Rahul Mistry, Vertical Sales Head, Hitachi Hi-Rel, suggests combining indigenous manufacturing, high-reliability medium-voltage drives, and IoT-enabled digitalisation to move towards lower-carbon operations.
As the cement industry intensifies its focus on energy efficiency and carbon reduction, Rahul Mistry, Vertical Sales Head, Hitachi Hi-Rel Power Electronics, explains how indigenous manufacturing, high-reliability medium-voltage drives, and IoT-enabled digital solutions are helping Indian cement plants.
Tell us about your organisation and its association with the Indian Cement industry.
I take care of the portfolio for the drives business, including low-voltage and medium-voltage drives. Hitachi is a global conglomerate, and we are one of the group companies of Hitachi, established in India in 2012. We manufacture these particular products at our facility based in Sanand, Gujarat, which is one of the state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities modelled on our parent location in Omika, Japan.
The objective of this factory is to cater to Indian industries across various sectors, including cement, oil and gas, and other industries. However, since the beginning, our major focus in India has been the cement sector because cement is one of the largest consumers of large power motor applications and is also a growing industry. This was the major objective behind setting up this manufacturing facility.
How are your medium voltage drives tailored to optimise kiln and grinding?
The medium voltage drives we offer are based on multi-cell technology. Multi-cell technology drives use sensorless vector control methodology, which ensures high starting torque and dynamic torque response. These VFDs also have inbuilt closed-loop control applications, which are particularly useful in kiln and mill applications where operations involve very high torque or high-load conditions.
In such applications, the closed-loop control provides very precise torque control and optimises the running operation. This is how our medium voltage drives are designed to optimise kiln and grinding applications.
How do your variable sequencers reduce energy use and improve process performance?
These medium voltage drives are primarily meant for energy-saving applications. Normally, in fan or pump applications without VFDs, flow control is achieved through damper control or valve control. In such cases, the motor runs at full capacity, but the actual volume or flow required by the process is much lower.
What the VFD does is optimise the process requirement without the use of dampers or valves. This significantly improves efficiency and leads to energy savings. The VFD works on the principle of affinity laws, so for fan and pump applications or other centrifugal loads, the exact required flow and pressure are maintained through the VFD without using any external control devices.
In context to increasing alternative use and toughing up the conditions are tough in cement plants, how are your drives built for reliability in cement plants?
Reliability is a key focus for us, as Hitachi is globally known for reliability. When we started this manufacturing facility, we made a conscious decision not to use any Chinese electronic components, as we do not encourage their usage. Instead, we import all major components from various global locations that are approved Hitachi sources. These sources are proven and trusted, which significantly improves product reliability.
Additionally, we follow strict quality control measures, well-defined manufacturing process guidelines, and specific global standards. This ensures complete product reliability for all drives manufactured at this facility. Each product goes through comprehensive testing, including rigorous field trials, and we maintain complete product quality control throughout the manufacturing process.
What are the retrofit or upgrade options or opportunities you offer for older cement plants that want to modernise?
Many older cement plants operate processes driven by SPRS control, GRR control, or LRS control systems, which have lower efficiency and limitations in speed control. These are older technologies from a time when medium voltage drives were not widely adopted in India.
We offer retrofit solutions where these SPRS, GRR, or LRS control systems can be replaced with modern VFDs. This significantly increases the speed control range, improves efficiency by reducing losses, and enhances overall plant operational efficiency. This also helps in reducing the carbon footprint and results in substantial power savings. Typically, these products ensure a return on investment within one to two years after installation.
How does your manufacturing facility in India support local service repairs at pastures around the cement plants?
As mentioned earlier, while we import major components globally, this factory was established under the Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives in 2012. That was one of the major objectives behind setting up this facility.
We also focus extensively on customisation and on developing local vendors and suppliers. We ensure that spare parts support, repair services, and service support are available locally from this facility on a long-term basis. This enables faster service response and sustained support for cement plants across
the country.
How are you contributing towards increasing cement plant capacity and battling the carbon emission issue?
VFDs play a significant role not only in process control and optimisation but also in energy savings. They optimise motor speed and supply only the required process parameters for applications such as fans and pumps. In cement plants, fans and pumps consume a major portion of the total power.
Cement plants often operate at partial loads and do not always require motors to run at full capacity. VFDs help optimise these operations, resulting in significant energy savings. This directly contributes to reducing carbon emissions and lowering the plant’s carbon footprint. Many cement plants also have captive power plants (CPPs), and optimising power consumption through VFDs helps improve overall energy efficiency and supports carbon
credit opportunities.
Looking ahead to may be 2040 or may be 2050, what new power electronics, innovations will you be bringing in support of digitalisation and improving efficiency?
Traditionally, cement and digitalisation were not seen as closely connected, but today, most cement plants are moving towards complete digitalisation. They are installing multiple field-level instruments that connect to mid-level systems and further integrate with enterprise-level platforms. Our drives are also being equipped with IoT features, enabling data connectivity, data processing, and seamless integration with DCS systems. This allows plant operators to access real-time operational data, make better decisions, and gain clear insights into actual plant performance. Going forward, we will continue to support industry requirements through advanced digitalisation and IoT-enabled solutions that enhance efficiency and operational transparency.
– Kanika Mathur
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