CEE Jan-Mar 2012

country to reduce the volume of the municipal solid waste (MSW) by installing refuse derived fuel (RDF) machine that will generate income to the constituents of the local government. RDF is a fuel produced by shredding and dehydrating solid waste with a waste converter technology. In the proposed agreement TGEG would purchase 30 machines from PACIFICTECH to be distributed in 30 sites. The RDF will be sold to an used in a variety of ways to produce electricity. It can be used alongside traditional sources of fuel in coal power plants. In Europe RDF can be used in the cement kiln industry, where the strict standards of waste incineration directive are met. Courtesy: Konstruction Review, Nov. 14, 2011, P10. ,, .. ENERGY EFFICIENCY & CONSERVATION ._... . _. I • COMPREHENSIVE TECHNICAL AUDIT- A TOOL FOR COST REDUCTION - By Kamal Kumar and Dinesh Sat/}a, Holtec Consulting Private Limited 1. INTRODUCTION Cement manufacturing being energy intensive process, needs a focused effort on ~inimizing the consumption of energy resources. It is imperative to emphasize on optimally utilizing the available capacity and enhancing the performance efficiency to reduce the specific energy and cost of production. An effective tool to achieve these objectives is by conducting 'Comprehensive technical audit' study and implementation of the identified improvement measures. An effective process optimisation study to be carried out for one or more unit operations to cover not only optimising the present operational practices, but also the possibilities to upgrade the available equipment and technologies with optimum capital expenditure (CAPEX). 2. OBJECTIVES The main objectives of the comprehensive technical audit are: • Improving capacity utilization to achieve sustained production and operational efficiency Entire process of cement production is subdivided into several unit operations like • • Raw materials, Crushing, Raw materials grinding, Pyro-processing , Cement grinding, Packing & dispatch etc. Further each unit operation is studied in details with an objective to identify the potential improvement areas for optimizing the operational practices and efficiency. A special emphasis is laid on achieving the continuity of operations, and the reasons of the plant stoppages are analysed. Trouble shooting of problems in raw materials, electrical, Instrumentation, mechanical and process engineering sections through diagnostic studies. Specific problems in these areas are Identified and studied in details and improvements are suggested to minimize or prevent these problems. Lowering the tpeclflc energy contumptlon. Trends of the energy consumption In different unit operation are analyzed by studying the energy reports. assessment of energy efficiency of the major eQuipment like clinker cooler, fans etc. Based on the analysis of information, improvement measures are suggested to cut down the specific energy consumption. • Effective utilization of available waste heat The availability of un– utilized/ waste heat is estimated and potential for power generation through waste heat recovery system is explored through process measurements and conducting mass, gas & heat balances. • Quality assurance with optimized utilisation of resou rces. Quality assurance with optimised utilisation of resources covers apart from the product quality. the quality of operational practices. At times It is possible to utilise the low cost raw material and fuel to produce a product of equivalent or superior quality or It may be possible to produce a product with different combination of available raw materials which will require le§s heat of formation end hence. lower specific fuel consumption. i