Concrete

Pyroprocessing – Paving the Way for a More Sustainable Approach

Published

3 years ago

December 13, 2022

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Optimising pyroprocessing in cement production is the key to reducing carbon emissions along with use of alternative fuels, raw materials and advanced technology. ICR delves into how energy efficient systems can make the Indian cement industry achieve its net zero target, and lead the world by its example.

Cement is a key ingredient for building everything – from roads to buildings and more. There are six major stages to the cement manufacturing process:

raw material extraction or quarry
raw material grinding, preparation and blending
preheating
kiln stage
cooling and final grinding
packaging or shipping

The major raw materials for cement, i.e., limestone, clay, sand, etc. are quarried and crushed into smaller pieces of about six inches. They are further broken down into smaller pieces of three inches. The crushed raw ingredients are made ready for the cement-making process in the kiln by combining them with additives and grinding them to ensure a fine homogenous mixture. The composition of cement is proportioned here depending on the desired properties of the cement. Generally, limestone is 80 per cent of the composition, and the remaining 20 per cent is clay. In the cement plant, the raw mix is dried (moisture content reduced to less than 1 per cent); heavy wheel-type rollers and rotating tables blend the raw mix and then the roller crushes it to a fine powder to be stored in silos and fed to the kiln.
A preheating chamber consists of a series of cyclones that utilise hot gases produced from the kiln in order to reduce energy consumption and make the cement-making process more environment-friendly. The raw materials are passed through here and turned into oxides to be burned in the kiln.
In the kiln stage, the principal stage of cement making process, clinker is produced from the raw mix fed to the kiln through a series of chemical reactions. This process of clinker formation in the kiln at high temperature is known as pyroprocessing.
After exiting the kiln, the clinker is rapidly cooled down from 2000°C to 100°C-200°C by passing air over it. At this stage, different additives are combined with the clinker to be ground in order to produce the final product, cement. Gypsum is added to the clinker at this stage and ground with it. This gives cement its most important property, its compressive strength.
The heat produced by the clinker is circulated back to the kiln to save energy. The last stage of making cement is the final grinding process. In the cement plant, there are rotating drums fitted with steel balls. Clinker, after being cooled, is transferred to these rotating drums and ground into such a fine powder. Cement is conveyed from grinding mills to silos (large storage tanks) where it is packed and shipped in bulk quantities.

The Kiln Phase of Cement Manufacturing
Cement kilns are used for the pyroprocessing stage of manufacture of portland and other types of hydraulic cement, in which calcium carbonate reacts with silica-bearing minerals to form a mixture of calcium silicates.
Limestone is the major raw material used in the raw mix fed to the kiln. The calcination of limestone along with some additional raw materials. Once the raw mix is fed to the kiln, and gradually heated by the burning of fuel, successive chemical reactions take place as the temperature of the raw mix rises:

At a temperature of 70°C to 110°C the water or moisture content of the raw mix is evaporated to achieve a dry mix
As the temperature rises from 400oC to 600°C, the clay-like minerals are decomposed into their constituent oxides; principally SiO2 and Al2O3. dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) decomposes to calcium carbonate (CaCO3), MgO and CO2.
When the temperature further rises to 650°C to 900°C, the calcium carbonate reacts with SiO2 to form belite (Ca2SiO4) (also known as C2S in the Cement Industry).
As the temperature reaches 900°C to 1050°C, the remaining calcium carbonate decomposes to calcium oxide (CaO) and CO2.
Upon achieving maximum temperature of 1300°C to 1450°C, partial (20 per cent to 30 per cent) takes place, and belite reacts with calcium oxide to form alite (Ca3O·SiO4) (also known as C3S in the Cement Industry).

