HI Subsidies and the Construction Industry!.

HI Subsidies and the Construction Industry!.

Do reduced subsidies pose a threat to Egypt's Steel & Cement Sector?

- "Find out in this report from the German-Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce".

Egypt Business Directory brings you an excerpt of GAT-magazine, the official publication of the German-Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce. 

The file looks at the Cement and Steel Industry in Egypt in 2012, and how subsidies affect the sector as a whole.

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Hi Pollution Monitoring In Cement Industry!.

Hi Pollution Monitoring In Cement Industry!.

The rising use of waste based fuels in the cement industry, both for economic and Environmental objectives, combined with the strengthening of air emission regulations around the world is pushing many operators to face a wider list of pollutants to monitor this, with associated costs. 

The design of appropriate solutions meeting local regulation is the key to maximize the cost benefit of the fuel while maintaining good relationships with local authorities and populations.

Besides the usually requested parameters, like SO2, NOx, CO, total particulate matter, and NH3, additional parameters can also be measured such as HCl, HF, Dioxins & Furans (PCDD/PCDF), Mercury (Hg) and VOC/TOC.

The monitoring of each gas pollutant, when required, can pose specific difficulties, but in general keeping the cost low means trying to operate a multi components analyzer able to measure all of them, except Dioxins & Furans and Mercury which requires very specific technologies and dedicated sampling devices.

Various manufacturers have developed a broad range of analyzers and sampling systems dedicated to meet cement operator needs according to their local regulation. 

Some of these solutions are described below:

The MIR 9000H developed by Environnement S.A (France) is a new generation of heated NDIR analyzer able to simultaneously measure  traditional components such as NOx, SO2, CO, CO2 and O2, in addition to H2O and pollutants like NH3 and HCl, representing a very cost effective, turnkey solution. 

This analyzer was designed to be operated without any chiller, drying membrane, or catalytic oven, allowing the flues gas directly into the measurement cell without any kind of disturbance. 

The entire system being heated to 180°C (~360°F), no condensation can occur even in extremely wet conditions with up to 40% moisture. 

This analyzer’s robust design is particularly suited to demanding wet stack gas mixtures, including those with potentially high NH3, HCl and HF content. Indeed, this analyzer is completely immune to NH3, HCl and HF: both its integrity and its metrological performances being unaffected.

As a cost effective heated analyzer, the MIR 9000H is also an ideal solution for process control to monitor ammonia slips in SCR/SNCR processes. 

In these processes, either ammonia or urea can be used. It is important to stress out that in the case of urea, MIR 9000H takes into account the N2O which is created as a by product. MIR 9000H can also cope with formaldehyde, a compound which can be produced with some types of fuels and cause problems to NDIR measurements.

For low SO2, HCl or NOx concentrations, the SEC-MIR9000 system combining an exclusive membrane based drying technology (sampling) and state of the art NDIR multigas analyzer remains the perfect solution.

It allows for the measurement of a wide range of pollutants, including also CO, CO2, HF and TOC, as well as N2O and formaldehyde for interference corrections purposes.

The SEC-MIR9000 system, while being technically speaking an extractive system, also exists as an in-sit setup (MIR IS). 

Very low NOx concentrations can also be measured with a chemiluminescence CEMS bench, either as an option of an NDIR system, or as a standalone analyzer.

FTIR: Environnement S.A was the first company to introduce the FTIR technology for CEMS application and remains a leader. 

This technology allows the monitoring of a wide range of pollutants, including SO2, NOx, CO, CO2, NH3, HCl, HF and VOC/TOC, with low measurement ranges, making it the ideal solution for the strictest regulations.

Dioxin is an increasing source of suspicion by neighbour populations in regards to waste or alternative fuels combustion. 

The AMESA-D continuous sampler allows for a continuous coverage of dioxin emission and is already considered the standard for monitoring dioxins/furans around the world.

Beside the emissions of PCDD/PCDF there are other emissions of compounds which are not or not so easy to be monitored continuously. 

E.g. mercury can be monitored continuously, but for plants with low concentrations in the range of µg/m3 the accuracies of the existing mercury CEMs depend very strong on the experiences and maintenance efforts of the operators. 

Otherwise the results are not accurate enough. Additional the availability of such systems is restricted.

The continuous Hg Sorbent Trap Measurement System (STMS) AMESA-M represents a cost effective alternative to mercury analyzers, especially when the limit or detection is low and that complex and expensive technologies are necessary. 

