The use of alternative fuels in the cement industries of developing countries - an opportunity to reduce production costs?

The use of waste materials as alternative fuels in cement production represents an important contribution to environmental protection, especially for developing countries.
MVW Lechtenberg has developed a 3-stage plan by which a cement works that plans to use alternative fuels, i.e.
refuse derived fuels (RDF), produced from solid domestic waste or biomass, can be advised with the necessary
level of certainty.

The first phase, which provides for the verification and classification of the available quantities of waste materials and investigation of the relevant legal requirements, is followed by the second phase, which deals with the selection of suitable equipment and development of the project. The specific support during the implementation of the project, which also includes carrying out monitoring and quality management measures, then takes place in the third phase.

The alternative fuels from biomass that are used in developing countries normally range from rice husks to wood chips. Apart from the use of old tyres the fuels obtained from solid domestic waste materials are usually composed
of paper and plastic waste. Dried and processed domestic waste can reach a net calorific value of 4 500 kcal/kg.
Detailed examination of the costs, which is based on the prices prevailing in February 2009, confirms that even under the present conditions of financial crisis it pays dividends to replace coal by, for example, rice husks.

It is not the clinker output that is generally the decisive criterion for a cement works but the level of the production costs, so it continues to be worthwhile to use alternative fuels in cement production.
Valuable advice is given on the handling of alternative fuels, in particular also the cost the equipment, which can
be many times higher when investing in state of the art technology. Finally, a long section deals with the possible
effects of alternative fuels on the stability of the production process, the clinker output and the clinker quality.