At the peak temperature of 1450°C, the reaction is complete. The partial melting causes the material to aggregate into lumps or nodules, typically of diameter 1–10 mm. This is called clinker. The hot clinker next falls into a cooler which recovers most of its heat, and cools the clinker to around 100 °C, at which temperature it can be conveniently conveyed to storage.
As cited by Dr SB Hegde in his paper, Significance of Liquid Content in Clinker, the most important clinker phase is C3S (alite), which requires the presence of liquid for its formation. In the absence of liquid, alite formation is extremely slow and it would render clinkering impossible. This fact also explains why alite is formed essentially in the burning zone, where the amount of liquid is at a maximum. To understand why alite formation requires liquid content, one must first understand the alite formation mechanism:

C2S and free CaO dissolves in the clinker melt.
Calcium ions migrate towards C2S through chemical diffusion.
C3S is formed and crystalised out of the liquid.

Without liquid phase the diffusion of Ca ions towards C2S would be extremely slow, and that of C2S almost impossible at clinkering temperature. It is important to mention that Na2O and K2O decrease the mobility of Ca ions, whereas MgO and sulphates considerably increase it. That is why addition of gypsum in the raw mix promotes alite formation.

Pyroprocessing Machinery
As one of the key roles in the cement manufacturing process, pyroprocessing solutions have been developed by multiple engineering giants in the industry to enhance and make this process efficient.

Preheaters are used in industrial dry kiln cement production plants to heat the raw mix and drive off carbon dioxide and water before it is fed into the kiln. There are three types of rotary kilns: kiln without preheater, kiln with preheater (PH), and kiln with both preheater and precalciner (PC). Kilns with PH are preferred to kilns without PH as they have lower energy consumption. For this reason, long rotary kilns without PH (long dry kilns) are being replaced over time. Thermal energy requirement is further reduced if a PH kiln is also equipped with a PC. New facilities usually include both PH and PC. A preheater (PH) is series of vertical cyclones in which the material is passed in counterflow with exhaust gases from the rotary kiln so that heat is transferred from the hot gas to the raw meal, which is therefore preheated and even partially calcined before entering the rotary kiln.
The moisture content of the raw materials determines the number of stages. Where moisture is less than 8.5 per cent, a PH kiln with 4 to 6 stages may be used. The higher the number of cyclone stages, the more the heat recovered. The energy demand of a 6-stage cyclone PH is about 60 MJ/t less than the demand of a 5-stage PH, and a 5-stage PH would save almost 90 MJ/t over a 4-stage PH.
Calciners represent a significant proportion of the fuel consumption i.e., up to 60 per cent of the total fuel consumed in the cement manufacturing process. The advancement and efficiency of a calciner, is therefore essential to overall fuel and process efficiency. Technically advanced calciners work on reducing the fuel consumption, thus, helping in reduction of NOx and carbon in the environment. Advanced calciners can be used with a variety of fuels like petroleum coke (petcoke) and anthracite and alternative fuels as well.

Pyroprocessing and Emissions
Carbon dioxide measured at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory peaked for 2022 at 420.99 parts per million in May, an increase of 1.8 parts per million over 2021, pushing the atmosphere further into territory not seen for millions of years. Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, which maintains an independent record, calculated a similar monthly average of 420.78 parts per million, as published on Forbes.com.

Inside the kiln at the peak temperature of 1450oC, the chemical reaction of the raw mix complete, resulting in the
formation of clinker.

Carbon dioxide pollution is generated by burning fossil fuels for transportation and electrical generation, by cement manufacturing, deforestation, agriculture, and many other practices.
The Emissions Gap Report 2022 report shows that updated national pledges since COP26 – held in 2021 in Glasgow, UK – make a negligible difference to predicted 2030 emissions and that we are far from the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to well below 2°C, preferably 1.5°C. Policies currently in place point to a 2.8°C temperature rise by the end of the century. Implementation of the current pledges will only reduce this to a 2.4-2.6°C temperature rise by the end of the century, for conditional and unconditional pledges respectively. The report finds that only an urgent system-wide transformation can deliver the enormous cuts needed to limit greenhouse gas emissions by 2030: 45 per cent compared with projections based on policies currently in place to get on track to 1.5°C and 30 per cent for 2°C.

