Makaleler

Reasons To Replace Cement Factory Production Lines 

Reasons To Replace Cement Factory Production Lines 

In every kind of industry, as technology advances, so do the opportunities for cutting costs, and optimising production lines. Cement factories are no exception, especially when it comes to energy consumption, at a time when global energy prices are dramatically rising. 

When a heavy industrial plant reduces energy consumption, it not only benefits the environment, it also increases the profitability of the facility. Upgraded production lines improve performance, use less energy, and waste less heat. In this blog post, we provide an overview of how cost-savings and efficiencies can be achieved by upgrading cement factory production lines. 

Meeting Regulatory Requirements 

For high-emission industries, there is a real and pressing challenge to reduce the carbon footprint, and create a sustainable circular economy, keeping products in long term use by recycling and repurposing, and eliminating waste altogether. For most cement factories, they also need to reduce the emission of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) and Sulphur Oxides (SOx) in the form of smoke – pollutants which cause harm to the environment by contributing to the greenhouse effect, and therefore global warming. 

There’s no question that one of the largest operating expenses (Opex) of a cement factory is the energy costs in terms of electricity and fuel – in some cases between 60% and 65% of the overall running costs. To maintain a competitive advantage as well as improve sustainability, it’s important for cement factories to reduce energy consumption, and take action to meet ever-tightening emissions targets – particularly if the wider industry is to meet its goal of producing carbon-neutral concrete by 2050

Doing nothing is not an option; and could result in significant financial and reputational damage. Moreover, many responsible clients prefer products which have less carbon footprint. That’s why it’s so important to upgrade production lines with the latest technology to make them more efficient, and cut emissions to meet regulatory requirements.

Cutting Energy Costs 

As the cement industry increasingly implements new technologies to reduce energy consumption, it can also make use of non-fossil fuels to generate thermal energy. Of course, this requires new production lines which can handle alternative fuels (AF), especially at the – burning stage (also known as calcination) of the production process. 

In most cement factories, the production of clinker – the binder in cement products – accounts for almost half the energy consumption. Due to the scale of cement production, reducing this energy consumption by even 10% could have a tremendous cost-saving.  So upgrading an existing production line with a new technology is often the key to cutting costs.

Avoiding Disruption To Production 

As with almost every manufacturing process, any upgrade to an existing production line is going to result in downtime. So it’s common for cement factories to invest in a brand-new line, before shutting down old ones. 

This means that there’s no interruption to production. Typically, there’s a transitional period between shutting down legacy operations and starting up new ones. This ensures there’s a smooth handover between operations.  

However, in some governments, keen to support the sustainability of the cement industry, there are offers of financial incentives to halt production and upgrade existing production lines. 

Using Additives

Unlike other heavy-industries, the cement sector makes use of fly-ash generated by coal-fired power plants. This by-product can be re-used as a prime material in a variety of concrete products, including Portland Cement Concrete (PCC). It’s also possible to make use of the blast furnace slag generated by steel factories.

All fly ash is a pozzolan, so when it’s finely divided and added to calcium hydroxide in the presence of water, it has cementitious properties. It’s been in use since the 1930s and, today, it’s a popular supplementary cementitious material (SCM), used to reduce the clinker content of cement. In doing this, it also helps to lower both emissions, and energy use for cement manufacturers.  

How Sintek Makes It Happen?

Sintek has strong partnerships with technology providers by providing complete turnkey engineering and construction solutions to companies investing in the replacement of legacy cement production lines, we’re helping the cement industry reduce energy consumption and emissions. 

Through our extensive global supply chain, we combine the latest global technology with market-leading plant engineering and construction. This gives us access to the best prices for materials, labour, and installation of new production lines. At the same time, our network enables us to build more sustainable cement factories, both now, and in the future. 


Need a trusted turnkey contractor to handle a replacement cement production line in Europe?

Find out more about Sintek Group’s services for the cement industry.

En Üste Çık