Technology

It’s not just about the bag!

Published

9 years ago

May 31, 2017

admin

A correctly selected air pollution control system will not only control air emissions successfully, but also contribute to the cement plant’s overall efficiency.

It is a fact that emission limits in the cement industry have become and will continue to get more stringent. Although there are some differences, depending on which part of the world one looks at, the limits are undoubtedly heading downwards. A direct implication of this is that the dust control activities of cement manufacturers will have to be improved globally.

In cement plants across the world, cyclones, electrostatic precipitators (ESPs), and baghouses, either alone or in combination, are widely used dust control technologies, each with their own benefits. The well-known and established ESP technology is capable of handling dust emission limits of 5- 10 mg/Nm3.

ESPs in the cement industry can be operated up to a service temperature of around 450?C, so there is no cooling of the gas needed for kiln exit gases and those of the clinker cooler. In the case of bypass filters, depending on the kiln exit temperature, cooling of the gases with air or water may be required. One of the most compelling arguments for an ESP installation is that ESPs are very easy to operate.

Moreover, maintenance is relatively simple and the cost reasonable, due to fewer components involved as compared to a baghouse, for example. On the other hand, the space requirements for an ESP filter are huge and, if one wants to lower the dust emissions even further, the filter becomes very large, and the consumption of electricity very extensive. The extension of an ESP to meet new emission limits could imply higher fixed costs and increased operating costs.

In most cases, the option of expanding the ESP filter is not available, as space is often the limiting factor in existing facilities. However, depending on the desired lower emission targets, ESP technology may not even be able to reach those new levels.

Other options
Time and again, changes in regulations and lower emission limits have forced the cement industry to look for other solutions. Lower emissions, in the range of about 3-5 mg/Nm3, can be achieved with baghouses, which also have a much smaller footprint than ESPs. No wonder that one of the industry’s responses to the challenge was the conversion of an existing ESP installation, either in full or in part, into a baghouse with a fabric filter. This type of filter conversion has become common practice in the cement industry, and with new limits in place, many more retrofits are expected worldwide in the coming years. However, the right implementation is crucial to reaping the benefits of such a retrofit. Some of the problems encountered can be traced back to fundamental differences between the two technologies. Two of these basic differences are the direction of flow of the flue gases and the operating temperature. An ESP filter requires a horizontal flow of the flue gases going through the collecting plates. In a baghouse, the flue gases go through the vertically hanging bags.

Therefore, in a baghouse filter, the gas flow should be vertical. An ESP installation can be operated at approximately 450?C, whereas in the case of a baghouse, the temperature is limited by the kind of filter media used. Maximum continuous operating temperatures for fabric filters are 250-260?C; cooling of the flue gases is therefore required. The actual filter media may be a fabric cloth made of either a needle felt or a woven fibre glass. Both fabrics could be equipped with an expanded polytetrafluorethylene (ePTFE) membrane material. Due to the very small pore size of the membrane (1 – 2 ?m), lower emission rates of about 3-5 mg/Nm3 can be achieved.

The crystallite melting point of PTFE material is 327?C and a potential active continuous service temperature of 288?C seems possible. However, practical continuous filtration operating tempe-ratures are between a maximum of 250-260?C. In order to protect the fabric filtration media, valuable heat energy has to be wasted due to the cooling of the flue gas. In many cases, where cooling is done by air, about 30-50 per cent of the air going through a fabric filter baghouse is the air required for cooling the flue gas to a desired temperature.

Cooling of flue gas can be avoided, if the filter medium can withstand higher temperatures, presenting a number of opportunities:
The volume of air can be reduced, which saves electricity costs on the fan motor. Increased production capacity may become possible without having to scale up the ID fan capacity. The clean gases are higher in temperature and therefore do not need to be heated for potential SCR NOx reduction treatment. This will save on fuel consumption and therefore on cost.

The thermal energy from the clean hot gases can be reused as thermal energy for drying raw material or coal. Those clean hot gases could also be used to generate electricity.

The use of latest state-of-the-art high efficiency pollution control equipment like ESPs and bag filters has made it possible for the cement industry to be well within the particulate emission norms. The recently prescribed norms for PM, SO2 and NOx are at par with the stringent EU norms. However, Indian cement plants need adequate time to implement measures in order to comply with the norms (particularly with SO2 and NOX) in a gradual phased manner, given the fact that there is a need for availability of good quality coal, ammonia, equipment design modifications and concerns on health hazards associated with use of ammonia in NOx reduction technologies.

