Buzzi Unicem Russia Tests Höganäs Borgestad Lining

SLK Cement (Russia), a subsidiary of the international holding company Buzzi Unicem (Italy) and the manufacturer of refractory materials Höganäs Borgestad (Sweden) first discussed possible cooperation in 2018 at the international cement conference PetroCem. SLK set to test the energy-saving double-layer lining that Höganäs Borgestad produces.

A wet-process rotary kiln (5.0/4.5/5.0 x 175 m) was selected to test the lining. The lining was used at the Safety zone drying and pre-heating zone with a total length of 22.6 meters.

First four meters of the kiln were lined with 50 mm thick ‘Hoganas Insul M-E’ insulating bricks and 200 mm ‘Victor 60 RK’ high-alumina bricks (operating layer). The rest of the zone (18.6 m) was lined with 64 mm thick ‘Hoganas Insul M-E’ insulating bricks and 200 mm ‘Viking 330’ fireclay bricks. The goals were to reduce the temperature of the kiln shell by 80 °C and acquire lining with the warranty period of 24 months.

In April 2019, the Korkino plant (SLK Cement’s enterprise) carried out the lining works. During the inspection of the lining in October 2019, lining revealed no damage to it.

As of January 2020, the temperature of the kiln shell on the Korkino production site is reduced by an average of 100 °C. Such reduction allows to reduce natural gas consumption and CO2 emissions, increase kiln production capacity, and reduce mechanical problems.

Buzzi Unicem Russia increased sales of cement by 15.6 % in 2019 (up to 214 million euros). The expansion of the local distribution network made a major contribution to the growth in Buzzi’s sales in Russia. The annual capacity of the Dyckerhoff Korkino Cement plant is 1.1 million tons of cement.