Rizwan Sabjan, Head – Regional Sales Enablement, FLSmidth, sheds light on the use and implementation of connectivity-based technologies and AI for the smooth transitioning of the cement industry from manual to automated processes that make cement plants more sustainable and greener.

Tell us about the role of technology in increasing the productivity of cement. Which of your equipment can contribute to the same?

Recently, the cement industries have seen a change in what shapes growth. The spotlight has shifted from increasing capacity to enhancing productivity. Digitisation has considerable advantages to make this shift possible. To support our customers, we are building a growing portfolio of digital solutions that connect, monitor and optimise performance, in response to the demands of this changing business landscape. We call it FLSmidth ENABLR, because it enables customers to simplify their operations and improve productivity.

Which technology is underrated and less used by cement makers, but is likely to prove beneficial in the long run?

Advance Process Control systems are very often seen as one of the main drivers needed to reach the dream of autonomous operations. In this context, it’s commonly portrayed in the media that artificial intelligence (AI) is replacing APC systems. But this wrongly assumes that AI is already a synonym for fully autonomous operations. This kind of misrepresentation does not help, as such fully autonomous continuous-process plants are still not that close to reality. The ability of AI technologies to continuously adapt to changing conditions to find the optimal operating parameters and targets is one of the key areas in which AI can improve the ability of APC systems to optimise cement processes.

Cognitive augmentation: The ability to gather, analyse and combine various data streams in real time can bring relatively quick benefits from operational and safety perspectives. One example would be building new virtual sensors to replace unreliable or unavailable signals, particularly when the instrumentation is placed in risky areas or is often out of service.

Smart controllers: In certain contexts, controllers, such as linear and non-linear MPCs or fuzzy, can be enhanced and complemented by virtual models of machinery or processes, known as digital twins. If the digital twins are done well, they can be used to find the controller’s optimum parameters, which leads to more stable processes, achieves higher production and quality levels, or decreases the amount of energy or water used.

Dynamic adaptiveness: Many cement processes are by nature nonlinear and time-varying: this means that actions that were optimal to achieve specific goals yesterday (or even an hour ago) may be suboptimal or even inefficient now. A clear example of this is the cement kiln, where a strong push to substitute fossil fuels with alternative fuels, in as high a ratio as possible, makes stabilisation and optimisation a challenging task, both for human and expert systems.

Most equipment and machinery in plants are often regularly inspected visually. Can these inspections be made more precise and pre-empt damage to save downtime and costs?

With equipment in continuous use, damage can happen at any time. While visual inspections are important to provide broad, contextualised operational insights, relying only on intermittent site visits puts customers at the risk of missing the early warning signs that could enable them to drastically reduce both downtime and expenses. Online condition monitoring is a continuous service that enables customers to detect potential failures well in advance, giving them plenty of time to take preventative action and avoid actual failure.

All these symptoms warn the customers that damage is imminent. In many cases, when the visible symptoms appear, it is already much too late for an ‘easy’ fix. By contrast, sensors on customer equipment are able to capture data that may be otherwise ‘invisible. Our online condition monitoring services connect this data to the cloud where it is continuously monitored and trended. If something is wrong, an alarm notifies our team of experts who are able to analyse the data remotely and develop a recommended action plan to rectify the fault well ahead of it escalating. It’s a low-stress, low-cost, low-risk approach to maintenance that offers high returns.

–Kanika Mathur

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