A Supplement to World Cement

Experience Matters.
ATD-Pressure Gas System has been safely removing material

buildup and blockages in industrial processes and bulk storages
D -SYSTEM
for more than 60 years. T
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Global coverage of the cement industry

• International cement news

• Regional reports
• Market analysis
• Event previews and reviews
• In-depth technical articles
• In-depth regional analysis by key players in the industry
• Comprehensive technical reviews on all aspects of cement
production, from the quarry face to despatch

Subscribe online at: www.worldcement.com/subscribe

 CONTENTS
03 Comment
REGIONAL REPORT: NORTH AMERICA
04 Weathering The Storm
Dariana Tani, GlobalData, provides an overview
of the North American construction market and its
reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic.
08 Coming To The Crossroads
Michael McSweeney, President and CEO of the
Cement Association of Canada, comments on
the challenge that climate change poses to the
construction sector.
NORTH AMERICA PROJECT CASE STUDIES
13 The Importance Of Upgrades
Dave Carichner, CalPortland, provides an
overview of current and future plant upgrades at
CalPortland’s Oro Grande Cement Plant.
17 Breathing New Life Into The Cement Industry
Jill Truscott, LafargeHolcim, explains how energy
efficiency studies, emissions capture strategies
and alternative fuel systems could be set to help
the cement industry reduce its carbon emissions.
21 If Silo Walls Could Talk
Nathaniel Miller, Mole•Master Services
Corporation, outlines how to effectively conduct
cement silo inspections.
29 Finding Added Value
Carlos Lopéz Cuevas, W.L. Gore & Associates,
Mexico, considers how calculating TCO can help
identify added value as well as hidden costs.
33 Good Things Come In Small Packages
John Rennockl, Parker Hannifin, explains how
a busy cement terminal in the southern United
States was able to reduce dust emissions from its
conveyor system.
37 The Advantages Of Analytics
Seeq explains how implementing advanced
analytics solutions can help cement producers
gain insights into existing data and improve
operations.
41 Progress In Providence
Rebecca Long Pyper, Dome Technology, explains
how McInnis Cement upgraded its Providence,
Rhode Island, facility for more storage, lower
operating costs and aggressive throughput.
44 Finding A Use For Fly Ash
Many industries rely heavily on one another
for certain raw materials and by-products.
Kevin R. Peterson, Vortex Global, explains how
this is especially apparent in West Virginia’s
coal-fired energy, cement and oil/gas industries.

24 Becoming Silo Savvy

Dennis Blauser, Marietta Silos, outlines how silo
cleaning can limit downtime, prevent product
buildup and help retain proper product flow and
quality of materials.

A Supplement to World Cement

ON THE COVER
More than 60 years is a long time to be on the job, but that is how long the
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in industrial processes and bulk storages. Experience like this teaches you important
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and most effective system of its kind world-wide. Experience Matters.
ATD-Pressure Gas System has been safely removing material

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buildup and blockages in industrial processes and bulk storages
For more information, visit: www.atd-pgs.com for more than 60 years.
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 COMMENT
Managing Editor: James Little DAVID BIZLEY, EDITOR
james.little@palladianpublications.com

W
Editor: David Bizley elcome to another
david.bizley@palladianpublications.com
edition of World Cement
Editorial Assistant: Emily Thomas North America.
emily.thomas@palladianpublications.com
This special issue of
Contributing Editor: Paul Maxwell-Cook World Cement shines a light on the
North American cement industry,
Production: Gabriella Bond
gabriella.bond@palladianpublications.com bringing you regional analysis, plant
upgrade stories and a range of project
Sales Director: Rod Hardy
rod.hardy@palladianpublications.com case studies from across the region.
Starting with the Regional Report, this issue features analysis
Sales Manager: Ian Lewis
ian.lewis@palladianpublications.com from GlobalData – Dariana Tani takes a detailed look at the state
of the North American construction market and the impact of
Website Manager: Tom Fullerton
tom.fullerton@palladianpublications.com the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. Michael McSweeney,
Digital Editorial Assistant: Imogen Poole
President and CEO of the Cement Association of Canada, then
imogen.poole@palladianpublications.com provides his thoughts on the impact of that other great challenge
Administration Manager: Laura White of our time, climate change. Stating that “climate-change has
laura.white@palladianpublications.com become a definitive driver of my day-to-day work”, McSweeney
Reprints argues the case for greater action in terms of investment and
reprints@palladianpublications.com
inter-industry collaboration to meet environmental targets.
The issue then moves on to cover a range of plant upgrades
and project case studies.
Dave Carichner of CalPortland starts us off by detailing
the latest upgrades at the company’s Oro Grande Cement
SUBSCRIPTIONS Plant, including new systems for quarrying, crushing,
Annual subscription (published monthly): £160 UK milling, and shipping. Jill Truscott then takes us back to the
including postage/£175 ( 245) overseas (postage
airmail)/US$280 USA/Canada (postage airmail).
theme of climate change and shows how Lafarge Canada’s
Two year subscription (published monthly): £256 UK
including postage/£280 ( 392) overseas (postage
Richmond plant has been implementing a range of policies
airmail)/US$448 USA/Canada (postage airmail). and new technologies, including carbon capture, to reduce
Claims for non receipt of issues must be made within
4 months of publication of the issue or they will not environmental impact and move towards a low-carbon, circular
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economy.
Applicable only to USA and Canada:
WORLD CEMENT (ISSN No: 0263-6050,
Another highlight of this issue is a piece by Kevin R. Peterson
USPS No: 020-996) is published monthly by
Palladian Publications, GBR and is distributed in
of Vortex Global, who examines the role of fly ash in
the USA by Asendia USA, 17B S Middlesex Ave, cement production and the complex relationships between
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That’s just a few of the great articles we have lined up for
you in this special issue of World Cement.
Copyright © Palladian Publications Ltd 2019. All
rights reserved. No part of this publication may These are unusual times, with the coronavirus pandemic
be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
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North America 2020 World Cement 3

 Dariana Tani, GlobalData, provides
an overview of the North American
construction market and its reaction
to the COVID-19 pandemic.

4
 Weathering
THE STORM
rior to the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19),
P GlobalData was predicting a mild recovery in the
pace of growth in construction in North America in
2020 thanks to a rebound in the housing market,
on-going infrastructure investments and the recent trade
truce between the US and China. But as COVID-19
continues to spread rapidly across the region and national
authorities take drastic actions to contain the disease,
developers, especially, homebuilders are facing a sharp
decline in house demand amid the weakening economy.
Both the US and the Canadian economies are
experiencing an unprecedented economic shock, both
to the supply side, as workers are isolated or care for
relatives, and to the demand side, as more people stay
at home and do not spend. Other risks to the regional
economy stem from ongoing tensions between the US
and China.
The US
On 16 March, Boston became the first city in the US to
shut down all construction sites in the city, with similar
efforts expected to be put in place in other major states
and cities in the coming weeks. Already cities like Los
Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Washington
DC and Seattle, some of the US largest construction
centres, have ordered the closure of schools, restaurants,
bars, nightclubs, health clubs, spas, movie theatres
and banned mass public gatherings of more than 50
people. In addition, in Pennsylvania, the construction of
Bechtel’s multibillion-dollar cracker plant was shut down
on 18 March by Shell Chemicals to protect the safety
of the company’s 6000 workers and the surrounding
community.
Reflecting on these developments, GlobalData has
revised down its North America construction output
growth forecast to -0.9% in 2020, from 0.7% in the
previous projection (Q4 2019 update).
Although national authorities have, thus far, allowed
construction to continue in most parts of the US and
Canada, other major challenges that threaten the industry
include lower commodity prices and disruptions in
global supply chains, as well as difficulties in obtaining
government permits. For contractors that rely heavily on
foreign suppliers’ goods or materials this could mean
slower project completions and higher material prices as
they would be forced to find new suppliers if they cannot
source what they expect from existing suppliers.
Both the US and Canada’s construction industries
rely heavily on foreign suppliers and manufacturers of
goods for building materials. In the US, almost 30% of all
building product imports come from China as materials
are generally less expensive. But even though Chinese
factories are gradually returning to work, an increasing
number of them are expected to experience shortages of
component and materials caused by global supply-chain
disruptions for the months to come.
According to the American Chamber of Commerce
in South China, all 237 foreign and Chinese companies
it surveyed between 9 – 14 March, were still suffering
disruptions to their businesses while a third of them were
facing shortages of components and materials. These
figures indicate that while China has turned the corner on
the coronavirus outbreak, their factories will continue to
struggle for now, and cause disruptions for global supply
chains.
Commercial construction is likely to be the hardest hit in
the early part of 2020, with sectors such as retail, leisure
and hospitality already suffering from the knock-on effects
of the decline in trade, travel, and consumer and business
confidence. Hotel-occupancy rates are plummeting
across the region as the coronavirus causes widespread
shutdowns and travel restrictions. Other sectors such
as residential, energy and transport, which rely heavily
on foreign suppliers for building materials, will also be
severely impacted.
In the US, GlobalData is now expecting construction
output to contract by 1% in 2020, down from a growth
projection of 0.6% previously. With the US economy
now projected to contract by 1.5% in 2020, according
to market consensus, the construction sector is expected
to struggle from the deterioration in economic activity
and job losses caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
5
However, there would be further downward revisions if
the outbreak worsens and the crisis lasts more than the
initial three months that is estimated.
GlobalData anticipates that the industry could recover
in the second half of 2020 assuming that the virus is
contained by then and activity returns to normal as state
and local authorities could take advantage of record
low borrowing costs, to finance public works. Over the
remainder of the forecast period, GlobalData expects
construction growth to accelerate to an annual average
of 1.6%, helped by a recovery in the residential market
and increasing investment especially in infrastructure,
energy and utilities projects. On 25 March, the
US Senate approved a stimulus package worth
US$2 trillion, the largest in US history, in order to aid the
economy and support taxpayers and businesses during
the pandemic.
The residential market, which was already struggling
before the COVID-19 outbreak due to issues including
rising building costs, shortages of skilled labour,
and expensive land, but was still showing signs of
recovering at the start of the year, is now facing
additional challenges as the economy is likely to enter
a recession in the second quarter, more people are laid
off, and buyers and sellers reconsider their plans.
According to the US Department of Labor, jobless
claims for unemployment benefits in the US climbed
to 3.28 million for the week ending 21 March, up from
282 000 in the previous week, the largest weekly
increase in jobless claims on record, as the coronavirus
pandemic forced businesses, cities and entire states
throughout the US to shut down.
Despite the latest interest rate cuts by the US Federal
Reserve (Fed) to stimulate the economy amid the
rapid spread of the coronavirus, US mortgage rates
have recently increased to the highest level in months.
According to Bankrate.com, the average rate for a
30-year fixed rate mortgage rose to 4.05% in the week
ending on March 20th, up from 3.55% at the start of
the month, suggesting that the Fed policy reductions
have not yet translated into lower mortgage rates. It
also raises doubt as to whether the latest cuts will
have a positive impact on the housing markets as US
consumers could take advantage of lower mortgage
rates to buy homes or generate savings by refinancing
existing loans.
On 15 March, the Fed cut its policy rate to 0.25%,
and announced additional emergency measures to
prop up the economy and support financial markets,
including US$700 billion in asset purchases, the
expansion of repurchase operations, dollar swap lines
with other central banks around the world and credit
facility for commercial banks to ease household and
business lending.
Canada
In Canada, meanwhile, construction output is now
expected to contract by 0.5% in 2020 before bouncing
back to 1.2% over the remaining of the forecast period.
Nevertheless, further downward revisions are likely if the
6 World Cement North America 2020
situation worsens. According to the Conference Board
of Canada, Canada’s real GDP growth is now forecast
at 0.3% this year, down from the 1.8% projected at
the start of the year. In response to the deteriorating
outlook, the Bank of Canada slashed its benchmark
rate by another half point to 0.75% in an emergency
cut on 13 March, after cutting by the same margin the
week earlier at its regularly scheduled policy meeting.
In a statement the bank said “this unscheduled rate
decision is a proactive measure taken in light of the
negative shocks to Canada’s economy arising from
the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent sharp drop
in oil prices.” It also said that it is prepared to adjust
rate further if required. In recent years, investment and
hiring in Canada’s energy sector has declined amid
the collapse in oil prices as the booming shale industry
in the US has crowded out Canada’s heavy crude oil
brand.
Furthermore, unemployment rates are rising rapidly;
929 000 Canadians applied for jobless claims for the
week ending 21 March, representing nearly 5% of the
labour workforce, according to a senior government
official with knowledge of the data. This compares to
500 000 unemployment applications first announced by
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on 20 March.
The government announced a stimulus package on
18 March to limit the impact of the economic blow from
the pandemic. The package worth CAD$82 billion
(US$57 billion) brings the total financial support offered
by the government to businesses and individuals to
more than CAD$500 billion (US$355.7 billion) as of late
March. The Prime Minister, who has self-quarantined
after his wife tested positive for the virus, said
that the relief package includes CAD$27 billion
(US$19.2 billion) in direct assistance to help people
and companies, and CAD$55 billion (US$39.1 billion)
in temporary tax deferrals for both for households and
businesses. Trudeau said that businesses would be
given a temporary wage subsidy for up to three months
to allow them to keep workers on the payroll, while
taxpayers would have until August 2020 to pay their
taxes as part of the government’s stimulus package.
Companies who export goods would also be offered
support through the state-owned trade credit agency. To
slow the spread of the virus, the Canadian government
also announced that closure of Canada’s land border
with the US to non-essential travel as well as a
temporary travel ban to people who are not Canadian
or permanent residents, excluding US citizens and not
applying to sectors such as trade and commerce.
While lower interest rates should provide some
support to the residential construction market this
year, increasing joblesss rates and elevated household
debt levels are a cause for concern given the negative
impact on household spending, especially in the
coming months. Moreover, a lack of skilled labour, fiscal
constraints and inefficient regulations will continue
to cause issues in project selection, execution, and
coordination, especially at the provincial and municipal
levels.
 COMING TO THE