The Emissions Gap Report 2022 suggests that only an urgent system-wide transformation can deliver the enormous
cuts needed to limit greenhouse gas emissions

The Indian cement industry is the second largest cement manufacturer in the world and a contributor towards the emission of carbon and other greenhouse gases. Calcination of limestone in the kiln (also known as pyroprocessing) emits the maximum carbon dioxide as a result of the chemical reaction and due to the use of fossil fuel to generate the heat in the kiln for the chemical reaction.
The industry is proactively working towards achieving Net Zero with the use of alternative fuels, raw materials and advancing its equipment in technology to achieve a higher productivity and energy efficient system that ultimately results in lower carbon generation.
Dr Hitesh Sukhwal, Deputy General Manager – Environment, Udaipur Cement Works Limited (UCWL), says, “JK Lakshmi Cement is the first organisation in the Indian Cement industry to install a Selective Non-Catalytic Resistance Equipment at their Sirohi plant for the mitigation of the oxides of nitrogen emitted during the manufacturing of cement. Subsequently at other plants of the organisation, this equipment has been installed for the mitigation of NOx emissions. As primary mitigation measures for NOx emissions, Oxy Rich, has been installed in the calciners at every manufacturing unit of the organisation with certain modifications made to suit each kiln.”
“We have taken up a target of achieving 10 per cent to 12 per cent of TSR by 2025 and up to 15 per cent by 2030. To achieve these targets, we will be installing alternative fuel feeding systems at our integrated cement plants, which are set to be executed by 2023. These alternative fuel feeding systems will be feeding both solid and liquid forms of fuels. For example, at our Durgh and Sirohi plants, both solid and liquid forms of alternative fuels and raw materials are used during pyroprocessing. At the Udaipur plant, liquid alternative fuels are being used which greatly helps in reduction of carbon emission. A major step that we have taken to curb the emission rate is to include the use of solar power in the power supply mix for the plants. Over 30 per cent renewable energy sources are being used in the energy mix of the power plants at all locations of JK Lakshmi Cement. We are tending towards the production of blended cement like Portland Slag Cement and Portland Pozzolana Cement in an effort to reduce the clinker to cement ratio. Besides the same, our grinding units are also equipped to prepare alternate cement or green cement” he adds.
Statista Report, November 2022, suggests that cement manufacturing emissions in India have experienced a steep climb in recent decades. In 2021, figures reached a high of 149 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (MtCO2). McKinsey & Company in its report, Laying the Foundation for Zero-Carbon Cement, states that it is unclear how the climate debate will unfold, reaching the goals by 2050 will be especially challenging for the cement industry, as most of its CO2 emissions result from the unavoidable chemical process known as calcination. Unlike other industries that may be further along, the development of new technologies to decarbonize cement might not be scalable for years. Nonetheless, in principle, the industry could reduce its 2017-level emissions by more than three-quarters by 2050.
Sanjay Joshi, Chief Manufacturing Officer, Nuvoco Vista, states, “Cementitious materials impact the energy consumption of cement manufacturing. These materials are easy to grind when compared to clinker which is the major constituent of cement. Thus, higher usage of cementitious materials helps in reducing energy consumption. Also, clinker usage directly involves limestone consumption as a raw material. Therefore, by using higher cementitious materials in the cement-making process, we are preserving the limestone available naturally.”
“Cement manufacturing is a closed loop wherein all raw materials from limestone mining to clinker production remain fully under controlled process parameters. The company focuses on reducing clinker consumption by increasing the blended cement ratio. Using these SCMs, Nuvoco is also aiming to save fossil fuel, along with the obvious reduction in carbon emissions. Additionally, SCMs increase the strength and durability of the product and reduce permeability,” he adds.
Rising emission of greenhouse gases, temperature and general pollution of the environment is a grave concern. It is being addressed at the global scale. The cement industry is participating actively in curbing their carbon emission rate and for the same adapting to new technologies, and alternatives to fuel and raw materials. From machinery and equipment to the formulations of blended cement, the process needs to be re-looked at to incorporate a sustainable approach to cement manufacturing while meeting the rising demands of construction and infrastructure across the globe.

