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December 2016
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cement.com
Proven in the fi eld, the Pfeiffer MVR is the most powerful vertical roller mill on the planet
Thanks to its innovative MultiDrive® with a drive power of 11,500 KW, the most modern
mill in the world reaches unprecedented levels of performance compared to conventional
vertical mills. The double active redundancy of six grinding rollers and six 1,920-kW single
drives ensures that even when maintenance is being carried out on individual rollers or
drives, this one-mill solution still achieves a minimum of 84% grinding capacity.
Your benefi t? Maximum performance, maximum technical availability!
Pfeiffer. Passion for grinding.
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MVR 6700 C-6 in operation at LafargeHolcim’s Barroso works in Brazil www.gebr-pfeiffer.com
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Proven in the fi eld, the Pfeiffer MVR is the most powerful vertical roller mill on the planet
Thanks to its innovative MultiDrive® with a drive power of 11,500 KW, the most modern
mill in the world reaches unprecedented levels of performance compared to conventional
vertical mills. The double active redundancy of six grinding rollers and six 1,920-kW single
drives ensures that even when maintenance is being carried out on individual rollers or
drives, this one-mill solution still achieves a minimum of 84% grinding capacity.
Your benefi t? Maximum performance, maximum technical availability!
Pfeiffer. Passion for grinding.
11,500 KW – ALREADY UP
AND GRINDING
MVR 6700 C-6 in operation at LafargeHolcim’s Barroso works in Brazil www.gebr-pfeiffer.com
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With over 60 years’ experience in the market, ESTANDA remains a leading steel foundry
specialising in the manufacturing of high-performance steel castings and alloys, as well
as value-added technical services, made to measure to its clients across the cement
industry worldwide. Providing products and solutions at each and every phase of the
cement production process
Palladian Publications Ltd
15 South Street, Farnham, Surrey
GU9 7QU, ENGLAND
Tel +44 (0)1252 718999
Fax +44 (0)1252 718992
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.worldcement.com
Volume 47: Number 12
December 2016
ISSN 02636050
THIS MONTH’S COVER
DECEMBER
CONTENTS
WORLD CEMENT REGULARS
05 Comment
09 News
14 Keynote – Cement: Dinosaur or Torch-Bearer?Pavel Cech, ResourceCo Asia, Singapore, considers the phenomenon of cement and asks whether it is a dinosaur of an industry or a torch-bearer of global wellbeing.
96 Regional Report Infographic
REGIONAL REPORT
18 The ‘Stans’: What Now?It is 25 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Paul Maxwell-Cook looks at the former states that constitute Central Asia.
GENERAL INTEREST
23 World Cement Interview: LoescheWorld Cement talks to Virginia Zuloaga about the role of social media in developing the company’s profile.
