Cement, Energy and Environment

-~ \ ENERGY EFFICIENCY & CONSERVATION Energy Security & Management DIVERSIFICATION OF ENERGY BASKET KEY TO INDIA'S ENERGY SECURITY India must reduce its dependence on coal and diversify its energy basket to address the challenge of energy security. This was the overarching theme at the session on "The Power Masala: Meeting India's Future Energy Needs", at the 25 1 h India Economic Summit, jointly organized by the World Economic Forum and the Confederation of Indian Industry. The panelists, which included leading names in Indian industry, felt that focusing on renewable sources of energy such as wind, hydroelectric power and solar will go a long way in ' a source of energy, would continue at least in the short-term, the captains of Indian industry felt that the time may ripe of India to start exploring new sources of energy to develop a balanced energy basket with right mix of energy sources such as wind, gas, nuclear and solar. They felt that energy efficiency, investment in clean technology and greater investment in renewable sources of energy should be the premise of India's energy policy for the future. Courtesy: Electrical India, December 2009, P12. Energy Efficiency DRIVING SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH ENERGY EFFICIENCY BY TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION Rockwell Automation, Canada, describes how the Successful Implementation of AC Drive Technology and MPC Technology has helped to Improve Energy Efficiency and Increase Production at Two Cement Plants in the US. Introduction Sustainability has quickly become more than just an environmental buzz word; it is now a business necessity. Increased demand and tighter government-enforced regulations have led cement manufacturers to look at ways to increase production and meet environmental standards while improving their bottom line. Put simply, sustainability is maintaining a certain process at a distinct level over an extended period of time. It utilizes technologies and processes that require the least amount of energy and resources, but to help improve energy efficiency, produces less waste and improves workplace safety. Sustainability initiatives deliver economic value, provide a long-term solution and keep companies competitive in today's market. Intelligent motor control Motors account for a large portion of energy consumption throughout the industry. Motor Control Solutions fully integrate motor control with the control system and can help to optimize motor performance, reduce energy consumption and increase efficiency. As an electrical engineer in the motor-intensive cement manufacturing industry for more than 30 years, Bob Wright has seen it all. He has witnessed the evaluation from DC motors and drives to AC motors and drives technology, improved information access, and increased pressure to reduce motor-related energy consumption . The fi rst time he walked through the doors at Ash Grove Cement in Chanute, Kansas, in 1975, Wright would have told you that it was impossible to use a low voltage AC drive to control a medium voltage AC motor. As times and technology changed, Wright oversaw the electrical operation of Ash Grove's century-old facility, one of the leading cement manufacturer's nine plants. Combined, the plants have an annual production capacity of nearly 9 million t of cement. Like other companies in the cement industry, Ash Grove faces heightened competition, ever-fluctuating demand and intense pressure to efficiently increase productivity. To max1m1ze production, t he Chanute plant manufactures cement all day, every day. Nearly 1000 motors generate a combined 45,000 hp driving the production of 5t of cement per minute. "The success or failure of our plant depends on our motors," says Wright. "We needed reliable equipment and ongoing maintenance to protect our motors, control production and operate efficiently." To resolve problems with an unreliable, antiquated motor- 2 1