8
 Michael McSweeney, President and CEO
of the Cement Association of Canada,
comments on the challenge that climate
change poses to the construction sector.

I
n ways that I would not have
predicted some 10 years ago
when I became President
and CEO of the Cement
Association of Canada, climate
change has become a definitive
driver of my day-to-day work.
This is not surprising given that
concrete is the most widely used
material on the planet and that the
cement needed to make concrete
is a source of global greenhouse
gas emissions.
Naturally, we have been deeply
involved in many of the industrial
policy shifts enacted in Canada to
address climate change, including
the politically contentious issue
of carbon pricing. I am proud to
say that the cement and concrete
industry has been front and centre,
working with government to
design climate policies that drive
investment in emissions reductions
while aiming to enhance Canadian
industrial competitiveness.

9
 But the challenge for us is broader and deeper
than policy and regulations.
We see the entire construction industry at a
critical crossroads. Between now and 2050, climate
resilience and net-zero carbon or carbon-neutrality
Strategies building professionals can use today
to reduce the carbon footprint of our buildings
and infrastructure.
Concrete’s path to carbon neutrality.
10
must become basic principles in the way we design
and construct our buildings and infrastructure. There
is no silver bullet to fighting climate change, everyone
has a part of play – from material producers, to
architects, engineers, developers and individuals.
In the building materials sector, we cannot
underestimate what this transition will entail.
For steel producers, it could mean a wholesale
conversion to electrification and recycled content.
For wood, it likely means a full retreat from logging
in intact boreal and coastal rainforest and more
rigorous and transparent accounting of biogenic
carbon flows to help define carbon optimised
forestry practices.
For cement and concrete, it surely means moving
away from fossil energy, deep commitments to
material efficiency and circular economy solutions,
as well as an urgent embrace of carbon capture,
utilisation and storage technologies.
I am happy to share our industry’s progress and
some of the exciting innovations that promise a future
of carbon-neutral, and perhaps even carbon-negative
concrete. But what I really want to talk about
today is the role, responsibility and self-interest of
construction professionals to pull all of us forward.
One of the consistently underestimated barriers
to making the transition to low-carbon buildings and
infrastructure is the inherent resistance to change
that characterises many sectors and especially the
construction sector.
A certain amount of aversion to risk is a healthy
instinct when it comes to construction – familiarity,
durability, reliability, safety are legitimate drivers of
decision making. But when it comes to carbon,
resistance to change can be a liability.
For example, General Use Limestone cement –
also known as Portland Limestone Cement or PLC
– is a code-approved functional and cost-equivalent
substitute for regular Portland cement that reduces
carbon emissions from concrete by up to 10%.
Despite being widely used in Europe for
decades, PLC has struggled to gain market share
in Canada. In fact, the only market where PLC is
used in significant volumes in Canada is private
sector development in British Columbia, where
sustainability is a strong market driver.
Even governments, the same governments
enacting policies to decarbonise industry,
have so far been unable to mobilise
around this lowest of the low hanging fruit.
In combination with the use of common
supplementary cementing materials like
fly-ash and slag, Portland Limestone
Cement can play a key role in reducing
the embodied carbon from concrete in
line with Canada’s 2030 Paris targets. In
fact, these ready-to-go solutions mean that
concrete is already positioned to meet the
Architecture 2030 challenge of reducing
the embodied carbon of buildings by 40%
World Cement North America 2020
 immediately and 50% by 2030, reaching carbon
neutrality by 2050.
It’s encouraging that these solutions are there,
but I remain deeply concerned by the speed of
adoption. I am concerned because the technologies
that get us from 40% today to carbon-neutral or
carbon-negative concrete require large capital
investments that won’t come if the market doesn’t
demonstrate that it’s ready to adopt them.
For example, there are a host of carbon utilisation
technologies that take advantage of concrete’s
natural tendency to absorb carbon from the
atmosphere. A 2016 paper in Nature Geoscience
estimated that since the 1930s, standing concrete
infrastructure has reabsorbed some 43% of the
non-fossil emissions emitted in the production of its
concrete.
Today, companies like Solidia and CarbonCure are
exploiting this chemical property to make concrete
stronger with less cement. Solidia, which is already
commercialised for a variety of pavers and blocks,
can reduce carbon by up to 70%. Not only are
these technologies meeting required performance
specifications for concrete, they are exceeding them.
Another company we are excited about is
Blue Planet, which converts industrial carbon dioxide
into a concrete-grade, carbon-neutral (or potentially
carbon-negative) synthetic limestone.
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carbon capture systems under development, aiming
to capture almost 100% of carbon emissions right at
the source.
For these innovations to succeed and come
into the mainstream, those who drive concrete
specifications must seek them out. There are in the
building industry many leaders who care about the
environment. I have had the pleasure of working
with some of them. Windmill Developments from
my hometown of Ottawa is testing the limits of
sustainability at their Zibi site on the Ottawa River.
Others like EllisDon, WSP and Sidewalk Labs are
trying to break barriers on sustainability as well.
But we urgently need to scale up our ambition to
match the challenge at hand and I challenge all of us
to make low carbon a priority.
Now, having thrown down the gauntlet on low
carbon, some words of caution.
Just as the market as a whole has been slow to
embrace low-carbon building materials, there is a
counter risk for over-hyped ‘silver bullet’ solutions.
We have seen it from companies trying to break into
the cement and concrete space and we have seen
it from our competitors in other material sectors.
Sadly, we have also seen it from governments whose
political agendas often lead to simplified assumptions
and wishful thinking.
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 I have a personal and professional bone to pick
with governments who, however well-intentioned,
promote greater use of structural wood in the
name of mitigating climate change. They do this
through building code changes, wood-first policies,
CAD$100s of millions in yearly subsidies and, most
troublingly, by failing to address legitimate scientific
concerns about how we account for and compare
the carbon emissions of wood products.
Acre-per-acre, Canada’s forests are among the
most productive carbon sinks in the world. Yet
today’s carbon accounting standards do not require
consideration of the irreversible loss of carbon capital
when these ecosystems are logged and converted to
managed forests.
In fact, a study we funded by the International
Institute for Sustainable Development – among the
premier environmental think tanks in the world –
found that current accounting practices understate
the carbon footprint of logging activity by up to
72% because they assume, quite simply and
mistakenly, that replanted trees fully offset carbon
losses.
We believe that competition among building
products based on environmental performance is
very healthy. It’s an important part of what drives
innovation and can even lead to unpredictable and
productive collaborations between sectors – and
wiser choices.
We already see it with architects experimenting
with hybrid buildings, trying to optimise how different
materials work together to design high performing
structures. I do see a future where the concrete,
steel and wood sectors work together to support
that model.
But let me stress, for competition to succeed in
improving results, it must be fair, supported by robust
science, transparency and accountability, and it must
be monitored by people willing to ask the tough
questions and challenge convenient assumptions.
After all, the atmosphere doesn’t care about our
assumptions.
So I am calling on construction professionals to
demand of us our best environmental solutions.
Ask where your concrete, steel and wood come
from. One thing I can assure you of is shipping
structural timber from Scandinavia to Australia to
build a 40 storey wood building is not a sustainable
approach to fighting climate change. We need to
insist on low-carbon options. Don’t allow any of us
to duck our responsibility to adapt our sectors to
the reality of climate change. And hold all industrial
sectors to the most rigorous standards when it
comes to carbon accounting.
It’s clear that the road to a carbon-neutral future
runs though the supply and the demand sides of the
building industry. Bringing the two together is key to
staying the course and completing the journey.
 The
importance
of upgrades
Dave Carichner, CalPortland, provides an overview of current and
future plant upgrades at CalPortland’s Oro Grande Cement Plant.

I
n October of 2015 CalPortland Company
acquired the former Riverside Cement Plant
in Oro Grande, CA. Prior to the purchase of
the plant, Taiheiyo and CalPortland engineers
collaborated to review plant equipment,
process data, maintenance data and overall
operations. Through the due diligence process
the team identified areas of future investment
and design/operational improvement. Specific
areas identified were secondary crushing, raw
grinding, finish grinding, cement storage, mobile
equipment, and shipping. The goal of these
projects was to bring the plant to its full production
potential, improve energy efficiency, GHG
emission reduction, and provide the best possible
customer experience. Upon acquisition, the
team developed projects for each of these areas
and began to budget, engineer and implement
these projects. The intention of this article is to
provide a brief description of the improvements
and considerations for logistical planning, plant
modernisation and optimised production capacity.

