FATES OF VERTICAL SHAFT KILN CEMENT PRODUCTION IN ETHIOPIA

East Africa 2nd Cement, Concrete, and Energy Summit (EA-CCES)

April 19-20,2017

BYH ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT PLC

By Eng. Basso Assefa, Managing Director

PRESENTER’S PROFILE

Basso Assefa Sodere B.SC in Mechanical Engineering, AAU

M.BA from Open University, England

Managing Director,

BYH engineering and Management plc

• There are two main types of kilns to produce cement: the Vertical Shaft Kiln and the Rotary Kiln. The Vertical Shaft Kiln or VSK is probably the first type of kiln that was used and it can be traced back to the 5th century A.C. in Greece, when they were used for limestone calcining (Reiter, AC, 11/1997, p. 23). In the 20th century, they have been largely replaced by rotary kilns, which were implemented for the first time in 1880.

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INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION contiu------

• In several countries such as China and India, many of these kilns are still operating (4000 units in China in 2005) and even, some companies still offer this technology for sale.

• The Chinese government expects to close all mechanized shaft kilns by 2020 and that only 10% of the optimized vertical kilns keep operating. (Karstensen, UNIDO, 2006, p. 13)

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• In Ethiopia there are seven VSK cement plant with total clinker production capacity of 5,200tpd

• Only two plants with 2,600tpd low quality clinker production are operational against 27,000tpd high quality clinker production preheater rotary kilns operating from seven plants.

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INTRODUCTION contiu------

• During high cement demand and high cement shortage period ( 2010/11 about 0.3 million ton cement was imported due to shortage)

• Because of Low initial investment capital

• Customers understanding about cement quality was very low

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What favors VSK to come in to the market in Ethiopia?

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Vertical shaft kiln in Ethiopia

No. Plant name Number of

kiln

Clinker

capacity

tpd

Status of kiln

operation

Number of (raw

+ cement) mills

1 Dejen Cement 4x75tpd 300 Stopped 4 + 4 = 8

2 Mengesteab industrial

plc

2x700tpd 1400 Under

rehabilitation

3 Abysinia cement 2x100 200 Partial

operation

1 + 2 = 3

4 Debresina-Holeta

cement

3x100tpd 300 Stopped 2 + 3 =5

5 Enchini bed rock

cement

3x300 900 operational 2 + 3 = 5

6 Mojo cement 3x300 900 Stopped 2+ 3 =5

7 Pioneer cement 4x300tpd 1200 Operational 2 + 3 =5

Total clinker

production

5,200

Or 1.56 M/y

No. Plant name Number of

kilns

Total Clinker capacity

Tpd

Status as of today

1 Mugher Cement 2x1000tpd

1x3000tpd

5000 operational

2 National Cement 1x400tpd

1x3000tpd

3400 operational

3 Messebo Cement 1x2000tpd

1x3000tpd

5000 operational

4 Derba Cement 1x5000tpd 5000 operational

5 Dangote Cement 1x5000tpd 5000 operational

6 East cement 1x1800tpd 1800 operational

7 Ethio Cement 1x1800tpd 1800 operational

8 Habesha cement 1x3000tpd 3000 To be commissioned

as of April 19/2017

Total production of clinker per

day

30,000tpd

Or

9 million ton per year

Total production of PPC cement (if

all clinker is changed to PPC)

12.86 million to per year Taking 25% average

pumice additives

Preheater Rotary kilns in Ethiopia

Pros and Cons of Rotary kiln vs Vertical shaft kiln

Preheater Rotary kiln Vertical shaft kiln (VSK)

pros pros

• High quality and uniform cement production • Low initial investment

• Low production cost

• Less environmental pollution due to optimized

combustion

• Low heat consumption (690-720kcal/kg clinker)

• Reduced number of personnel

• Low percentage of free lime (<1.5%)

• Possibility of using alternative fuel

• Dynamic production process, since the material

is always agitated.

• New plants can more easily obtain

environmental permits, as they comply with all

existing environmental regulations

• High economy of scale ( plant with big capacity

5,000tpd to 10,1000tpd is possible)

Rotary Kiln VSK

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Pros and Cons of Rotary kiln vs Vertical shaft kiln (cont.-------

Cons Cons

• High initial investment • Low-grade cement unsuitable for large structures or

infrastructure such as bridges, air ports, high ways,

skyscraper buildings, etc. , inappropriate for export

• High production cost

• High environmental pollution and difficult to adapt

to modern deducting system

• High heat consumption ( 850-1000kcal/kg clinker ) ,

therefore higher fuel cost

• More personnel needed

• High percentage of free lime (1.5 to 5%)

• Unable to use alternative fuel such as waste

• It is a static process (Each nodule is an ‘independent’

kiln)

• Environmental licenses are harder to obtain

• Low economy of scale

• Low awareness of customers about cement quality – this is now changing

• Use Small niche market ( through peoples (customers) they know) – personal selling

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Why some of VSK plants survived up to now?

• Due to low understanding of majority of Ethiopian cement customers on cement quality difference, use of VSK clinker produced cement for bridges, or highways or high rise builds is possible risking the build for failure

• No strong quality control mechanism implemented in the country. (Every cement producer is responsible for the quality of cement produced in its plant according to the standards.)

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Risks associated to use VSK produced clinker cement.

• The survival rate of VSK kilns from high clinker quality producing rotary kilns is very low as the quality awareness increases and cement price decrease with economy of scale (High cement production from Rotary kiln).

• Close the VSK clinker production lines from producing cement clinker ( government need to support them to speed up this process)

• Change the Existing VSK kilns to produce lime

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Fate/Future of VSK plants

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ctd

Go for changing VSK kilns by preheater rotary kilns ( New production line which need high investment)

Use the raw mills and cement mills to produce cement as satellite grinding station for big preheater rotary kiln clinker producers.

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THANK YOU