GEARS, DRIVES and LUBRICATION
27 Finding a Better SolutionRyan Fernandes, The Timken Company, USA.
33 Pushing the LimitsMartin Baechler, FLSmidth MAAG Gear, Switzerland.
37 A Planetary UpgradeLukas Steiner, Wikov, Czech Republic.
DECEMBER
XRF, XRD, ANALYSIS and LABORATORY EQUIPMENT
40 Preparing with PGNAASelim Topbas and Anil Ozturk, Oyak Bolu Cement, Turkey.
45 Testing ReactivityPaul Sandberg, Calmetrix, USA.
REFRACTORIES
52 Plant Tour: Höganäs Bjuf Refractory PlantJoseph Green, World Cement, visisted Höganäs Bjuf in Bjuv, Sweden.
59 The Influence of FlexibilisersM. Geith, R. Krischanitz and S. Jörg, RHI AG, Austria.
LOGISTICS and AUTOMATION
65 Distribution 4.0Stéphane Rousset, Ibitek, France.
69 Mobility for OperatorsSandor Djarmati, Rösberg Engineering GmbH, Germany.
72 Redesigning Energy UseFrank Berner, Piller Germany GmbH & Co. KG, Germany.
77 Capitalising on the RevolutionBrian Foster, Siemens Financial Services, UK.
80 Efficient Automation Provides Full AwarenessOliver Kurtnacker, Fritz and Macziol, Germany.
ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE
85 Creating a Virtually Mercury Free Raw MaterialChris Poling, SCB International, USA.
STORAGE and STOCKPILES
91 New Constructive TechnologiesB.S.P. Engineering S.r.l., Italy.
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Anzeige_BW_09_00:Anzeigenentwurf 06.03.2009 18:32 Uhr Seite 1
COMMENT
DECEMBER
Annual subscription (published monthly): £160 UK including postage/£175 (e245) overseas (postage airmail)/US$280 USA/Canada (postage airmail). Two year subscription (published monthly): £256 UK including postage/£280 (e392) overseas (postage airmail)/US$448 USA/Canada (postage airmail). Claims for non receipt of issues must be made within 4 months of publication of the issue or they will not be honoured without charge.
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WORLD CEMENT (ISSN No: 0263-6050, USPS No: 020-996) is published monthly by Palladian Publications, GBR and is distributed in the USA by Asendia USA, 17B S Middlesex Ave, Monroe NJ 08831.
Periodicals postage paid New Brunswick, NJ and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to World Cement, 701C Ashland Ave, Folcroft PA 19032
Copyright© Palladian Publications Ltd 2016. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. All views expressed in this journal are those of the respective contributors and are not necessarily the opinions of the publisher, neither do the publishers endorse any of the claims made in the articles or the advertisements.
Uncaptioned images courtesy of www.shutterstock.com
Printed in the UK.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
CONTACT DETAILSManaging Editor: James Little [email protected]
Assistant Editor: Joseph [email protected]
Contributing Editor: Paul Maxwell-Cook
Production: Charlotte Reynell [email protected]
Advertisement Director: Rod Hardy [email protected]
Advertisement Manager: Ian Lewis [email protected]
Advertisement Executive: Paul Heyworth [email protected]
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JOSEPH GREEN, ASSISTANT EDITOR
In many ways December brings to a close a difficult year for the cement industry on the back of eight difficult years since the financial crisis of 2007 – 2008. The industry at large has suffered from a lack of confidence and security, worsened by political uncertainty and corporate mergers on a global scale. The tide however may be turning.
Father Christmas came early for shareholders and cement professionals alike this year as the recent spate of Q3 results offered quite the festive treat. Almost across the board, companies are reporting figures well above the same period last year. Such results breed confidence and positivity that will
hopefully bolster the industry as we move into 2017. Dangote Cement declared increased revenue of N442.09 billion in the nine months
ended 30 September. This figure was 20.97% higher than the figure recorded during the corresponding period last year. This boost comes despite the harsh operating environment and foreign exchange crises.
Elsewhere, Titan Group’s Q3 results recorded a significant improvement in the nine months of 2016, reflecting the growth of the US market and the improvement of results in Egypt. Cemex also announced that consolidated net sales reached US$3.6 billion during the third quarter of 2016, an increase of 4% versus the comparable period in 2015.
The continued uncertainty surrounding the merger of LafargeHolcim and HeidelbergCement’s takeover of Italcementi has caused much of the hesitancy within the industry. As the details are finalised and the reality of what the deals mean for the industry comes to light, production work can recommence, and with luck, figures will continue to rise. This hope has seemingly already begun to come to fruition as both LafargeHolcim and HeidelbergCement posted encouraging Q3 results.
LafargeHolcim has announced that 2016 represents a year of progress towards 2018 targets, and expects demand in markets to grow at between 1 – 3% for the full year. The company posted solid growth in Q3 coming from both emerging and mature markets with several countries delivering increased earnings.
