Tushar Kulkarni, Business Division Head- Solutions, Cement, Mining Minerals, Test Applications and Hydrogen, Innomotics India, discusses the evolving role of automation in cement business.
The cement industry is undergoing a transformative shift as it faces the dual pressures of improving operational efficiency and meeting aggressive sustainability goals. In this demanding environment, digitalisation, intelligent automation and AI-based optimisation have become critical tools for survival and growth. This exclusive conversation with Tushar Kulkarni, Business Division Head- Solutions, Cement, Mining Minerals, Test Applications and Hydrogen, Innomotics India, brings the focus on cement plant automation, energy efficiency and AI-powered transformation.
How does Innomotics’ CEMAT Automation system streamline cement plant processes?
Cement manufacturing is an exhaustive process, from quarry to lorry, and requires a high number of equipment to be controlled and signals to be monitored.
Designed specifically for the cement and mining industries, CEMAT library efficiently operates processes with a large number of interlocks and equipment, keeping the equipment safe.
Customers are looking for efficient resource utilisation, without compromising the quality and performance KPIs. Here is where CEMAT an integrated process control system with cement and mining standards comes into view. CEMAT is not just about delivering some operation blocks but setting up plant operation culture in the right perspective, backed by 50+ years of experience and knowledge embedded in its DNA.
Due to the legacy of CEMAT (900 installations worldwide), many cement manufacturers already speak the CEMAT language, making it easier for new customers to adapt to it quickly. Offering excellent process automation and a solid base for digitalisation, it plays a key role in all phases of cement production.
What energy efficiency gains can clients expect from your motor and drive solutions?
Our low voltage motors portfolio, based on global platform design, offers different efficiency class motors from IE2 to IE4. With every upgrade of efficiency class motors, clients can reduce losses by 20 per cent thereby reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions.
The Totally Enclosed Fan-Cooled (TEFC) motors with medium and high voltage motors (IE3 / IE4) are sealed and use external fans for cooling, which reduces energy losses due to friction and prevents dust and moisture from degrading performance over time. TEFC high-efficiency motors maintain good efficiency even when not operating at full load, which is common in cement processing where demand fluctuates. These motors run cooler, reducing energy wasted as heat and enhancing reliability—ideal for harsh environments like kilns, crushers and conveyors. Greater efficiency means less energy consumed, directly lowering the carbon footprint of the cement production process.
In one of the cement plants, the 40-year-old Direct Current (DC) motor for process fans was converted to high voltage induction motor along with our GH180 medium-voltage drives. Equipped with the latest generation and advanced cell bypass, the client was able to achieve 50-80 per cent of energy savings benefits, i.e. 3000+ MW energy savings per year and 2500+ tonnes carbon reduction per year.
How does your AI driven AIKiln or AIMill optimise kiln and mill operations?
Our DigiMine AI Pyro and AI Mill solutions provide optimum setpoints for pyro and mill automation systems, ensuring efficient and stable operations and thereby enhancing productivity and energy optimisation.
These solutions are powered by self-learning AI technology, which can adapt its algorithms in case of changes in the process or operating environment.
AI Simulator, which is a part of the solution, further enables process teams to identify improvement areas and validate improvement steps virtually, saving time and material wastage in trying implementations of different steps at site.
Can you share a case where automation improved environmental performance in cement production?
Basic CEMAT library takes care of the basic plant operations. But when it comes to advanced control, we have the CEMAT Kiln Control System (KCS) / Mill Control System (MCS), which helps customers achieve their sustainability goals.
In one of our projects, CEMAT MCS for mill operation implemented to control the mill feed was able to save 12 per cent of power required for grinding equivalent amount of cement.
How do your scalable automation solutions support both new builds and plant revamps?
The PCS7 CEMAT based automation solutions are truly scalable. It supports multiple versions in a single project; this enables individual sections to upgrade while other sections are in operation.
In new builds, the scalable capability of CEMAT automation solutions supports simultaneous commissioning of various plant sections, which helps in reducing the overall commissioning time.
For plant revamps, CEMAT automation solutions support cement manufacturers in scaling the plant while many sections are still in operation. Hence, with reduced overall downtime, customers can easily plan plant expansions during revamps.
How open and interoperable are your systems with existing OT IT ecosystems?
In the cement industry, in addition to automation systems there are various crucial systems like laboratory, SAP and external packages. Therefore, communication with the external world is the backbone for the entire process. PCS7 CEMAT supports all major available communication protocols for seamless communications.
What challenges do operators face in adopting AI based control, and how do you address them?
Majorly, we have experienced three challenges operators face in adopting AI-based control.
1. Operators are already used to the UI of
existing automation systems like SCADA or DCS. And adding a new screen with different UI makes it difficult for operators to monitor / operate separate systems.
2. Initial hesitation towards AI systems operating applications with changing plant conditions
like material quality, machine failure and
cement quality variation, which requires operators to make changes in control parameters on a continuous basis.
3. Often operators are also concerned about achieving target KPIs like production, power consumption, quality using AI based control system.
Addressing these issues is crucial for the success of an AI-based control system in every plant.
Decades of our experience working with cement companies enabled us to address these challenges in intuitive ways.
1. Embedding critical functions of AI systems into existing automation systems like SCADA makes it easy for operators to manage both automation and AI systems from a single screen.
2. Involving process team in solution development process, providing transparency on AI
systems working.
3. Training operators and providing detailed manuals on using AI systems along with basic know-how of AI technology encourages them to embrace AI systems with a positive outlook.
4. Continuous long operating hours of AI
systems, keeping process stable and achieving
targets enhances the confidence level of
operators gradually.
5. Self-learning-based and data-centric working of AI systems adapts to changing plant conditions and provides set-points accordingly, thus keeping processes like pyro and mill stable in different conditions. This further allows operators to undertake more critical tasks like process improvement, planning, and other tasks.
What’s next for Innomotics in cement automation and your roadmap for India and globally?
The current advancement in electrical and automation technologies has enabled the system to achieve its peak performance for day-to-day activities far smoother than it was earlier. Also, Industry 4.0 has enabled automation systems to provide efficient and consistent data.
With this advancement, AI-based systems have started receiving continuous meaningful data to perform many activities, which has allowed AI / ML models to predict outcomes accurately, thereby helping customers achieve their sustainability goals.
Currently we are implementing specific processes: AI systems i.e. AI Pyro and AI Mill. With our futuristic goal to develop a single AI system for the entire cement manufacturing process, we are on path to develop a common platform, which can connect with different automation / third-party systems to collect data seamlessly, provide analytics dashboards and reports 24X7 as well as provide set-points for control parameters from quarry to lorry.
