The digital quarry
Quarries often give the impression that they have been forgotten in capital investment projects, having bypassed technological changes for several years. However, the quarry is where production starts and here, modern technology can provide savings downstream, in the kiln line. By Dr Pawel Kawalec, Kawalec Consulting GmbH, Switzerland.
No longer an innovation, the use of drones is becoming more commonplace
Rising environmental awareness as well as stricter local development rules and emission limits are becoming an ever-increasing issue for the quarry, the most visible and continously-developing part of the entire cement production process. The control of emissions, such as sulphur, chlorine and mercury, from the cement plant needs to start in the quarry as in the kiln line it is often too late to successfully eliminate them.
However, until recently, specialised quarry optimisation technology had not been available. Fortunately, recent years have seen significant development in quarry optimisation and the introduction of a number of related technologies.
