Cement, Energy and Environment

Ambuja Cement India and three other Holcim entities have raised their stake in the company by 2.01% to 48.21 per cent through open market transactions between December 10 and 24, ACC said in a notice to stock exchanges on 27.12.2010. These purchases seems to be part of creeping acquisition that allows promoters to increase their stake in a company by up to 5 per cent in a financial year, without making an open offer, analysts said. Promoters can do this as long as their total holding is below 75 percent. The possibility of a merger of Holcim's Indian subsidiaries, ACC and Ambuja Cements, has been a talking point among industry players for a long time. But the companies have always refused to comment on this. According to analysts, the merger may be part of a long– term plan, though the timing is hard to guess. India, with a capacity of over 270 million tonnes, is the world's second largest cement market and is growing at 9-1 0 Per cent annually. The news of Holcim raising its stake in ACC renewed the merger buzz among market participants and pushed shares of both ACC and Ambuja Cements higher. Courtesy: The Economic Times, Mumbai, 28.12.2010. TECHNOLOGY UPGRADATION Process & Operation OPTIMIZATION OF PROCESS CONTROL OF KILN LINE AND RAW AND COAL MILLS Introduction In this article; "Optimization Systems (Expert Optimizer) For Process Optimization of Rotary Kiln and Raw Mill of Production Line 4 and Coal Mill 2" in Adana Cement Industry, which has performed application of various efficiency projects for a long time, will be introduced. Adana Cement Industry is operating four separate clinker production lines, two coal mills and five cement mills in Adana plant. Expert Optimizer (EO), which is a product of ABB firm, is a computer based system for controlling , stabilizing and optimizing industrial processes. It achieves this through a technology that enables the operating rules of the best operator to be applied accurately, tirelessly and consistently at all times. The principle concept is that Expert Optimizer mimics the actions of the operator and implements them in the manner of an "Auto - Pilot". The potential benefits expected from Expert Optimizer is that performance will improve from that of an "average operator" to that of the "best operator" for 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. The following measurable targets are expected from Expert Optimizer as the performance values; Rotary Kiln Line 4 Min. % 2.0 Energy saving Min. % 1.5 Production increase Min. % 10 Large refractory life Raw Mill Line 4 Min. % 1.8 Energy saving Min. % 1.8 Production increase Coal Mill Line 2 Min.% 2.0 Energy saving Min. % 2.0 Production increase Better and more consistent quality Decrease in grinding cost Min % 20 decrease in standard deviation Other benefits which are difficult to quantify; Assistance for burning of various waste fuels Control of plant emissions to meet environmental legislation Being free from the routine process concerns so that operators and engineers are enabled to concentrate other matters Providing plant management with the tools and information to analyse and manage the production process more objectively. Courtesy: Cement And Concrete World, July - August 2010, Pp40-41. 14