Cement, Energy and Environment July-Sep 2002

. .. ,- - TECHNOLOGY TREND AND INNOVATION HOLCI;\1 \\'HITE LTD. DRIVES \VHITE CEMENT SALES IN ~E\V EllROPEAN MARKETS The establishment of Holcim White Ltd ., with headquarters in Zuri ch's Oe rlikon district starting May 2002, marks a drive by the Holcim Group to step up activities in white cement sales to Central and Eastern European marke ts. Growing demand and desire for stronge r professiona l support prompted the opening up of new sa les channels for white cement produced at Holcim Group plants in Slovakia, Romania, and Poland by means of a marketing and sales organization to provide customers with construct ion sol utions using th e attra cti ve, hi gh- grad e co nstructi on mate rial. Holcim White thus reflects and promotes an expanded market arising from white cement 's indis pensability for seve ral uses, inc luding hi ghl y sophisticated concrete applications in contemporary architecture and exposed concrete for today's high– rise buildings. Whi te cement is also becoming increasingly common in prefabricated concrete elements, the manufacture of mortars, and garden landscaping. Cour1esy : Cement Americas Afay/Jun 2002, P15, Fax: 312-726-410712574 /~·-mail: /Jooks@primediabusiness. com Web: 11'11' \1' cementamericas. com EVOLVING \1ANl'FACTURE ICR Research We asked a leading technical director ofone of the world's largest cemen t gro ups to look at the evo luti on of the globa l cement industry and to comment on its current status and soph is-tication. He notes th at while a sizeab le amount of new process technology has been introduced there is sti II a hi gh dependence on older, less efficient technology,' and in some areas, a lack of understanding as to th e ac tu a l process paramete rs. Market impacts .on ceme nt production levels are also d.iscussed. Courtes: lnlernational Cement Review, July 2002 P3 7, E-mail: info@CemNet co. uk Web site: CemNet. co. uk NEW FUEL-SAVING TECHNOLOGY FROM SAIL Energy Times 24(27): I (2002) The Researc h and Development Centre for Iron and Stee l, Ranchi, of SA IL (S tee l Authority of India Ltd) has developed a new technology for igniting the sinter mix in the Sinter Plant-1 of the Rourke Ia Steel Plant. The new multi- slit-burn er techno logy has red uced fuel gas consumption by about 67%, from 60 milli on calories per tonne to 20 million calories per t<.mne of sinter, equi valent to savings of~ litres·of oil per tonne. The innovation is expected to save fuel worth nearly Rs 6 lakh annually. The new system has also improved producti vity of the sinter machine by about I0%. The multi-s lit- burner system comprises small capacity burners assembled together in the forln of modules and fitted on the roofofthe ignition hood. . In the integrated steel plants, finer fract ions of iron ore, coke and limestone are sintered into porous lumps by heati ng. The sinter utilizing waste raw materi al fines, is used in blast furnaces to improve their producti vity. SAIL is planning to use th is technology in all its other sinter plants and save fu el worth more than Rs. 8 crore annually. Courte~y : TIDE£. Mar. 2002, P 7, Fax: 91 II -1682 144. E-mail: oulreach@teri.res. in Web: 1V1V1V. teriin.otg MIXER SELECTION FOR PO\VDERS S. Ramponi, D. Negrini, and M passerini, Italy A mi xe r is se lected by analysing the characteristics of the products to be 'hand led and those of the mi xers on the market, and the type ofmixing process. The mixing time is onl y one of th e many characteristi cs wh ich need to be evaluated. The possibility of obtaining a mixture with constant homogeneity over time must be evaluated on the basis of the differences in particle s ize and shape, bulk dens ity, superfic ial characteristics such as the te ndency to interlock, cohesiveness, electrostatic forces and moisture content ofthe particles to be introduced. It must be kept in mind that risks of segregation exists: should this occur the necessary precautions must be taken. For ve ry cohesive products, mixers which guarantee brea king th e lumps and agg lome rates with dedicated devices should be used, if the mixer selected is not sufficiently capable of a good deagglomeration effect. If the re are degradation problems, mixers with high inertial action such as high-speed rn ills and perhaps also belt mi xers should be rej ected: ene rgy input into th e product (tempe rature in crease), whether the treatment is gentle, and th e fri ct ion whi ch is created between the partic les will have to be controlled. Extremely importan t are also the dimensions of the load , the degree of loading, the presence of abrasion-resistant components, the possibi lity of heat exchange, the overa ll dim ens ions, fast and complete or partial emptying, the clea ning . method, on-the-spo t clean ing, energy to start the mixer for the mixing operations, and the