Economy & Market

We are actively working on sludge utilisation

Published

1 year ago

May 13, 2025

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Dr Yogendra Kanitkar, VP – Research and Development, Pi Green Innovations, discusses groundbreaking, scalable clean-tech solutions.

As the world races to combat climate change, a simple observation sparked a powerful vision for a pollution-free tomorrow. Dr Yogendra Kanitkar, VP – Research and Development, Pi Green Innovations, talks to Kanika Mathur about how filter-less technology is changing the game – from capturing soot to permanently sequestering CO2 in building materials. Read on to explore how this startup is turning industrial waste into climate solutions.

Can you briefly introduce Pi Green Innovations and its mission for a pollution-free tomorrow?
Pi Green Innovations is a clean tech startup. Our founders are Irfan Pathan, Shantanu Sonaikar, and Rizwan Shaikh. We started with a vision of a pollution-free tomorrow. Our founder, Rizwan Shaikh, observed the dust accumulation on AC filters and realised Delhi’s air pollution was a massive issue. Inspired to create a solution, he began searching for a filterless technology to clean air. That’s how the initial Carbon Cutter machine was conceptualised. The first application was for diesel generators. In 2012–2013, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered diesel generator operators to install Retrofit Emission Control Devices (RECDs) to capture more than 70 per cent of particulate matter. This initially rolled out in Delhi NCR and later became mandatory nationwide.
We invented a filterless technology using electrostatic precipitation (ESP) to capture soot from diesel generators without interfacing with the engine. The soot is collected in a separate tank or vessel that can be cleaned later. This innovation gained traction, and major diesel generator OEMs became our channel partners, certifying and fitting our devices to their generators.
Later, some customers asked if we could also capture gaseous emissions like SOx and NOx. While exploring this, we accidentally discovered that our technology had a greater affinity for capturing CO2. This led to the birth of the Net Zero Machine — a point-source greenhouse gas capture device that converts CO2 into carbonates using accelerated mineral carbonation technology.
To our knowledge, we are the only company in India to operate this technology at such a large scale. While typical lab-scale pilots capture around 1 tonne of CO2 per day, our largest pilot with an Institutional Thermal Power Plant Operator which will be commissioned soon. It will two tonnes of CO2 per day, operational for 21 consecutive days.
Our focus is not just on carbon capture but on carbon utilisation — turning captured CO2 into building materials like bricks, aggregates and road fill. This provides a scalable solution to address industrial emissions while creating valuable byproducts.

How does your Net Zero Machine contribute to carbon capture and green cement production?
To understand our contribution, you first need to understand how cement is produced. Cement production typically involves calcining dolomite to form clinker — the main binding agent in cement. Our ethos is to use industrial waste to capture CO2. We have developed 10 different chemistries with the Net Zero Machine tailored for hard-to-abate sectors like cement, steel, petrochemicals, FMCG and others. For instance, if we are operating at a thermal power plant, we use the fly ash generated there along with other chemicals. When the flue gas passes through the Net Zero Machine, it reacts to form a sludge that self-hardens upon curing. This sludge can be moulded into bricks, road fill, coarse aggregates and other building materials. Importantly, the CO2 captured is permanently sequestered within the solid material — it will not release back unless heated to above 600°C. Unlike other technologies, like amine-based or retisol systems that produce pure CO2 gas, our process embeds CO2 into solid building materials, ensuring long-term storage.
In the cement industry context, let’s say we are working with a steel manufacturer. Normally, blast furnace slag is sold as a cement additive. In our case, we carbonate the industrial waste like slag — through the Net Zero Machine. The carbonation adds CO2 mass into the material, which can then be used as a substitute for clinker or other additives in cement production. For example, if you start with one tonne of blast furnace slag and add 500 kg of CO2 during carbonation, you end up with 1.5 tonnes of carbonated slag. Chemically, the properties remain largely similar.
Thus, instead of disturbing the existing symbiosis between industries like steel and cement, we add value by enhancing the material mass and permanently sequestering carbon — directly contributing to the decarbonisation of the cement industry.

