St Marys Cement, part of Brazil-based Votoronatim Cimentos, will significantly decrease emissions at its Bowmanville, Ontario, operation, thanks to the installation and commissioning of a new wet scrubber. This is the first wet scrubber to be installed at a cement plant in Canada.
“This $25 million investment in technology to improve the plant’s environmental performance has proven to be effective in removing sulphur dioxide (SO2) produced in the cement manufacturing process,” said Plant Operations Manager Jim Storey. “We are also pleased that the scrubber was assembled on-site and installed by local Ontario contractors and crews during our annual scheduled plant shutdown.”
St Marys Cement Environmental Manager for North America Ruben Plaza added, “The environmental benefit of the wet scrubber technology results in more water vapor being introduced into the process and then released as a steam plume, similar to other plants which use this same process technology.”
The Bowmanville plant is dedicated to continuous process improvement and investing in projects to enhance the environmental performance of the facility. The plant is also the first industrial site in North America to have received the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) ISO 50001 Certification. Bowmanville’s management was also recognized with an international award for energy conservation.
Ruben Plaza concluded, “Without the cooperation and commitment of the entire St Marys team, this latest improvement could not have been delivered so efficiently. The support from the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) and the Municipality of Clarington was very important.”