Oro Grande Cement Finish Mill 2. 13

Photo by: W.R. Larson
Secondary crushing
Upon acquisition, the plant was utilising two
1950s era hammer mills for secondary crushing
with no screening; allowing all material to
pass from primary to secondary crushing
with a single pass. The result was variable
particle sizing with too many large pieces.
Additionally, the hammer mills experienced high
maintenance costs caused by a high wear rate.
CalPortland Engineering designed a retrofit
to this system, utilising the existing structure
and electrical switchgear. Parallel double-deck
screens and Metso HP400 cone crushers
were installed. The new crushers are half of
the original connected horsepower. The new
system provides better particle sizing, reduced
power consumption, lower maintenance
cost and most importantly improved raw mill
operation.
Raw mill
The Oro Grande cement plant utilises a
Polycom 20/15-8 High-Pressure Grinding
Roll (HPGR) for raw mill grinding. Historically, mill powered by two 5700 HP motors. This
both segmented roll liners and welded rolls
Oro Grande Rapid Fill Loading Stations 7 & 8.
Photo by: W.R. Larson
2019 Caterpillar MD6250 Crawler Mounted Blasthole
Drill. Photo by: W.R. Larson.
14
were utilised. Neither provided long-life
between maintenance periods. Due to high
wear and inconsistent feed, the mill was not
able to produce at a reliable rate to match the
kiln feed demand. CalPortland worked with
the OEM to supply a newer concept in roll
wear-design called studded rolls. The rolls are
lined with highly wear-resistant ‘studs’ which
are slightly raised above the roll surface. The
space between the studs becomes filled with
ground limestone, resulting in ‘autogenous’
grinding, meaning very little wear to the studs
or rolls. These rolls, along with equipment
designed to detect stud failure, were installed
simultaneously during a planned kiln/mill
outage. The results illustrate significant
improvement in roll wear life, reduced
downtime and consistent mill production.
Finish milling
When CalPortland took possession of the
Oro Grande Plant, there was only a single
Polysius 2 compartment finish mill, a large ball
mill was designed to produce only type II/V
cement. Since CalPortland also planned
to produce higher Blaine cements, some
modifications were required. Primarily
these consisted of the recirculation bucket
elevator and air slides. The Aumund
elevator was modified with a higher chain
speed and larger bucket to improve
throughput. The air slide feed system was
modified to improve potential throughput.
Overall, the single cement mill could only
produce approximately 60% of the kiln’s
clinker capacity. There was an existing
plan, including an environmental permit
from the previous owners to construct a
second finish mill.
CalPortland started the process of
selecting, designing and installing a
second mill system in October 2015. The
finish mill was completed and brought
online in March of 2019. The completion
of the second finish mill allows the cement
plant to operate at full design capacity and
efficiency.
The new ball mill is very similar to
the original 2008 ball mill i.e. same
manufacturer and same horsepower.
The SEPOL ESV 330/0 separator is the
same model, with a few design updates.
The balance of the mill design, however,
is quite different. CalPortland worked
with the mill supplier’s engineering team
to reduce the cost of purchase and
construction. One of the main ways to do
this was to lower the physical profile of the
mill system. The original mill design was
World Cement North America 2020
a ‘stacked’ design with the main baghouse
and the separator above the mill in the
same building. The new mill was designed
with the equipment closer to the ground to
reduce the cost of steel and foundations
and to allow simultaneous construction in
different areas. With high seismic and wind
design requirements in California, the lower
profile design was particularly valuable. The
result was a significant discount in capital
cost and is proving to be easier to access
and maintain. There were several technical
improvements implemented in the new mill
design to improve operation costs. The
finish mill has a built-in ‘off-spec’ or bypass
bin which allows the switching of cement
types ‘on the fly’ without shutting everything
down. If any off-spec cement is made, the
bypass bin can be used for up to 90 min.
of operation and then the off-spec cement
could be blended back into the mill stream
later. Along with the new finish mill, two new
cement storage/shipping silos and two truck
loadout systems were constructed. These
facilities are located adjacent to the finish
mill, which allows mechanical transport of
the finished cement into the storage bins
rather than more energy-intensive pneumatic
transport. A pneumatic transport system
was included for sending cement to other
storage locations in the plant as needed.
The mill includes a very large cement cooler
that can be bypassed when it is not needed
during cooler months, helping to lower the
specific energy consumption.

Cement shipping
The Oro Grande plant had five original
shipping lanes with only four scales for bulk
truck cement transport. It also had three
rail scales with loading spouts. None of the
truck shipping lanes were operating at a rate SOME THINK
THAT ONLY
that CalPortland believed was acceptable
to provide the best experience to its
customers. CalPortland engineers evaluated
all the shipping lanes and identified areas
for improvement and upgrades. The first ONE PACKING
PATTERN IS
project completed utilised an existing scale
with no loading spouts that is located next
to four shipping silos. A new bin bottom and
associated air slides and loading spouts
were installed under one of the silos. This POSSIBLE.
WE THINK
created a new shipping lane to feed an
existing scale.
Upgrades were made to the newest truck
loading spouts. New spout collectors were
installed, and programming changes were
made to decrease loading times. Within the
DIFFERENT.
first year, Oro Grande had improved cement
truck loading times by 20 – 30%.

beumer.com
 The new state-of-the-art loading lanes can fill
a truck in less than three minutes. Split-truck
scales are utilised to fill both bulk trailers
simultaneously. An operator’s booth was built
with these scales and the loading operation for
the older truck scales was centralised to this
location so that operators can fill trucks at four
scales from one location. High-speed cameras
are utilised so that operators can see the
trucks they are loading remotely from the new
operator’s booth.
Plant/quarry primary mobile equipment
In 2019 a Rail King RK330 replaced the
1987 Track Mobile as the rail car mover
which greatly enhances the plant’s ability
to safely and efficiently move, position and
load strings of railcars, in preparation for rail
shipment of cement, as well as incoming fuel
cars. The vehicle is powered by a Cummins
QSB6.7 Tier 4 Final engine that features a
fully integrated EcoFit™ Ultra-Low Emission
System, selective catalytic reduction (SCR),
diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) and an
electronic management system that controls air
intake and exhaust after treatment.
A 2019 Caterpillar MD6250 crawler mounted
blasthole drill, powered by C27 ACERT engine,
with ratings: 597 – 708 bkW (800 – 950 bhp)
@ 1800 rpm and designed to meet US EPA
Tier 4 Final emission standards, replaced a
1999 Terex Bore/Drill in the quarry as one of
the plant’s hard rock drills. This new piece of
equipment is expected to provide a collective
76% average reduction in nitrogen oxides
(NOx), reactive organic gases (ROG) and
particulate matter (PM).
Future improvements and projects
The Oro Grande Plant has 12 cement storage
silos used primarily for specialty cements.
The original built cement transfer system was
connected to the oldest cement loading systems
only and the electrical and control system for
this area is very old and costly to operate and
maintain. Upgrades are in progress to the
cement pumps, piping, electrical system and
controls, and when completed the cement
transfer system will be reliable and efficient and
will ensure that contamination of the specialty
cements is avoided.
The current clinker cooler crusher is a
hammer mill at the end of the clinker cooler.
This machine has had high maintenance costs
and produces inconsistent sized clinker. A
HRB MF 414 four-roll roll breaker is on order
and will be installed in early 2021. This proven
technology is expected to lower maintenance
costs, improve reliability and improve energy
consumption.
16
CalPortland replaced its Los Angeles-based
fleet of one hundred eighteen concrete
ready-mix trucks in 2017 with a state of the art
‘Near-Zero Emissions’ powered CNG fleet. The
company installed two private CNG fuelling
stations for this fleet at two local ready-mix
plants providing convenience and ease of
fuelling for drivers. CalPortland is currently
replacing its cement bulk transport truck fleet
with twenty-four ‘Near-Zero Emission’ CNG
powered trucks. These trucks will be located at
the Oro Grande cement plant and will be used
to deliver cement to plant customers.
Both the concrete trucks and cement
delivery trucks utilise Cummins Westport
Near-Zero Emissions engines. They are
certified to the California Air Resources Board
(ARB) and Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) Optional Low NOx emissions standard
of 0.02 g/bhp-hr – 90% lower than current
emissions standards. It also exceeds the
current Phase I Greenhouse Gas emissions
regulations by 8%. The Near-Zero Emissions
engines will operate efficiently on compressed
natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG),
or renewable natural gas (RNG) fuels. RNG is
pipeline-quality natural gas produced from the
decomposition of organic wastes, which can
come from a variety of sources such as dairy
farm waste, landfills, and urban waste treatment
plants. Combining these Near-Zero Emissions
engines with RNG fuel provides even greater
and significant GHG reductions.
The new CNG fuel filling station will include
a commercial filling island so that trucks from
other companies that deliver CalPortland
cement have the option of filling at the plant as
well. CalPortland has led the way in the industry
in California to Near-Zero Emissions vehicle
technology in the hopes this will encourage
other industrial companies to switch to clean
burning CNG/RNG fleets.
CalPortland is committed to continuous
improvement in employee and public safety,
environmental stewardship, energy management
and creating the best possible customer
experience. The projects described herein,
and many others demonstrate CalPortland’s
commitments in these areas.
About the author
David Carachner is a B.S. graduate of the
University of Arizona School of Mechanical
Engineering and is a 30 year employee of
CalPortland Company. He has spent 16 years
in plant engineering at the Rillito cement plant
and is now Director of Project Engineering for
CalPortland. Dave is married with two children
ages 20 and 25 and is an avid scuba diver with
over 200 dives to his credit.
World Cement North America 2020
Jill Truscott, LafargeHolcim, explains how energy efficiency studies,
emissions capture strategies and alternative fuel systems could
be set to help the cement industry reduce its carbon emissions.

Breathing new life

into the cement
industry

hange is good. For Lafarge Canada

C – part of LafargeHolcim, a leader

in sustainable building materials
and solutions, this sentiment rings
true across its operations. This has
become a fundamental reality of doing
business for the company, which includes
more than 5000 employees working in
Canada alone. For over 60 years, the
company has supplied cement, concrete,
aggregate materials, asphalt and paving,
and concrete products across Canada.
The organisation believes that the key
to success is ensuring continuous
improvement and evolution, with an eye
towards its social responsibility, and
license to operate.