What makes your carbon-negative bricks unique compared to conventional building materials?
They are different in two major aspects. First, if you look at how traditional bricks are made, you take sand, add a binder and then bake the bricks at high temperatures. Each of these steps requires a certain amount of energy, and the biggest energy input is during the baking process, where fossil fuels are burned, emitting CO2.
Now, when you use our bricks, because they are made from industrial waste, there is no CO2 output associated with the raw material itself. You are avoiding emissions by substituting traditional bricks with our product. This is known as an ‘avoidance credit’ or avoided CO2 — you are preventing a certain amount of CO2 emissions by choosing a product with a lower carbon footprint.
The second aspect is the way we manufacture our bricks. We do not bake them. Instead, the bricks are sun-dried and carbonated. The industrial waste, like blast furnace slag or fly ash, is carbonated and self-hardens to form the brick. This means the brick already has captured and sequestered CO2 stored within it.
So, in our product, you have two forms of CO2 benefits: one is captured CO2, and the other is avoided CO2. When you combine these two, that becomes our unique selling proposition compared to normal bricks. That’s why we call them carbon-negative bricks.

How scalable is your Net Zero solution for industries like cement manufacturing?
For the cement industry, scalability is built into the core of our Net Zero solution. Our machine is entirely modular. What we usually propose to clients is: install one unit first, see how it works and then scale up. We have the flexibility to install up to a hundred units in a facility. It is very scalable and modular — you can easily grow based on requirements.
Now, the scaling isn’t purely linear or exponential, but it definitely scales, and there’s a cost curve based on techno-economic analysis where we help clients determine the optimum amount of CO2 they want to capture.

In your view, how critical is CCUS technology for India’s decarbonisation journey, especially in heavy industries?
It is highly critical. If you are exporting to carbon-sensitive markets, you are likely to be hit with a carbon tariff. The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is one such example. Even within India, the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS) has been notified, and around 283 entities have been obligated to reduce their CO2 footprints. So, Indian industries should wake up to this reality. If you want to remain competitive in foreign markets, adopting CCUS is non-negotiable.
Specifically for cement manufacturers — and speaking frankly — the margins are razor-thin. Steel manufacturers might still afford a capture cost of $50 per tonne of CO2, but for cement companies that’s much harder. That’s where we come in. Our cost of CO2 capture is significantly lower than conventional market solutions. We can achieve capture costs of less than $25 to $30 per tonne. That’s a game-changer.

What future innovations is Pi Green working on to further advance sustainable construction practices?
There are two broad approaches we are pursuing under Project Net Zero. First, under carbon capture utilisation, we are working on using the sludge generated from industrial waste in very innovative ways to sequester CO2 and form different products out of it. That’s an active vertical.
The second vertical involves evaluating whether our technology can be coupled with Compressed Biogas (CBG) plants. In CBG plants, a major impurity in the biogas is CO2. If we remove that CO2, we can increase the purity of the fuel, turning it into high-quality PNG or CNG. This purified fuel can then be used in internal combustion engines and other applications.
Another interest for us in the near future is to evaluate if NetZero Technology can be coupled with coal gasification to produce blue hydrogen.
Besides that, we are actively working on sludge utilisation — finding multiple pathways to make valuable products from the byproducts of the Net Zero process.
Those are the three major innovations we are actively working on.

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PROMECON introduces infrared-based tertiary air measurement system for cement kilns

Published

14 hours ago

May 20, 2026

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The new solution promisescontinuous, real-time tertiary air flow measurement in cement plant operations.

PROMECON GmbH has launched the McON IR Compact, an infrared-based measuring system designed to deliver continuous, real-time tertiary air flow measurement in cement plant operations. The system addresses the longstanding process control challenge of accurate tertiary air monitoring under extreme kiln conditions. It uses patented infrared time-of-flight measurement technology that operates without calibration or maintenance intervention.