Emission Monitoring
The cement industry has installed Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (CEMS) in most of the kiln stacks and opacity monitors in most of process stacks. CEMS facilitates tracking of SO2 and NOX emissions in real time on a continuous basis and enhance the accuracy of reporting. It also helps to identify the base line emissions and deviations from expected regu-latory norms with a view to take corrective measures wherever necessary.

Various types of Air Pollution Control Equipments (APCEs) are used in cement plants to control the particulate emission to the atmosphere such as cyclone and multi-cyclones, wets crubbers, ESPs, fabric filters/bag filters or gravel bed filters.

The use of more advanced technologies, such as pulse jet bag houses, has been extended in manufacturing units of cement industry. The methods employed for fugitive dust control in cement industry includes water spray system, green cover, tree plantation, exhaust ventilation system and proper house-keeping. Filter bags are a critical component in assuring that the fabric filter will be able to meet environmental regulations and plant process demand. Though filter bags are usually the first place plant personnel look when problems occur, there are other areas to consider. The bag house equipment design, such as how the bags are cleaned and how the dust is removed from the bags are equally important.

The maintenance practices such as filter bag installation, start-up and shutdown procedures are important to attain optimal performance. One of the biggest issues that cement plants face with fabric filters is the ability to distribute gas equally to all of the compartments without causing high velocity problems, which can quickly cause filter bags to break.

Expert knowledge
To ensure the fabric filter meets operational goals and complies with environmental regulations, it needs the support of associated services, inclu-ding qualified technical support, filter training, lab testing, spare parts, make and hold agreements, and ongoing customer service. This requires an experienced solution provider who has both operational know-how and technological manufac-turing competencies. Filter bag engineers should be able to evaluate all process conditions, including gas temperature, air flow, volume, and more.

Here, FLSmidth Airtech has engineered the best design to meet these challenges head on by utilising an exclusive design of gas distribution screens and side inlet that reduces velocity and allows dust to pass directly into the hopper. This contributes directly towards longer filter bag life.

The feature of equalised and low velocity gas streams provides extremely important benefits for the cement plant such as cost reductions in the compressed air energy used for filter bag cleaning.

The kiln
Fiberglass is the most common media for filter bags in kiln filters for good reason. Its temperature resistance of up to 260?C (500?F) can withstand the hot gases of the kiln, providing flexibility to plant operations as higher temperature ratings allow for improved throughput and production.

However, fiberglass bags are relatively fragile and must be handled very carefully, especially during installation. Consequently, it is recom-mended that installation of fiberglass bags is left to experienced, qualified personnel.

A potential drawback of fiberglass bags is their relative inability to withstand ‘overpulsing’ or excessive cleaning. Here, efficient and careful cleaning of the bags is an important factor in preventing failure. An excessive amount of cleaning pulses will often lead to premature failure, so it is necessary to find the optimal frequency to ensure the longest possible service. Qualified fabric filter technicians can provide best-practice recommendations.

Clinker cooler
The typical media for clinker cooler filters is aramid. This sets a maximum temperature limit of 204?C (400?F) and a constant of 190?C (375?F) since above this, aramid bags will fail. Bag failures can lead to unnecessary stoppages of the clinker cooler, because the defective bags need to be located and exchanged. A particularly useful device is a broken bag detector that can alert the plant operators in the event of a broken bag as well as pinpoint the location.

This minimises production loss and provides better conditions for finding and replacing the bags efficiently and safely. In addition, if fabric filter performance is not cost effective, several filter media upgrades are available.

Finish mill
In finish mill filters, polyester is one of the most widely used media because of its high availability and low cost. However, hydrolysis is a common problem for this process. Polyester becomes brittle when exposed to moisture and temperatures around dew point, approximately 100?C (215?F). A better option is an acrylic filter bag because it operates well in high moisture applications. Other benefits of acrylic filter media are good resistance to moist mineral and most acids as well as an excellent resistance to organic solvents.

