New clinker production plant increases
cost-effectiveness and lowers CO2 emissions
20.10.2010 is a historic date for Zementwerke LEUBE GmbH – the new clinker production plant started at precisely 20:10 hours. Over the past few months the company has modernized the centrepiece of the cement production plant. At € 31 million this is the largest investment that LEUBE has made in the last 50 years. The new plant – the most visible sign of which is a preheater tower over 100 m high (Fig. 1) – makes the production not only more cost-effective but also substantially more environmentally friendly. The noise and exhaust gas emissions as well as the energy consumption have been substantially reduced compared with the old plant.
According to Rudolf Zrost, Managing Director of the LEUBE Group (Fig. 2), “The construction of the new clinker production plant has ensured the long-term future of the production site in St Leonhard. We are increasing our cost-effectiveness in production and lowering the environmental impact”. The project included the construction of a clinker cooler with dedusting plant and a five-stage preheater. The new plant also meant a change to an efficient one-kiln system. In the past cement was produced with two kilns.
“The raw meal will be preheated to up to 1100 °C in the preheater tower. Up to now we reached a preheating temperature of only 800 °C”, Dr. Günter Waldl (Fig. 2), head of engineering, explained the advantages of the new plant. The waste heat can be used substantially more efficiently in the 100 m high tower, which leads to an fuel saving of about 8000 t coal per year.
The lower fuel consumption reduces the vehicle nuisance by about 320 lorry journeys per year and the emission of carbon dioxide will fall by ~ 30 000 t/a. The noise emissions from the plant could be reduced substantially by placing the fan in the basement of the preheater tower.
The capacity at the St Leonhard will remain unchanged in the future. “We will not exceed the authorized production figure of 2200 t/d clinker” said Waldl. However, the new plant will lower production costs and reduce the use of fuel, which will help to make LEUBE competitive in the market with cement from Salzburg.
Zementwerke LEUBE GmbH is taking a further step in the protection of the environment and climate. An energy park with a small power station and an electricity filling station for electric vehicles has been established at the St Leonhard site. “The new energy park fits in extremely well with our efforts over several years to reduce the emission of hazardous substances still further and to lower the noise pollution” explained Rudolf Zrost at the presentation of the energy park on 28.10.2010.
