By Mauro Nogarin
Two projects currently stand out in the Latin American cement industry: the Itaperuçu plant in Brazil and the installation of new equipment at a plant in Guatemala. The objective in both countries is to increase cement production capacity.
Brazil
Compañía Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN), currently the second-largest cement producer in Brazil, announced the start of construction work on its new Itaperuçu cement plant, located 55 km from the state capital of Curitiba, with a production capacity of 3 million tpy.
According to the Ministry of Mining’s assessment conducted in 2023, cement sales are steadily increasing and will likely accelerate in the coming years, requiring greater production capacity to meet market demand.
Brazil currently has 103 plants with 23 national and foreign cement companies, with a total annual production of 105 million tons. However, if idle plants are included, active installed capacity drops to 94 million tpy of cement.
According to information provided by the company, the total project area covers approximately 220 hectares. Of this, 70 hectares are designated for the mining area, while 150 hectares are allocated for the factory, which includes the clay and limestone crushing system, a warehouse for storing raw materials, and a mining workshop.
Regarding the fuel combustion system and the clinker production process, the new plant will use petroleum coke due to its widespread availability and lower environmental impact compared to coal. However, depending on market conditions and prices, the company may use other fuels such as biomass, cereal husks, coconut shells, açaí palm seeds, natural gas, biogas and even gas from oil wells located near the Itaperuçu mine. In addition, the cement plant will be equipped to co-process waste with alternative fuels.
The limestone crushing stage, which results from explosive fragmentation, will have an average size of 100 x 100 x 150 cm and will be handled by wheel loaders for transport by truck to the plant.
The crushed material (pure limestone) will then be sent via a belt conveyor to the covered pre-homogenization warehouse with a capacity of 85,000 tons. On the other side, machinery removes the accumulated material to move on to the next phase, where the stacking and recovery equipment will have a nominal capacity of 3,400 tph and 900 tph, respectively.
The limestone warehouse will have a capacity of 25,000 tons and is accessed via four different entry and exit roads. The crushed clay and bauxite can be sent to the covered pre-homogenization warehouse with a capacity of 15,000 tons for clay and 5,000 tons for bauxite.
The nominal production capacity of the mill will be 650 tph, with a particle size of approximately 10% retained on the 90-micron mesh screen.
The meal produced by the raw mill is sent to the single-chamber concrete homogenization silo with a storage capacity of 23,000 tons, which is then transported to the preheater (cyclone tower) and the kiln.
In the preheater (cyclone tower), the meal will go through five different stages of the transformation process. At the end of these stages, it is sent to the precalciner, where it is fired to decompose the calcium and magnesium carbonates present in the limestone, releasing carbon dioxide.
It is important to highlight that approximately 60% of the heat input required for the process will be supplied by the precalciner burner.
The rotary kiln then receives the decarbonized flour to be transformed into clinker at a temperature of 1,450°C. The kiln, with a clinker production of 7,200 tpd, has a 78-meter long x 5-meter diameter steel cylinder, driven by a double-toothed pinion, which rotates on rollers installed on three independent support bases.
As the clinker moves through the cooler, its average temperature is reduced to 120°C by eight fans that propel air. Upon exiting the cooler, the clinker begins the grinding process, and the product is transported to storage in ideal particle size conditions for entry into the cement mills. At this stage, the crushed clinker will be sent to the concrete silo with a capacity of 72,000 tons.
The cement mills are vertical and have a dynamic separator built into their casings that classifies the ground product into two particle size fractions: one with the appropriate fineness is considered the final product and is sent to the cement silo through a bag filter; the other, with a coarser fineness, returns to the mill table until it reaches the fineness established by the manufacturer.
Guatemala
The second project involves the installation of new equipment at the Puerto San José plant, with the aim of increasing Holcim Guatemala’s cement production in Central America. This important project was carried out with equipment from the German company Christian Pfeiffer.
The solution includes a powerful two-chamber ball mill with a diameter of 3.6 meters and a grinding path length of 12 meters, operating with a mill drive power of 2,200 kW. The mill features a single pinion drive and slide shoe bearings, ensuring efficient and reliable operation.
Integrated into the mill are Christian Pfeiffer’s proven Intermediate and Discharge Diaphragm technologies, which optimize grinding efficiency. A hot gas generator (HGG) provides stable temperature conditions, enabling effective raw material processing.
As in the earlier project, Christian Pfeiffer’s high-performance separator QDK-T 150 is once again utilized. With a maximum fines throughput of 120 tph at 3,000 cm²/g Blaine, and a circulating air volume of 150,000 Am³/h, it ensures high separation precision and consistently high product quality.
Dust control is managed through two powerful Jet-Pulse filters: one for the mill with a capacity of 35,000 Am³/h, and another for the separator circuit with a capacity of 150,000 Am³/h. These systems play a crucial role in minimizing emissions and ensuring clean and safe plant operation. In addition to the core process equipment, the German company also supplied key transport equipment, including air slide conveyors and a bucket elevator, to guarantee smooth material handling across the plant.
Christian Pfeiffer was responsible for the detail engineering of the civil foundations and the complete steel structure. While the civil construction was executed by the customer, the steel structure – including cladding – was delivered under DAP (delivered at place) terms.
Assembly stages of the new ball mill, QDK-T 150 separator and other equipment at the Puerto San José plant.
Layout of the rotary kiln. Photo: CSN/STCP.
Homogenization equipment with a diameter of 26 meters. Photo: CSN/STCP.