-Kanika Mathur

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Concrete

Refractory demands in our kiln have changed

Published

21 hours ago

February 20, 2026

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Radha Singh, Senior Manager (P&Q), Shree Digvijay Cement, points out why performance, predictability and life-cycle value now matter more than routine replacement in cement kilns.

As Indian cement plants push for higher throughput, increased alternative fuel usage and tighter shutdown cycles, refractory performance in kilns and pyro-processing systems is under growing pressure. In this interview, Radha Singh, Senior Manager (P&Q), Shree Digvijay Cement, shares how refractory demands have evolved on the ground and how smarter digital monitoring is improving kiln stability, uptime and clinker quality.

How have refractory demands changed in your kiln and pyro-processing line over the last five years?
Over the last five years, refractory demands in our kiln and pyro line have changed. Earlier, the focus was mostly on standard grades and routine shutdown-based replacement. But now, because of higher production loads, more alternative fuels and raw materials (AFR) usage and greater temperature variation, the expectation from refractory has increased.
In our own case, the current kiln refractory has already completed around 1.5 years, which itself shows how much more we now rely on materials that can handle thermal shock, alkali attack and coating fluctuations. We have moved towards more stable, high-performance linings so that we don’t have to enter the kiln frequently for repairs.
Overall, the shift has been from just ‘installation and run’ to selecting refractories that give longer life, better coating behaviour and more predictable performance under tougher operating conditions.

What are the biggest refractory challenges in the preheater, calciner and cooler zones?
• Preheater: Coating instability, chloride/sulphur cycles and brick erosion.
• Calciner: AFR firing, thermal shock and alkali infiltration.
• Cooler: Severe abrasion, red-river formation and mechanical stress on linings.
Overall, the biggest challenge is maintaining lining stability under highly variable operating conditions.

How do you evaluate and select refractory partners for long-term performance?
In real plant conditions, we don’t select a refractory partner just by looking at price. First, we see their past performance in similar kilns and whether their material has actually survived our operating conditions. We also check how strong their technical support is during shutdowns, because installation quality matters as much as the material itself.
Another key point is how quickly they respond during breakdowns or hot spots. A good partner should be available on short notice. We also look at their failure analysis capability, whether they can explain why a lining failed and suggest improvements.
On top of this, we review the life they delivered in the last few campaigns, their supply reliability and their willingness to offer plant-specific custom solutions instead of generic grades. Only a partner who supports us throughout the life cycle, which includes selection, installation, monitoring and post-failure analysis, fits our long-term requirement.

Can you share a recent example where better refractory selection improved uptime or clinker quality?
Recently, we upgraded to a high-abrasion basic brick at the kiln outlet. Earlier we had frequent chipping and coating loss. With the new lining, thermal stability improved and the coating became much more stable. As a result, our shutdown interval increased and clinker quality remained more consistent. It had a direct impact on our uptime.

How is increased AFR use affecting refractory behaviour?
Increased AFR use is definitely putting more stress on the refractory. The biggest issue we see daily is the rise in chlorine, alkalis and volatiles, which directly attack the lining, especially in the calciner and kiln inlet. AFR firing is also not as stable as conventional fuel, so we face frequent temperature fluctuations, which cause more thermal shock and small cracks in the lining.
Another real problem is coating instability. Some days the coating builds too fast, other days it suddenly drops, and both conditions impact refractory life. We also notice more dust circulation and buildup inside the calciner whenever the AFR mix changes, which again increases erosion.
Because of these practical issues, we have started relying more on alkali-resistant, low-porosity and better thermal shock–resistant materials to handle the additional stress coming from AFR.

