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SECONDARY FUELS

Burning
motion
by Ad Takx Director Technical Department, ENCI The Netherlands
The trend towards the use of alternative fuels has seen the introduction of
many by-products and waste materials from other industries in cement
production. ENCI in The Netherlands has pushed the boundaries even
further by utilising domestic sewage as a fuel source in its cement kiln.
The results are encouraging and it may focus other producers to consider
this option.
Figure 2: ENCIs Maastricht plant

NCI is part of the HeidelbergCement Group, and is the only

cement
producer
in
The
Netherlands. The company has a
market share of 55 per cent, which is
equivalent to 3.5Mt of cement. This
cement is produced in three plants: in
IJmuiden and Rotterdam it has two grind-

Figure 1: ENCIs location

52

Extraction of animal meal from silo storage

ENCI Maastricht quarry

ENCI has been producing cement in The
Netherlands since 1926,. It only has one
quarry located in Maastricht with a
restricted life time. Therefore, there has
always been the necessity to be very sparing with the raw material, which in ENCIs
case is limestone, the fine yellow material
(see Figure 3).
Reduction of raw materials and clinker
burning process 10 per cent reduction of
limestone by waste derived materials, eg:
- blast furnace slag
- fly ash
- ash from fuels (coal shale, sewage
sludge).
At ENCI slag and fly ash as alternative
raw materials for the clinker burning
process are added to the raw material mixture before the raw mill.
Since the clinker burning process is
unlike simple combustion systems a
material conversion process, a number of
AFRs which have fuel ashes that are very
similar to the chemical composition of the
natural raw materials, are suitable.

ing facilities for slag

cement. In Maastricht
ENCIs clinker kiln is
situated and the plant
produces
Portland
cement here.
ENCI is strongly committed to sustainable
development, this means
it strives for a balance
between sound financial
results, social responsibility and contribution
to ecological development.
Sustainable development is often
referred to as triple P: Profit, People,
Planet. The utilisation of Alternative
Fuel Resources (AFRs), through maximum
substitution of raw materials and fuels at
low cost, contributes very substantial to
these goals. With respect to the ecological development the environmental policy plays an important role.
The environmental policy of ENCI, for
many years, has been built on three pillars:
1. maximum use of AFRs to reduce raw
materials and primary fuels
Figure 3: Maastricht quarry
2. energy reduction. Since the energy is
one of the biggest cost components in
cement production, it has always been an
At ENCI coal shale is utilised with 70
important aim
per cent and sewage sludge with 45 per
3. our third pillar is no additional produccent ash contents. Those measures result
tion of emissions at the cement plant but
in a 10 per cent saving of limestone.
we strive for contrary emission reduction
Reduction of raw materials and cement
on a more global scale.
grinding process. As of the early 1930s

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SECONDARY FUELS
Fuel package kiln #8

