CEMMAC achieves LSF of 80 using ABB’s SpectraFlow and RMP

CEMMAC was founded in 1883 with the acquisition of its limestone quarry. Today CEMMAC employs 247 people and manufactures Portland cement and Portland slag cement.

The material at CEMMAC’s quarry comes from three different zones, yielding a mixture of medium and low quality marl and high quality limestone. Moisture changes have a big effect of the marl, which makes it difficult to measure the concentration with a conventional sampling station. Consequently it was frequently the case that the lime saturation factor (LSF) of the raw material arriving at the raw mill exceeded the upper process limit. Therefore CEMMAC was seeking a solution, which would establish a target LSF and significantly reduce the LSF variations in its mixing bed. The solution was a combination of the ABB online analyzer SpectraFlow plus the ABB Expert Optimizer module Raw Mix Preparation.

SpectraFlow uses SOLBAS™ technology which uses Near Infra-Red Spectroscopy (NIRS) to provide the chemical composition data. The SpectraFlow analyzer solution can be used on any conveyor belt, regardless of width or belt composition and does not require dedicated safety personnel or special operating licenses. The SpectraFlow analyzer does not require any physical contact with the sample material in order to provide data. This immediately brought improvements for CEMMAC, since previous problems caused by a sample based analyzer coming into contact with moist marl no longer existed. ABB installed its SpectraFlow online analyzer at CEMMAC in February 2008. Moisture, however, impacts composition readings and so in February 2009 a new analyzer strategy model was installed to take moisture levels into better account in the data and analysis.

A further benefit is that the SpectraFlow online analyzer is able to provide a sample value every minute. The frequency of sample data means that truck by truck sampling is possible by CEMMAC.

ABB’s RMP solution, in combination with SpectraFlow, is now achieving an LSF of 80 +/- 5 for each 180 tonnes segment of a round mixing bed. Mr Kebisek, Quarry Manager at CEMMAC, said “Pressure on the quarry staff has been reduced since they can now refer to the RMP solution for clear guidance on how best to handle material.

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs more than 117,000 people.