Handling and storage solutions for the global cement industry from AUMUND 

Emerging markets worldwide create a permanently increasing demand for cement that significantly influences the AUMUND Group as well. As reliable and ingenious partners for the cement industry, the AUMUND product companies constantly have to find innovative solutions to equip new plants or to optimize existing installations or machines. This expertise, gained over decades of experience, guarantees a deep understanding of the processes and the efficiency needed to produce cement to satisfy this soaring demand.

The economic rise of formerly underdeveloped nations influences and pushes industries worldwide. Growth in emerging markets like Brazil, Russia, India and China — the so called BRIC states — includes not only growing revenue, but also the creation and evolution of a modern infrastructure.

Building commercial and residential buildings, roads or a transportation infrastructure is impossible without the use of vast quantities of cement. So, in turn, demand soars. The cement industry has evolved into a growing market worldwide. As reliable partners of the cement industry, the companies of the AUMUND Group provide the machinery needed for the increased production, transport and storage of cement.

CONVEYING SOLUTIONS FROM AUMUND FO¨RDERTECHNIK

AUMUND Fo¨rdertechnik GmbH started serving the cement industry by installing the first apron feeder for clinker transport about 50 years ago. Since that time the company has evolved into a specialist in conveying and storage for the industry and peripheral areas. The range of solutions encompasses feeding discharge and transport during all process steps of cement production. 

Deep-drawn pan conveyors (see picture on p77) of different types are the transport systems of choice for the transport of cement clinker in
continuous operation.
Conveyors of the KZB type provide capacities exceeding 1,600tph (tonnes per hour). They can handle inclinations of up to 30°. Steeper
inclinations are served by deep-drawn pan conveyors type KZB-Q fitted with baffle plates. 
These specialized plates allow conveying at inclinations up to 45°.
KZB conveyors of all types are using drive chains with breaking loads of up to 3,900kN/chain strand. The chains make conveying heights of up to 90 metres possible.

If inclinations exceed 45°, for instance due to unfavourable space conditions, AUMUND bucket apron conveyors type BZB have to be employed. They cover inclinations up to 60° and provide a capacity up to 600tph. Transport beyond 60° of inclination is the field of operations for bucket elevators.

The high-performance AUMUND belt bucket elevators, type BWG (see picture above), are used to cover lifting heights up to 175 metres with a capacity beyond 1,850m3/h and at a material temperature maximum of 130°C. Material with higher temperatures peaking at 400°C, will be lifted by AUMUND central chain bucket elevators type BWZ at a capacity of 900m3/h. This capacity can be doubled by using an AUMUND double bucket elevator, type BWZ-D. Its performance exceeds 1,800m3/h. The central chains are assembled from forged links and contribute to a long service life of the elevators.

AUMUND Fo¨rdertechnik addresses further transport needs of the production process, with its specially designed arched plate conveyors, armoured chain conveyors, pivoting pan conveyors, and in particular its wear-resistant ‘en masse’ chain conveyors and apron weigh feeders.

STORAGE SOLUTIONS FROM SCHADE LAGERTECHNIK

The logistics of the various raw materials, fuels and additives play an important role in cement production. Limestone and other base materials need to be permanently available in sufficient volumes to maintain the production process. This need, in turn, demands ample storage on location or nearby to fend off a possible interruption in supply for whatever reason. The AUMUND Group company SCHADE Lagertechnik GmbH is the specialized partner of the cement industry for the installation of strategic material storage and complementary blending beds.

Blending beds are also used for the homogenization of the material from different sources or deliveries. The bridge-type reclaimers from SCHADE used to return the stockpiled and homogenized material into the production process are equipped with two specially developed harrows. They scrape thin layers of material from the pile surface and transfer it as a free-flowing material to the SCHADE scraper reclaimer chain system at the bottom of the cross-section. Due to their size being almost identical to the stockpile’s cross-section, the harrows only need to move about a few metres in each direction (see below). This grants that all different material layers in the pile cross section will flow down continuously to the SCHADE scraper reclaimer chain system. With a shovel width of 1,750mm, it transports the material at the floor of the blending bed to the side via the concrete ramp. At the side of the ramp belt conveyors installed in longitudinal direction along the stockpile, move the reclaimed material on into the production stage.

HANDLING SOLUTIONS FROM SAMSON MATERIALS HANDLING
A quite comprehensive range of solutions for bulk materials has been developed by SAMSON Materials Handling — another member of the AUMUND Group — over a period of more than 40 years. Flexibility, reliability, quality, safety and performance are at the heart of its every product concept. Many uses of the company’s machines are to be seen in the cement industry. For example, the Samson® material feeder is the ideal solution for all raw material and solid fuel intake from dumper trucks and rail cars. Its surface installation simplifies the plant layout and reduces project costs for both, the construction of new works and for the development of an existing plant.

The mobile shiploader and Stormajor® boom feeder provided by SAMSON offer the cement plant operator or trader a flexible alternative to conventional fixed installations for the storage of raw materials and export of cement clinker directly from truck to ship.

For clinker exports, the mobile shiploader receives material either by dumper trucks or by loading shovel for discharge directly to vessels up to Panamax size. Handling rates reach up to 1,500tph. The option of full dust control measures can be utilized to minimize environmental pollution.