Coal mill
Typical filter media for coal mill dust collectors include polyester, acrylic and aramid. With a stainless steel scrim, these new and improved media replace the traditional, blended fabric with carbon fibres, also known as epitropic filters. The conductive scrims dissipate static consistently throughout the filter bag at a lower cost. Static electricity in the coal mill filter could ignite coal dust and cause a fire or explosion. Safety measures preventing static electricity discharge therefore need to be in place to reduce the potential for explosions and fires. These measures include using stainless steel or copper grounding wires sewn to the filter bag or semiconductor filter bags.

Secondary dedusting
It is not uncommon to see undersised dust collectors in applications such as silos, pack houses, belt transport and conveying systems. High differential pressure issues in these units, designed for a specific grain loading, are usually caused by system overloading as production expands. The issue can be solved by retrofitting the design, increasing the size of the collector or using a pleated filter bag design instead. This last option can be the most cost effective because the same housing and other components are used.

Filter monitoring
Although particulate monitoring systems are generally purchased to monitor environmental emissions, many users also utilise these instruments as preventative maintenance tools. The ability to predict when a filter is likely to fail and to be able to identify which row or chamber is at fault has provided users with a proven method to not only reduce the environmental impact and clean-up costs associated with large-scale emission events but also to make significant savings in spares, maintenance times and lost production.

To achieve this, the selected monitoring technique must be able to accurately track the very dynamic dust emissions created during a bag filter cleaning cycle. To these ends UK-based PCME recommends Electrodynamic units in preference to Optical or Triboelectric systems.

As a filter is reverse jet cleaned, any defects in the filter membranes are exposed resulting in relatively high dust peaks. By monitoring these peaks in real time using the Predict software package, it is possible to identify potential problems within the filter before they result in breaches of environmental limits.

The cleaning signature of the bag house is made easily identifiable by the input to the monitor of the filters cleaning pulses via Auxiliary Input Modules. Additionally further outputs maybe taken from pressure sensors within the bag house to assess the caking of the filter elements, thereby allowing the operator to reduce bag wear and compressed air usage and allowing the optimisation of the filter system.

Predict provides the possibility to observe filter problems remotely and check maintenance work to ensure correct performance of the filter. The use of Predict has proven the ability of a monitor not only to be used for environmental compliance but also to be used as a significant aid to plant maintenance and to also enable users to greatly reduce the instances of catastrophic filter failure.

These two complimentary monitoring tech-niques are used as they offer the best monitoring solutions in the widely different conditions found in these two locations. Electrodynamic sensors have a proven capability to monitor the extremely high dust loads found Pre-filter, providing a reliable, rugged monitoring solution whereas Optical sensors are chosen for chosen for use.

Post filter as a result of their capability to measure extremely low dust levels (0.1 mg/m3 utilising pro-scatter techniques) and their low maintenance requirements. The ability to observe in real time the perfor-mance of the filter allows the operator to adjust operating parameters to optimise not only filter efficiency, but also reduce operating costs, extend the filters operating life and decrease the environmental impact of the process.

Concrete

Redefining Efficiency with Digitalisation

Published

2 weeks 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.

Concrete

Digital Pathways for Sustainable Manufacturing

Published

2 weeks ago

February 20, 2026

admin

Dr Y Chandri Naidu, Chief Technology Officer, Nextcem Consulting highlights how digital technologies are enabling Indian cement plants to improve efficiency, reduce emissions, and transition toward sustainable, low-carbon manufacturing.

Cement manufacturing is inherently resource- and energy-intensive due to high-temperature clinkerisation and extensive material handling and grinding operations. In India, where cement demand continues to grow in line with infrastructure development, producers must balance capacity expansion with sustainability commitments. Energy costs constitute a major share of operating expenditure, while process-related carbon dioxide emissions from limestone calcination remain unavoidable.
Traditional optimisation approaches, which are largely dependent on operator experience, static control logic and offline laboratory analysis, have reached their practical limits. This is especially evident when higher levels of alternative fuel and raw materials (AFR) are introduced or when raw material variability increases.
Digital technologies provide a systematic pathway to manage this complexity by enabling
real-time monitoring, predictive optimisation and integrated decision-making across cement manufacturing operations.
Digital cement manufacturing is enabled through a layered architecture integrating operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT). At the base are plant instrumentation, analysers, and automation systems, which generate continuous process data. This data is contextualised and analysed using advanced analytics and AI platforms, enabling predictive and prescriptive insights for operators and management.