What role does digital monitoring or thermal profiling play in your refractory strategy?
Digital tools like kiln shell scanners, IR imaging and thermal profiling help us detect weakening areas much earlier. This reduces unplanned shutdowns, helps identify hotspots accurately and allows us to replace only the critical sections. Overall, our maintenance has shifted from reactive to predictive, improving lining life significantly.

How do you balance cost, durability and installation speed during refractory shutdowns?
We focus on three points:
• Material quality that suits our thermal profile and chemistry.
• Installation speed, in fast turnarounds, we prefer monolithic.
• Life-cycle cost—the cheapest material is not the most economical. We look at durability, future downtime and total cost of ownership.
This balance ensures reliable performance without unnecessary expenditure.

What refractory or pyro-processing innovations could transform Indian cement operations?
Some promising developments include:
• High-performance, low-porosity and nano-bonded refractories
• Precast modular linings to drastically reduce shutdown time
• AI-driven kiln thermal analytics
• Advanced coating management solutions
• More AFR-compatible refractory mixes

These innovations can significantly improve kiln stability, efficiency and maintenance planning across the industry.

Concrete

Digital supply chain visibility is critical

Published

22 hours ago

February 20, 2026

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MSR Kali Prasad, Chief Digital and Information Officer, Shree Cement, discusses how data, discipline and scale are turning Industry 4.0 into everyday business reality.

Over the past five years, digitalisation in Indian cement manufacturing has moved decisively beyond experimentation. Today, it is a strategic lever for cost control, operational resilience and sustainability. In this interview, MSR Kali Prasad, Chief Digital and Information Officer, Shree Cement, explains how integrated digital foundations, advanced analytics and real-time visibility are helping deliver measurable business outcomes.

How has digitalisation moved from pilot projects to core strategy in Indian cement manufacturing over the past five years?
Digitalisation in Indian cement has evolved from isolated pilot initiatives into a core business strategy because outcomes are now measurable, repeatable and scalable. The key shift has been the move away from standalone solutions toward an integrated digital foundation built on standardised processes, governed data and enterprise platforms that can be deployed consistently across plants and functions.
At Shree Cement, this transition has been very pragmatic. The early phase focused on visibility through dashboards, reporting, and digitisation of critical workflows. Over time, this has progressed into enterprise-level analytics and decision support across manufacturing and the supply chain,
with clear outcomes in cost optimisation, margin protection and revenue improvement through enhanced customer experience.
Equally important, digital is no longer the responsibility of a single function. It is embedded into day-to-day operations across planning, production, maintenance, despatch and customer servicing, supported by enterprise systems, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) data platforms, and a structured approach to change management.

Which digital interventions are delivering the highest ROI across mining, production and logistics today?
In a capital- and cost-intensive sector like cement, the highest returns come from digital interventions that directly reduce unit costs or unlock latent capacity without significant capex.
Supply chain and planning (advanced analytics): Tools for demand forecasting, S&OP, network optimisation and scheduling deliver strong returns by lowering logistics costs, improving service levels, and aligning production with demand in a fragmented and regionally diverse market.
Mining (fleet and productivity analytics): Data-led mine planning, fleet analytics, despatch discipline, and idle-time reduction improve fuel efficiency and equipment utilisation, generating meaningful savings in a cost-heavy operation.
Manufacturing (APC and process analytics): Advanced Process Control, mill optimisation, and variability reduction improve thermal and electrical efficiency, stabilise quality and reduce rework and unplanned stoppages.
Customer experience and revenue enablement (digital platforms): Dealer and retailer apps, order visibility and digitally enabled technical services improve ease of doing business and responsiveness. We are also empowering channel partners with transparent, real-time information on schemes, including eligibility, utilisation status and actionable recommendations, which improves channel satisfaction and market execution while supporting revenue growth.
Overall, while Artificial Intelligence (AI) and IIoT are powerful enablers, it is advanced analytics anchored in strong processes that typically delivers the fastest and most reliable ROI.

