Gebr. Pfeiffer replaced aging ball mills at the Hormicreto clinker plant in Cuenca, Ecuador. The new grinding solution not only reduced the plant’s energy consumption but also improved the overall grinding efficiency, allowing the plant to increase production from a single mill. By utilizing the Pfeiffer Swing Mill technology, the plant is able to switch between raw material and clinker grinding using just one mill.
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| The MPS 2500 BC Swing Mill installed at Hormicreto’s clinker grinding plant in Cuenca, Ecuador. |
For the Cuenca Plant, Hormicreto selected the MPS 2500 BC Swing Mill with “Lift and Swing” technology, which has the capability to grind different types of raw materials and clinker interchangeably. This concept enables users, typically with smaller annual production rates, to expand capacity at a later point in time by investing in a second mill – only after production rates justify the additional investment.
The plant was commissioned in 2016 and the early performance testing shows the mill operates smoothly with high reliability, according to Gebr. Pfeiffer. In fact, the cement grinding requires lower clinker proportions than was originally contracted (63 percent vs. 70 percent), increasing the overall cost savings. The grinding capacity has also increased over the contracted capacity while still keeping the energy consumption within the contractual range. Cement grinding capacity was contracted at 33 tph but is currently at 40 to 45 tph with energy consumption at 17 to 19 kWh per ton.