17
 “We are the most ambitious company in our
sector, in terms of emissions reductions targets,”
says Brad Kohl, Western Canada CEO of
Lafarge Canada. “That’s why we’ve dedicated
our time and money towards finding methods to
continue our transition towards the low-carbon
and circular economy.” The company’s changes
contribute towards a target of 520 kg CO2/t by
2030. The interim 2022 target is 560 kg CO2/t;
reducing global warming potential for all its
operations is a priority for the organisation.
In 2019 the Science-Based Targets initiative
(SBTi) recognised the ambitions of the company
and validated LafargeHolcim’s targets to reduce
its global carbon emissions. According to
SBTi, LafargeHolcim’s targets are adequate
and consistent with the global effort to keep
temperatures below the 2˚C threshold, as
agreed at the COP21 world climate conference
in Paris.
In keeping with this ambition, Lafarge’s
Richmond cement plant, located in
Vancouver, BC, on Canada’s west coast, has
conducted a number of projects from energy
efficiency studies to emissions capture strategies,
The Richmond cement plant has the capacity
to operate 24 hours per day, depending on
demand.
Aerial view of the facility.
18
to alternative fuel systems. Lafarge Canada is
taking steps to make fundamental changes to
how it manufactures cement.
The company has investigated methods to
maximise efficiencies at the plant, including a
compressed air audit, fan studies and end-use
assessments. The results have led the plant to
upgrade their combustion and cooler systems
for optimised performance, with the addition of a
heat recovery system to capture and recirculate
thermal energy. The compressed air audit
led Lafarge to incorporate large air receivers
and a variable speed compressor into the
operations. The upgrades led to savings of up to
15.6 GWh/d in energy usage, with the possibility
of an additional 21 GWh/d of identified energy
savings.
Stop wasting waste
The company also upgraded the
plant’s fuel system. Today, Richmond
co-processes non-recyclable waste and keeps
it out of local landfills. The company uses
the non-recyclable plastics that have long
posed a challenge to municipalities that do
not know where else to send it. At Richmond,
the facility recycles more than 100 000 tpy of
waste – the equivalent of about 8300 loaded
rubbish bin vans – making Lafarge Canada
one of the region’s largest waste management
organisations. The low carbon fuel upgrades
mean the plant has replaced up to 60% of its
traditional fossil fuels with lower carbon fuels.
Now that the system accepts these alternative
fuels, discussions have been opened up with
a local municipality to co-process biosolids
i.e. wastewater treatment solids dried to <10%
moisture. Lafarge Canada’s engineers have
been working with the local governments
to adjust the plant’s system to use this fuel,
protect local waterways, and collaborate with
stakeholders.
As well as co-processing fuels, the kilns at the
Richmond plant are capable of recovering mineral
wastes and industrial by-products by substituting
for quarried raw materials such as sand, shale,
and limestone. Lafarge also has a collaboration
with Metro Vancouver, whereby close to
10 000 tpy of drinking water treatment residuals
are diverted to the cement plant to be used as a
substitute for virgin shale from natural sources.
All components of the recovered materials are
integrated into the final cement product.
“We’re serious about changing the way
our industry works,” notes Jonathan Moser,
Head of Environment and Public Affairs at
Lafarge Canada. “We want to make Richmond
into the most carbon-efficient plant in North
America, and lead by example for our other
plants across LafargeHolcim.”
World Cement North America 2020
 SILO/BIN
CLEANING
ROOF COATING
VACUUM TRUCK
SERVICE
AIR PAD MAINTENANCE

www.usasilos.com
(740) 749-3328

CONSTRUCTION
INSPECTION
REPAIR
www.mariettasilos.com
(740) 373-2822

Lafarge Canada’s Richmond Cement Plant,
located in British Columbia, Canada.
Walking the walk
In late 2019 Lafarge began to tackle
one of cement production’s biggest
challenges: CO2 emissions. Finding an answer
to reduce CO2 emissions from what is one of
the planet’s most carbon-intensive processes
has been a challenge for the cement industry for
many years.
In 2019, the company undertook a unique
pilot project, called Project CO2MENT, aimed
at capturing CO2 emissions from the plant’s
production line.
Rene Thibault, the Head of North America at
LafargeHolcim, believes this is a transformative
technology. As of 2020, Lafarge is testing the
viability of a unique filter designed to capture
flue gases and convert them to usable CO2.
The system purifies the cement flue gas by
trapping its contaminants to enable an efficient
and durable CO2 capture process. Phase III of
Project CO2MENT – a demonstration of CO2
utilisation solutions – will begin later in 2020.
What happens to the CO2 after capture?
“That’s the fun part,” said Moser. “Reinjecting
the CO2 into fly ash that is in turn, added to
concrete during mixing actually increases the
concrete’s compressive strength.” This translates
to stronger concrete, and longer lasting built
environments, as well as reduced GHG
emissions.
Beyond that, newly developed CO2 utilisation
technologies, like EOR (enhanced oil recovery),
polymers, and fertilizers, mean that reusing
CO2 in a number of applications is a very real
possibility.
Lafarge Canada considers initiatives like
the upgrades at Richmond cement plant as
an opportunity to generate economic value
by identifying problems that intersect with
their business. “If we can redesign products
or processes that meet environmental
standards, and in doing so, offer new business
20
opportunities, the benefits are wide reaching for
all our stakeholders,” pointed out Kohl.
Changes to the construction value
chain
The Richmond cement plant’s product is
90% GUL (General Use Limestone), which
reduces the CO2 emissions during manufacture.
Many North American cement facilities have the
capacity to produce GUL.
Thanks to these upgrades and changes to the
manufacturing process, GUL cement produced
at the Richmond cement plant has a lower
carbon footprint than the Canadian average
– showing a 13% reduction instead of the typical
10%. Recently, Lafarge Canada issued its own
Environmental Product Declaration, providing
independently verified evidence of its efforts.
“The fact that Richmond’s cement is an
independently verified reduced carbon product
demonstrates our commitment to environmental
stewardship. We know that the design
community is seeking opportunities to reduce
global warming potential, and our customers
are working to provide their own sustainable
construction materials,” said Matt Dalkie,
Technical Services Engineer at Lafarge.
Municipalities in Canada have begun allowing
the use of GUL cement in their construction
specifications, paving the way for a new built
environment. With the same performance and
testing results as typical GU cement, the use of
GUL is hoped to become more commonplace in
the evolving construction industry. “Using GUL
in concrete has zero impact on performance, but
a huge impact on the environment,” said Dalkie.
“We need municipalities to understand that they
can protect our environment without sacrificing
the safety and integrity of their projects.” The
company is working to increase awareness
of GUL, and stimulate change in municipal
specifications. “The more that cities and
governments allow us to use this product, the
more we can reduce the emissions associated
with constructing and maintaining the buildings
and infrastructure that we all need.”
As a sustainable business, Lafarge is
implementing models that create value for all
their stakeholders. “We recognise that change is
essential,” says Kohl. “The future is now.”
About the author
Jill Truscott manages communications in
Western Canada at Lafarge Canada, a member of
LafargeHolcim. She spearheads the organisation’s
storytelling in sustainable construction and building
materials. Jill views sharing Lafarge Canada’s
sustainability initiatives as an opportunity
for dialogue and collaboration with peers,
stakeholders, clients, and communities.
World Cement North America 2020
IF SILO
WALLS COULD
TALK
Nathaniel Miller, Mole•Master
Services Corporation, outlines
how to effectively conduct
cement silo inspections.

A s cement silos across North America age,

their proper inspection is vital to help
minimise accidents and fatalities. Cement
silos present unique challenges that require
an industry-specific approach to ensure that
problem areas are discovered and addressed
before they present unnecessary human hazards
or threaten production interruption.

An engineer conducts a sounding test to

determine the condition of a silo’s exterior walls. 21
Cement remains a key building material in both
industrial and commercial sectors throughout
the industrialised world; keeping this vital
resource moving is crucial on a macro- and
microeconomic scale. Mole•Master Services
Corporation of Marietta, Ohio, brings over
three decades of silo and bin inspection
experience in 35 countries to cement silo
inspection projects all over the world.
Revealing their secrets, some hidden by more
than a half-century of build-up and debris,
requires knowing what to look and listen for.
When to inspect
Generally, silo and bin inspections are driven
by preventative maintenance scheduling,
a specific problem having arisen, or the
purchase or repurposing of an existing silo,
the past usage of which is unknown. While no
two silo inspection or cleanout projects are
identical, commonalities do exist that can help
reveal specific tendencies and weaknesses.
Regardless of the reason for a silo inspection,
Using a three-pound hammer, a suspended engineer
completes a sounding test to reveal possible damage or
deterioration.
22
safety is always the absolute first and highest
priority and should guide every aspect of the
inspection process.
Stringent safety practices meet or exceed
MSHA and OSHA requirements and include
any necessary personal protective equipment,
air monitoring and testing, lockout-tagout
implementation, equipment rigging,
harnessing, and any other measure necessary
to meet the company’s safety standards.
While safety standards and regulations vary
widely around the world, the company takes
a ‘highest common denominator’ approach to
safety. The highest standards, those meeting
or exceeding MSHA and OSHA requirements,
are implemented for every inspection project.
An instance that occurred in Pennsylvania in
2015 illustrates how deceptive the appearance
of a seemingly sound silo can be; a worker in
a control room was killed when an adjoining
cement silo suffered catastrophic failure,
collapsed, and buried him beneath the rubble.
Casual observation is grossly inadequate in
assessing the condition of a silo. The
absence of professional inspections
results in injuries and deaths that are
entirely preventable.
Preventative inspections have
several key advantages, including
identifying potential problems before
they become crises. Inspections at
regular intervals also help minimise
production interruptions and downtime
while making supply chain management
easier. Predetermined silo maintenance
schedules typically occur annually, every
three years, or every five years.
Silo inspections that are necessitated
by structural or material flow problems
are often more complex than scheduled
inspections. A silo that is compromised
by existing damage that has gone
unchecked presents increased risks and
hazards, and typically requires a more
time-intensive inspection and longer
downtime.
Silos that have been repurposed
present unique challenges depending
on the materials being stored and
the original purpose for which the
structure was designed. For example,
repurposing a silo for cement that was
originally intended for coal can cause
accelerated wear and damage in areas
where high levels of material movement
occur
A silo’s symptoms
An important component of
understanding the need for silo
World Cement North America 2020
inspections is realising that silos are not static.
Constant fluctuations in internal pressures,
varying temperatures, and other variables
cause movement of structural components
such as roof expansion joints. Although
some movement is necessary to prevent
cracking and structural failure, over time
even normal movement can cause excessive
wear and damage. These areas of wear
commonly display patterns of spalling, which,
if superficial, are not cause for concern.
However, when layers of concrete have
detached from rebar or material separation
has occurred, further investigation is
imperative.
While silos can appear to be indestructible,
they are actually susceptible to degradation
caused by weather, usage, and simply the
passage of time. Ageing silos often present
their own unique set of challenges in terms
of inspection, one of which being the
frequent absence of the original structural
specifications. A baseline is more difficult to
determine for wall or steel thicknesses if these
specifications are not available in blueprints or
other historical documents. In these instances,
specifications and tolerances can be
estimated based on understanding the norms
of past, similar silo inspections. An inspection
can also indicate whether a silo is operating at
a greater capacity than it was designed for.
Behind the concrete curtain
Mole•Master adheres to a series of steps
that are designed to help maximise safety,
efficiency, and effectiveness for each
inspection. These steps may vary based on
numerous factors, including the age and
condition of the silo, its architecture and
design, and the material being stored.
Exhaustive planning is a crucial component
of every silo inspection. Prior to the start of
each inspection project, the scope is clearly
defined and communicated to all parties.
The first step of the inspection process
begins with a structural engineer completing
thorough field observations. A visual
inspection of the silo’s exterior is conducted
by the engineer using binoculars to identify
potential problems, such as spalling, cracking,
bulging, or material leakage that could indicate
one or more critical issues. A 50-year old,
300 ft cement silo can hide a lot of problems
that are not obvious to a casual observer who
does not know what to look for – experience
is key.
The exterior inspection continues with the
sounding process. An engineer, using a 3 lb
sounding hammer, tests predetermined areas
of the wall at multiple locations. Testing at
North America 2020 World Cement
every 10 ft is a common inspection parameter.
Audible feedback indicates the condition of
the area being examined. In very simple terms,
a resulting ‘pinging’ sound indicates a solid,
healthy wall, while a ‘thud’ or ‘thunk’ likely
means material separation or delamination
may have occurred. When these issues
are suspected, further testing is required,
including additional hammering in the relevant
area at closer intervals. Drilling for a core
sample of the silo wall may also be necessary.
Following completion of the exterior phase of
the inspection, the interior inspection begins.
Because cement is susceptible to moisture
and subsequent hardening along silo walls,
initial interior evaluations often reveal the
need for a cleaning prior to the inspection. If
surface areas are hidden by such material, its
removal may be necessary for a more accurate
assessment of the wall beneath. When
material removal is required, Mole•Master may
utilise the proprietary Big Mole system, the
Junior 360, or the Arch Master portable auger
system to eat away at the material safely and
quickly. Interior walls are examined for the
same signs of visible distress as those of the
exterior, including spalling, delamination and
separation.
Inspection of the silo roof includes
examination of roof beams and the pockets
in which they rest. Areas where different
structural materials meet, such as concrete
and steel or wood, can be especially
susceptible to wear, damage, and even
collapse. The cone, transition, and any added
structures such as elevators and stairs are
also inspected. Areas that exhibit deterioration
are photographed, documented, and
evaluated.
Conclusion
A silo inspection concludes with a detailed
report summarising all observations and
recommendations on how best to address
actionable items. While some inspections
help avert costlier crises, others can provide
unexpected pathways to improved productivity
and processing efficiencies. Whether based
on immediate need or as part of an overall
maintenance regimen, silo inspections are
a necessary investment that often pay off in
safety, efficiency, and a longer silo life.
About the author
Nathaniel Miller is a Project Manager and
Operations Coordinator for Mole•Master
Services Corp., Marietta, Ohio, USA. He
specialises in the planning and execution of silo
cleanout projects throughout North America
and beyond.
23
 Dennis Blauser, Marietta Silos, outlines how silo cleaning
can limit downtime, prevent product buildup and help
retain proper product flow and quality of materials.