How is real-time data helping plants shift from reactive maintenance to predictive and prescriptive operations?
Real-time and near real-time data is driving a more proactive and disciplined maintenance culture, beginning with visibility and progressively moving toward prediction and prescription.
At Shree Cement, we have implemented a robust SAP Plant Maintenance framework to standardise maintenance workflows. This is complemented by IIoT-driven condition monitoring, ensuring consistent capture of equipment health indicators such as vibration, temperature, load, operating patterns and alarms.
Real-time visibility enables early detection of abnormal conditions, allowing teams to intervene before failures occur. As data quality improves and failure histories become structured, predictive models can anticipate likely failure modes and recommend timely interventions, improving MTBF and reducing downtime. Over time, these insights will evolve into prescriptive actions, including spares readiness, maintenance scheduling, and operating parameter adjustments, enabling reliability optimisation with minimal disruption.
A critical success factor is adoption. Predictive insights deliver value only when they are embedded into daily workflows, roles and accountability structures. Without this, they remain insights without action.

In a cost-sensitive market like India, how do cement companies balance digital investment with price competitiveness?
In India’s intensely competitive cement market, digital investments must be tightly linked to tangible business outcomes, particularly cost reduction, service improvement, and faster decision-making.
This balance is achieved by prioritising high-impact use cases such as planning efficiency, logistics optimisation, asset reliability, and process stability, all of which typically deliver quick payback. Equally important is building scalable and governed digital foundations that reduce the marginal cost of rolling out new use cases across plants.
Digitally enabled order management, live despatch visibility, and channel partner platforms also improve customer centricity while controlling cost-to-serve, allowing service levels to improve without proportionate increases in headcount or overheads.
In essence, the most effective digital investments do not add cost. They protect margins by reducing variability, improving planning accuracy, and strengthening execution discipline.

How is digitalisation enabling measurable reductions in energy consumption, emissions, and overall carbon footprint?
Digitalisation plays a pivotal role in improving energy efficiency, reducing emissions and lowering overall carbon intensity.
Real-time monitoring and analytics enable near real-time tracking of energy consumption and critical operating parameters, allowing inefficiencies to be identified quickly and corrective actions to be implemented. Centralised data consolidation across plants enables benchmarking, accelerates best-practice adoption, and drives consistent improvements in energy performance.
Improved asset reliability through predictive maintenance reduces unplanned downtime and process instability, directly lowering energy losses. Digital platforms also support more effective planning and control of renewable energy sources and waste heat recovery systems, reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
Most importantly, digitalisation enables sustainability progress to be tracked with greater accuracy and consistency, supporting long-term ESG commitments.

What role does digital supply chain visibility play in managing demand volatility and regional market dynamics in India?
Digital supply chain visibility is critical in India, where demand is highly regional, seasonality is pronounced, and logistics constraints can shift rapidly.
At Shree Cement, planning operates across multiple horizons. Annual planning focuses on capacity, network footprint and medium-term demand. Monthly S&OP aligns demand, production and logistics, while daily scheduling drives execution-level decisions on despatch, sourcing and prioritisation.
As digital maturity increases, this structure is being augmented by central command-and-control capabilities that manage exceptions such as plant constraints, demand spikes, route disruptions and order prioritisation. Planning is also shifting from aggregated averages to granular, cost-to-serve and exception-based decision-making, improving responsiveness, lowering logistics costs and strengthening service reliability.

How prepared is the current workforce for Industry 4.0, and what reskilling strategies are proving most effective?
Workforce preparedness for Industry 4.0 is improving, though the primary challenge lies in scaling capabilities consistently across diverse roles.
The most effective approach is to define capability requirements by role and tailor enablement accordingly. Senior leadership focuses on digital literacy for governance, investment prioritisation, and value tracking. Middle management is enabled to use analytics for execution discipline and adoption. Frontline sales and service teams benefit from
mobile-first tools and KPI-driven workflows, while shop-floor and plant teams focus on data-driven operations, APC usage, maintenance discipline, safety and quality routines.
Personalised, role-based learning paths, supported by on-ground champions and a clear articulation of practical benefits, drive adoption far more effectively than generic training programmes.