Likewise, HeidlebergCement offered increased optimism with significant improvement in sales volumes, revenue and operating income after the first-time consolidation of Italcementi. Group revenue was up by 25% to €4.5 billion compared to €3.6 billion last year, the Italcementi integration has occurred much faster than initially expected, and sales volumes are significantly higher than 2015. The outlook for HeidelbergCement’s 2017 is certainly positive.
Have you been witness to this upturn in fortunes? Are we about to see the start of some serious improvements within our industry, or is this positivity short-lived? The New Year is a time for optimism above all else, and we are absolutely seeing that with these Q3 results. 2017 promises much. Whether it delivers on those promises is yet to be seen. Something else promising a lot for 2017 is World Cement. We have another fantastic editorial programme lined up for 2017 including our new supplement Cement Plants of the Future. As we say goodbye to 2016 I’d like to extend my warmest wishes to all our readers, authors and advertisers. We at World Cement wish you all a prosperous New Year.
Pioneering technology.With more than 150 years of experience, we have unique know-how in the field of cement technology. We offer the entire process chain from a single source: from the quarry to the cement loading facility, and from engineering, procurement, erection and commissioning to after-sales service. One example of our expertise is the order from Yamama Saudi Cement Company to build two cement clinker production lines with a total capacity of 20,000 tpd (cement clinker) at a new site around 80 km east of the capital Riyadh. www.thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com
Industrial Solutions for the cement industry
tkis_Cement_ENG_420x297mm.indd 1 04.03.16 10:24
tkis_Cement_ENG_420x297mm.indd 2 04.03.16 10:24
cnbmengineering.com
Utilizing resources, Serving construction
CNBMENGINEERING
December 2016 / 9World Cement
IN BRIEF
WORLD NEWS
IN BRIEF Thailand Siam Cement Company places trust in Loesche vertical roller mills
Siam Cement Public Company has now commissioned Loesche with the delivery of a new LM 56.3+3 CS vertical roller mill for its cement plant in Kaeng Khoi.
The Loesche mill will produce medium-fine cement qualities and is designed for grinding clinker, gypsum and limestone. The advantage: SCG is able to quickly and easily switch between different products and qualities. As a result, the company will in future be able to produce a wide range of different cement types as well as varying product finenesses, thus making it easier to place them on changing markets. With the classic roller presses and ball mills predominantly used at SCG, this would take a long time.
The flexibility that will be available in future for manufacturing the various different cement types also means greater profitability for SCG: The cement quality can be improved quickly and efficiently and adapted to the requirements of the market.
A more energy-efficient production of the different cement types is also possible with the new Loesche mill. Compared to roller presses or ball mills, the achievable efficiency gains in electrical energy lie between 15 and 40% depending on the cement quality. These are important requirements for SCG in order for them to be able to continue marketing their cements even more successfully in future.
In addition to Loesche's long-standing experience with vertical roller mills in cement grinding, a thought-out plant design in combination with an extended scope of supply in the central area of the grinding plant, such as blowers, bag filters, electrics/automation are a guarantee for the highest possible efficiency in cement production.
SCG Cement Company has placed its trust in advanced Loesche technology since the 1980s, and it has since proven its worth in several of the producer's cement plants. Loesche is therefore the main supplier for vertical roller mills in Thailand.
A Loesche vertical roller mill – also an LM 56.3+3 CS – was last delivered as part of the already existing cement plant at Ta Luang in 2014, where it is meanwhile setting new standards in the production of type III Portland cement: The specific energy demand of the grinding plant there is now only around 40 kWh/t compared to grinding plants with ball mills, which usually require 60 kWh/t. This leads to significantly lower production costs. In addition, only 200 g/t of grinding aid is now required, compared to up to 600 g/t in a ball mill. At over 500 ksc, the relevant cement quality (18 hours concrete strength) achieved with the vertical roller mill significantly exceeds the TIS (Thai Industrial Standard) of 440 ksc.
