Cement Manufacturing Process

Modeling and Evaluation with

SuperPro Designer®

INTELLIGEN, INC.
Simulation, Design, and Scheduling Tools
For the Process Manufacturing Industries
www.intelligen.com

Intelligen, Inc. Page 1

Introduction

Cement is an inorganic, non-metallic binding material that, upon contact with water, sets, hardens and
binds together other surrounding materials [1]. It is therefore the most used building material worldwide,
with a current production of about 10 billion metric tons (MT) per year [2]. Although the exact composition
of cement defines the specific material, the typical components in cement are limestone, clay and sand.
These materials are ground and mixed prior to firing to form the clinker, an intermediate product that once
mixed with gypsum generates the cement. In particular, a 95:5 percent mixture of clinker and gypsum is
typically referred to as ordinary Portland Cement [3]. Lower concentrations of clinker are instead used in
the production of Portland Slag Cement (60% clinker, 35% slag, 5% gypsum), Pozzolana Cement (60%
clinker, 30% fly ash, 10% gypsum) and Composite Cement.

This example simulates a cement manufacturing process plant in which cement clinker is first produced
by mixing clay and limestone, and then clinker is mixed with gypsum to produce cement. The process is
as follows: First, clay and limestone are crushed, ground and mixed in specific proportions. The
homogenized mixture is then fed to the kiln system which includes a cyclone preheater tower, a
precalciner, a rotary kiln and a grate cooler. The mixture is first preheated in the cyclone preheaters, then
it is precalcined in the precalciner, then it is converted into clinker in the rotary kiln, and finally it is cooled
down in a grate cooler. Subsequently, the produced clinker is mixed with gypsum and ground once more
to form the cement. The plant operates continuously for 330 days per year and it processes 260 MT/h of
limestone, 65 MT/h of clay and 12.5 MT/h of gypsum to produce 218 MT/h (corresponding to 1.73 million
MT/year) of cement. The compositions of clay and limestone feeds are listed in Table 1 and Table 2,
respectively.

Table 1. Clay composition

Clay
Material Formula Composition
(%)
Aluminum Oxide Al 2 O 3 15
Calcium Oxide CaO 2
Iron(III) Oxide Fe 2 O 3 6
Magnesium Oxide MgO 1
Silicon Oxide SiO 2 70
Water H2O 6

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 Table 2. Limestone composition
Material Formula (%)
Aluminum Oxide Al 2 O 3 0.3
Calcium Carbonate CaCO 3 93.4
Iron(III) Oxide Fe 2 O 3 0.2
Magnesium Oxide MgO 0.6
Silicon Oxide SiO 2 2.5
Water H2O 3

Process Description

For reporting and analysis purposes, the process has been divided into three sections:

• Raw Materials Preparation

• Clinker Production

• Cement Production

Flowsheet sections in SuperPro are simply sets of related unit procedures (processing steps). For
information on how to specify flowsheet sections and edit their properties, please consult Chapter 8.1 of
the SuperPro manual. The contents of each of this example’s flowsheet sections are described below.

Raw Materials Preparation

Clay is transported to the plant using trucks (P-1) and it is stored in a silo (P-2). The limestone quarry is
assumed to be close to the plant and therefore the transportation cost of limestone is assumed negligible.
Clay and limestone are crushed (P-3 and P-5) to reduce their size from 100 cm down to 1-8 cm. Then,
they are transferred by belt conveyors (P-4 and P-6) in proper proportions (P-7) to the pre-
homogenization silo (P-8) where they mixed and homogenized using stacking and reclaiming methods.
The homogenized mixture is then ground in a roller mill (P-9) and dried to produce fine particles that are
carried by air to the homogenizing silo (P-10).

Clinker Production

The ground mixture of limestone and clay (raw meal) is preheated to about 700-800°C in a cyclone
preheater tower by the kiln’s exhaust gas. The exhaust gas is cooled down from about 900°C to about
350°C. For simplicitly, in this example, the cyclone preheater tower is simulated implicitly, using a Heat
Exchanging procedure (P-11). To simulate a preheater tower explicitly, one would have to add 4-6 Gas
Cyclone unit procedures to the flowsheet and connect them appropriately.