Which emerging digital technologies will fundamentally reshape cement manufacturing in the next decade?
AI and GenAI are expected to have the most significant impact, particularly when combined with connected operations and disciplined processes.
Key technologies likely to reshape the sector include GenAI and agentic AI for faster root-cause analysis, knowledge access, and standardisation of best practices; industrial foundation models that learn patterns across large sensor datasets; digital twins that allow simulation of process changes before implementation; and increasingly autonomous control systems that integrate sensors, AI, and APC to maintain stability with minimal manual intervention.
Over time, this will enable more centralised monitoring and management of plant operations, supported by strong processes, training and capability-building.

Concrete

Redefining Efficiency with Digitalisation

Published

22 hours ago

February 20, 2026

admin

Professor Procyon Mukherjee discusses how as the cement industry accelerates its shift towards digitalisation, data-driven technologies are becoming the mainstay of sustainability and control across the value chain.

The cement industry, long perceived as traditional and resistant to change, is undergoing a profound transformation driven by digital technologies. As global infrastructure demand grows alongside increasing pressure to decarbonise and improve productivity, cement manufacturers are adopting data-centric tools to enhance performance across the value chain. Nowhere is this shift more impactful than in grinding, which is the energy-intensive final stage of cement production, and in the materials that make grinding more efficient: grinding media and grinding aids.

The imperative for digitalisation
Cement production accounts for roughly 7 per cent to 8 per cent of global CO2 emissions, largely due to the energy intensity of clinker production and grinding processes. Digital solutions, such as AI-driven process controls and digital twins, are helping plants improve stability, cut fuel use and reduce emissions while maintaining consistent product quality. In one deployment alongside ABB’s process controls at a Heidelberg plant in Czechia, AI tools cut fuel use by 4 per cent and emissions by 2 per cent, while also improving operational stability.
Digitalisation in cement manufacturing encompasses a suite of technologies, broadly termed as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), AI and machine learning, predictive analytics, cloud-based platforms, advanced process control and digital twins, each playing a role in optimising various stages of production from quarrying to despatch.

Grinding: The crucible of efficiency and cost
Of all the stages in cement production, grinding is among the most energy-intensive, historically consuming large amounts of electricity and representing a significant portion of plant operating costs. As a result, optimising grinding operations has become central to digital transformation strategies.
Modern digital systems are transforming grinding mills from mechanical workhorses into intelligent, interconnected assets. Sensors throughout the mill measure parameters such as mill load, vibration, mill speed, particle size distribution, and power consumption. This real-time data, fed into machine learning and advanced process control (APC) systems, can dynamically adjust operating conditions to maintain optimal throughput and energy usage.
For example, advanced grinding systems now predict inefficient conditions, such as impending mill overload, by continuously analysing acoustic and vibration signatures. The system can then proactively adjust clinker feed rates and grinding media distribution to sustain optimal conditions, reducing energy consumption and improving consistency.

Digital twins: Seeing grinding in the virtual world
One of the most transformative digital tools applied in cement grinding is the digital twin, which a real-time virtual replica of physical equipment and processes. By integrating sensor data and
process models, digital twins enable engineers to simulate process variations and run ‘what-if’
scenarios without disrupting actual production. These simulations support decisions on variables such as grinding media charge, mill speed and classifier settings, allowing optimisation of energy use and product fineness.
Digital twins have been used to optimise kilns and grinding circuits in plants worldwide, reducing unplanned downtime and allowing predictive maintenance to extend the life of expensive grinding assets.