In September 2016, Buzzi Unicem signed an acceptance certificate for the new raw grinding mill installed in its Maryneal plant (Texas, USA).The installation supplied by Fives comprises an FCB Horomill® 3800 fitted with an enlarged sleeve (+8%). Fives also provided erection and commissioning supervision services.Production performances were achieved to the satisfaction of Buzzi Unicem, with a raw meal output of 270 tph, a fineness of 12% rejects at 90 microns sieves and a mill specific consumption lower than 7.6 kWh/t.
Cemex has announced that it has closed the sale of certain assets in the US to Grupp Cementos de Chihuahua, for approximately US$306 million. The proceeds will primarily be used for debt reduction and for general corporate purposes. The assets sold by an affiliate of Cemex in the US to an affiliate of GCC in the US consist of Cemex’s cement plant in Odessa, Texas, two cement terminals and the building materials business in El Paso, Texas, and Las Cruces, New Mexico.
FLSmidth MAAG Gear has announced Helmut Holz as its new CEO. He follows Simon Jensen who has accepted a new position as Managing Director, Head of FLSmidth Middle East, which is based in the UAE. Helmut Holz took over the post on 1 November 2016. He has 20 years of experience from various companies within the gear business and brings with him an extensive knowledge of the industry. He will concentrate on heading and implementing a new investment programme in combination with a focus on increased optimisation.
December 201610 \ World Cement
IN BRIEF
EVENTS
WORLD NEWS
23 – 24 January 2017Intercem Shipping ForumMarseille, Francehttp://www.intercem.com/
Shipping2017
4 – 10 May 2017InterpackDusseldorf, Germanyhttp://www.interpack.com/
21 – 25 May 2017IEEE-IAS/PCA Cement Industry Technical ConferenceCalgary, Canadahttp://www.cementconference.org
Uganda Intercem completes commissioning for KCCL
Following the signing of the contract between KCCL and Intercem in September 2014, Intercem has supplied a 90 tph cement grinding plant with a ballmill, clinker storage and four 1000 t steel cement silos. Aside from the foundation work, all deliveries and services were included in Intercem’s scope of supply.
The 8-spout packing line was ordered directly from the manufacturer by the customer and has been completed, installed and commissioned by Intercem.
Raw material is now stored in a new raw material storage area. Three separate vibration feeders, two belt conveyors and a bucket elevator have been installed.
The four silos dispose of truck loading stations and the finished product is transported via air conveyor troughs from the silos to the new packing line.
An additional contract was placed by KCCL at the end of 2015 because the humidity content of the raw material Pozzolan was much higher that initially expected. For this reason the decision was made to order a Pozzolan-Dryer as well as a further storage for primary crushing and drying of the raw material at Intercem.
The construction and installation of these additional components has been finished and the entire plant has been commissioned.
Asia Fons equipment recieves orders
In June 2016, Lucky Cement ordered two sets of Fons Delta Coolers, each with a 3000 tpd capacity, along with two sets of 3-Roller Clinker Crushers for production lines A & B at its Pezu plant.
Difficulties with their old machinery led Lucky Cement to contact FTI, in the hopes that a new cooler would produce positive results in terms of sustainability and be able to reduce energy and fuel consumption and increase productivity. The shipments of the new coolers and crushers are planned for the upcoming weeks.
In September 2016, Chinese Sange Cement Ltd. ordered a W9xL12xF8 size 4200 tpd capacity Fons Delta clinker cooler in order to retrofit its existing clinker cooler. Due to very problematic operational results from the existing hammer crusher, Sange Cement has also placed an order for a 4-roller crusher from FTI.
The delivery of the cooler will take place three months after the signing of the contract in Dalian Port, China. The clinker cooler and roller crusher have already been manufactured and will be shipped in few weeks for installation towards to end of 2016
FTI’s tailormade engineering allows the existing casing to be reused, which was an important consideration for Sange Cement as it reduces the project shutdown time, planned at only 3 weeks from flame off to flame on. FTI will announce the results of this retrofiftitng jobs afetr completion of the project.