24
BECOMING
SILO
SAVVY
R
egardless of construction
material or design, all silos
must be cleaned to retain
proper product flow and quality
of stored materials. The frequency of
cleaning needed, however, can vary widely
depending on the material stored, how
often silos are emptied, and how frequently
the silo is used. Regular silo cleaning
maximises storage capacities by eliminating
product buildup. It also helps ensure
product quality by preventing contamination
of stored cement with hardened product
buildup.
Limiting downtime
Preventing Product Buildup
For cement storage silos, regular emptying
should already be part of preventive
maintenance to avoid compaction. Silos
that store cement, fly-ash, and lime are
highly susceptible to compaction which
can reduce material flow and, therefore,
slow production. To solve compaction,
many facilities aerate silos. When facilities
use aeration to reduce compaction, silos
are more likely to experience issues with
hydration. Overventilation can introduce
moisture into the silo. When the humidity
in the air mixes with stored materials,
it causes it to solidify within the silo.
Hydration caused by over aeration can lead
to product buildup, material flow issues,
and blockages. It can also cause stored
materials to expand, causing added internal
pressure which increases the chance of
wall failure. Hydration is a common issue
with lime and cement storage silos.
Regular emptying helps prevent
compaction issues and can also help
reduce buildup issues when compared
to silos that are kept regularly topped off,
and where cleaning may be less frequent.
Because of the number of variables that
can create product buildup, frequent
emptying alone cannot guarantee the
elimination of product buildup. Regular silo
inspection and cleaning is the only way to
prevent issues caused by product buildup.
25
Scheduling silo cleaning
Building routine silo cleaning into planned downtime
or slow season is one of the best ways to ensure
the continued performance of your silo. Scheduling
cleaning and inspection during programmed
emptying times saves money by eliminating additional
downtime, especially unplanned downtime during
busy months. If it is known that a silo will be emptied,
maintenance and repair of air pads on the bottom
of the silo can also be conducted. Scheduling this
in advance can also lower costs by eliminating
emergency or rush fees.
Regular maintenance, including cleaning,
inspection, and repair, keeps a silo efficient and limits
potential liabilities. Proper care of a silo improves
the usable life and can minimise big-ticket repair and
cleaning costs. Silos that are emptied regularly and
are refilled have fewer buildup issues than silos that
are kept topped off; every silo benefits from regular
cleaning. While there is no one-size-fits-all silo
cleaning schedule, if slow product output is a regular
problem, it may be necessary to increase the number
of annual cleans to ensure proper material flow. If
product quality and production time are both good,
annual cleanings are usually efficient for most silos.
Compacted material on the sides of a silo not
only reduces free flow of the stored product,
but also creates a significant safety hazard
that can damage the silo or personnel. Regular
cleaning can minimise this problem.
26
Reducing cleaning costs
While it may be tempting to break up product
buildup using internal employees during regular silo
emptying, high numbers of incident reports each
year highlight the dangers of using untrained labour
to clean silos. Rather than compromising on safety,
looking for the most efficient silo cleaning company
can help save money by getting the job done more
quickly. Professional silo cleaners also know how
to protect silo cones, walls, and other components
during cleaning to ensure the continued structural
integrity of the silo.
Cleaning equipment
The power and efficiency of the equipment used
by a silo cleaning company are the most significant
factors to consider when looking to reduce overall
costs. Tons per hour removal of material buildup
directly impacts the length of time on site. Therefore,
the faster and more efficiently a silo is cleaned, the
higher the return on investment.
Silo cleaning companies employ a variety of
cleaning methods. Particularly in the cement industry,
companies often dry clean silos using one of three
remote systems. Conventional systems, like whip
machines, have been around for a very long time.
The older technology of traditional methods tends to
be slower. While compressed air and hose systems
provide slightly more power and are less expensive
than whip systems, they still result in a slower
cleaning process. Advanced silo cleaning technology
seen in a compressed air and hose system that
combines with an innovative cleaning head, as seen
in ‘The Boss’ can deliver twice as much material
removal when compared to conventional silo
cleaning methods.
Selecting a cleaning company
Unfortunately, many silo cleaning companies still use
conventional methods of cleaning which increases
the number of days on site, resulting in higher
cleaning costs and more extended downtime. Faster
cleaning methods like ‘The Boss’, allow silo cleaning
companies to complete a job at the same price per
day, saving the customer money and downtime by
completing the job quickly. What is more, project
estimates for silo cleaning are often inaccurate and
result in higher costs than the quoted estimate. Make
sure to find a company that includes all associated
fees in their quote.
Silo cleaning is a skilled service. Companies with a
high level of experience are more likely to understand
the unique properties of silos and can recommend the
best programme for silo maintenance. Professional
silo cleaning companies use essential personal
protective equipment (PPE) when appropriate, train
employees on safety procedures, and go above and
beyond to ensure safe conditions as silo cleaning can
be dangerous. A company with a history of safety can
not only protect employees; enhanced safety practices
World Cement North America 2020
can help prevent liabilities while on the job site.
Overall, when selecting a company, it is important
to review their cleaning method to choose the fastest
and most efficient technology available. Proper
cleaning methodology is one of the best ways to
improve return on investment as it directly affects
production, storage capacity, and uptime.
Accurate estimates
Material buildup can range in consistency from
rock hard, pickaxe hard, or shovel hard, to lightly
clumped together like a snowball. For even the most
highly trained silo cleaning professionals, judging
the consistency of unseen material buildup can
make estimates highly subjective. Until a project is
udnerway, there is no way of knowing the texture of
the accumulation.
Selecting the best bid for the project means going
beyond just the price. Though there can always
be variables, a detailed, comprehensive proposal
that includes ‘per diem’ expenses goes a long way
to show an accurate quote. The overall project
price does not always indicate a clear picture of
deliverables or an overall cost of the silo cleaning
project. To avoid surprises at the end of a cleaning
project, it is essential to understand the proposal;
look for an itemised breakdown of expected
expenses, and anticipate contingencies.
Service contractors are paid by the number
of days on the job site. When looking to reduce
A thorough silo inspection requires teamwork
and confined space training for silo technicians
who descend into the silo interior to check the
structure from the inside-out.
28
downtime, selecting a full-service company for
inspection, construction, repair, cleaning, and coating
can help ensure the highest level of expertise without
the fear of an extended project length. Full-service
companies that do not charge solely on the number
of days on site provide the most significant value.
Range of experience
Full-service companies have experience with the
entire life cycle of silos. Because of their full capability
of inspection, construction, repair, and cleaning,
full-service companies have a broad knowledge
of silos. They can make recommendations on
sight, perform scheduled maintenance, and better
understand the cause and effect of their actions. A
full-service company can fix a silo problem, rather than
merely report that one exists.
While a silo inspection is different than a scheduled
cleaning project, technicians with a wide range
of experience can highlight concerns that would
warrant a professional inspection and repair. In
choosing a full-service company, you are already
aligned with someone who can correct any issues
uncovered during a cleaning, quickly and conveniently.
Though good silo cleaning companies can make
a recommendation for an inspection and repair
company, this requires additional information and
quotes which can drastically lengthen downtime.
Working with one company takes the pressure off
by reducing the amount of back and forth during the
project bid. It gives the company direct access to the
issue so they can generate the most accurate solution,
reduce downtime, and deliver a cost-effective remedy.
Conclusions
No matter the industry, silo cleaning must be a
regular part of silo maintenance. Cleaning services
are inevitable, whether or not a set schedule is being
followed. Proactive silo maintenance in the form of
scheduled cleaning during planned downtime is the
first step in reducing downtime and lowering costs.
The key to saving money with silo cleaning is to
find a contractor that offers total pricing transparency
up front and who combines this with equipment
that moves built-up material more quickly to reduce
the overall amount of time on site. Regardless of
the level of buildup and the buildup consistency,
the combination means of accurate quoting and
equipment power means less time is required on site,
thus lowering overall cleaning costs and downtime.
About the author
Dennis Blauser is CEO of Marietta Silos, Inc., a
leader in concrete silo construction. His industry
contributions include Member, ACI 313 Silo
Design Committee; Past Board Chairman, Precast
Concrete Institute, Central Region; Past Member,
PC-21 Management Change Initiative; Past
Member, Pre-stressed Concrete Institute, Erectors
Committee.
World Cement North America 2020
 FINDING
Carlos Lopéz Cuevas, W.L. Gore & Associates, Mexico,
considers how calculating TCO can help identify added value
as well as hidden costs.

C
ement plants are increasingly
looking at Total Cost of Ownership
(TCO) when they make purchasing
decisions. This is a useful tool that
accounts for both the initial and ongoing
costs of a product or service, as well as any
indirect costs that should be considered. 29
It could be compared to figuring out the total cost TCO can be a great way of identifying hidden
of a US$2000 suit: wear it once for a wedding and costs. If a product comes cheap but the wear
it is an expensive suit; wear it every week for four parts are expensive, for example, or energy
years and the cost per wear is just under US$10 consumption starts out reasonably stable but
– not bad. Add dry cleaning and the TCO goes quickly increases, running the TCO sums helps to
up. What about the cost of getting to and from steer customers away from what could turn out to
the dry cleaners? These are the kinds of indirect be a costly decision.
costs that should be considered in order to really TCO can also help discover added value, which
understand the lifetime cost of a product. is what this article will discuss. First, a quick word
about data.


Data: the keystone of

 
calculating TCO

Having a robust system in
place to collect and analyse

data is a great benefit to

calculating TCO. Imagine, for
example, putting out a tender

for new filter bags when five

years of operational data
are on hand: 43 800 rows
 (1 row = 1 hr) of parameters
     
     
     
  




            like Kiln Production Rate,
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Filter Pressure Drop Flange

to Flange, Filter Fan Power,
Figure 1. Cement plant #1 - AFR kg/clinker ton.
   Filter Fan Speed, Kiln ID

         











        Fan Power, Raw Mill Status,
 
Dust Emissions, Pressure
 
Drop by compartment,
 and Temperature. That is
 
394 200 data points to help
 
 
improve understanding of
   
   


   
 

 
 
 
 
    
    
 
the challenges – and the
  
 
 
 
  

  
 
 
   

 
 
 

 
 

   
positives – in the process that
          
 
 
   
 
 
will have an impact on the
     


         
 
TCO of a new type of filter
     
      
     
 
 
   
 
 
 
     
   
   
 
 
bags. Vendors can then use
           
     
   
       
     
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
     
 
 
this information to estimate
         


     
 
the level of performance that


    can be expected from the filter

  bags and the likely impact
on the process. The more
Figure 2. Cement plant #2 – BH Inlet pressure (mbar). information they have, the

more accurate their forecast.


