Cemfuel Cemfuel is manufactured by our sister company, SRM, from residues left from recycling clean solvents from waste for re-use in industry and from waste solvents and hydrocarbons that are not possible or economically recycled. These residues are carefully processed and blended to a strict specification before they are used as a partial replacement for coal in cement kilns.
Such organic liquid residues would have no further use and would otherwise go to landfill or incineration. Indeed, the development of Cemfuel has actually improved the volumes of solvents being recycled, because it provides a viable disposal route for the residues.
The very high temperatures reached in a cement kiln ensure all organic materials in the fuel are completely and safely destroyed while the energy value is recovered.
Permission to trial Cemfuel at Ketton was first sought from the Environment Agency in May 1994 and full approval for its permanent use was granted in December 1995. Ribblesdale started using Cemfuel in 1991.
Up to the end of 2004, over 300,000 tonnes of Cemfuel have been used, replacing approximately an equal volume of coal.
ProfuelProfuel is a solid organic fuel manufactured from selected paper, plastics and fibre wastes that are either impossible or uneconomic to recycle and that otherwise would be disposed of in landfill sites. The fuel has a slightly lower calorific value than coal and is completely consumed by the very high temperatures involved. Ash from the combustion process is incorporated into the crystal structures of the products.
At Ketton, the Profuel factory is managed by our sister company SRM that has set up a material selection and collection service to ensure the waste streams selected are suitable to meet the high specification demanded by the cement industry.
At the factory, waste is inspected on arrival and categorised for subsequent blending to meet the final cement industry specification. Materials are then shredded and ground to size – generally around 20 mm – to facilitate complete combustion in the kiln and then mixed
Permission to trial Profuel at Ketton was first sought from the Environment Agency in January 1998 and full approval for its permanent use was granted in December 2000.
In 2002, as the new factory was commissioned, 10,000 tonnes of Profuel was produced and used as fuel. The factory has an annual design capacity of 70,000 tonnes.
The use of Profuel is included in the permit for kiln 4 at Padeswood at present the company is working on the design of the Profuel systems for Padeswood.
TyresUsed tyres have a high energy content which makes them ideal for the manufacture of cement. The exceptionally high temperatures at which cement kilns operate, in turn, make them a safe and efficient means of disposing of tyres while recovering their energy potential.
The rubber and fabric elements of the tyres are completely consumed without any of the black smoke and smells normally associated with burning a tyre on a bonfire. Steel reinforcing oxidises and replaces a portion of the iron that is otherwise added to the raw material mix used in cement manufacture. There are no residues if tyre fuel is used in a cement kiln.
Permission to trial tyres at Ketton was first sought from the Environment Agency in August 1996 and full approval for their permanent use was granted in July 1998.
Up to the end of 2002, 9,000 tonnes of tyres (about 1,218,000 tyres) have been used, replacing approximately an equal volume of coal.
At Ribblesdale tyre chips were introduced on kiln 7 in 2003 and permission for permanent use was granted by the Environment Agency in April 2004. To date over 9000 tonnes have been burnt at Ribblesdale.
'Meat and Bone Meal'
We have authorisation from the Environment Agency to use of 'Meat and Bone Meal' derived fuel – often referred to as MBM at Ribblesdale works. The trials under the SFP were completed in the second half of 2005 and full authorisation for continuous use has now been given by the Environment Agency. :
Once again our cement kilns are able to safely use the energy content of a waste product to help fuel our kilns that would otherwise go to landfill.
MBM is a biomass fuel and is widely used in the European cement industry and calling on the experience of our sister companies in Europe, as anticipated, we saw no general changes in emissions except a slight reduction of oxides of nitrogen.’
The MBM supplied to us is from one of the largest rendering companies in the country; it is sterilised at temperatures of between 150 and 160 degrees Celsius for about 40 minutes, this gives a mixture of solid and fibrous animal protein and liquid tallow (fat); the liquid is drained off and used to make products such as cosmetics and the remaining material is pressed dry and milled to meet our fuel specification.
We have obtained permission from the Environment Agency to trial the use of AWDF at Ketton too.
MBM Ribblesdale - PDF Document MBM Padeswood - PDF Document