CEMEX Cuts Dust Emissions At Rugby Plant By More Than 80%
Building material solutions company CEMEX UK has cut emissions of dust from its Rugby cement plant in Warwickshire by 80%, following the successful installation of a state-of-the-art filter.
This means that the dust filter has exceeded expectations. The bag filter system represents a £6.5 million investment and has now been operational since early March. It works by extracting dust from gases produced in the cement kiln and has been installed on the plant's exhaust duct to provide a physical barrier to the dust as it passes from the kiln to the chimney.
The filter is a bit like a vacuum cleaner, though it works with more than 6,000 bags, each six metres long and made of highly effective Teflon-coated fibreglass.
The big difference when compared with a vacuum cleaner is that dust is collected on the outside rather than inside of the bag. Each bag is cleaned regularly by passing compressed air through them. The collected dust (mainly chalk) is then recycled back into the cement-making process, another major benefit of the system.
The dust reduction combined with a recent approval for the use of chipped tyres to part-fuel the kiln at Rugby mark a significant step into the future for the plant and enhances its status as world class.
An increase in the use of other alternative fuels could hold the key to further improvements and help the company remain competitive. Provided permission is granted, a second alternative fuel, Climafuel, could be introduced in Rugby later this year.
Climafuel, looks like shredded paper and typically consists of screened paper, cardboard, wood, carpet, textiles and plastics that have been subjected to a process to remove biodegradable matter and produce a solid and non-hazardous fuel.
So, while good progress is being made, CEMEX UK continues its commitment to improving and optimising performance to ensure that quality cement from Rugby plant is provided as sustainably as possible.
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Notes to editors:
1. Photographs For good-quality photographs and more information, please contact:
Marit Meyer-Bell,
tel. 0786 765 3392
marit.meyerbell@cemex.com
2. CEMEX UK CEMEX is a global building solutions company and leading supplier of cement, ready-mixed concrete and aggregates. In the UK, CEMEX also produces asphalt, and has a significant share of the roof tile, concrete-block paving, and concrete-block segments. Additionally, the company is the leading supplier of concrete sleepers to the rail industry and a dominant supplier of PFA cement additives. CEMEX has a national supply network in the UK with over 500 locations, to ensure that quality building materials is available to customers locally.
For more information, see www.cemex.co.uk or www.cemex.com
3. Rugby Works CEMEX's Rugby Works is one of the most modern cement plants in the world and represents a total investment of £200 million. It has the largest kiln in the UK and has a production capacity of 1.8 million tonnes of cement per annum. CEMEX supports 730 local jobs in Rugby (183 at the works), contributes £25.5 million per annum to the local economy and provides a product that is essential locally and nationally, for housing, hospitals, schools and roads. Every year Rugby produces enough cement for the construction of more than 72,000 houses (assuming that an average house contains approximately 18 tonnes of cement). For more information, please see www.CEMEX.co.uk/communities
4. The bag filter The bag filter is positioned on the giant exhaust duct, which runs the entire height of the pre-heater tower. Two tubular steel duct sections weighing in at 17 tonnes each, the equivalent weight of nearly 700 people, were fabricated to connect the filter system. Lifting the new heavyweight sections into place was a major task. Hampered by high winds, a mammoth 70-metre reach crane, one of the largest mobile cranes available, carefully guided the two sections into place to complete the job. 5. Tyre substitution At Rugby tyres constitutes an energy replacement of 12%. 6. Climafuel substitution CEMEX has applied for a programme in Rugby where Climafuel would constitute an energy replacement of 30%.