The Stormajor® receives raw material and solid fuel for stockpiling directly by dumper trucks. It combines the performance of a fixed plant with the flexibility of complete mobility. Performance and reliability are not impaired at all.

EXEMPLARY CASES FROM BRAZIL AND RUSSIA

Solutions from AUMUND companies are in high demand with the BRIC states. So only five years after delivering a first bridge scraper, SCHADE Lagertechnik delivered a circular column equipped spreader to the Sobradinho plant of the Brazilian cement producer Ciplan Cimento Planalto S/A. The machine provides a flow rate of 1,800tph (max 2,000tph) and a 23-metre beam as well as a belt width of 1,400 millimetres. Besides the scope of delivery includes another SCHADE bridge scraper equipped with a harrow covering the entire area of the stockpile’s profile. The bridge scraper can be operated with a flow rate of 700tph.

In Russia the customer OAO Mordovcement contracted AUMUND for the construction of new process lines and for the large-scale modernization of existing facilities. All in all, OAO Mordovcement has purchased over 100 machines from AUMUND over the years. SCHADE Lagertechnik last delivered a storage system for additives designed as a covered rectangular stockyard. The scope of delivery included a travelling tripper car

for material feeding to the stockpile, a cantilevered boom reclaimer for material reclaim as well as feeding and discharging conveyors. Further machines delivered to different facilities are heavy duty apron feeders, rotary discharge machines as well as different kinds of conveyors and bucket elevators.

CONVERSION AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO BUYING A NEW MACHINE

However, the installation of a new machine is not always the best solution for the customer. The conversion and modernization of existing equipment might be more in his best interest. A record breaking conversion project was realized by AUMUND in India. At the Himachal Pradesh plant of Ambuja Cement, one of the largest and most modern cement works in India, a bucket elevator had to be renovated, after continuously raising the raw meal to the pre-heater tower 24/7 at a rate of 650tph.

Whilst the machine remained in service a detailed inspection revealed that a replacement belt would soon be required. At 170 metres centre distance, this is the highest belt bucket elevator installed in the world today and as such only a very few companies possessed the know-how to deliver a competent replacement service.

Originally, the machine was fitted with a steel cord belt of width 1,450mm and tension rating of 3,500N/mm. AUMUND decided to offer an alternative based on its own design concept resulting in a belt width of 1,050mm and with a bucket size of 1,000mm at 430mm pitch.

In addition to the new belt the elevator will be fitted with new drive pulley including friction linings and rubber bucket mounting strips all to be supplied locally. The casings, inlet and outlet plus the complete drive unit will remain unchanged.

The AUMUND belt concept is very different in that continuous close pitch longitudinal ropes are employed. There is no need for rope-free bucket mounting spaces. Additional wire ropes are running laterally across the width of the belt adding considerable lateral stiffness without significantly changing the belt longitudinal flexibility. This cross-stabilized construction gives improved directional stability and better tracking to the belt.

Using continuous wire ropes without rope free spaces at close pitch both longitudinally and horizontally gives maximum strength and stability. However, this technology does require the bucket fixing to be punched through the belt and steel ropes through and through. This is taken into account with the tension calculation. The ruptured ropes can be ignored in the full belt width tension rating.

To punch the necessary holes into the belt, AUMUND has developed a special punching machine design which provides clean fixing holes accurately aligned relatively to the belt edge and at precisely the correct pitch. The belt is held in a cassette and is advanced automatically under the punching frame using a precision encoder to measure the pitch. The belts are prepared at the AUMUND works in Germany and shipped to site worldwide to the exact required dimensions including a prepared joint and the required clamping strips.

This illustrates the AUMUND conversion and refurbishment service offered across the equipment range including belt and chain elevators, pan and bucket conveyors plus plate feeders. A converted machine can be supplied with all new moving parts by AUMUND retaining often only the structural elements. This results regularly in a substantially new machine with significant cost reductions compared to outright replacement. With minimum changes to the structural parts and chute works, installation time is greatly reduced and machines may generally be upgraded to the AUMUND standard during a scheduled outage. Of course, once upgraded in this way the client can expect the usual AUMUND dependability, access to service support and genuine AUMUND spare parts. Not only existing, life expired machines can be revitalized and upgraded this way. At the same time AUMUND can often tease out additional performance thus opening the possibility of plant capacity improvement with minimum new investment.

SUMMARY

The three companies of the AUMUND Group are not only the suppliers of a vast range of highly specialized machines for the cement industry. They can also rely upon a multi-decade experience and a staff of highly experienced engineers and specialists to develop solutions for individual needs of customers from the cement industry worldwide.

ABOUT THE AUMUND GROUP

The AUMUND Group is active worldwide. The conveying and storage specialist has special expertise at its disposal when dealing with bulk materials. With their high degree of individuality, both its technically sophisticated as well as innovative products have contributed to the AUMUND Group today being a market leader in many areas of conveying and storage technology. The manufacturing companies AUMUND Fo¨rdertechnik GmbH (Rheinberg, Germany), SCHADE Lagertechnik GmbH (Gelsenkirchen, Germany), SAMSON Materials Handling Ltd. (Ely, England), as well as AUMUND Logistic GmbH (Rheinberg, Germany) are consolidated under the umbrella of the AUMUND Group. In conjunction with the headquarters of the manufacturing companies, the global conveying and storage technology business is spearheaded through a total of ten locations in Asia, Europe, North and South America.