The cement Industry in India is 2nd largest producer in the world with 8% world capacity. The industry has attractive opportunities and strong long-term potential due to the government’s focus on large infrastructure projects i.e. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Corridor is significantly boosting the cement and construction industry, utilizing around 20,000 cubic meters of cement daily equivalent to eight 10-story buildings. The PM Awas Yojana (Grameen) is nearing its target of three crore houses. It plans to initiate an additional two crore houses over the next five years to accommodate the increasing number of households.
Challenges in Cement Manufacturing
The cement manufacturing process is energy-intensive and highly polluted. Power and fuel costs are 30% of cement manufacturing costs.
The cement industry has unique challenges that make maintenance tasks more complex. These challenges are primarily due to the distinctive nature of cement plants, which are often located in remote areas and operate under extreme conditions. These extreme conditions include high temperatures and dust levels, which can accelerate the wear and tear of the machinery and equipment used in these plants. Poor maintenance often leads to a 5% to 20% downgrade in a plant’s overall productive capacity.
Cement production in 2017 was responsible for 7% of global COâ‚‚ emissions. Increased pressure for more stringent emissions standards and decarbonization from society and governments alike have a major impact on the industry. This has the potential to disrupt the entire value chain.
Four Digital Transformation Priorities for the Cement Industry
Digital solutions can better manage the cement industry’s enormous energy consumption, rising cost challenges, plant availability and reliability, and overall process complexity. The first movers are generating enormous value and a strong competitive advantage.
- Analytics-Driven Predictive Maintenance
Predictive maintenance helps producers address maintenance issues in advance. Reducing equipment breakdowns, preventing extended downtime, avoiding unnecessary damage, improving operational efficiency, and reducing maintenance costs are a few of the benefits of analytics-driven Predictive maintenance.
It allows operation and maintenance staff to have real-time visibility into equipment condition and plan corrective & preventive action during minor production stoppages or planned scheduled maintenance time. So, it increases the effectiveness and productivity of maintenance staff, shifts unplanned maintenance to planned maintenance, and increases the life of equipment with optimum cost by doing maintenance where needed. (One of the articles stated that 80% of bearings are replaced when 80% of their remaining useful life is still available.)
- Digital Twin for Process Optimization
100’s of parameters come into play in cement manufacturing, from the quality of the limestone and coal chemical properties to the type of fuel in the Kiln, and the desired quality and cost of the end product. Most cement manufacturing plants utilize Distributed Control Systems (DCS) or Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) to optimize specific steps in the production process. While some have adopted advanced process control (APC) systems, traditional automation setups often lack the capability for full end-to-end process optimization, limiting their ability to integrate and streamline operations across the entire production lifecycle.
Digital Twin allows them to mirror the entire production process through a digital (data plus physics) model. It’s called a “twin” of the plant’s physical assets, processes and systems and uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to optimize it.
Energy expenditure in the cement industry represents 35-45% of total cement production costs, a portion that manufacturers could cut in half by using alternative fuels. If the Industry is to increase its use of alternative fuels, it must gain greater control of process variability where Digital twin technology can help them to predict calorific value and optimize fuel blends.
Applying digitization and sustainability measures in the cement industry can indeed boost profitability, potentially increasing margins by $4-$9 per ton of cement.
Report from McKinsey & Company
- Predictive Quality Analytics
Predictive Quality Models or Soft sensors can allow a company to accurately forecast Cement Quality in real-time at any point in the production process.
In the traditional approach in a cement factory, it is impossible to estimate cement strength with any certainty until its 1-day and 28-day strength is measured using physical tests. In the present approach, it is not considered a multitude of other process parameters that affect cement quality.
In contrast, predictive quality models use machine learning algorithms to correlate the quality of each production batch with the relevant production parameters.
- The Integrated Control Tower
The Cement manufacturers should run their digitized factory remotely from an integrated control tower. A few early adopters gained around 10-15% in operating cost reduction with the Integrated control tower approach. It helped them better optimize the workforce, lower maintenance costs, improvements in operational efficiency.
Today, all cement plants operate using a control room and Distributed Control System (DCS).The control room team makes adjustments and decisions based on machine and process variables and near-term (may be hourly or day basis). They have a limited visibility of trends or forecasting based on Historical data.
In contrast, ICT employs Artificial intelligence and Machine learning-based scenario software to provide various recommendations to run the process as closely as possible.
The ICT also helps to benchmark various plant operations KPIs and insights can be derived for the best plant performance.
The cement plant of the future could reduce emissions by up to 75%, with around 20% of these reductions coming from advancements in operational technologies.
Making it Happen: Greener and Connected Cement Plant
Today, most cement plants operate in a traditional, non-agile manner. To address this, cement players should start by implementing IoT and AI technologies to enhance availability and reliability. Reliable plants lead to greater efficiency and performance.
Once IoT and AI are successfully implemented to boost plant reliability, companies should focus on identifying use cases that generate the highest margin gains.
Early adopters of these technologies are more likely to achieve a digitized, sustainable future, securing a long-term competitive advantage in productivity, operational efficiency, and resilience, which far outweighs the initial investment.
Conclusion: Embracing CIMCON Solutions
CIMCON Digital’s VIBit and CIM IoT edge platform bring transformative benefits to predictive maintenance in the cement industry. These solutions provide accurate condition monitoring and real-time analytics, helping companies reduce downtime, cut maintenance costs, and boost productivity. By adopting these advanced technologies, cement manufacturers can enhance operational efficiency and sustainability.
About CIMCON
Integrating CIMCON’s solutions enables businesses to stay competitive in the evolving landscape of Cement 4.0, driving both financial gains and environmental progress. Optimizing resource use and lowering emissions, this digital transformation ensures streamlined production and a reduced environmental impact.
For more information on how digital transformation can benefit your cement manufacturing plant, contact sales@cimcondigital.com or call +91-9512800836.Â