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After preheating, the raw meal is fed into a precalciner (P-12) where the temperature is raised further up
to about 900°C by burning coal together with air. This causes most of the calcium carbonate contained in
the limestone to be converted into quicklime (CaO). The coal is transferred by truck (P-13), stored in a silo
(P-14), ground (P-15) and fed into the precalciner. A portion of the hot air from the grate cooler (P-23) is
used as combustion air in the precalciner (“Tertiary Air”). The specified reaction data in the precalciner is
listed in Table 3.

Table 3. Reaction specification data in precalciner (P-12)

Stoich. Ref. Heat of
Conv.
Name Coeff. Stoichiometry Comp. Reaction
(%)
Type (kJ/kg)

100.00Brown Coal + 252.57O 2 

Coal Brown
Mass 297.84CO 2 + 1.60N 2 + 5.34SO 2 + 100 -30870
Combustion Coal
47.79H 2 O(g)

Calcination Molar CaCO 3  CaO + CO 2 CaCO 3 85 1781.6

Desulfurization Molar CaO + SO 2 + 0.5O 2  CaSO 4 CaO 98 -9017.8

The precalciner is assumed to be of the separate line type in which the kiln exhaust gas bypasses the
firing region of the precalciner (as opposed to the in-line type in which the kiln gas passes through the
firing region of the precalciner) [4]. In addition, this precalciner is assumed to be using staged
combustion. Staged combustion calciners work by first burning the calcining fuel under reduced
conditions to reduce NOx and then burning it under oxidized conditions to complete the combustion
reaction. The uncontrolled NO x emissions from US preheater/precalciner kilns equiped with staged
combustion calciners are 2.5 lb/ton of clinker on average [5].

To simulate a preheater/precalciner kiln with similar uncontrolled NOx emissions in this example, it was
assumed that all fuel nitrogen is converted into N2 in the precalciner. It was also assumed that coal had
the following composition (“as received”): 76% carbon, 5% hydrogen, 8.5% oxygen, 1.5% nitrogen, 2.5%
sulfur, 6% ash and 0.5% moisture. Based on these assumptions, the mass stoichiometric coefficients of
the overall coal combustion reaction were calculated as shown in Table 3. Since the fuel NOx is zero in
the calciner and since the conditions in the calciner do not favor thermal NOx, the baseline NOx
emissions will be entirely due to the fuel NOx and thermal NOx produced in the kiln (see below) which is
assumed to be around 0.26 MT/h. Since the plant produces 208.4 MT/h of clinker the baseline NOx
emissions are approximately 2.5 lb/ton of clinker. Since, in this case, the normalized exhaust gas flow is
calculated to be 367,831 Nm3/h (where “N” denotes dry gas at 1 atm, 273K and 10% O2), the baseline
NOx emissions are approximately 366 mg/Nm3.

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In addition, it is assumed that 98% of the SO2 produced by coal combustion is absorbed by the raw meal
through reaction with CaO and O2 to produce CaSO4. This simplification is in good agreement with the
fact that most of the SO2 in the preheater exhaust originates from sulfur contained in the raw meal (e.g.,
sulfides) and not from fuel sulfur [6]. Based on this assumption, the SO2 emissions are approximately
0.017 MT/h which is equivalent to 0.22 lb/ton clinker. Considering that the normalized exhaust gas flow is
367,771 Nm3/h in this case, the SO2 emissions are 46 mg/Nm3. These values are below the EU (50
mg/Nm3) and US (0.4 lb/ton of clinker) SO2 emission limits.

To further reduce the baseline NOx emissions, selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) is used (P-43).
Ammonia-water solution (20%) is injected in the flue gas at the lower stage of the preheater to remove
NOx. The reaction used to simulate SNCR is shown in Table 4:

Table 4. Reaction specification data in SNCR unit procedure (P-43)

Stoich. Ref. Heat of
Conv.
Name Coeff. Stoichiometry Comp. Reaction
(%)
Type (kJ/kg)

SNCR Molar 4NH 3 + 4NO + O 2  4N 2 + 6H2O NO 50 -15766.7

After SNCR the NOx emissions are approximately 0.066 MT/h or equivalently 0.85 lb/ton of clinker, which
is below the US limit (1.5 lb/ton of clinker). In addition, the normalized emissions are calculated to be 180
mg/Nm3, which is below the EU limit (200 mg/Nm3).

