KHD Humboldt Wedag International AG (KHD) has received a contract from Cimpor Portugal, the largest cement producer in Portugal and a member of Oyak Group, to modernize production line 7 at its Alhandra cement plant. The contract further strengthens the long-standing relationship between Oyak Group, one of Turkey’s leading cement companies, and KHD.

The project will see production capacity increased at the Alhandra plant from 3000tpd to 3600tpd, as well as allowing thermal substitution rates of more than 80+% to be achieved. It includes the first installation of KHD’s innovative Pyrorotor^® alternative fuel combustion reactor in Portugal.

The scope of the engineering and supply contract comprises:

• New HKSK 224/335 preheater ID fan.
• New downcomer duct.
• New preheater with 8064/5-type HEM cyclones.
• Pyroclon^® R calciner with Pyrotop^® mixing chamber. The Pyroclon R will utilize fine RDF and natural gas.
• 4m x 10m Pyrorotor^® alternative fuel combustion reactor.
• Pyrobox^® coal firing system for process start-up and operation balancing.
• Shortening of the existing kiln and installation of new kiln inlet chamber with bypass extraction.
• New kiln drive station 2 (the existing girth gear and two pinions will be reused).
• New kiln hood and take-off of tertiary air from the cooler roof.
• New main kiln burner designed to use more than 50% alternative fuels (but will also be capable of burning natural gas, as well as liquid fossil and alternative fuels).
• New Pyrofloor^® PFC²829AW cooler with a Pyrocrusher^® PRC 420-3ES clinker crusher.

“The decision by Cimpor Portugal to opt for KHD pyroprocessing equipment – and especially the Pyrorotor – underlines the leading market position of KHD, as well as the outstanding capability of KHD’s unique alternative fuel-processing solution,” said Matthias Mersmann, Chief Technology Officer of KHD.

The Pyrorotor is the most versatile alternative fuel equipment on the market. Designed to meet increasing market demand for efficient and cost-effective alternative fuel processing solutions, it allows very high thermal substitution rates to be achieved, with almost no fuel pre-processing, even when firing low-quality alternative fuels.

Additionally, the new KHD ProMax^® suite with real time optimizers for Alhandra’s kiln plant and raw mill is part of the project scope. KHD’s holistic solution is based on a combination of machine learning technologies, AI-supported systems and KHD’s proprietary process knowledge. KHD ProMax will help Cimpor Portugal to continuously optimize the operation of its plant. On top of that, KHD ProMax is modular and fully scalable to meet any future demands of the client.

Project execution will be led by Humboldt Wedag GmbH (KHD Germany), with support from Humboldt Wedag India Pvt Ltd and the Turkish branch office of Humboldt Wedag GmbH. Commissioning of the modernized production line is scheduled for 2025.