Digital optimisation of energy efficiency

Thermal energy optimisation
The kiln and calciner system accounts for approximately 60 per cent to 65 per cent of total energy consumption in an integrated cement plant. Digital optimisation focuses on reducing specific thermal energy consumption (STEC) while maintaining clinker quality and operational stability.
Advanced Process Control (APC) stabilises critical parameters such as burning zone temperature, oxygen concentration, kiln feed rate and calciner residence time. By minimising process variability, APC reduces the need for conservative over-firing. Artificial intelligence further enhances optimisation by learning nonlinear relationships between raw mix chemistry, AFR characteristics, flame dynamics and heat consumption.
Digital twins of kiln systems allow engineers to simulate operational scenarios such as increased AFR substitution, altered burner momentum or changes in raw mix burnability without operational risk. Indian cement plants adopting these solutions typically report STEC reductions in the range of 2 per cent to 5 per cent.
Electrical energy optimisation
Electrical energy consumption in cement plants is dominated by grinding systems, fans and material transport equipment. Machine learning–based optimisation continuously adjusts mill parameters such as separator speed, grinding pressure and feed rate to minimise specific power consumption while maintaining product fineness.
Predictive maintenance analytics identify inefficiencies caused by wear, fouling or imbalance in fans and motors. Plants implementing plant-wide electrical energy optimisation typically achieve
3 per cent to 7 per cent reduction in specific power consumption, contributing to both cost savings and indirect CO2 reduction.

Digital enablement of AFR
AFR challenges in the Indian context: Indian cement plants increasingly utilise biomass, refuse-derived fuel (RDF), plastic waste and industrial by-products. However, variability in calorific value, moisture, particle size, chlorine and sulphur content introduces combustion instability, build-up formation and emission risks.
Digital AFR management: Digital platforms integrate real-time AFR quality data from online analysers with historical kiln performance data. Machine learning models predict combustion behaviour, flame stability and emission trends for different AFR combinations. Based on these predictions, fuel feed distribution, primary and secondary air ratios, and burner momentum are dynamically adjusted to ensure stable kiln operation. Digitally enabled AFR management in cement plants will result in increased thermal substitution rates by 5-15 percentage points, reduced fossil fuel dependency, and improved kiln stability.

Digital resource and raw material optimisation
Raw mix control: Raw material variability directly affects kiln operation and clinker quality. AI-driven raw mix optimisation systems continuously adjust feed proportions to maintain target chemical parameters such as Lime Saturation Factor (LSF), Silica Modulus (SM), and Alumina Modulus (AM). This reduces corrective material usage and improves kiln thermal efficiency.
Clinker factor reduction: Reducing clinker factor through supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) such as fly ash, slag and calcined clay is a key decarbonisation lever. Digital models simulate blended cement performance, enabling optimisation of SCM proportions while maintaining strength and durability requirements.

Challenges and strategies for digital adoption
Key challenges in Indian cement plants include data quality limitations due to legacy instrumentation, resistance to algorithm-based decision-making, integration complexity across multiple OEM systems, and site-specific variability in raw materials and fuels.
Successful digital transformation requires strengthening the data foundation, prioritising high-impact use cases such as kiln APC and energy optimisation, adopting a human-in-the-loop approach, and deploying modular, scalable digital platforms with cybersecurity by design.

Future Outlook
Future digital cement plants will evolve toward autonomous optimisation, real-time carbon intensity tracking, and integration with emerging decarbonisation technologies such as carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS). Digital platforms will also support ESG reporting and regulatory compliance.
Digital pathways offer a practical and scalable solution for sustainable cement manufacturing in India. By optimising energy consumption, enabling higher AFR substitution and improving resource efficiency, digital technologies deliver measurable environmental and economic benefits. With appropriate data infrastructure, organisational alignment and phased implementation, digital transformation will remain central to the Indian cement industry’s low-carbon transition.

About the author:
Dr Y Chandri Naidu is a cement industry professional with 30+ years of experience in process optimisation, quality control and quality assistance, energy conservation and sustainable manufacturing, across leading organisations including NCB, Ramco, Prism, Ultratech, HIL, NCL and Vedanta. He is known for guiding teams, developing innovative plant solutions and promoting environmentally responsible cement production. He is also passionate about mentoring professionals and advancing durable, resource efficient technologies for future of construction materials.

