Ultracem of Colombia Anticipated a Need for Doubling Capacity and the Gamble Paid Off.
By Mark S. Kuhar
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| Gebr. Pfeiffer MPS 3350 BC clinker grinding mill installed with Production Line One at the Cement grinding plant at Ultracem S.A.S in Barranquilla, Colombia. |
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| View of Both Production Lines, each utilizing a Gebr. Pfeiffer MPS 3350 BC clinker grinding mill, at Ultracem Cement Grinding Plant in Barranquilla, Colombia. |
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| Production Line One at Ultracem’s Cement Grinding Plant in Barranquilla, Colombia. |
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| Construction of Production Line Two at Ultracem’s Cement Grinding Plant in Barranquilla, Colombia, Production Line One appears in the background. |
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| Installation of Gebr. Pfeiffer MPS 3350 clinker mill for Production Line Two at Ultracem’s Cement Grinding Plant in Barranquilla, Colombia. |
Back in 2011, the Ruiseco family started, and was sole owner of their new cement company, Ultracem S.A.S. in Barranquilla, Atlántico, Colombia. At the time, brothers Juan Manuel Ruiseco Gutierrez, CEO, and Nicolas Ruiseco Gutierrez, executive vice president, felt the Colombian cement market was ripe for a new start-up cement plant but they weren’t sure how long the strong market conditions would last. When designing the new plant, it was decided to start with a single production line but to anticipate the addition of a second line at some future point in time.
For this reason, the material storage area and feed silos were designed to have enough capacity for both productions lines, assuming that extra space would eventually be needed. This design gamble paid off. As the Colombian cement market continued to strengthen over the next few years, the company was able to proceed with commissioning of the second production line at the end of 2015, in order to double their production capacity.
The initial line was supplied by Gebr. Pfeiffer featuring a clinker grinding mill specifically designed to grind a variety of product, ranging from OPC to slag and limestone cements. All equipment was delivered within one year of the contract signing, and the erection and start-up was completed in just nine months.
The scope of Production Line One (commissioned in October 2013) included the following:
- MPS 3350 BC vertical roller mill with patented “Lift and Swing” technology.
- SLS 2900 BC high-efficiency classifier.
- Plant equipment consisting of a bagfilter, fan, hot gas generator, bucket elevator, weigh feeder and two conveyors.
- Feed System with deduster and metal separator.
- Various fabricated parts including a 20-ton silo, ducting, dampers and stack.
- Instrumentation.
- Engineering services.
As a result of the successful project management, support and execution of the first line, Ultracem had the confidence to stay with Gebr. Pfeiffer for supplying the second line as well.
The initial OEM guarantee for Production Line One was as 65 tph but the plant was actually able to produce close to 100 tph. For Production Line Two, Ultracem wanted to duplicate the increased production levels.
In order to keep within the safety parameters of the equipment, it was agreed to increase the size of both the gearbox and mill motor for each of the production lines. The only changes in scope between the first order and the second one were the increased capacity of the gear box (from 1,750 kw to 2,000 kw) and mill motor (from 1,750 kw to accommodate up to 1,950 kw) and increasing the number of packing plant spouts to 14, up from the 8 initially installed on Production Line One.
Current production rates consist of:
Mill Production from Line One:
- Structural Cement up to 70 tph.
- General Use Cement up to 90 tph.
Mill Production from Line Two:
- General Use Cement up to 90 tph.
To date, Ultracem is pleased with its average production rates as they continue to expand their market share in the region.
Information for this article courtesy of Gebr. Pfeiffer.
