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A Common Control Platform

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Combining the old and new production lines on a common FLSmidth ECS/ControlCenter™ Platform at Arghakhanchi Cement, Nepal.

Having experienced the benefits of the latest FLSmidth ECS/ControlCenter™ control software on its newest production line, Arghakhanchi Cement was convinced of the need to upgrade the obsolete and fault-prone software on its existing line 1. With both lines now controlled from a common platform, productivity has increased and knowledge sharing between operators has improved.

AN OBSOLETE CONTROL SYSTEM CAUSES PROBLEMS
Production line 1 at Arghakhanchi Cement in Nepal was experiencing an increasing amount of unplanned downtime, caused by an obsolete control system. It was resulting in a loss of production. But the issue came to a head when production line 2 was commissioned with the latest FLSmidth ECS/ControlCenter™ process control software. process control software. This really highlighted the benefits of a modern state-of-the-art control for achieving reliable productivity.
“When production line 2 was commissioned with ECS/ControlCenter v8, the benefits were evident. With easier fault tracing, advanced trending and reporting features, it is much easier to achieve stable operation, as operators can easily understand and fix potential issues,” explained Krishna Pandey, General Manager – Plant, Arghakhanchi Cement.
The old system was engineered without any standardisation, which meant only specific engineers knew how to troubleshoot and maintain the system.
“A great advantage of ECS/ControlCenter v8 is that everything is based on a standard system, so learning how to operate the system and extract information is simple and intuitive. This applies to everything from troubleshooting to configuring process analytics using trend and reporting tools, and even back-up and restore functions,”said Pandey.
“As a result, operators began to ask for a similar control system to replace the old system on production line 1,” he concluded.

INSTALLATION AND COMMISSIONING
To upgrade the obsolete control system in as cost-efficient a way as possible, much of the existing hardware, with complete I/Os and panels was retained and re-used. This not only made lasting use of the customer’s previous investment; it also has a sustainability advantage. The amount of waste generated and new
materials used is reduced – a key pillar of the circular economy.
PLCs and communication cards had to be replaced, as did the entire PLC programming code. To do so, FLSmidth employed several proven engineering and processing tools to ensure consistent and uniform structure in the PLC programmes.
For commissioning, FLSmidth ECS/ControlCenter v8 includes a device simulation mode that allows the operation of the entire plant to be simulated and tested as per process requirements. This helps to ensure smooth and quick commissioning, allowing any problems to be identified and solved, without impacting the real-world operations of the plant.

NEW AND OLD LINES: A COMMON FLSMIDTH CONTROL PLATFORM
As one example of the benefits of the new system, “all interlocks can be seen and bypassed by every authorised user, directly from the faceplate, most often from the engineering system,” explained Pandey. “It means the new system is very easy to operate and – most importantly – we avoid the plant tripping, as operators can take action very quickly. Before, it was very difficult to know the interlocks and impossible to bypass them from the faceplate, as each bypass required reprogramming of the PLC system,” he added.
The upgrade of production line 1 is another example of the benefits gained by customers using FLSmidth ECS/ControlCenter v8. It is also a demonstration of FLSmidth skills and expertise to suggest the optimum upgrade strategy, even for obsolete and third-party supplied PLC hardware.
“From a control and logistics point of view, we wanted to have one central control room for both lines,” said Pandey. “The new system from FLSmidth gives us more flexibility with process control, more powerful control capabilities over both lines and excellent reporting capabilities.”

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Concrete

Cement industry to gain from new infrastructure spending

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As per a news report, Karan Adani, ACC Chair, has said that he expects the cement industry to benefit from the an anticipated US$2.2tn in new public infrastructure spending between 2025 and 2030. In a statement he said that ACC has crossed the 100Mt/yr cement capacity milestone in April 2025, propelling the company to get closer to its ambitious 140Mt/yr target by the 2028 financial year. The company’s capacity corresponds to 15 per cent of an all-India installed capacity of 686Mt/yr.

Image source:https://cementplantsupplier.com/cement-manufacturing/emerging-trends-in-cement-manufacturing-technology/

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AI boom drives demand, says ACA

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The American Cement Association projects a nearly 1Mt annual increase in US cement demand over the next three years, driven by the surge in AI data centres. Consumption by data centres is expected to grow from 247,000 tonnes in 2025 to 860,000 tonnes by 2027. With over 5,400 AI data centres currently operating and numbers forecast to exceed 6,000 by 2027, the association cautions that regulatory hurdles and labour shortages may impact the industry’s ability to meet demand.

Image source:https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1zOrih.img?w=2000&h=1362&m=4&q=79

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GoldCrest Cement to build plant in India

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GoldCrest Cement will build a greenfield integrated plant with a 3.5Mt/yr clinker capacity and 4.5Mt/yr cement capacity. GoldCrest Cement appointed Humboldt Wedag India as engineering, procurement and construction contractor in March 2025 and targets completion by March 2027. It has signed a 40-year supply agreement with Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation for 150Mt of limestone from its upcoming Lakhpat Punrajpur mine in Gujarat.

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