BENCHMARKING

I CRH electricity audits

by Barry Leonard,
Irish Cement Ltd &
Dr Michael Clark,
Whitehopleman

n late 2007 one such working group

was tasked with looking into electricity
consumption on the group cement
factories and the means to reduce
that consumption in light of escalating
electricity costs. This working group was
faced with a widely varying situation
across the 22 cement plants of the group.
Unit electricity consumption ranged from
93 to 150kWh/t of cement produced.
All variants of cement manufacturing
processes and equipment were deployed
on the factories, with some works having
a mixture of such technologies. Pure
Portland and a wide range of blended
cements were produced of all strength
classes. Some plants deployed captive
power units and some were in the process
of installing such power plants. Significant
capital projects were underway to extend
capacity and modernise a number of the
factories.
Against this background it was decided
that electricity consumption audits
should be carried out on nine of the
highest capacity cement facilities. The
objectives of these electricity audits being
to explain the variation in electricity
consumption across the factories and to
identify options for reducing electricity
consumption and cost. It was also
decided that these electricity audits
should be carried out by a single, outside
consultant in order to provide a consistent
approach and a fully independent
assessment of electricity consumption on
the works.
In March 2008, Whitehopleman were
selected as the consultants to carry out
these audits and tasked with completing
the them on the nine factories and
reporting by the middle of August 2008.
The remainder of this article will describe
Whitehoplemans methodology to
complete these electricity audits and the
key findings and recommendations of the
audits.

The heavy building materials (cement) division of the Irish multinational

CRH, operates with a number of working groups targeting operational
performance improvements in various aspects of the business. CRH does
not operate with a large, central technical centre or staff and therefore the
members of these working groups are drawn from the cement companies
and factories in the various countries around the world in which CRH
operates. This approach ensures that the working groups focus on the
issues of immediate concern to the constituent companies and factories
and that any findings or recommendations are immediately carried back to
and implemented in the cement factories.
Methodology
Whitehoplemans
methodology
to complete
these electricity
consumption audits
was broken down
into five steps: (i)
an analysis of the
current electricity
consumption on
each of the plants,
essentially a current
situation analysis, (ii)
development of electricity consumption
models for each of the factories, (iii)
a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, threats) analysis of
each of the cement works to identify
opportunities and options for electricity
consumption savings, (iv) a preliminary
options analysis to estimate savings and
cost effectiveness of each option, and (v)
prioritised recommendations for each of
the factories.
The analysis of the current electricity
consumption on each of the plants
was itself completed in two stages. A
questionnaire was completed by each of
the factories followed by a visit to each
of the plants by the Whitehopleman
auditing team. The questionnaire
gathered factory performance data
over the previous three years and also
information on the equipment installed
on each factory, its installed electrical
capacity and the electricity drawn by the
equipment during operation. The visits
were of two days duration for a single
line factory and an additional day for

All variants of cement process

technology were deployed

each additional line. During those visits

discussions were held with the factory
management and a tour of the electrical
network and process undertaken to
understand the electrical and process
technology issues faced by each factory.
Central to Whitehoplemans
methodology was the development of an
electricity consumption model for each of
the works. This modelled the build-up of
electricity consumption as intermediate
products (crushed stone, raw meal,
clinker, etc.) and final products (different
cement grades) were manufactured. The
models were then used to simulate the
effects of changes in the product mix,
replacement of equipment with more
electrically efficient alternatives and
changes in relative overtaking capacity
on electricity consumption and cost. This
proved to be an essential element of the
auditing process demanding that every
electricity consumer be documented on
each of the plants. The models were
especially useful for exploring the impact
of changes in the product mix for each of
the factories.
JULY 2009 ICR 45

BENCHMARKING

These first two steps of the

methodology were then followed by
the analysis and reporting stages of the
auditing process. CRH required that
individual factory electricity audit reports
be produced and delivered within two
weeks of completion of the fieldwork visits
to each of the factories. A deliberately
mechanistic approach of SWOT and
options analysis was employed to ensure
consistency of the approach between
different plants. All opportunities, however
small or unlikely were considered, if only
to document and then reject them as
options. Management of the individual
factories then had the opportunity to
comment upon and provide feedback on
the reports before their finalisation.
These individual cement factory
electricity audits were all completed in a
three-month period between mid April
and mid-July 2008. That was followed by
the preparation of an overall electricity
consumption report highlighting the
key findings and opportunities across
the cement plants of the CRH Group.
That overall report with its findings
and opportunities was presented to the
electricity working group at their periodic
meeting in mid-August 2008.