After preheating and precalcining, the mixture enters the rotary kiln (P-18). In the kiln’s burner, natural
gas is mixed with primary (fresh) air and secondary air (hot air from the grate cooler’s first stage). The
primary air accounts for about 14% of the total combution air. At the high tmperature in the kiln (the flame
temperature in the burner can reach 1700-2000 °C) the minerals fuse together to form cement clinker.
The reactions considered for the formation of clinker in the kiln are listed in Table 5. The high temperature
in the kiln also favors the formation of thermal NO x. This is simulated by converting 5% of the available
nitrogen in the incoming gas into NO. The thermal NO formation reaction is also listed in Table 5.

Table 5. Reaction specification data in rotary kiln (P-18)

Stoich. Ref. Heat of
Conv.
Name Coeff. Stoichiometry Comp. Reaction
(%)
Type (kJ/kg)

Calcination Molar CaCO 3  CaO + CO 2 CaCO 3 100 1781.6

Ferrite Al 2 O 3 + 4CaO + Fe 2 O 3 
Molar CaO 100 -254.4
(C4AF) 4CaO·Al 2 Fe 2 O 6

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 Formation

Alite (C3S)
Molar 3CaO + SiO 2  3CaO·SiO 2 CaO 65 -672.1
Formation

Belite (C2S)
Molar 2CaO + SiO 2  Ca 2 SiO 4 CaO 70 -1103.5
Formation

Tricalcium
Aluminate
Molar 3CaO + Al 2 O 3 +  3CaO·Al 2 O 3 CaO 100 -40.6
(C3A)
Formation

Thermal NO
Molar 0.5N 2 + 0.5O 2 NO N2 5 6443.4
Formation

The produced clinker is subsequently cooled down in a grate cooler in two stages, first by counter-current
flow of a cooling stream, and then by cross-flow of another cooling stream. To simulate these two stages,
two Heat Exchanging unit procedures are used (P-22 and P-23). In the first stage, the cooling stream is a
mixture (P-26) of exhaust gases and ambient air. In the second stage, ambient air is used for cooling. The
hot air from the first stage is used as secondary combustion air in the kiln. A portion of the hot air from the
second stage is used as combustion air in the precalciner (“Tertiary Air” stream) and the rest is mixed (P-
27) with the preheater exhaust gases. After cooling, the clinker is stored in the clinker silo (P-24).

The precalciner and kiln exhaust gases travel through the preheater cyclones and exit from the top of the
preheater tower. Then, they are fed into a Gas Conditioning Tower (P-28) together with excess cooling air
from the grate cooler. In the Gas Conditioning Tower, the gas is cooled down to a temperature below
150°C by spraying cooling water on it. Subsequently, the exhaust gas is fed into the main baghouse filter
of the process (P-29) used to filter out the solids from the exhaust gas. After that, the gas is released in
the air from the stack.

Cement Production

The gypsum is transported to the plant by truck (P-31) and stored in the Gypsum Silo (P-32).The clinker is
ground together with gypsum in the Cement Mill (P-34) to form cement and the final product is stored in
the Cement Silo (P-35).

It must be noted that several bag filters are also used throughout the cement manufacturing process for
dedusting of different equipment such as crushers, mills, and conveyors. To avoid complicating the
flowsheet too much, such filters have been omitted from the flowsheet. However, their purchase cost is

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accounted for in the total capital cost implicitly (through the specification of each section’s “Unlisted
Equipment Purchase Cost” factor).

Material Requirements

The conumption of raw materials expressed in MT/year, MT/h and MT/MT of MP (where MP stands for
“main product” which is cement in this case) is shown in Table 6. This table was extracted from the RTF
version of the Materials & Streams (SR) Report, which can be generated by clicking Reports 
Materials & Streams (SR) on the main menu bar of SuperPro. Reports can be generated in various
formats (e.g., PDF, RTF, XLS, etc.) specified through the Reports  Options menu. Table 6 indicates
that the main raw material requirements are limestone (2,059,200 MT/year), clay (514,800 MT/year) and
water (597,676 MT/year), which is used for cooling in the gas conditioning tower.