Precise tertiary air measurement is a critical requirement for stable rotary kiln operation. The McON IR Compact is engineered to function reliably at temperatures up to 1,200°C and in the presence of abrasive clinker dust. Its vector-based digital measurement architecture ensures that readings remain unaffected by swirl, dust deposits or drift. Due to these conditions conventional measurement systems in pyroprocess environments are often compromised.

The system is fully non-intrusive and requires no K-factors, recalibration or periodic readjustment, enabling years of uninterrupted operation. This design directly supports plant availability and reduces the maintenance overhead typically associated with process instrumentation in high-temperature zones.

PROMECON has deployed the McON IR Compact at multiple cement facilities, including Warta Cement in Poland. Plant operators report that the system has aided in identifying blockages, optimising purging cycles for gas burners, and supplying accurate flow data for AI-based process optimisation programmes. The practical outcomes include more stable kiln operation, improved process control, and earlier detection of process disturbances.

On the energy side, real-time tertiary air data enables reduction in induced draft fan load and helps flatten process oscillations across the pyroprocess. This translates to lower fuel and energy consumption, fewer unplanned shutdowns, and a measurable reduction in NOx peaks. This directly reflects on the downstream cost implications for plants operating SCR or SNCR systems for emissions compliance.

Concrete

Filtration Technology is Critical for Efficient Logistics

Published

6 days ago

May 15, 2026

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Niranjan Kirloskar, MD, Fleetguard Filters, makes the case that filtration technology, which has been long treated as a routine consumable, is in fact a strategic performance enabler across every stage of cement production and logistics.

India’s cement industry forms the core for infrastructure growth of the country. With an expected compound annual growth rate of six to eight per cent, India has secured its position as the second-largest cement producer globally. This growth is a result of the increasing demand across, resulting in capacity expansion. Consequently, cement manufacturers are now also focusing on running the factories as efficiently as possible to stay competitive and profitable.
While a large portion of focus still remains on production technologies and capacity utilisation, the hidden factor in profitability is the efficiency of cement logistics. The logistics alone account for nearly 30 per cent to 40 per cent of the total cost of cement, making efficiency in this segment a key lever for profitability and reliability.
In the midst of this complex and high-intensity ecosystem, filtration often remains one of the most underappreciated yet essential enablers of performance.

A demanding operational landscape
Cement production and logistics inherently operate in some of the harshest industrial environments. With processes such as quarrying, crushing, grinding, clinker production, and bulk material handling expose the machinery to constant high temperatures, heavy loads, and dust, often the silent destructive force for engines.
The ecosystem is abrasive, and often one with a high contamination index. These challenging conditions demand equipment such as the excavators, crushers, compressors, and transport vehicles to perform and perform efficiently. The continuous exposure to contamination across every aspect like air, fuel, lubrication, and even hydraulic systems causes long-term damage. Studies have also shown that 70 to 80 per cent of hydraulic system failures are directly linked to contamination, while primary cause of engine wear is inadequate air filtration.
For engines as heavy as these, even a minor contaminant has a cascading effect; reducing efficiency, performance and culminating to unplanned downtime. Particles as small as 5 to 10 microns, far smaller than a human hair (~70 microns), can cause significant damage to critical engine components. In an industry where margins are closely linked to operational efficiency, such disruptions can significantly affect both cost structures and delivery timelines.

Dust management: A persistent challenge
Dust is a natural by-product in cement operations. From drilling and blasting in the quarries to packing in plants, this fine particulate matter does occupy a large space in operations. Dust concentration levels in quarry and crushing zones often create extremely high particulate exposure for equipment. These fine particles, when enter the engines and critical systems, accelerates the wear and tear of the component, affecting directly the operational efficiency. Over time every block fall; engine performance declines, fuel consumption rises, and maintenance cycles shorten. In this case, effective air filtration is the natural first line of defence. Advanced filtration systems are designed to capture high volumes of particulate matter while maintaining consistent airflow, ensuring that engines and equipment operate under optimal conditions.
In high-dust applications, as in cement production, even the filtration systems are expected to sustain performance over extended periods without the need of frequent replacement. This becomes crucial in remote quarry locations where access to frequent maintenance may be limited.