‘Hidden’ value
There is a saying: ‘Buy cheap,
 buy twice’. While it is certainly
not always true that a more

expensive product offers
better long-term value, initial

purchase price should not be

the deciding factor when it
comes to making decisions

about cement plant equipment.
Sometimes a bigger upfront
 cost can be justified by savings


 

 

 


in energy consumption,
maintenance and equipment
Figure 3. Cement plant #1 – Kiln feed t/hr. life, among other things.

30 World Cement North America 2020

 Gore’s LOW DRAG™ filter bags are not the
cheapest on the market. In fact, they are at the
higher end of the price range. However, because
of the special membrane technology that faces
the PTFE filter bags, they significantly reduce filter
drag, which creates operational benefits including
lower differential pressure (DP), longer bag life,
increased capacity and reduced fan energy
consumption. Any one of these benefits will reduce
baghouse operating costs and thus generate a
lower TCO. Furthermore, because there is flexibility
in how plants make use of these benefits, there is
the potential for customers to find ‘hidden’ value –
as the following three examples show.
Case studies
Cement plant #1
f Kiln Application
f 2856 filter bags
f 478 475 m3/hr
This customer opted for the LOW DRAG filter
bags because of the lower DP benefit. However,
when the plant was in peak season, it naturally
wanted to ramp up production in line with demand.
Thanks to the flexibility of the new filter bags, the
plant was able to increase clinker production by
5.1% without seeing a hit on filtration performance
as a result of the 20% increase in baghouse inlet
static pressure. Later, when demand fell, the plant
realised other benefits, including:
f 10.83% of power savings at the baghouse
main fan, compared with the same kiln feed
rate with previous bags.
f 16 mbar, the lowest DP recorded after 1 year of
operation.
f 87.71 kg/t, the highest rate of alternative fuels
used per ton of clinker.
In both situations, the value gained was not the
proposition that initially encouraged the customer to
purchase the bags – it was an associate benefit.
Cement plant #2
f Kiln Application
f 2688 filter bags
f 741 100 m3/hr
This customer was also interested in the
LOW DRAG bags for the lower DP. Once again,
however, productivity soon took priority over low
DP and the plant increased kiln production by
~6%. The filter bags were perfectly able to cope
with the increase in throughput, associated higher
temperatures and higher fan energy consumption.
Looking at the TCO impact of changing the
operating parameters, the plant could see that
the new filter bags would be able to facilitate
this increase in productivity without sacrificing
performance or bag life. The value of increased
productivity was not one that the plant had initially ‘hidden’ value in this project was the increase in
considered making use of, but it certainly made an production gained as a result of that stability.
impact on the TCO. Six years before they installed the new filter bags
here, this cement mill was retrofitted to increase
Cement plant #3 production from 88 tph to 98 tph. The modification
f Cement Mill Application consisted of removing some of the internal blades
f 1280 filter bags of the elements that worked as flow conductors. It
f 600 000 m3/hr was not possible to change cleaning parameters.
Having opted for LOW DRAG filter bags for The baghouse was working at the limits of its
this cement mill baghouse to increase stability capacity. The customer instead switched from a
and reduce the number of forced shutdowns, the different type of GORE® filter bags to the LOW
DRAG bags for the promised decrease in DP.
Unlike the kiln, which has just one job, the
four cement mills at this plant can produce three
different products: cpc30, cpc40 and mortar.
Naturally, this means that the cement mills work
under variable parameters; they are not producing
the three products at the same rate. The most
important benefit for Process Engineers at this
plant is maintaining a stable process, which was
achieved. Furthermore, despite the limits of the
baghouse, after 9 months of operations with the
new filter bags, analysis shows that the plant has
increased production by 3.06% compared to the
record of the previous GORE membrane filter bag.
Production has risen from 98 tph to 101 tph.

Bags with benefits

The three cement plants mentioned previously
all chose the LOW DRAG filter bags because of
the lower DP they could achieve. However, the
unexpected gains from increasing productivity in
the kiln and cement mill may have contributed more
to lowering the TCO than the lower DP. The new
bags did not just remove a cost – they added value
to the process. Their flexible nature allows the plant
to choose the benefit that best suits their shifting
Figure 4. Calculating TCO can reveal both priorities, enabling the baghouse to be a facilitator of
added value and hidden costs. productivity rather than a limitation on production.

CM LD
900,000

800,000 










 

















700,000

600,000

500,000




 













 



 
400,000

300,000

200,000

100,000

0
101
105
109
113
117
121
125
129
133
137
141
145
149
153
157
161
165
169
173
177
181
185
189
193
197
201
205
209
213
217
221
225
229
233
237
241
245
249
253
257
13
17
21
25
29
33
37
41
45
49
53
57
61
65
69
73
77
81
85
89
93
97
1
5
9

©2019 W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. 1

Figure 5. Kiln production tpd.

32 World Cement North America 2020

 God Things
COM
COME IN
Sma Packages
John Rennockl, Parker Hannifin, explains how a busy
cement terminal in the southern United States was able to
reduce dust emissions from its conveyor system.

A cement terminal on a busy river in

the southern United States was
experiencing dust emissions from
two belt conveyors (BC-1 and BC-2)
and transfer points on the shipping dock.
Belt conveyor BC-1 receives cement from a
barge unloader that travels the length of the
dock (Figure 1). The barge unloader discharges
onto belt BC-1 through a chute (Figure 2,
yellow arrow) that travels on top of the belt.

33
 To keep rain and wind out of belt conveyor
BC-1, a cover was installed on top of the belt. This
cover lifts off the belt so that the mobile chute can
pass underneath the cover. Although this cover
is reasonably tight, some smaller openings are
inevitable. On windy days, wind enters through these
openings and in the past, has pressurised the belt
and created dust emissions, especially in the area
Figure 1. Flow diagram. Shipping dock with two belt
conveyors (BC-1 and BC-1).
Figure 2. Loading chute on BC-1 (yellow arrow) and old
dust collector discharge duct (red arrow).
Figure 3. BC-2 available space for collector installation.
34
around the loading chute and at the discharge of the
belt BC-1.
The client contacted Parker Hannifin’s Industrial Air
Filtration Group, formerly BHA® and a review by one
of the system engineers found the following:
f The moving loading spout that discharges
onto the covered belt on the dock was
vented by an undersized dust collector.
Dust emissions were heavy in this area.
The material discharge duct (Figure 2, red
arrow) from the undersized dust collector
was at an insufficient angle and frequently
plugged.
f A dust collector at the discharge of
the covered belt conveyor BC-1 was
undersized and its hopper plugged
frequently. Dust emissions were common
in this area, especially around the loading
zone of the downstream conveyor belt
BC-2 (Figure 3).
f There were no large gaps in the enclosure
of the covered belt conveyor nor the
downstream belt conveyor. However, the
wind was getting into the enclosures,
pressurising the belt enclosures and
transfer points. Positive pressure inside
the belt enclosure was confirmed during
the inspection. All equipment, including
the dust collectors, were offline and wind
speed was an estimated 10 – 15 MPH.
When the inspection door at the belt
discharge was opened, air blew out of the
opening. Enclosures of transfer points that
handle dry and dusty materials need to
be kept under negative pressure to avoid
dust emissions.
f There were no baffles or curtains inside
the belt enclosures or near the loading
zones to impede wind-induced air
currents.
In summary, the dust collection systems
were not capable of preventing dust
emissions from the vented equipment. An
economical and technically sound solution
was found by analysing the following points:
f Required ventilation capacity
» Sufficient ventilation volume needs to
be extracted from the enclosures to
keep the material transfer points under
negative pressure, even under windy
conditions. The negative pressure
generates airflow into the enclosure and
prevents dust from escaping. This is
especially important in material transfer
areas where dust stays suspended.
The velocity of the air drawn into the
enclosure is called capture velocity. For
cement dust at ambient temperatures,
capture velocity is typically 1 m/s but it
could easily double if the material falls
World Cement North America 2020
 from greater heights, i.e. has higher
kinetic energy or if the transferred
material is hot.
» Openings in enclosures should always be
kept to a practical minimum. The smaller the
openings, the easier it is to maintain negative
pressure inside the enclosure. Where belt
conveyors enter and exit the enclosures,
flexible curtains can significantly reduce the
opening size. Smaller openings mean smaller
ventilation volume. By reducing opening
sizes one also reduces the additional volume
generated by wind entering the enclosures.
The additional ventilation volume created by
wind entering the enclosures needs to be
included in the design capacity of the dust
collection system.
f Space restrictions
» Space is often limited when new equipment
is installed in existing installations. In this
project, the space above the mobile loading
chute on belt conveyor (BC-1) and the
loading zone on belt conveyor (BC-2) had
limited space. Figure 3 shows the low
overhead clearance above belt conveyor
(BC-2) which required the installation of a
Parker DustHog® CFS, horizontal collector
(DC-3).
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f Ease of maintenance and accessibility
» New equipment needs to be accessible
for maintenance, preferably avoiding new
access platforms that could interfere
with the mobile ship unloader operation.
Ventilation ducts often accumulate dust
and this creates maintenance headaches,
especially if the ductwork is not accessible
for cleaning. Since the barge unloading
system is used seasonably, cement
would often remain in ventilation ducts for
several months and harden. Using bin vent
collectors instead of ducted ventilation
systems eliminated this problem.
f Making use of existing equipment
» To reduce cost, an existing dust collector
(DC-2) located above the discharge of belt
(BC-1) and venting it and the loading area
of conveyor (BC-2) was reused. However,
the collector and its cleaning system were
undersized for the required ventilation
volume. By converting this collector to a
bin vent and dedicating it to just one of the
two original ventilation points, the rotary
airlock and the constant plugging issues in
the hopper and ductwork were eliminated.
The airflow through the collector could now
be reduced as well and consequently, the
‡ www.cintasa.com
 cleaning system was able to clean the filter
bags. The modification involved the removal
of the hopper from the dust collector and the
installation of an oversized chute between
the discharge enclosure of belt conveyor
BC-1 and the dust collector. Since the
modified existing dust collector was now
no longer venting the loading area of belt
conveyor BC-2, a DustHog horizontal dust
collector from Parker Hannifin was installed
on top of the belt conveyor BC-2. The
horizontal dust collector is a low-profile bin
vent designed to fit into spaces with low
overhead clearances.
Figure 4. Parker DustHog CFS.
Figure 5. Customised new dust collector on top of BC-1
loading chute.
36
A customised solution
The solution to this environmental problem consisted
of increasing ventilation volumes by adding two
dust collectors, modifying one existing collector
and abandoning another. Baffles and curtains
were installed along the length of the belt conveyor
and in the loading areas to reduce the effects of
wind-induced currents inside the belt enclosure and
above the transported material. The structure that
houses the material transfer chute from BC-1 to
BC-2 was enclosed to prevent wind from entering
and distributing dust from the belts’ return idlers.
A ventilation capacity of 6800 Am3h was selected
for the loading spout collector DC-1 and the
combined ventilation volume for the modified
existing dust collector DC-2 and the horizontal
dust collector DC-3 was 17 000 Am3h. Because
of the above-discussed factors, the total
installed ventilation volume for this project was
23 600 Am3h. This is almost twice the volume
recommended in leading ventilation handbooks
for standard systems.
All three dust collectors are of the bin-vent style
and therefore do not have hoppers, airlocks or
ductwork which are subject to plugging. Space
limitations were addressed by using special
BHA PulsePleat® filter elements instead of filter
bags. This resulted in more compact yet reliable
dust collectors despite the increased ventilation
volumes.
The mobile loading chute from the ship
unloader that discharges onto belt conveyor
BC-1 received a custom-designed dust
collector that fits on top of the chute
enclosure. The rollers that guide the belt
cover were raised and now route the cover
over the new dust collector (Figure 5).
Belt conveyor BC-2 that receives material
from the discharge of belt conveyor BC-1
is dedusted with a Dusthog CFS horizontal
collector (Figure 4). The collector can be
accessed from ground level and no additional
platform is needed to change its pleated filter
elements.
Summary
The new and modified systems have been in
operation for two seasons and dust emissions
have been virtually eliminated making this
relatively small project a big success.
About the author
John Rennockl is Sr. Application Engineer at
Parker Hannifin’s Industrial Filtration Group.
Mr. Rennockl holds a BS of Physics and has
been working in various engineering and
management positions in the cement and
ventilation industry for the past 30 years. He
has written several technical articles and
supports clients in all of the Americas.
World Cement North America 2020
 The
advantages
of analytics
Seeq explains how
implementing advanced
analytics solutions can help
cement producers gain
insights into existing data
and improve operations.

