Cement

The Cement industry provides the main building material for commercial, residential, and governmental projects involving infrastructure (e.g., roads, bridges, tunnels).

Most new plants or line expansion projects are seeking techniques to reduce production costs, while minimizing adverse environmental impact during cement production.  To meet ever increasing demands, cement kilns must have consistent, reliable feed of raw materials, such as limestone, clay, sand, mill scale/iron ore, and bauxite.  Though dry process cement plants are advantageous over wet process plants due to significant energy savings, they experience additional material handling problems during feeding, milling, and calcination. Cement plants continue to seeks ways to reduce fossil fuel consumption through use of alternative fuels. Clinker substitution with limestone or pozzolanic additives is now a common practice.

The majority of raw materials handled at a cement plant are prone to poor flow during reclaim from stockpiles, storage silos, or hoppers.  These problems can lead to process upsets, down time and require frequent operator intervention.  Materials handled are often dusty, cause abrasive wear of equipment, and stick in chutes and conveyors, all contributing to reduced cement output.  Erratic feed and wide particle size variability (segregation) will lead to poor mill performance, increased energy consumption, and vibrations in vertical roller mills.  Cement can be prone to both caking and flooding (flushing) behavior.