Concrete

Turning Downtime into Actionable Intelligence

Published

2 weeks ago

February 19, 2026

admin

Stoppage Insights instantly identifies root causes and maps their full operational impact.

In cement, mining and minerals processing operations, every unplanned stoppage equals lost production and reduced profitability. Yet identifying what caused a stoppage remains frustratingly complex. A single motor failure can trigger cascading interlocks and alarm floods, burying the root cause under layers of secondary events. Operators and maintenance teams waste valuable time tracing event chains when they should be solving problems. Until now.
Our latest innovation to our ECS Process Control Solution(1) eliminates this complexity. Stoppage Insights, available with the combined updates to our ECS/ControlCenter™ (ECS) software and ACESYS programming library, transforms stoppage events into clear, actionable intelligence. The system automatically identifies the root cause of every stoppage – whether triggered by alarms, interlocks, or operator actions – and maps all affected equipment. Operators can click any stopped motor’s faceplate to view what caused the shutdown instantly. The Stoppage UI provides a complete record of all stoppages with drill-down capabilities, replacing manual investigation with immediate answers.

Understanding root cause in Stoppage Insights
In Stoppage Insights, ‘root cause’ refers to the first alarm, interlock, or operator action detected by the control system. While this may not reveal the underlying mechanical, electrical or process failure that a maintenance team may later discover, it provides an actionable starting point for rapid troubleshooting and response. And this is where Stoppage Insights steps ahead of traditional first-out alarm systems (ISA 18.2). In this older type of system, the first alarm is identified in a group. This is useful, but limited, as it doesn’t show the complete cascade of events, distinguish between operator-initiated and alarm-triggered stoppages, or map downstream impacts. In contrast, Stoppage Insights provides complete transparency:

Comprehensive capture: Records both regular operator stops and alarm-triggered shutdowns.
Complete impact visibility: Maps all affected equipment automatically.
Contextual clarity: Eliminates manual tracing through alarm floods, saving critical response time.

David Campain, Global Product Manager for Process Control Systems, says, “Stoppage Insights takes fault analysis to the next level. Operators and maintenance engineers no longer need to trace complex event chains. They see the root cause clearly and can respond quickly.”

Driving results
1.Driving results for operations teams
Stoppage Insights maximises clarity to minimise downtime, enabling operators to:
• Rapidly identify root causes to shorten recovery time.
• View initiating events and all affected units in one intuitive interface.
• Access complete records of both planned and unplanned stoppages

Driving results for maintenance and reliability teams
Stoppage Insights helps prioritise work based on evidence, not guesswork:
• Access structured stoppage data for reliability programmes.
• Replace manual logging with automated, exportable records for CMMS, ERP or MES.(2)
• Identify recurring issues and target preventive maintenance effectively.
A future-proof and cybersecure foundation
Our Stoppage Insights feature is built on the latest (version 9) update to our ACESYS advanced programming library. This industry-leading solution lies at the heart of the ECS process control system. Its structured approach enables fast engineering and consistent control logic across hardware platforms from Siemens, Schneider, Rockwell, and others.
In addition to powering Stoppage Insights, ACESYS v9 positions the ECS system for open, interoperable architectures and future-proof automation. The same structured data used by Stoppage Insights supports AI-driven process control, providing the foundation for machine learning models and advanced analytics.
The latest releases also respond to the growing risk of cyberattacks on industrial operational technology (OT) infrastructure, delivering robust cybersecurity. The latest ECS software update (version 9.2) is certified to IEC 62443-4-1 international cybersecurity standards, protecting your process operations and reducing system vulnerability.

What’s available now and what’s coming next?
The ECS/ControlCenter 9.2 and ACESYS 9 updates, featuring Stoppage Insights, are available now for:

Greenfield projects.
ECS system upgrades.
Brownfield replacement of competitor systems.
Stoppage Insights will also soon integrate with our ECS/UptimeGo downtime analysis software. Stoppage records, including root cause identification and affected equipment, will flow seamlessly into UptimeGo for advanced analytics, trending and long-term reliability reporting. This integration creates a complete ecosystem for managing and improving plant uptime.

(1) The ECS Process Control Solution for cement, mining and minerals processing combines proven control strategies with modern automation architecture to optimise plant performance, reduce downtime and support operational excellence.
(2) CMMS refers to computerised maintenance management systems; ERP, to enterprise resource planning; and MES to manufacturing execution systems.