C
ement producers must increase
profitability while adhering to quality
and environmental regulations. To
meet these goals, many producers
are looking for ways to create insights from the
time-series data stored in process historians
and other databases. Spreadsheets have been
used to accomplish this task for decades, but
advanced analytics software provides a better
solution as it is specifically designed to work
with process-oriented, time-series data.

37
 This article will discuss how one cement
producer transitioned from spreadsheets to
advanced analytics software, with a detailed look at
the results.
Spreadsheet shortcomings
Spreadsheet software was originally designed
for accounting and financial tasks but has
been used for many other tasks, with varying
degrees of effectiveness. As a general-purpose
tool, a spreadsheet can be used to accomplish
many tasks, given unlimited time and budgets.
Figure 1. Kiln stoppage time period was found by applying a
formula to the kiln feed data, with kiln motor power calculated
manually using interpolation.
Figure 2. Example advanced analytics application used to identify,
quantify, monitor, and model time-series process data.
Figure 3. Kiln stoppage root cause analysis.
38
Spreadsheet shortcomings are particularly
apparent when analysing significant amounts of
time-series data.
Most process historians provide the ability to
export data as a comma separated file and may
also include a customised spreadsheet exporter. In
either case, when subject matter experts (SMEs)
want to answer a few questions using historian
data, they soon find themselves looking at an array
of timestamps and values via a standard time-
series data spreadsheet view.
For example, many cement producers want to
examine kiln motor power just
before the feed rate drops, a
seemingly simple task, which may
however prove to be difficult using
a spreadsheet. As with many
data analytic problems, the goal
is to determine how a signal is
behaving during a time period of
interest.
There are timestamps at
different frequencies for each
signal, and the SME must extract
the times of interest on one signal
first. The SME uses a formula
to create an entry in a different
column when the kiln feed drops
below a predetermined value. A
value of less than 100 constitutes
a ‘drop’ in this example. The result
is shown in Figure 1.
In this case, to find the motor
power just before the reduction
in feed rate, the SME had to
determine the feed rate timestamp
and cross reference it to the
motor power timestamp. The
signal was then reconstructed
based upon the sample frequency
and interpolation of the feed rate.
With spreadsheets, this seemingly
simple task was taking hours for
data cleansing and manipulation
before any insights.
An advanced analytics
application designed specifically
for use with process time-series
data provides a better solution,
as shown in Figure 2. The data
analysis problem remains the
same as the spreadsheet example,
but the solution is arrived at with
significantly less effort and much
more quickly, in minutes rather
than hours. The interpolation
required to plot the lines between
the samples is done automatically
with no manual data manipulation
needed.
World Cement North America 2020
 The SME receives clear visual feedback and can
analyse data at close to the speed of thought, as
shown in the following example.
Data connectors
Most cement producers have data stored in
numerous locations including process historians,
laboratory information systems, and various
relational databases. Advanced analytics
applications can connect to these data sources to
provide a centralised view.
For this producer, a data connector was used to
extract data to the advanced analytics application,
with no changes made to the data sources.
Relevant signals were indexed in a matter of
minutes, saving the cement producer weeks of
IT time compared with a traditional approach of
extracting, transforming, and loading data.
After the data was indexed and centralised
with known tags, tools were available to analyse
stoppages, create production reports, predict
quality, and improve reliability.
Analysing stoppages
In this example, the SME added the kiln feed and
motor power signals to the advanced analytics
display, and then determined the times when
the kiln feed fell below 100 tph. These time
periods are shown as horizontal dashes at
the top of the picture in Figure 3. The SME
then examined the time periods just before
the outages to see if there was a leading
indicator.
Motor power was consistent and therefore
not likely the source of the problem. Looking
at the reason codes in the downtime
database, the SME determined that operators
were manually stopping kiln feed due to a
problem with auxiliary equipment.
This example shows how the SME was able
to quickly find the root cause. The solution
seems simple, but multiple variables were at
play, complicating analysis. Kiln stoppages
could have been caused by many issues, so
each incident required an SME to investigate
and explain the cause.
Using advanced analytics, the SME
identified the root cause of kiln outage and
then documented the reason with text and
visualisations in a journal report, shown in
Figure 3.
performing these calculations using spreadsheets
increased the risk of errors.
The producer turned to advanced analytics
software to standardise and automate clinker
production reports (Figure 4), both of which
are critical to understanding plant performance,
particularly for comparing calculated yield with
measured totals.
Advanced analytics was used to calculate
the tons of clinker produced per 12-hour shift,
excluding times when the kiln was down.
Production metrics were calculated based upon
the values within these time periods, refreshed
daily with the most recent data, and then shared.
This enabled collaboration in a much simpler
manner than e-mailing spreadsheets and soliciting
comments. Production planning personnel now
review the reports daily and can quickly identify
issues.
Predicting quality
Another requirement was predicting the percent of
free lime in the clinker, a critical quality metric, with
a target of 1 to 2%. Too low resulted in excess use
of raw materials due to over burning, and too high
indicated under-burning and clinker quality beyond
American Society for Testing and Materials limits.
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Creating production reports

Problems arise when using spreadsheets
to create reports. For clinker production
reports, the cement producer had to format a
spreadsheet to filter out poor-quality clinker and
times when the plant was not in production.
Different types of clinker required different
production calculations, and the complexity of
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E-mail: sales@sweetmfg.com
Telephone: +1 937-325-1511
 Operators were taking a clinker sample from a
port near the cooler and sending it to a lab for a
free lime titration test, and it took about an hour for
results to appear in the quality management system.
The time delay made it difficult for operators to
adjust the burn rate and corresponding free lime
readings, with alternative fuel sources adding
complexity.
Using advanced analytics, the process
engineering team saw how a known correlation
between nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions and free
lime (Figure 5) could be used to derive the amount
of burning in the kiln. Lower NOx correlated to
higher free lime, and higher NOx correlated to lower
free lime, so an SME was able to create a trendline
to fit the data and create a regression model.
NOx is measured frequently with an on-line
sensor, and these measurements were used to
model the free lime in near-real time. An SME used
the advanced analytics application to create a ‘soft
sensor,’ or model, of the percentage of free lime
Figure 4. Day and night shift clinker production KPIs were
created to quickly identify shifts where production did not meet
expectations.
Figure 5. This free lime model based on NOx was quickly created
used advanced analytics software.
Figure 6. Advanced analytics software was used to create this
maintenance forecast model.
40
based upon the NOx signal. The result is shown
in Figure 5 in the blue line at the top of the chart,
overlaid with the actual free lime readings from the
lab shown in green.
This model provided operators with a
near-real-time reading of free lime. The burn rate
was then adjusted to reduce waste while still
maintaining good quality. The advanced analytics
application also provided the ability to automatically
update the model with additional data to get more
accurate predictions. The more the system was
used, the smarter it became.
With this approach, the plant was able to save
money due to lower energy costs, reduced material
waste, and improved quality.
Improving reliability
The plant’s mechanical reliability group needed to
predict when maintenance would be required on
induced draft (ID) fans, used to create a vacuum
within the kiln to convey process air. Dust scales
build up on ID fans, eventually
causing severe vibrations.
Unplanned downtime was extremely
costly, but so was excessive
maintenance.
An SME within the group used an
advanced analytics application to
create a forecasting model of the ID
fan vibration signal, using elapsed
time as the input, with the results
shown in Figure 6. The forecast was
used to predict when vibration would
exceed a critical limit.
The prediction algorithm integrated
new data as it became available,
and then modified the predicted
maintenance window accordingly.
The SME was able to overlay a
recent operating cycle with past
operating cycles to troubleshoot
previous high-vibration events and
inform the forecast model.
The maintenance team is now
directed to clean dust scale buildup
on the fan blades before the
vibration limit is exceeded, based on
actual operating conditions rather
than on a calendar, thus eliminating
unnecessary work while avoiding
unplanned downtime.
This cement producer used
advanced analytics in a number
of ways to improve operations by
gaining insights to existing data.
As market trends evolve with the
use of advanced analytics, more
innovations are in store, which
bodes well for the cement industry in
the future.
World Cement North America 2020
 Progress
in Providence
Rebecca Long Pyper,
Dome Technology, explains how
McInnis Cement upgraded its
Providence, Rhode Island, facility
for more storage, lower operating
costs and aggressive throughput.
I
n recent years McInnis Cement has
been busy establishing itself as a
serious player in the industry. As the
newest entrant in the North American
cement market, the company’s plant in
Port-Daniel–Gascons, Canada, is the
first new plant to serve eastern Canada,
the US eastern seaboard and the
Great Lakes region in more than 50 years.
41
McInnis’s objective is to supply customers with
superior-quality products consistently produced
and reliably distributed, based on sustainable
development principles.
As part of their effort to grow business,
McInnis built a Providence, Rhode Island,
facility, and after two years in operation, the
company was ready for an upgrade.
Dome Technology executed a prime contract directly
with McInnis for the dome storage, structural steel, and
mechanical work for pneumatic transport and reclaim of
the stored cement material.
42
“The initial 30 000 t flat storage warehouse
has been very functional, and it will continue
to be used in conjunction with the new
storage dome. However, the dome storage
was elected for the expansion because the
warehouse operations had various limitations.
While we were reclaiming from that, we couldn’t
offload a ship,” said Project Director, Dominic
Demers, adding that unloading would
often pause for 10 to 12 hrs a day during
warehouse reclaim. “For phase two, we
wanted to combine operational flexibility
and maximum utilisation of our growing
marine fleet.”
Two challenges had to be addressed
straightaway with this new project:
The site’s soil was not ideal, and a
110 ft height limitation influenced
how the new infrastructure could be
designed. The height restriction in
particular “made it uneconomical for
us to build silos, and we wanted to
keep the operating cost low,” said
Company Director of communications,
Maryse Tremblay. “A dome was the
natural choice for us.”
Dome Technology completed
construction on the project in 2019. The
DomeSilo stands 134 ft in diameter with
a storage capacity of 40 000 metric t,
and McInnis will continue utilising its
flat storage. To maximise the terminal’s
abilities, McInnis selected a barge
unloader rated at 800 metric tph.
Dome Technology executed a prime
contract directly with McInnis for the
dome storage, structural steel, and
mechanical work for pneumatic transport
and reclaim of the stored cement
material. More specifically, that work
required installing a truck lane, steel
storage silo, DomeSilo, structural-steel
convey piping support, stair platform
with connecting structural-steel bridge
to the dome apex and a reclaim tunnel.
The team also installed an FLSmidth
Ful-Floor reclaim system.
In addition, piping on the loading
side needed to be routed up and over
the existing warehouse; it was then
anchored to a structural stair tower as it
climbed to the dome apex. Load bearing
on the warehouse was not an option,
so a truss and structural steel carry the
weight.
The system’s ability to keep
product flowing also contributed to
low operational costs. A dome with
automatic reclaim allows McInnis to
offload a ship while simultaneously
World Cement North America 2020
reclaiming, thus eliminating the need to
pay demurrage costs.