The system is based on the adsorption trap method described in the performance specifications 12B of the MACT standard for the continuous monitoring of mercury emissions and is suitable for nearly every application.

The AMESA-M system requires very low maintenance and is adapted to the different flue gas conditions and requirements given by the operators: its availability under difficult flue gas conditions could be kept by values of almost 100 %.

Hi Saudi Cement "Debugged."!

 Hi Energy Efficiency Perspectives for Saudi Cement Industry;

Saudi Arabia is the largest construction market in the Middle East, with large development projects under way and many more in the planning stage. The cement industry in the country is evolving rapidly and is expected to reach annual clinker production of 70 million tonnes in 2013 from current figure of 60 million tonnes per year. The cement industry is one of the highest energy-intensive industries in the world, with fuel and energy costs typically representing 30-40% of total production costs. On an average, the specific electrical energy consumption typically ranges between 90 and 130 kWh per tonne of cement. Keeping in view the huge energy demand of the cement industry, the Saudi Arabian government has been making efforts to reduce the energy consumption in the country towards a more sustainable.

Energy Demand in Cement Production;

The theoretical fuel energy demand for cement clinker production is determined by the energy required for the chemical/mineralogical reactions (1,700 to 1,800 MJ/tonne clinker) and the thermal energy needed for raw material drying and pre-heating. Modern cement plants which were built within the last decade have low energy consumption compared to older plants. The actual fuel energy use for different kiln systems is in the following ranges (MJ/tonne clinker):

• 3,000 – 3,800 for dry process, multi-stage (3 – 6 stages) cyclone preheater and precalcining kilns,
• 3,100 – 4,200 for dry process rotary kilns equipped with cyclone preheaters,
• 3,300 – 4,500 for semi-dry/semi-wet processes (e.g. Lepol-kilns),
• Up to 5,000 for dry process long kilns,
• 5,000 – 6,000 for wet process long kilns and
• 3,100–6,500 for shaft kilns.

Energy Efficiency in the Cement Industry;

With new built, state-of-the-art cement plants, usually all technical measures seem to be implemented towards low energy consumption.

So, how to reduce it further?

Energy efficiency is based on the following three pillars

• Technical optimization
• Alternative raw materials for cement and clinker production
• Alternative fuels

In Europe, the new energy efficiency directive from 2011 intends to reduce the energy consumption of the overall industry by 20%, achieving savings of 200billion Euros at the energy bill and with the goal to create 2 million new jobs within Europe. This approach will have a significant influence also on the cement industry.

Saving 20% of the energy consumption is a challenging goal, especially for plants with state-of-the-art technology.

In older plants modernizations in the fields of grinding, process control and process prediction can, if properly planned and installed, reduce the electricity consumption – sometimes in a two digit number.

Alternative Fuels

Alternative fuels, such as waste-derived fuels or RDF, bear further energy saving potential. The substitution of fossil fuel by alternative sources of energy is common practice in the European cement industry.The German cement industry, for example, substitutes approximately 61% of their fossil fuel demand. The European cement industry reaches an overall substitution rate of at least ca. 20%.

Typical “alternative fuels” available in Saudi Arabia are municipal solid wastes, agro-industrial wastes, industrial wastes and some amount of crop residues. To use alternative or waste-derived fuels, such as municipal solid wastes, dried sewage sludges, drilling wastes etc., a regulatory base has to be developed which sets

• Types of wastes/alternative fuels,
• Standards for the production of waste-derived fuels,
• Emission standards and control mechanism while using alternative fuels and
• Standards for permitting procedures.

Alternative Raw Materials;

The reduction of clinker portion in cement affords another route to reduce energy consumption. In particular, granulated blast furnace slags or even limestone have proven themselves as substitutes in cement production, thus reducing the overall energy consumption.

To force the use of alternative raw materials within the cement industry, also – and again –standards have to be set, where

• Types of wastes, by-products and other secondary raw materials are defined,
• Standards for the substitution are set,
• Guidelines for processing are developed,
• Control mechanisms are defined.

Conclusions;

To reduce the energy consumption, an energy efficiency program, focusing on “production-related energy efficiency” has to be developed. Substantial potential for energy efficiency improvement exists in the cement industry and in individual plants.

A portion of this potential will be achieved as part of (natural) modernization and expansion of existing facilities, as well as construction of new plants in particular regions. Still, a relatively large potential for improved energy management practices exists and can be exhausted by determined approaches.

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