Grinding media and grinding aids in a digital era
While digital technologies improve control and prediction, materials science innovations in grinding media and grinding aids have become equally crucial for achieving performance gains.
Grinding media, which comprise the balls or cylinders inside mills, directly influence the efficiency of clinker comminution. Traditionally composed of high-chrome cast iron or forged steel, grinding media account for nearly a quarter of global grinding media consumption by application, with efficiency improvements translating directly to lower energy intensity.
Recent advancements include ceramic and hybrid media that combine hardness and toughness to reduce wear and energy losses. For example, manufacturers such as Sanxin New Materials in China and Tosoh Corporation in Japan have developed sub-nano and zirconia media with exceptional wear resistance. Other innovations include smart media embedded with sensors to monitor wear, temperature, and impact forces in real time, enabling predictive maintenance and optimal media replacement scheduling. These digitally-enabled media solutions can increase grinding efficiency by as much as 15 per cent.
Complementing grinding media are grinding aids, which are chemical additives that improve mill throughput and reduce energy consumption by altering the surface properties of particles, trapping air, and preventing re-agglomeration. Technology leaders like SIKA AG and GCP Applied Technologies have invested in tailored grinding aids compatible with AI-driven dosing platforms that automatically adjust additive concentrations based on real-time mill conditions. Trials in South America reported throughput improvements nearing 19 per cent when integrating such digital assistive dosing with process control systems.
The integration of grinding media data and digital dosing of grinding aids moves the mill closer to a self-optimising system, where AI not only predicts media wear or energy losses but prescribes optimal interventions through automated dosing and operational adjustments.

Global case studies in digital adoption
Several cement companies around the world exemplify digital transformation in practice.
Heidelberg Materials has deployed digital twin technologies across global plants, achieving up to 15 per cent increases in production efficiency and 20 per cent reductions in energy consumption by leveraging real-time analytics and predictive algorithms.
Holcim’s Siggenthal plant in Switzerland piloted AI controllers that autonomously adjusted kiln operations, boosting throughput while reducing specific energy consumption and emissions.
Cemex, through its AI and predictive maintenance initiatives, improved kiln availability and reduced maintenance costs by predicting failures before they occurred. Global efforts also include AI process optimisation initiatives to reduce energy consumption and environmental impact.

Challenges and the road ahead
Despite these advances, digitalisation in cement grinding faces challenges. Legacy equipment may lack sensor readiness, requiring retrofits and edge-cloud connectivity upgrades. Data governance and integration across plants and systems remains a barrier for many mid-tier producers. Yet, digital transformation statistics show momentum: more than half of cement companies have implemented IoT sensors for equipment monitoring, and digital twin adoption is growing rapidly as part of broader Industry 4.0 strategies.
Furthermore, as digital systems mature, they increasingly support sustainability goals: reduced energy use, optimised media consumption and lower greenhouse gas emissions. By embedding intelligence into grinding circuits and material inputs like grinding aids, cement manufacturers can strike a balance between efficiency and environmental stewardship.
Conclusion
Digitalisation is not merely an add-on to cement manufacturing. It is reshaping the competitive and sustainability landscape of an industry often perceived as inertia-bound. With grinding representing a nexus of energy intensity and cost, digital technologies from sensor networks and predictive analytics to digital twins offer new levers of control. When paired with innovations in grinding media and grinding aids, particularly those with embedded digital capabilities, plants can achieve unprecedented gains in efficiency, predictability and performance.
For global cement producers aiming to reduce costs and carbon footprints simultaneously, the future belongs to those who harness digital intelligence not just to monitor operations, but to optimise and evolve them continuously.

About the author:
Professor Procyon Mukherjee, ex-CPO Lafarge-Holcim India, ex-President Hindalco, ex-VP Supply Chain Novelis Europe, has been an industry leader in logistics, procurement, operations and supply chain management. His career spans 38 years starting from Philips, Alcan Inc (Indian Aluminum Company), Hindalco, Novelis and Holcim. He authored the book, ‘The Search for Value in Supply Chains’. He serves now as Visiting Professor in SP Jain Global, SIOM and as the Adjunct Professor at SBUP. He advises leading Global Firms including Consulting firms on SCM and Industrial Leadership and is a subject matter expert in aluminum and cement. An Alumnus of IIM Calcutta and Jadavpur University, he has completed the LH Senior Leadership Programme at IVEY Academy at Western University, Canada.