It’s time – since last week the rotary kiln of the cement plant has been running and producing clinker. At full power, the flame of the burner has a length of about 8 meters and brings the rotary kiln to a temperature of more than 1,000 degrees. The current capacity is max. 350 tons per hour. When fully completed, the plant will produce around 1 million tons of clinker per year, which will then be processed into cement in the cement mills.
As early as March 2020, our TRIPS software and hardware experts started planning the project and created an R&I (piping and instrumentation) schematic in COMOS. A conscious decision was made in favor of the integrated COMOS software solution in order to ensure continuous and consistent management of the entire plant. Furthermore, the Plant Automation Accelerator was successfully used as an interface to PCS7 V9.2.
After the planning phase, our production department started building various switchgear cabinets as well as mounting plates in September, and at the beginning of October our TRIPS experts took up the old switchgear of the cement plant to prepare for the conversion.
Since January 6, the plant is now being rebuilt and all digital inputs & outputs as well as analog inputs & outputs are being tested during commissioning. In total, about 10,000 signals had to be tested and a wide variety of communications to other controllers had to be managed. Thus, the most important departments of TRIPS are currently tested and production can start. The current state of commissioning is about 65% and some areas, such as urea injection to achieve exhaust emission levels and alternative fuels, still need to be commissioned.