International Cement Review articles tagged under : Tech Forum
ERP for increased cement industry efficiency
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) brings together the myriad of data flows in a cement company, enabling staff to make informed decisions on how to manage operations. This article provides an overview of the benefits to be gained. By Karthikeyan Selvarathinam, Ramco Systems Ltd, India. W ith the cement sector expected to show a CAGR of 5.4 per cent in the next five years, the industry is ...
Electric kilns power revolution
With the global cement industry on the road to net zero cement production, new technologies for a decarbonised pyroprocessing line have been developed. These include electric kilns, which offer a fossil fuel-free al...
Electrical heating technologies
As the electrification of the cement kiln process generates an increasing amount of interest, this month’s Technical Forum looks at the potential technology options that could be deployed in the push towards decarbon...
Net-zero business models
Cemtech Europe 2023, held earlier this year in Istanbul, Turkey, provided a wealth of interesting presentations on a range of topics, including net-zero business models for cement companies. This month Dr Clark takes...
Profit margins under pressure
In 2022 cement company profit margins came under pressure, particularly when compared with the previous year. Dr Michael Clark takes a closer look at cement company profit margins in 2022 and 2023, the factors that a...
An easy way to reduce thermal carbon emissions
To reach its net zero target the cement industry will have to accelerate the roll-out of its decarbonisation initiatives, including the thermal efficiency of kilns. The replacement of long wet dry kilns with m...
The oxycombustion way forward
Despite an array of carbon reducing technologies currently applied in cement plants around the world, it is becoming increasingly clear in the industry that there is a need for further-reaching approaches such as car...
Dangote: powerhouse of Africa and Nigeria
Through the use of financial ratio analysis, this month’s Technical Forum examines how Dangote Cement – the powerhouse of Africa and Nigeria – has managed to achieve a strong and sustained financial performance. ...
CO2 utilisation in concrete
Recent ICR articles have given plenty of attention to the theme of decarbonisation of cement manufacture. One way of using this CO 2 is to “lock” it into concrete as the world requires increasing amounts of this bui...
Reducing methane emissions
As the cement industry prepares to meet its sustainability objectives, this month’s Technical Forum focusses on the potential of methane as an alternative to coal in firing kilns. More than 70 per cent of kilns are s...
Limestone specifications
When asked to review the suitability of limestone deposits for cement manufacture, Dr Michael Clark makes a range of important assessments such as what other materials would need to be added to produce a clinker with...
Effects of recirculation cells in cement kilns
As the raw material passes through the cement production process, recirculation cells are created. Due to the heterogenous nature of the fine materials, the composition in each cell is not uniform and as such, recirc...
Advanced grinding technology to reduce CO2
Dr Michael Clark considers the role of grinding technology in reducing clinker content but retaining the cement strength class. The first industrial installation of a polysius® booster mill was at Bursa Ciment...
The industry’s response to the decarbonisation challenge
Dr Michael Clark discusses the cement sector’s response and strategies in terms of the large-scale challenges involved with decarbonisation. LafargeHolcim’s Richmond plant in Canada, where it launched Project ...
Belite size distribution
Belite size is affected by several factors ranging from raw materials, the length of the burning zone, the fuels used in the production process as well as the conditions in the cooling zone. Figure 1: example...
Alkali-activated materials
While blastfurnace slag and metakaolin are known to produce a binder phase following alkali activation, the range of alkali-activated materials is wider than these two materials. This month Arthur Harrisson provides ...