ABB improve production process for Podilsky Cement

New equipment increases productivity and reduces emissions at Ukrainian cement plant

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, have successfully commissioned integrated electrical, control and automation systems at one of the biggest cement plants in Ukraine.

JSC Podilsky Cement, part of the Irish building material group CRH, are located in Kamyanets-Podilsky, approximately 420km south-west of Kiev. The site started operating in the 1970s, and with its new production line no.7 with a capacity of 7,500 tonnes per day, the company now operates the biggest cement line in Ukraine.

ABB supplied electrical and automation systems including medium-voltage switchgears, intelligent low-voltage (LV) motor control centers (MNSiS MCC), LV variable-speed drives, a plant-wide 800xA process control system, manufacturing execution system (MES), instrumentation, gas analyzers, technical co-ordination, engineering services, site services and training.

Also part of ABB’s overall solution was the design, procurement, support and co-ordination of third-party equipment including uninterruptable power supply (UPS) and additional instrumentation.

Before modernizing the equipment the plant used a wet process for clinker production. Following start-up of the new state-of-the-art line the existing wet production process lines were mothballed since the new dry production process line alone achieves almost the same capacity as all the previous lines put together.

Moreover, the new cement production line is fitted with high-efficiency filtration equipment at all emission points, significantly reducing emissions of particulates and CO2.

‘The initial performance of the new plant shows fuel consumption to be less than 50% of the wet process, while power consumption to make clinker shows a reduction of more than 15%,’ said CRH Europe Material’s technical director Eamon Geraghty. ‘Optimization of the new line will improve performance further.’

The first successful collaboration between Podilsky Cement and ABB was in 2006, when ABB installed the automation system for Podilsky’s coal mill.

‘We were delighted to renew our partnership with ABB for the installation of our new cement production line. From the first steps of the detailed project design through to the intensive commissioning phase, the ABB project team provided us with professional and dedicated support,’ said Nigel Reape, Podilsky Cement’s production director.