Fluid cleanliness and system integrity
Beyond air filtration, fluid systems also play a crucial role for equipment reliability in cement operations. Fuel systems are required to remain free from contaminants for efficient working of combustion and injection protection. Additionally, lubrication systems also need to maintain the oil purity to reduce friction and prevent any premature wear of moving parts. The hydraulic systems, which are key to several heavy equipment operations, are especially sensitive to contamination.
If fine particles or water enters these systems, it can lead to reduced efficiency, erratic performance, and eventual failure of the system. Modern filtration systems are designed with high-efficiency media capable of removing extremely fine contaminants, with advanced fuel and oil filtration solutions filtering particles as small as two to five microns. Multi-stage filtration systems further ensure that fluid performance is maintained even under challenging operating conditions.
Another critical aspect of fuel systems is water separation. Removing moisture helps prevent corrosion, improves combustion efficiency and enhances overall engine reliability. Modern water separation technologies can achieve over 95 per cent efficiency in removing water from fuel systems.

Ensuring reliability across the value chain
Filtration plays a critical role across every stage of cement logistics:
• Quarry operations: Equipment operates in highly abrasive environments, requiring strong protection against dust ingress and hydraulic contamination.
• Processing units: Crushers, kilns, and grinding mills depend on clean lubrication and cooling systems to sustain continuous operations.
• Material handling systems: Pneumatic and mechanical systems rely on clean air and fluid systems for efficiency and reliability.
• Transportation networks: Bulk carriers and trucks must maintain engine health and fuel efficiency to ensure timely deliveries.
Across these operations, filtration plays a vital role; as it supports consistent equipment performance while reducing the risk of unexpected failures.
Effective filtration solutions can reduce unscheduled equipment failures by 30 to 50 per cent across heavy-duty operations.

Uptime as a strategic imperative
In cement manufacturing, uptime is currency. Downtime not only delays the production, but it also greatly impacts the supply commitments and logistics planning. With the right filtration systems, contaminants are kept at bay from entering the
critical systems, and they also significantly extend the service intervals.
Optimised filtration can extend service intervals by 20 to 40 per cent, reducing maintenance frequency while maintaining consistent performance across demanding operating conditions. Filtration systems designed for heavy-duty applications sustain efficiency throughout their lifecycle, ensuring reliable protection with minimal interruptions. This leads to improved equipment availability, lower maintenance costs, and more predictable operations, with well-maintained systems capable of achieving uptime levels of over 90 to 95 per cent in challenging cement environments.

Supporting emission and sustainability goals
With the rising environmental awareness, the cement industry too is aligning with the stricter norms and sustainability targets. In this scenario, the operational efficiency is directly linked to emission control.

Air and fuel systems that are clean enable
much more efficient combustion. They also reduce emissions from both the stationary equipment and transport fleets. Similarly, with a well-maintained fluid cleanliness, emission systems function better. Poor combustion due to contamination can increase emissions by 5 to 10 per cent, making clean systems critical for compliance.
Additionally, efficient and longer lasting filtration systems significantly reduce any waste generation and contribute to increased sustainable maintenance practices. Extended-life filtration solutions can reduce filter disposal and maintenance waste by 15 to 20 per cent. Smart and efficient filtration in this case plays an important role in meeting the both regulatory and environmental objectives within the industry.

Advancements in filtration technology
Over the years, there has been a significant evolution in the filtration technology to meet the modern industrial applications.
Key developments include:
• High-efficiency filtration media capable of capturing very fine particles without restricting flow
• Compact and integrated designs that combine multiple filtration functions
• Extended service life solutions that reduce replacement frequency and maintenance downtime
• Application-specific engineering tailored to different stages of cement operations
Modern multi-layer filtration media can improve dust-holding capacity by up to two to three times compared to conventional systems, while maintaining consistent performance. These advancements have transformed filtration from a basic maintenance component into a critical performance system.

