AI's Alternative Advantage

By 2019, AFs accounted for 50% of the European cement industry's total thermal energy consumption. The European industry now aims to increase this proportion to 60% by 2030 and 90% by 2050 to align with carbon neutrality goals. Globally, many companies are setting ambitious targets for 2030; for example, Anhui Conch aims for 15% AF use, while Cemex targets 55%.

Technological advancements in control systems have not kept pace with the upward trend in AF use. AFs, which vary widely in composition, quality, calorific value, and combustion characteristics, introduce new complexities into the production process. Existing control systems, designed for traditional fuels are often ill-equipped to handle these variations. Furthermore, process engineers with extensive experience in operating plants with traditional fuels are now grappling with a completely new set of challenges.

Local production managers constantly have to adapt to the dynamic nature of fuel availability, composition, quality, and pricing to optimise plant performance and cost-efficiency. Additionally, every cement plant is unique, so variables such as kiln design, fuel mix, and local waste availability make it impossible to apply a one-size-fits-all approach, making centralised strategies difficult to design and implement.

Overcoming these challenges is essential if cement producers are going to meet their ambitious targets for AF adoption, and reap both the environmental and economic rewards.

Plants are poised to take advantage of AI to increase alternative fuel use

The early investments into Industry 4.0 initiatives have put many leading cement producers in a strong position to take advantage of data-driven decision-making and advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning for process optimisation, control, and automation. These AI solutions can comprehend and identify patterns in large data sets with a speed and accuracy that is not possible for a human operator. This enables plant operators to use more of their data, generate deeper insights, and operate in optimal operating windows more often while freeing up valuable human resources to focus on plant-critical tasks. While some producers have started to embrace AI at various stages in their production cycles, to date, the role of AI in increasing the use of AF has yet to be realised widely or consistently by the industry.

However, this type of problem fits right within the core strengths of AI. By leveraging AI tools, cement producers can maximise the use of AFs while avoiding operational risks.

An AI-powered solution

Carbon Re has been developed in conjunction with cement industry experts and world leaders in AI and Machine Learning to help plants decarbonise profitably. By integrating with a plant’s Advanced Process Control (APC) system, such as ABB Ability™ Expert Optimizer and FLSmidth Cement's ECS/ProcessExpert®, Carbon Re uses a plant’s data for real-time optimisation to save fuel costs and carbon and reduce product quality variability.

Focused on providing solutions that bring value to cement producers from the short to long term, Carbon Re’s product roadmap has three phases:

• Improving energy efficiency and kiln stability.
• Maximising AF use.
• Supporting carbon capture technologies.

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Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/special-reports/24012025/ais-alternative-advantage/