Green and low-carbon development has become the key focus for the transformation of China’s cement industry under the policies of ‘carbon peaking’ and ‘carbon neutrality’. Cement enterprises are actively seeking large-scale application of alternative fuels (AFs), improvements in energy efficiency, and reduction of carbon emissions to achieve sustainable development goals.
Through years of theoretical analysis and engineering practice, Huaxin has developed a series of key technologies and equipment that will help the industry to decarbonise. These include an integrated AF pretreatment system and process, low-carbon and environmentally friendly integrated technology for cement clinker production and the utilisation of various AF, bypass ash extraction of high-quality potassium salts, waste heat steam and waste residue preparation of high-performance wall materials. A relatively complete industrial technology system for low-carbon cement manufacturing has been built with these achievements, significantly improving Huaxin’s core competitiveness.
However, the unclassified AFs used in China’s cement industry are often of a poor quality, complex composition, and have significant differences in combustion performance and calorific value, as well as a high content of harmful components. With the expanding application scale of AFs and a significant increase in fuel substitution rate, it is challenging for the traditional production control system to stably manage the significant thermal fluctuations that stem from the extensive usage of AF. This results in unstable production quality of cement, vulnerability, and low operating rates of the equipment. Cement plants therefore face significant challenges in pursuing long-term, continuous, stable, and efficient operation.
An intelligent system
Huaxin, in collaboration with Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences, and Alibaba Cloud – a global leading partner in artificial intelligence technology – has made technological progress to address the challenges of low-carbon cement manufacturing in developing countries.
It has independently developed ILCCM, a comprehensive intelligent system for use across the cement manufacturing process. ILCCM employs four subsystems – Huaxin Intelligent Advanced Control (HIAC), Huaxin Intelligent Material Preparation (HIMP), Huaxin Online Quality Control (HOQC), and Huaxin Equipment Reconnaissance Optimisation (HERO) – along with the application of a large number of refuse-derived fuels (RDF) and AF and raw materials. This approach enables comprehensive intelligent management throughout the low-carbon cement manufacturing process, effectively addressing the bottlenecks in low-carbon cement manufacturing. As a result, cement plants can constantly improve their thermal substitution rate (TSR), energy efficiency, and overall performance, while simultaneously reducing carbon emission.
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