Adapting to diverse operating conditions
The cement industry of India operates across diverse geographies. Spanning across regions with arid regions with higher dust levels, to the coastal areas with higher humidity, challenges of each region pose different threats to the engines. Modern filtration systems are thus tailored to address these unique challenges of each region.
Indian operating environments often range from 0°C to over 50°C, with some of the highest dust loads globally in mining zones.
Additionally, filtration technology can also be customised to variations which then align the system design with factors like dust load, temperature, and equipment usage patterns. Equipment utilisation levels in India are typically higher than global averages, making robust filtration even more critical. This approach ensures optimal performance and durability across different operational contexts.

Impact on total cost of ownership
Filtration has a direct and measurable impact on the total cost of ownership of equipment.
Effective filtration leads to:
• Lower wear and tear on critical components
• Reduced maintenance and repair costs
• Improved fuel efficiency
• Extended equipment life
• Higher operational uptime
Effective filtration can extend engine life by 20 to 30 per cent and reduce overall maintenance costs by 15 to 25 per cent over the equipment lifecycle. These benefits collectively enhance productivity and reduce lifecycle costs. Conversely, inadequate filtration can result in frequent breakdowns, increased maintenance expenditure, and reduced asset utilisation.

Building a more efficient cement ecosystem
With the rising demand across various sectors, the cement industry is expected to expand at an unprecedented rate. This growth is forcing the production to move towards a more efficient and resilient system of operations. This requires attention not only to production technologies but also to the supporting systems that enable consistent performance. Filtration must be viewed as a strategic investment rather than a routine consumable. By ensuring the cleanliness of air and fluids across systems, it supports reliability, efficiency, and sustainability.

The road ahead
The future of cement logistics will be shaped by increasing mechanisation, digital monitoring, and stricter environmental standards. The industry is also witnessing a shift towards predictive maintenance and condition monitoring, where filtration performance is increasingly integrated with real-time equipment diagnostics.
In this evolving landscape, the role of filtration will become even more critical. As equipment becomes more advanced and operating conditions more demanding, the need for precise contamination control will continue to grow. From quarry to construction site, filtration technology underpins the performance of every critical system. It enables equipment to operate efficiently, reduces operational risks, and supports the industry’s broader goals of growth and sustainability. In many ways, it is the unseen force that keeps the cement ecosystem moving, quietly ensuring that every link in the value chain performs as expected.

About the author
Niranjan Kirloskar, Managing Director, Fleetguard Filters, is focused on driving innovation, operational excellence, and long-term business growth through strategic and people-centric leadership. With a strong foundation in ethics and forward-thinking decision-making, he champions a culture of collaboration, accountability, and technological advancement.

Concrete

Cement’s Next Fuel Shift

Published

6 days ago

May 15, 2026

admin

Jignesh Kindaria highlights how Thermal Substitution Rate (TSR) is emerging as a critical lever for cost savings, decarbonisation and competitive advantage in the cement industry.

India is simultaneously grappling with two crises: a mounting waste emergency and an urgent need to decarbonise its most carbon-intensive industries. The cement sector, the second-largest in the world and the backbone of the nation’s infrastructure ambitions, sits at the centre of both. It consumes enormous quantities of fossil fuel, and it has the technical capacity to consume something else entirely: the waste our cities cannot get rid of.
According to CPCB and NITI Aayog projections, India generates approximately 62.4 million tonnes of municipal solid waste annually, with that figure expected to reach 165 million tonnes by 2030. Much of this waste is energy-rich and non-recyclable. At the same time, cement kilns operate at material temperatures of approximately 1,450 degrees Celsius, with gas temperatures reaching 2,000 degrees. This high-temperature environment is ideal for co-processing, ensuring the complete thermal destruction of organic compounds without generating toxic residues. The physics are in our favour. The infrastructure is not.
Pre-processing is not the support act for co-processing. It is the main event. Get the particle size wrong, get the moisture wrong, get the calorific value wrong and your kiln thermal stability will suffer the consequences.

