Energy savings in cement production

Switching from manual operation to fully automated real-time monitoring and advanced process control

Few years ago Vulcan Materials Company upgraded its cement finishing circuit by installing an Advanced Process Control (APC) solution from Pavilion Technologies, a Rockwell Automation company, and real-time particle size analysis from Malvern Instruments. Together these solutions have transformed operation, highlighting more productive control strategies and delivering major gains, including:

• A 15% improvement in one-day strength (although the plant is now targeting a 10% lower Blaine)
• A 20% reduction in specific energy consumption, the amount of energy used to mill each tone of cement
• A 15% reduction in ball mill charge

Based on energy savings alone the company estimates that the payback period for the entire project (advanced control system and on-line particle size analyzer) is less than one year.

 
John Murphy III, Production Manager, at Vulcan Materials Company says; “Together the technologies have revealed how to operate the plant in a very different, much more efficient way. We have reduced costs and have simultaneously improved product quality even though we are now targeting a very much lower Blaine, the standard industry measure used to quantify fineness.

Examine in detail the transformation Vulcan Materials achieved by upgrading the finish grinding circuit from manual to automated process monitoring and control. – more about Vulcan Materials“

To see more, click here to translate Vulcan Materials’ experience into a potential cost saving for your plant…..