Findings
It is well documented in the literature
that one of Whitehoplemans regular
benchmarking customers, Shree Cement in
India, was successful in reducing electricity
consumption from 118kWh/t in 1985 to
73kWh/t today. Whitehopleman did not
expect savings of this magnitude would
be possible on the CRH cement factories
audited. However, CRH were insistent
that all options to minimise electricity
consumption be documented, no matter
how improbable were those options.
Shree Cement achieved their success
while expanding capacity from 0.6 to
2.6Mta and switching to the production
of blended cements with a low clinker
content (a Portland Pozzolanic Cement
PPC) with significant additions of
fly ash). While expanding capacity
they were afforded the opportunity to
select and install cement manufacturing
equipment with inherently low electricity
consumption and made a point of doing
so. This success of Shree Cement pointed
the way for all cement companies and
for the CRH cement factories to reduce
electricity consumption.
46 ICR JULY 2009

In CRH another working group

was tasked with reducing clinker
content of cements produced,
demonstrating that electricity
consumption, or any other aspect
of cement factory performance
cannot be divorced from the
wider operations. Nevertheless,
the narrow focus of the electricity
audits proved to be highly
effective, allowing opportunities
relating to electricity consumption
to be identified in isolation.
Whether these electricity reduction
opportunities made sense in the
wider operating context of the
individual factories was for the
local management to determine.
Deploying more electrically
efficient cement manufacturing
equipment is the other major way
to reduce the electricity usage
Visits to each of the cement factories
of a cement factory. As the raw
and finish grinding sections of a cement
However, on two factories in particular,
factory consume ~2/3 of the electricity
there were differentials of more than
consumed in the manufacture of cement
double in the cost of day-time electricity
that has to be the first focus for reducing
compared with night-time electricity. In
electricity consumption. This involves
that situation it is definitely beneficial to
the replacement of ball mills with more
have excess raw and cement grinding
electrically efficient vertical roller mills or
capacity to minimise the use of day-time
using roller presses in conjunction with ball
electricity. Having high grinding capacity
mills. Vertical roller mills for raw grinding
becomes a more important consideration
were already deployed on six of the CRH
than reducing the electricity consumption
factories audited. Vertical roller mills for
of that grinding capacity. This is the
cement grinding were already being used,
situation where the installation of a roll
or in the process of being installed on four
press ahead of the finish grinding ball mills
of the facilities. Roll presses and Horomills
becomes doubly attractive. Not only will
were deployed on other factories.
the electricity consumption be reduced
Nevertheless there remained significant
by ~30 per cent, but production rate can
opportunities to reduce electricity
also be increased by up to 200 per cent,
consumption by the introduction of roll
allowing less (or no) expensive day-time
presses for pregrinding raw materials and
power to be utilised.
clinker ahead of existing ball mills on a
Moving beyond the grinding systems
number of factories. However, it was
of the cement factories the next
recognised that such projects are difficult
consideration was the process fans used
to justify on electricity cost savings alone,
for drawing air into, and exhaust gas
if additional output is not required.
through and out of the kilns and mills.
In this regard the differential in
Here the major opportunity arises when
electricity tariffs at different times of
the flow through a fixed speed fan is
the day is an important consideration.
controlled by a damper which operates
On some of the factories there was no
less than 80 per cent open. That is an
differential between day and night-time
indication that the fan speed could be
electricity tariffs. In these cases there is
reduced resulting in significant reductions
no point maintaining more equipment
in electricity consumption. These
than is necessary and balanced production
opportunities had been largely realised on
capacity is the optimum, albeit with some
the CRH factories audited, but there were
overtaking capacity of the milling systems
remaining opportunities.
compared with the kiln to allow for
After grinding systems and process
maintenance.
fans the next consideration is the material

BENCHMARKING

transport between process sections.

As a rule of thumb mechanical
transport will consume ~40 per
centof the electricity that would be
consumed by pneumatic transport. So
if a kiln feed airlift can be replaced by
an elevator then 60 per cent of the
electricity consumed will be saved.
The same applies to the replacement
of the pneumatic transport of the
cement to the silos from the finish
mills. Again these opportunities had
been realised on some of the CRH
factories but other opportunities
remained.
Across all the nine factories a
total of 54 options for the reduction
of electricity consumption were
Process fans drawing air into and
identified. One example highlights
exhaust gases through and out of
the kilns and mills
the effectiveness of this process.
On one factory the audit identified
the operation of two induced draft
made that these fans be converted to
fans with fixed speed motors drawing
variable speed drives. However this would
~1800kW and with inlet dampers 60 per
have required major attendant work on
centopen as a major electricity saving
the electrical system of the factory. Local
opportunity. The recommendation was
management identified a better solution

being to shorten the blades of the

fans, causing them to draw less
volume, the inlet dampers therefore
needing to be opened and electricity
drawn to be reduced by ~370kW.
This was on a factory burdened
by higher than average electricity
costs and the savings from this
modification alone were sufficient
to more than pay for the electricity
audits on all nine CRH factories
within one year of operation.

Conclusions
The CRH electricity working group
continues to meet on a regular basis
in its ongoing efforts to reduce
electricity consumption. The audits
of the nine factories have provided
a framework for the projects being
followed by the working group
and on each of the factories. The
process may be repeated again in 2010,
dependent on the situations faced by the
factories when that time arrives.
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JULY 2009 ICR 47