10 – 11 May 2017SchüttgutDortmund, Germanyhttp://www.easyfairs.com/
events_216/schuettgut-
recycling-technik-2017_82627/
schuettgut-2017_82628/
6 – 8 March 2017Second Concrete Innovation ConferenceTromsø, Norwayhttps://www.tekna.no/en/events/
hpccic-tromso-2017-32076/#om-
kurset
10 – 12 May 2017CementtechNanjing, Chinahttp://www.cementtech.org/
More than 150 years in process
CONTROLLINGLARGEFORCESEFFICIENTLY
In:• Crushers• Conveyors• Roller Presses• Cement Mills• and Yours
ANTRIEBSTECHNIK
Eickhoff Antriebstechnik GmbH
Am Eickhoffpark 1 · D-44789 Bochum · Phone +49 234 975-0 · [email protected] · www.eickhoff-bochum.de
RZ_Anz_Antriebstechnik_210x297_161128.indd 2 28.11.16 08:49
December 201612 \ World Cement
WORLD NEWS
It has often been the case that a single rod probe, using the vibrating principle and having universal design capabilities, is required. This measurement principle has become well-established on the international market. Due to its high compatibility (even with the standard version), it is much favored by plant operators.
UWT has responded to the wishes of their customers with a new product series that uses this vibration measurement principle in the form of a single rod probe called Mononivo® MN 4000. The device can be used in silos and tanks as a full, demand or empty detector. The Mononivo® is also suitable as an overfill detector within pipes and shafts and for all bulk materials.
Electronically stimulated piezos cause the probe to vibrate. As soon as the sensor is covered with material, the vibration is dampened and the resulting electrical current change causes the output signal to switch. Due to its compact construction, including threads from 1 in., the sensor is suitable for a wide variety of bulk applications all around the globe - no matter whether it is powdery material with strong caking properties or coarse-grained granulate. With the adjustable sensitivity, the device also handles light bulk solids from 20g/l.
The Mononivo® offers a measurement solution that can be quickly and easily realised. Focus is on a particularly high compatibility for different container vessels and conditions, enabling greater flexibility for users and plant operators.
Global UWT responds to customer demand
Egypt Capachuz installs SLV system
Ameryah Cimpor Cement Company is situated in Alexandria, Egypt, and is part of the Intercement Group.
It challenged Cachapuz Bilanciai to integrate all streams of inbound and outbound traffic at the site into a single logistics management platform.
Cachapuz used SLV Cement to ensure communication with all components and process services and all intervenients in the business process to be accessed in real-time information.
SLV Cement was specifically customised to meet the needs of Ameryah Cimpor Cement. The successfully installed solution was composed of:
• SLV solution with online/offline integration with SAP ERP.
• 6 weighbridges -3 entrance/exit zones.• 1 SLV kiosk park (with colour touch screen and
RFID card readers).• 1 information panel (with large dimension and
full visibility up to 150 m).• 6 SLV kiosks check-in/check-out (with colour
touch screen, thermal printer, RFID card readers, traffic lights and positioning sensors).
• 4 SLV kiosks raw materials (with bicolour traffic light).
• 2 SLV kiosk load system (with colour touch screen).
Consumption of cement in Spain has fallen again by 7.2% in October, standing at 936 568 t, the lowest figure for this month since the beginning of the century.
This decrease represents a loss of 72 969 t compared to the same month last year.
This figure puts the accumulated fall in the first 10 months at 3.4%.
Between January and October a total of 9 328 077 t of cement have been consumed in Spain, 324 831 t less than in the same period of 2015.
Just two months after the end of the year, the figures continue to indicate that 2016 will be paid in Negative, with a drop of more than 3%, in line with the forecasts made by Oficemen last July.
Spain Spanish cement consumption drops again
HC Trading and Interbulk Trading have merged their operations following the acquisition of Italcementi by HeidelbergCement Group.
