Switzerland: Switzerland-based ABB is launching the ProKiln inlet gas sampling system to help cement producers reduce the volatility associated with using higher levels of alternative fuels (AF) and allow kilns to run for longer. The product offers probe cleaning with increased mechanical strength, which includes a dual probe retraction system to ensure no sampling interruption.

The supplier says that its product uses an extractive filter in the tip of the probe which separates sample gas from the dust load to reduce problems faced with scaling of material when gathering data. It also uses two air blasters to clean the tip to maintain a sample path for analysis. A three-dimensional printed stainless steel nozzle is intended to ensure that no blockages at the tip of the probe occur and the system is mounted on a buggy running on a retractor which carries the probe in and out of the kiln allowing it to be cleaned automatically. Measuring 3m long, the gas probe is water cooled with an extractive filter placed at the sample and flow is maintained by the blasters. A cooling system also provides recirculating water for temperature control.

The ProKiln has been tested for six months at Holcim’s Lägerdorf site in Germany, a cement plant that has an AF substitution rate of over 80%.

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.

Argentina: Holcim Argentina achieved 8.4% alternative fuel (AF) substitution in its cement production in its cement production in 2021. That year, it reduced its CO₂ emissions per tonne of cementitious material by 4.2% compared to 2017, to 505kg/t from 527kg/t.

Waste management partner Geocycle processed 140,000t of waste in 2021, up by 20% from 2020 levels. This included 4000t of waste tyres, which alone eliminated 2300t of CO₂ emissions. Geocycle inaugurated Argentina’s first municipal solid waste (MSW) classification facility in Córdoba in November 2021.

India: Coimbatore Municipal City Corporation says that it has reached a rate of 54,800t/yr in refuse derived fuel (RDF) deliveries to cement plants in Tamil Nadu's Ariyalur District. The Indian Express newspaper has reported that the corporation collects 1000t/day of waste, from which its sorts 150t/day of non-biodegradable waste into RDF. It has launched landfill mining at a 26.7ha tip in Vellalore, where it expects to extract several tens of thousands of tonnes more of non-biodegradable waste.