When less is more

Though the Indian cement industry is highly efficient when it comes to energy consumption, rising fuel costs are pushing the industry to consume less and save more. It is more than money that is saved as processes become energy efficient. Indian Cement Review quizzed Holtec Consulting on how we can make our cement plants more energy efficient and get more from less.

Holtec Consulting, a leading consulting company, has been focused on serving the global cement industry for the last forty six years. It also offers comprehensive services in the areas of power, highways and bridges and engineering support services for bulk material handling and structural steel detailing. Its portfolio of services spans all disciplines of engineering, business consulting, geology and mining, project and construction management, environment management, performance enhancement, logistics, etc. In addition, Holtec operates and maintains cement plants globally for its clients and provides solutions encompassing the integrated delivery of services and products through its domestic and international group entities.

The company has 800+ clientele comprising of cement producers, equipment and service providers, EPC and construction firms, infrastructure developers, investing and funding bodies and all other relevant stakeholders through 3,600+ consulting assignments in over 80 countries. Kamal Kumar, Chief General Manager of Holtec Consulting shares some facts about the energy efficiency status of the Indian cement industry and ways to conserve power with readers of the Indian Cement Review. Excerpts from the interview.

How energy efficient is the Indian cement industry?

The data available from various sources indicate that the thermal energy consumption and the specific electricity consumption of Indian cement industry is definitely better than the rest of the world average. See table 1.

The Indian cement industry’s average specific electrical energy consumption is 82 kWh/ tonne of cement compared to the world average in the range of 100-110 kWh/ tonne of cement. Average specific thermal energy consumption is 725 Kcal/ kg clinker compared to the world average of about 850-860 Kcal/ kg clinker.

The energy consumption of the cement industry is strongly linked to the type of kiln technology used. In India, the increasing share of dry process kilns with preheaters and pre-calciner has had a positive impact on energy consumption in clinker production.

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Comparison ofelectrical and thermal specific energy consumption for a few selected countriesaround the world