The merger of HC Trading and Interbulk Trading under the entity of HC Trading B.V. will provide a unique opportunity to accelerate the growth of the trading arm of the HeidelbergCement Group. The merger will carry the Group’s international trading activities, specialising in cement, clinker, coal and petcoke, one step further by expanding the trade network and improving its position in the market to provide better services and more flexibility to its customers and suppliers around the world.
By consolidating the two international trading companies, the total turnover of the joint venture has reached around US$1.4 billion (based on 2015 trade volumes).
Global Integration of two international cement trading companies
Holcim Indonesia has officially inaugurated its new cement terminal in South Lampung. The inauguration of the 1 million tpy cement distribution terminal took place on 11 November 2016 and was attended by the Vice Regent of South Lampung Regency, Nanang Mermanto, representatives from the Ministry of Industry and the Board of Directors of PT Holcim Indonesia.
The US$26 million investment began two years ago, and the cement terminal strengthens Holcim’s presence in the Sumatera Island market, particularly in Lampung.
“We want to get closer to our customers and ensure secured supply to meet the local demand in Lampung. This terminal applies the latest technology and environmental friendly equipment and a jetty to support the operation”, said Gary Schutz, President Director of PT Holcim Indonesia Tbk.
Gary Schutz underlined Holcim’s commitment to invest and the Government’s key role to restore the balance of demand and supply by spending on delayed projects that will affect other sectors such as housing and commercial building. “The economy slowdown is not the only challenge for the cement sector in particular. The numerous addition to the national cement production capacity has led to a drastically over-supplied market outpacing demand by far for the next 6 – 10 years,” he added.
Furthermore, Gary addressed his appreciation to the stakeholders for the given support and partnership, especially the Government of South Lampung Regency and the local community throughout the project. “This terminal is also built with the acceptance and support of the locals. We are committed to build relationship based on mutual respect and trust with all of our stakeholders. We believe that by fulfilling our social responsibilities, we can add value to our business and stakeholders,” said Gary.
Indonesia Holcim Indonesia inaugurates new terminal
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AMCEMAMCEMAMCEMJJCONSULTINGLayout FINAL.indd 1 24/10/2016 09:27
CEMENT: DINOSAUR OR TORCH-BEARER?
PAVEL CECH, RESOURCECO ASIA, SINGAPORE, CONSIDERS THE PHENOMENON OF CEMENT AND ASKS WHETHER IT IS A DINOSAUR OF AN INDUSTRY OR A TORCH-BEARER OF GLOBAL WELLBEING.
IntroductionAs the year is tipping off the cliff called ‘the past’, at least per the globally accepted international – Gregorian calendar, like many others I am looking around, guessing what will come forth from behind the curtain known to us as ‘the future’. Without running into thorough details I will try to project here a simplified biography of the global citizen known as Cement and predict what the future could hold for him. Since our character is alive and kicking, the story will be left open-ended. You, cement professionals, technology providers, scientists and perhaps even regulators or prescribers will be given a role too – you can direct the next life-phase of our main character.
To know who we are we should understand where we come fromTraditional building materials were for millennia fully natural – if processed, it was predominantly in shape or size by breaking, splitting, cutting or similar. For a long time the most common materials were wood, bamboo, reed, straw, palm frond or kelp and others of a similar vegetative nature; soil, stone and clay of mineral character; and even bones and hides of animal origin, to name a few. As time passed, the biomass biodegraded, the soil and clay were ploughed into fields, larger pieces were often ‘mined’ and re-used.
With time, technologies evolved and consumer demands changed along with habits, humans brought evolution into building materials. It might sound like long ago if viewed through the human life span, but it was historically only recently when we started producing complex building materials in a thermochemical process that fundamentally changed the chemical composition of the inputs. The king of these new building materials in our story is Cement.