Benefits
A DomeSilo has proven to be an
economical and reliable solution for
long-term storage. The structure is
taller than a hemispherical dome, but
its advantage is its storage capacity
on sites with restricted space. A dome
allows for more storage than a silo
with a comparable footprint. Because
the hemispherical geometry of a dome
provides strength at all points of the
structure, the entire interior can be used
to contain product, right up to the apex.
A dome differs from steel tanks and
silos in key ways, including upfront
and long-term cost savings. A dome
has a longer life cycle than a steel
tank, and compared to a silo of similar
dimensions, a single dome stores
more product. Every dome model is
adaptable, and integrating a variety of
reclaim systems is always an option.

Foundation alternatives
Low-quality soil, like that often found in
port areas, requires careful selection
of the foundation system – whatever
is chosen needs to compensate for Selecting a massive storage structure is just one part of
what is lacking in the ground. For the the puzzle when it comes to bulk storage.
Rhode Island project, that meant a
rigid-element foundation supporting a concrete
pile cap, a solution that costs less than traditional
reinforced concrete piles.
In general, the DomeSilo’s superior strength
provides a high tolerance for differential
settlement. One reason for this strength is that
the reinforced-concrete dome roof and vertical
wall are monolithic. There are no joints or beams
forming the roof, so forces from differential
settlement are often easily tolerated. This allows
for an efficient overall foundation system.
Weathering the elements
In an industry where traditional concrete and
steel silos have a history of multiple failures,
domes have withstood earthquakes, hurricanes
and the test of time with a remarkable success
rate. In fact, Dome Technology utilises its
dome model to build Federal Emergency
Management Agency-rated storm shelters
throughout Tornado Alley in the US and on
hurricane-susceptible coastlines.
The dome’s continuous single-ply PVC
waterproofing membrane combats daily exposure
to moisture and ensures complete waterproof
protection for the reinforced concrete shell
and cement stored within. A mould-resistant
UV-protective resin coats both sides of the
membrane.
Beyond the dome: Structural-steel
capabilities
Selecting a massive storage structure is just
one part of the puzzle when it comes to bulk
storage. Also to be determined: How product will
get into and out of the building and what kind of
accessibility to the structure needs. This was a
critical part of the McInnis project.
This is why Dome Technology offers
structural-steel systems as part of its services.
With a fabrication shop on the same campus as
corporate construction headquarters, engineers
and construction managers are actual colleagues
with the fabricators who build features like
stair towers, work towers, conveyor supports,
handrails and walkways. The customer benefits
from a seamless facility from top to bottom.
McInnis filled the dome for the first time in
January 2020. Because of Dome Technology’s
experience with bulk storage, reclaim, and
structural steel, the final product should function
in a seamless way, engineered and built with
all the components and their characteristics in
mind.

North America 2020 World Cement 43

44
FINDING A
USE FOR
FLY ASH
Many industries rely
heavily on one another for
certain raw materials and
by-products. Kevin R. Peterson,
Vortex Global, explains how
this is especially apparent in
West Virginia’s coal-fired energy,
cement and oil/gas industries.

W
est Virginia produces about
10% of US coal. When coal is
burned to produce electricity, a
by-product – coal ash – is created.
Coal ash consists of fly ash and bottom
ash. Fly ash is made up of the lightweight
particles captured by the power plant’s
electrostatic precipitators and baghouses,
making fly ash a very fine powder. Bottom
ash is collected at the bottom of boilers and
is larger and coarser.
Coal-fired energy plants previously
managed their coal ash by mixing the fly
ash with bottom ash before conveying it
through a pug mill mixer, where the mixture
was blended with a small amount of water to
control dust. The mixture was then disposed
of at the landfill.
By volume, fly ash is the second-largest
waste material in the US, behind only
household trash. To better manage their
fly ash, rather than disposing of the coal
by-product as waste, many coal-fired energy
plants upcycle it by supplying it to the
cement industry.

45

Vortex Titan Pressure Valve on top of pressure pot.
Vortex Titan Pressure Valves handling cement at a plant
facility.
Inlet to air purge the body cavity.
46
Today, approximately 43% of the fly ash
generated at US coal-fired energy plants
is upcycled by the cement industry as a
pozzolan. Pozzolans are siliceous and/or
aluminous materials which, in a finely
divided form and in the presence of water,
react with calcium hydroxide at ordinary
temperatures to produce cementitious
compounds.
This clever use of by-products has many
benefits, including:
f Improved workability in plastic
concrete.
f Added strength and durability in
hardened concrete.
f An additional revenue stream for
coal-fired energy plants.
f A cost reduction for cement
processors. When fly ash is added to
cement blends, the amount of Portland
cement used can be reduced. This
also allows suppliers to offer cement
at lower costs with similar or improved
profit margins.
f Reduction in waste at the landfill,
therefore improving the environment.
Note: Fly ash upcycling is only
economically feasible if coal-fired energy
plants and cement processors are located
in close proximity to one another, for ease
of purchase and transport.
Case study: coal-fired energy plant
handling fly ash
Process
A coal-fired energy plant in West Virginia
is conveying fly ash through pressure pots
and into storage bins via a dense phase
system. The plant was using disc valves to
shut off flow at the inlet of each pressure
pot.
Complications of the disc valves included:
f The sliding disc was subject to wear
and abrasion from the material handled.
f Fly ash would pack between the disc
and the seals upon valve closure,
creating sealing and actuation issues.
f The disc valves required frequent
maintenance, which resulted in
expensive system shutdown.
For these reasons, conveyance through
the pressure pots was an issue.
Solution
After analysing the application parameters,
the Vortex Titan Pressure Valve was
recommended. The valve was originally
designed for conveying cement in dense
World Cement North America 2020
phase pneumatic systems. It is also a perfect fit
for this application; the reasons being:
f Abrasion resistance – The blade and
seats are constructed from 440 C
stainless steel (Rockwell hardness 60 C)
f Temperature resistance – In this
application, fly ash is being handled
at temperatures of 400 – 450˚F
(205 – 230˚C). The Vortex Titan Pressure
Valve is rated to handle material
temperatures up to 660˚F (350˚C).
f High pressure conveying – In this
application, fly ash is being conveyed at
25 – 35 psi (1.7 – 2.4 bar). The Vortex
Titan Pressure Valve is rated to handle
pressures up to 100 psi (6.8 bar).
f Gate closure/sealing design –
Spring-loaded blade guides keep the
blade in constant contact with the seat
throughout the stroke of the blade. Upon
gate closure, the leading edge of the
blade lifts into an end seat to ensure a
positive seal of pressure and material
across the gate. The end seat features a
displacement pocket to minimise material
jamming and packing upon gate closure.
Keeping the end seat clear of materials
ensures positive gate closure.
f Air purge assembly – As standard, the
Vortex Titan Pressure Valve is equipped
with an air purge assembly. The air
purge pressurises the bonnet area to
minimise fine material build-up in the valve
body. Because fly ash is an especially
fine material, this feature is critical to
preventing actuation issues.
Results
This coal-fired energy plant sourced one Vortex
Titan Pressure Valve to test its performance in the
unique application. That initial valve performed
very well and over the past three years, the plant
has continued to source Titan Pressure Valves as
replacements to their disc valves. Over time, the
plant will replace the balance of their disc valves
with Vortex Titan Pressure Valves.
The local oil and gas industry
West Virginia is home to the 6000 ft (1830 m)
deep Marcellus Shale, believed to contain
50 – 90 trillion ft3 (1.4 – 2.5 trillion m3)
of natural gas. The rock formation spans
104 000 square miles (167 370 km2), stretching
across southern New York, eastern Ohio,
western Pennsylvania and most of West Virginia.
It is believed to hold the largest volume of
recoverable natural gas in the US. To recover oil
and gas in this area, both vertical and horizontal
wells are required.
North America 2020 World Cement
Between coal-fired energy plants and oil/gas
fields, West Virginia is a top US exporter of
interstate electricity.
According to the West Virginia Department of
Environmental Protection, in 2015, there were
56 675 oil and natural gas wells in the state,
with 2273 of those being horizontal, hydraulically
fractured wells.
In the oil and gas fields, fly ash is necessary to:
f Mix with earth and clay, in order to stabilise
access roads.
f Serve as a base for drill pad sites.
f Solidify the drill cuttings and absorb liquids
from the well drilling process.
Cement is required
Tons of cement are utilised in the drilling process.
Cementing is an important part of groundwater
protection. The process isolates groundwater
from the inside of the well.
Cement mixtures are used to:
f Support the well casing.
f Protect the well casing from corrosion.
f Create a bond between the well casing
and the earth.
f Isolate porous formations from the drilled
zone.
f Quickly form a seal, in order to prevent
blowouts.
Class F fly ash is used in well cementing,
due to its low cost, high abundance and
added resistance when attaching near
groundwater. High carbon fly ash is avoided, due
to its potential problems with gelation. Gelation
is a mixture’s tendency to form into a gel, rather
than a solid structure.
With almost 60 000 wells existing in
West Virginia, there is continual need for fly ash
and cement throughout the state. Though these
industries are quite dissimilar, their processes
have a close, very important relationship with one
another. Equipment, like the valves manufactured
by Vortex, play an important role in the efficient
handling of raw materials.
Special thanks
Hareza Technical Sales, Inc. (HTS) is
a manufacturers’ representative that
specialises in the sales and marketing of
quality process equipment and controls for
industrial applications. Based in McMurray,
Pennsylvania, USA, they service accounts in
western Pennsylvania, northern Ohio, West
Virginia, and the panhandle of Maryland.
Industries served include cement, chemical,
coal, food, glass, grain, pharmaceutical, and
plastics, to name a few.
HTS was directly involved with the fly ash
case study featured in this article.
47
 AD INDE X
4B Components Limited OBC Hofmann 031
www.go4b.com www.hofmann-global.com

ABC 012 Marietta Silos 019

www.abc.org.uk www.mariettasilos.com

ABB 002 ProcessBarron 019

baldor.abb.com www.processbarron.com

ATD-Abbausysteme GmbH OFC, SILICON 011

www.atd-pgs.com 007 www.silicon.nu

Beumer Group 015 Sweet Manufacturing Company 039

www.beumer.com www.sweetmfg.com

CINTASA 035 Tank Connection 027

www.cintasa.com www.tankconnection.com

DCL World Cement 048, IFC,

027
www.dclinc.com www.worldcement.com IBC

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