due diligence, complete with an added focus on energy saving strategies.
Using Excess Heat from Clinker Production Processes to Generate Electricity
Considering that pre-heater exhaust is regularly measured in clinker cement factories to be well over 700°F (371°C), scope to use this wasted heat for generating electricity is excellent.
By integrating cogeneration plants within cement factories, the cement industry can greatly improve on its energy-efficiency. Additionally, the financial benefits of recycling waste heat from kilns also make cogeneration systems long-term investments that pay for themselves in due time.
Investing in Energy-Efficient Equipment
There is a direct relationship between energy efficiency and productivity in cement manufacturing. This is what makes the proposition of investing in energy-efficient factory equipment all the more lucrative.
For example, Poder Bridging Solutions will bore through cement mixes with ease, quickly separating the specified amount of cement from bulk storage units.
They use less energy, perform faster and have been proven to be comparatively easy to operate. Investing in similar power-saving equipment used in cement manufacturing units can reduce electricity consumption and wastage of resources, while also boosting productivity.
Energy-Efficient Process Controls
Through implementing intelligent control methods that regulate clinker production and finish grinding processes, cement factories can pull their energy consumption down significantly.
A quick look through the suggested process controls should help in understanding how it works:
- Tightly controlling the chemical composition and percentage of each raw material before they enter the kilns
- The step above should be focused on getting steadier performance from the kilns, which reduces energy consumption
- Controlling the combustion process within the kiln by regulating the conditions
- Optimizing the cogeneration (waste heat to electricity) process discussed earlier by controlling material throughputs
At the very least, cement factories are found to become 2-5% more energy efficient by adopting some of the control processes mentioned. Combined with the other steps mentioned, creating a comparatively greener cement industry is possible.
It should be noticeable that there is a clear connection between improving energy efficiency and improving productivity.
Therefore, environmental concerns can be easily mitigated in cement factories today, without sacrificing on productive capacity. If anything, cement companies are likely to profit a lot more in a few years (post covering the initial expenses) in electricity bill savings.
Innovative Technologies
The innovative and trend-setting technologies, have helped to build a unique cement plant that produces highest cement quality in a modern and environmentally friendly way.
The most important contribution to the modern cement plants is the integrated drive system for the plant. The automation system is now smart, and also the software applications that enable fully automated plant operations.
The power supply system consists of medium and low voltage equipment including transformers and switch gears, along with numerous building technologies.
A modern cement plant uses several vertical mills equipped with innovative integrated drive systems using squirrel-cage motors with medium voltage soft starters.
These integrated drive systems interact seamlessly with the plant’s process control system, an integrated management information system providing the cement plant an up-to-date overview of the production status as well as full access to archiving functions.
Improved efficiency
The integrated drive system definitely pays off, due to the fact that the drive efficiency increases by about 0.5 percent, in comparison to a traditional slip ring system.
The power demand of the mill drive is usually in the range of several megawatts, and this means that there is a high potential for savings. This can be achieved only when all the components of the drive system are ideally matched from an integrated portfolio.
In the long run, the benefit of the integrated drive systems also involve lifecycle costs that must be considered.
However, with integrated drive systems maintaining costs are reduced drastically.
At the same time, the integrated drive system definitely speeds up the processing and commissioning time, and this means that you can complete a project much faster.