The Cement family has a long pedigreeSkipping thousands of years of human experiments with natural hydraulic binders, geopolymers and lime based mortars, the door to cement opened with the invention of the shaft kilns that our elder colleagues can still remember (and which only relatively recently China phased out en-masse). Later the energy guzzling wet process kilns emerged, along with electric kilns and, finally, the dry rotary kiln process that prevails today. There had been many overlaps and one can safely say that in the 80s or 90s all three generations of cement making technology co-existed (the shaft, the wet and the dry processes). I wanted to say ‘modern’ dry process but is it possible to call a century old concept that underwent numerous uplifts but still keeps the same fundamental idea ‘modern’? The industry seems to be somewhat stuck here for the time being.
14 \
/ 15
KEYNOTEDECEMBER
December 201616 \ World Cement
There have been many evolutionary improvements that make cement plants more efficient, productive, bigger, easier to run, flexible enough to accommodate different types of raw material and fuels and so on. However, it is all procreation from the same small gene-pool. Isn’t the future and adaptability of every species (we are getting onto thin ice comparing impersonated industry with biological species and I beg your pardon for that) helped or determined by the infusion or creation of new genes?
Don’t get me wrong, there are new Cement family members who bear the mark of evolution – slag cement, ash cement, pozzolana cement and others along with my favorite: masonry binders with a large content of limestone. Yet still, they all share a common denominator – clinker, which might cause the Cement family serious degeneration, so to say.
Past and present controversies involving our Cement familyLike any other good family, the Cements have also experienced dramas, controversies and allegations of various kinds (i.e. price fixing, halting R&D of cheaper, greener products, influencing regulations to suit the established instead of promoting modern materials). We are not here to lend an ear to conspiracy theories. This magazine is not a tabloid. The only controversial aspect worth opening up for its general effect beyond geographic boundaries or company size, is the aspect of ‘product stewardship.’ In India, we can see cement advertised on TV. Billboards in the Philippines tell us which cement to trust. In DIY stores in the UK one could get a handy 5 kg pack for a quick fix.
Cement has never before been embedded as deeply within our lives as it is now, following a wave of successful efforts to de-commoditise this commodity. The trouble, if we want to find a deep-rooted one, limps on two legs. The first of a ‘propagatory’ function, always stretching farther up, propagates and encourages consumption of the product – Cement. Every producer does it in a variably sophisticated way. However, how many of them really do ensure an efficient application of their product? How many of them are happy to sell their product regardless of the impact its use will have? Responsible use of cement or concrete is something practically unheard of while a responsible use of matches, paper cups, walking sticks, caffeinated drinks, inflatable toys or motor vehicles enters our daily life without making anyone raise an eyebrow. The second leg that lags behind the propagative one is the ‘end-of-life’ solution. Recycled aggregates have been around for decades but how many countries outside the developed world have been practicing recycling of C&D concrete and how does the Cement family encourage or enable such a practice? More often than not, the corporate cement buyers also operate in the C&D space. Isn’t that an obvious avenue to an end-of-life solution?
A double-edged swordNo doubt without cement, civilization would not have reached the point we are now. Transport infrastructure,
power plants, dams, urban and industrial infrastructure and so many other objects of daily necessity that have become an integral part of our environment are made of it. Cement, or rather concrete in which cement is the critical ingredient, has literally paved the road into modern times. This ‘road’ has allowed new technologies and new materials to roll into our lives and into our daily reality.
Like steel and electric power, Cement has been one of the essential agents of progress and development. Nevertheless, the same agents have brought upon the world the lion’s share of industrial carbon-dioxide emissions. This trio has provided humanity with an enormous double-edged sword. The shiny side of it works as a magnificent cutting edge that drives us towards new achievements within the realm of three-dimensional happiness, while the other, dark edge has uncomfortably and silently pressed into the skin of our throats. The link between the effects and causes of what we call global warming is undeniably pointing a finger at our good old citizen Cement along with his other associates. An unpleasant situation that, indeed, can be countered with sustainable development efforts. Once you weigh the effects of such efforts it becomes clear that what even the best of the cement producers do and what they can practically do about the carbon emissions is completely dwarfed by what they cannot do due to the nature of the process – the need to decarbonise limestone in order to produce clinker. To produce clinker CaCO
3 is broken under high temperatures into CaO, causing approximately 0.6 t of CO2 to be emitted for every t of output. Our applied technology and manufacturing process does not know any better.