paid to the augmentation of the chloride

and mercury content in the kiln system.
ENCI has quite a reputation with
At ENCI an ESP dust purge of 2tph has
respect to the firing of alternative
Cement type CEM (97-1)
clinker content
been installed, in order to reduce these
fuels. At the moment it handles 10
percentage
components for sewage sludge only.
fuels on the kiln of which eight are
CEM I
95-100
Sulphur is a little bit higher than in normal
alternative; 80 per cent of its heat
CEM II
65-95
coal, but this is no problem for the cominput derives from alternative fuels.
CEM III
5-64
pany. The moisture content should not
Sewage sludge, animal meal and paper
CEM IV
45-89
exceed 10 per cent. A higher level will
sludge are full biomass. In total 25 per
CEM V
20-64
surely cause brew in the silos and the mill.
cent of the heat input is biomass,
ENCI product mix 47
The substitution rate of alternative
which results in saving of 85,000t of
Table 2: typical composition of ground sewage
fuels varies from plant to plant and from
CO2 per year.
sludge
country to country.
At the moment ENCI is firing 40,000tpa
Table 3 shows the substitution rates of
of sewage sludge; it is the companys
Volatiles (%)
<45
12 selected European countries and the
intention to increase that volume to
R90u (%)
<25
substitution rate of the European Union as
80,000tpa next year. This will be the
Calorific value (GJ/t)
>12.5
a total. Please keep in mind that in the
maximum, because with this quantity of
Ash content (%)
>45
Netherlands ENCIs Maastricht cement kiln
sewage sludge, the limitations of the
Chlorine (%)
0.1-0.2
is the only one.
combustion and the kiln process will be
Sulphur (%)
0.9-1.4
So with a clinker factor of 47 per cent
reached. The CO2 savings than will
Hg- content (mg/kg)
<2
and a fuel substitution rate of 83 per cent
Moisture (%)
<10
amount 130,000tpa.
the maximum use of AFRs at ENCI has been
Due to its calorific value, ash compoexplained.
sition
and
ash
content
dry
sewage
Figure 4: process overview kiln #8
The topic of energy reduction by heat
sludge is suitable for use as fuel and raw
material for the clinker burnTable 3: substitution of alternative fuels in the total fuel
ing process.
demand
Because of the quite high
volatiles sewage sludge is a EU member states in total
12%
1998
very suitable fuel, it has a Belgium
30%
1999
good flame performance, pro- Denmark
4%
1999
vided that the fineness does Germany
30%
2001
not exceed 25 per cent on 90 Finland
3%
2000
microns.
France
27%
1999
The ash content, because Great Britain
6%
1998
of its composition of calcium The Netherlands
83%
2003
and silica minerals, is a good Austria
29%
1999
addition to the raw materials Poland
1%
1999
ENCI produced large quantities of slag
for the clinker production.
Portugal
1%
1999
cement. At the moment very substantial
Special attention should be Switzerland
34%
1999
quantities of fly ash and granulated blast
furnace slag are used in its cement grinding process.
Figure 5: burner kiln #8 FLS Swirlax burner and ENCI alternative
In this way ENCI saves substantial
fuel burner on top
amounts of clinker and contribute considerable to the recycling industry in the
Netherlands. ENCI estimates that a clinker
factor of 47 per cent in cement is a world
record.
Table 1: reduction of raw materials and cement
grinding process

ENCI Maastricht - kiln #8

The kiln at Maastricht is an old FLSmidth
kiln, constructed in 1968 and modified in
1984. This long kiln with a planetary
cooler is difficult to operate and maintenance costs are terribly high.
But it remains a clinker kiln, it offers
high temperatures and a long resident
time, which are ideal burning conditions
for alternative fuels. ENCIs old kiln is
therefore very suitable for the firing of
alternative fuels.

Side view of burner head kiln #8

Front view of burner head kiln #8

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Table 4: emission results from firing sewage sludge (mean values) without with permit

HF
HCl
Cd
Hg
Tl
Sum heavy metals
CxHy
PCDD/PCDF
Dust
NOx
SO2
Odour smell

mg/Nm3
mg/Nm3
mg/Nm3
mg/Nm3
mg/Nm3
mg/Nm3
mg/Nm3
ng TEQ/Nm3
mg/Nm3
mg/Nm3
mg/Nm3
units/Nm3

0.2
1
<0.005
0.02
<0.03
0.1
10
<0.05
3
700
25
50,000

0.2
1
<0.005
0.03/0.02
<0.03
0.1
10
<0.05
3
700
25
50,000

Figure 6: energy recovery from CEMBUREAU

1
10
0.05
0.05
0.05
1
40
0.1
15
1300
225

recovery in the clinker burning process and

efficient grinding technology is not
mentioned in any detail here. Process technological improvements are possible but
have a rather marginal effect on direct
emissions.
Lets concentrate on the effect of alternative fuels on emissions. Figure 6 from
CEMBUREAU is very good. Co-incineration; the
utilisation of waste as an alternative fuel
in a cement kiln is with respect to the
energy consumption and emissions a far
better solution than separate incineration.
It is ENCIs strong opinion that, basically alternative fuels should be counted as
zero emissions.

Emissions ENCI kiln

Table 4 is a less exciting example, because
there are no differences between the two
cases. In order to reduce the increased
mercury emissions to the original value we
have installed a purge of the ESP dust of
2tph. This purge is very effective.
Furthermore, on this table that ENCI
complies to the emission values as per EU
directive on the incineration of waste.
However, this directive has to be implemented by 2005, ENCI has those strict
environmental demands already as of 1999.
At ENCI a substantial amount of
experience has been gathered with the
utilisation of AFRs. ENVI has proved that
the use of AFRs is ecologically compatible
and not harmful to the environment. By
solving a huge waste problem of the
authorities on an environmental very
sound way, ENCI is getting some credits for
sustainable development.
However, the people of the neighbourhood of the ENCI Maastricht factory
currently remain somewhat sceptical about
waste valorisation.
_____________________________

Figure 7: emissions ENCI kiln

Figure 8: fuel package end of 2002

% - Secondary fuels

Figure 9: primary fuel replacement at kiln #8

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