Displaying items by tag: Refuse Derived Fuel

UK: Geminor opened a new waste processing facility in Hull on 25 April 2023 in the presence of close to 100 guests. Kalvin Neal, the Deputy Lord Mayor of Kingston upon Hull, and Geminor chief executive officer Kjetil Vikingstad jointly cut the ribbon at the new HUB site, which can produce 150,000t/yr of refuse-derived fuel (RDF). Following the ceremony, guests were taken on a tour of the 11,000m² that was built by engineering company Keltbray. The unit in East Yorkshire had an investment of Euro11.3m. Most of the HUB facility will be used to service Geminor’s existing 68,000t/yr waste processing contract with Hull City Council, which currently runs to 2030.

The HUB site is equipped with the latest industry requirements and technology, such as an Exeons Odour Abatement system and a Helios Fire Suppression system, alongside plant vs people proximity sensors to ensure safety.

David Singh, the project manager for the Hull processing facility at Geminor UK, said "The journey has been incredible, from the point of sourcing land back in 2018 and all the way up to the opening ceremony. Brexit, Covid-19, and the somewhat significant weather conditions sometimes caused challenges, but not more than we could handle. We are well underway in commissioning the facility and look forward to operating in May 2023.”

Chile: Cbb Cementos and Ambipar Environment have announced an upgrade to the Curicó plant that will allow it to process refuse-derived fuel (RDF). The US$5m investment will allow the unit to process around 36,000t/yr of RDF. The work will include building a reception hopper, a screening system, a belt feed belt to the calciner and a dosing system. Three warehouses will also be constructed. The alternative fuels upgrade is expected to start operation in early 2024.

Brazil: Secil Supremo Cimentos has appointed FLSmidth to carry out a pyro process upgrade at its Adrianópolis cement plant in Paraná. The Denmark-based supplier says that it plans to carry out modifications on the plant's preheater, cooler and related auxiliary equipment. It says the new equipment will expand the plant's capacity to 3900t/day, corresponding to an annual production capacity of 1.42Mt/yr. It will also enable it to increase its alternative fuel (AF) substitution rate to 40%. Secil Supremo Cimentos' AF mix consists of shredded tyres, wood and other refuse-derived fuels.

FLSmidth's head of capital sales, Jens Jonas Skov Larsen, said “We are grateful for our continued partnership with Supremo, which has consistently invested in the latest technology. As the plant was already operating an ILC five-stage preheater from FLSmidth, it was well positioned to use AF.”

Nigeria: Dangote Cement plans to upgrade its Ibese cement plant in order to use biofuels in its cement production. The Nigerian Guardian newspaper has reported that the plant will receive a pneumatic feeding system for the kiln of its Line 2. Dangote Cement plans to use palm kernel shells, rice husks, coconut shells and sugarcane bagasse, along with sawdust. The producer says that this will reduce its CO₂ emissions by 5.2% and help to divert local agricultural waste from incineration.

Project head Sumaila Muhammed said “We carried out alternative fuel resource mapping within our host communities. We decided to collect these wastes and convert them into valuable energy resources as smokeless, renewable biofuel."

Spain: Mexico-based Cemex and its venture capital subsidiary Cemex Ventures have invested in Waste to Energy Advanced Solutions (WtEnergy), an energy startup company that has developed a process to transform solid waste into synthesis gas (Syngas) for industrial purposes.

WtEnergy converts biomass and non-recyclable waste into Syngas, which can be used in the short-term as a fossil fuel alternative or be upgraded in the medium- and long-term to gases such as biomethane or pure hydrogen. Cemex intends to incorporate this energy source into its clinker and cement manufacturing process, looking to further reduce the carbon footprint of its operations. Cemex aims to increase its fossil fuel substitution rate by 20% by 2030.

Gonzalo Galindo, the president of Cemex Ventures, said, “This investment aligns with our strategy to find innovative clean fuel and energy sources for the cement industry.” He added, “We have outlined an ambitious rollout strategy across multiple operations, starting with Spain and other European countries before expanding to other international markets.”

Dominican Republic: Cemex Dominicana has announced the signing of a new sustainability agreement with food producer Nestlé Dominicana. Under the agreement, Cemex Dominicana will co-process Nestlé Dominicana's non-recyclable high-calorific solid industrial waste as alternative fuel (AF) in its cement plant.

Cemex's Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Haiti regional director José Antonio Cabrera said "This agreement with Nestlé allows us to continue promoting our Future in Action strategy by operating our cement plant with AF." He concluded "We are committed to becoming a net-zero CO₂ company."

Spain: Cementos Portland Valderrivas has partnered with the University of Seville to build a non-hazardous waste processing plant to produce refuse-derived fuel (RDF) at its Alcalá de Guadaira cement plant in Seville. The producer hopes that, when commissioned, the installation will help to 'significantly' reduce the plant's energy costs and CO₂ emissions by substituting its RDF for petcoke in cement production.

Along with a renewal to the Alcalá de Guadaira plant's mining lease, the total cost of the project is Euro6m.

Philippines: Republic Cement is supporting efforts to remove plastic pollution from the sea by co-processing the waste in its cement production. The Business Mirror newspaper has reported that the cement producer has partnered with plastic waste collector Pure Oceans to take delivery of shipments cleaned up from off the coasts of Batangas and Davao.

Republic Cement chief executive officer Roman Menz said "Republic Cement is proud to partner with organisations such as Pure Oceans. Their deep commitment towards safeguarding the environment, while making significant contributions to the Philippine plastic waste crisis, is an inspiration for us to continue doing what we do in order to make a tangible impact on our communities, towards building a greener and stronger republic."

Through its partnerships with local fishing communities, Pure Oceans diverted 1.93m bags of plastic waste over the three years prior to the start of October 2022.

Denmark: Norway-based Geminor has commissioned a new refuse-derived fuel (RDF) production plant in Aalborg, Jutland. The plant is equipped with a windshifter separator, allowing it to extract up to 70% of plastic in residual waste, in addition to metals and wood. This produces a heavy bio-RDF with low fossil content, of the type previously developed by the company at its HUB research facility in Landskrona, Sweden. Though more expensive to produce than other types of RDF, the company believes the fraction offers higher profitability due to its taxation benefits.

UK: Refuse-derived fuel (RDF) and solid recovered fuel (SRF) exports from the UK were 1.6Mt in the financial year which ended on 31 March 2022, down by 2.3% year-on-year from 2021 financial year levels. Waste management consultant Footprint Services reported that March 2022 RDF and SRF exports were 136,000t, down by 23% year-on-year from 176,000t in March 2021. Geminor exported 29,200t of RDF and SRF during the month, constituting a 22% market share. Its full-year exports in the 2022 financial year were 280,000t.

Geminor UK country manager James Maiden forecast that the decline in UK RDF and SRF exports is beginning to level off at a volume between 1Mt/yr and 1.5Mt/yr from the 2023 financial year.