Is this something that can be sustained or is this an inherent flaw that will one day bring our Cement down? Is it a legacy or is it a destiny?
Legacy in the makingI see it as an enormous potential for the smart brains within the industry, as well as the visionaries who might appear out of nowhere, to change or ‘environmentally cultivate’ the sector. Back to the gene allegory, what kind of ‘industrial genes’ would rejuvenate our old friend Cement to keep up with the demands of the 21st century and beyond? Though it has entered the post Y2K époque walking straight, despite a bit of tripping here and there, Cement is doing very well (just look at the consumption curve in the developing world). A gap is appearing between the need for it and the calls for avoidance due to its disastrous environmental impact. With increasing awareness of global warming, COP 21 initiatives, growing involvement of consumers etc. this gap will keep opening, putting the Cement family into the lime-light.
Our dear Cement can easily experience its old age as someone who worked extremely hard for their entire life, provided humanity with support that enabled development but received only a bad name when someone found a relevant, greener replacement. Or it can remain the hero who brought to us this unprecedented
quality of life, and then evolved itself into a modern medium enabling us to sustain our urban lifestyle.
Is our love and passion for Cement killing it in the long run?Cement companies that kindle a vision of sustainability have been studying and exploring new modern binders. Independent research institutes and entrepreneurs have made a massive leap forward in research and real-life applicability experiments with geopolymers and other compounds that could make a big difference in the building material sector. These efforts are often kept quiet, unshared or simply played down but one can hear them brewing. Given the environmental catastrophe we are heading into, wouldn’t it make sense for humanity (or at least for the industry) to pool efforts and resources to create a new genetic pool that would accelerate the transformation of the Cement family before someone gives it a sterilisation shot out of nowhere with something more modern and greener?
To some of you this might sound like sci-fi – Cement has always been around us for as long as living human memory. Is that a sufficient reference to build the future upon?
This transformation of Cement will happen with or without us. Perhaps we can still decide what we are going to do about it. Are we going to fall in agony or celebrate a green leap forward?
With so much emphasis being put on the CO2 caused by
the calcination process and the radical thought of clinker replacement being the solution, objectively there are other ways around it. The most plausible one for engineers and cement manufacturers with existing plants, is the idea of capturing CO2 and its utilisation or immobilisation in a CO2 sink. This option might be more comforting for those who have invested so dearly in the future of Cement. And why not? This way the transformation would be more of an evolutionary step forward – less radical and easier to implement. Unfortunately, this too remains, for the moment, a theory with very little actual experimentation. Why can the industry not bring it to reality?
The immediate challenge is calling for our smart actionThe cement industry is an amazing sector that truly shapes the world. It has achieved a lot and it is irreplaceable at this point in time. This sovereign position, however, exposes the whole industry to a risk that is amplified by the availability of new technologies previously unknown to man and by the inevitable need to drastically reduce the global carbon footprint at its heart. We don’t talk about this as if it were a scar on our soul. That is wrong. In fact, we have in front of us the biggest opportunity since the invention of clinker!
This magazine celebrates the successes of the cement industry. I’m looking forward to reading in future publications some positive news about new means of an effective carbon footprint reduction beyond C/K ratio or alternative fuels!
It is all about Who, How and When. What are YOU going to do about it?
We wear out fans in a fl ash!
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With optimal wear protection measures for fans based on years of experience, Venti Oelde has signifi cantly extended service life.
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Optimization of air-handling systems
Ventilating and air-conditioning plants
We make air work for you.
World Cement 10_15_10mm.indd 1 20.05.15 11:12
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