The regulatory push is real
The Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules 2026 mandate that cement plants progressively replace solid fossil fuels with Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF), starting at a 5 per cent baseline and scaling to 15 per cent within six years. NITI Aayog’s 2026 Roadmap for Cement Sector Decarbonisation targets 20 to 25 per cent Thermal Substitution Rate (TSR) by 2030. Beyond compliance, every tonne of coal replaced by RDF generates measurable carbon reductions which is monetisable under India’s emerging Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS). TSR is no longer a sustainability metric. It is a financial lever.
Yet our own field assessments across multiple Indian cement plants reveal a sobering reality: the primary barrier to scaling AFR adoption is not waste availability. It is the fragmented and under-engineered pre-processing ecosystem that sits between the waste and the kiln.

Why Indian waste is a different engineering problem
Indian municipal solid waste is not the material that imported shredding equipment was designed for. Our waste streams frequently exceed 40 per cent to 50 per cent moisture content, particularly during monsoon cycles, saturated with abrasive inerts including sand, glass, and stone. Plants relying on imported OEM equipment face months of downtime awaiting proprietary spare parts. Machines built for segregated, low-moisture waste fail quickly and disrupt the entire pre-processing operation in Indian conditions.
The two most common failures we observe are what I call the biting teeth problem and the chewing teeth problem. Plants relying solely on a primary shredder reduce bulk waste to large fractions, but the output remains too coarse for stable kiln combustion. Others attempt to use a secondary shredder as a standalone unit without a primary stage to pre-size the feed, leading to catastrophic mechanical failure. When both stages are present but mismatched in throughput capacity, the system becomes a bottleneck. Achieving the 40 to 70 tonnes per hour required for meaningful coal displacement demands a precisely coordinated two-stage process.

Engineering a made-in-India answer
At Fornnax, our response to these challenges is grounded in one principle: Indian waste demands Indian engineering. Our systems are built around feedstock homogeneity, the holy grail of kiln stability. Consistent particle size and predictable calorific value are the foundation of stable kiln combustion. Without them, no TSR target is achievable at scale.
Our SR-MAX2500 Dual Shaft Primary Shredder (Hydraulic Drive) processes raw, baled, or loosely mixed MSW, C&I waste, bulky waste, and plastics, reducing them to approximately 150 mm fractions at throughputs of up to 40 tonnes per hour. The R-MAX 3300 Single Shaft Secondary Shredder (Hydraulic Drive), introduced in 2025, takes that primary output and produces RDF fractions in the 30 to 80 mm range at up to 30 tonnes per hour, specifically optimised for consistent kiln feeding. We have also introduced electric drive configurations under the SR-100 HD series, with capacities between 5 and 40 tonnes per hour, already operational at a leading Indian waste-processing facility.
Looking ahead, Fornnax is expanding its portfolio with the upcoming SR-MAX3600 Hydraulic Drive primary shredder at up to 70 tonnes per hour and the R-MAX2100 Hydraulic drive secondary shredder at up to 20 tonnes per hour, designed specifically for the large-scale throughput that higher TSR ambitions require.

The investment case is now
The 2070 Net-Zero target is not a distant goal for India’s cement sector. It starts today, with decisions being made on the plant floor.
The SWM Rules 2026 are already in effect, requiring cement plants to replace coal with RDF. Carbon credit markets are opening up, and coal prices are not going to get cheaper. Every tonne of coal a cement plant replaces with waste-derived fuel saves money on one side and generates carbon credit revenue on the other. Pre-processing infrastructure is no longer just a compliance requirement. It is a business investment with a measurable return.
The good news is that nothing is missing. The technology works. The waste is available in every Indian city. The government has provided the policy direction. The only thing standing between where the industry is today and where it needs to be is the commitment to build the right infrastructure.
The cement companies that move now will not just meet the regulations. They will be ahead of every competitor that waits.

About the author
Jignesh Kundaria is the Director and CEO of Fornnax Technology. Over an experience spanning more than two decades in the recycling industry, he has established himself as one of India’s foremost voices on waste-to-fuel technology and alternative fuel infrastructure.