Table 6. Bulk material requirements

Material MT/yr MT/h MT/MT MP

Air 2,955,009 373.11 1.71
BrownCoal 126,720 16.00 0.07
Clay 514,800 65.00 0.30
Gypsum 75,880 9.58 0.04
Limestone 2,059,200 260.00 1.19
Natural Gas 39,600 5.00 0.02
NH3 (20% w/w) 7,920 1.00 0.00
Water 597,676 75.46 0.35
TOTAL 6,376,806 805.15 3.69

Economic Evaluation

In addition to material and energy balances, SuperPro Designer performs economic calculations including
the calculation of capital expenses (CAPEX), operating expenses (OPEX), production cost and
profitability. The economic analysis results are presented in three pertinent reports that the program
generates, namely the Economic Evaluation Report (EER), Cash Flow Analysis Report (CFR) and
Itemized Cost Report (ICR).

Some key inputs used for the economic analysis of the flowsheet considered are shown in Table 7. The
plant produces 218 MT/h of cement and operates for 330 days per year. The analysis assumes that the

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construction starts in 2022, the construction period is 24 months, the startup period is 4 months and the
project lifetime is 25 years. In addition, the base year of analysis is 2022, the infllation used to update the
equipment purchase costs is assumed 4%, the net present value calculation is based on 5% interest rate,
the depreciation of capital investment is calculated with the straight-line method using a depreciation
period of 10 years and a salvage value equal to 5% of the total direct fixed cost, and the income tax is
20%.

Table 7. General economic parameters

General economic Parameters

Plant size 218 MT/h
Annual Operating Time 330 days
Year of Analysis 2022
Year Construction Starts 2022
Construction Period 24 months
Startup Period 4 months
Project Lifetime 25 years
Inflation for equipment cost calculation 4%
Interest rate for NPV calculation 5%
Depreciation period 10 years
Salvage value (% of Direct Fixed Cost) 5%
Income tax 20%
Section-specific economic Parameters
Days covered by working capital 30
Startup and validation cost (% of Direct
5%
Fixed Cost)

The Executive Summary of the EER is shown in Table 8. Based on the economic calculations performed,
the cement manufacturing process requires a capital investment (CAPEX) of around $354 million and it
has annual operating expenses (OPEX) around $172 million. Also, the the annual revenues are nearly
$216 million. Hence, the gross profit is around $44 million and the gross margin is approximately 20%.
Margins of this magnitude are somewhat typical of commodity manufacturing processes, in which the
economic feasibility is ensured by large production volumes. The analyzed process also exhibits a return
on investment of around 18.7%, which in turn results in a payback time close to 5 years. In addition, the
net present value (NPV) of the investment is $476 at 5% interest. Based on these values, this project
would represent an attractive investment.

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 Table 8. Executive Summary of Economic Evaluation Report (EER)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (2022 prices)

Total Capital Investment 354,058,000 $

Capital Investment Charged to This Project 354,058,000 $
Operating Cost 171,892,000 $/yr
Revenues 215,825,000 $/yr
Cost Basis Annual Rate 1,726,603 MT MP/yr
Unit Production Cost 99.55 $/MT MP
Net Unit Production Cost 99.55 $/MT MP
Unit Production Revenue 125.00 $/MT MP
Gross Margin 20.36 %
Return On Investment 18.75 %
Payback Time 5.33 years
IRR (After Taxes) 17.46 %
NPV (at 5.0% Interest) 476,573,000 $

MP = Total Flow of Stream 'Cement'

In the following paragraphs, the total capital investment and operating cost will be described in more
detail.

Table 9, which was extracted from the EER, provides information on equipment sizes and purchase
costs. Built-in purchase cost models were used for estimating the purchase costs of most common
equipment and user-defined purchase cost values were specified for more specialized equipment and
unit procedures, such as the proportioning and pre-homogenization equipment, the gas conditioning
tower and the kiln system (preheater, precalciner, rotary kiln, and grate cooler). To account for the
purchase cost of missing (“unlisted”) equipment from the flowsheet, such as the bag filters used in
crushers, conveyors, mills, etc, the “Unlisted Equipment” purchase cost was assumed to be 25% of the
total purchase cost of the available (“listed”) equipment in the flowsheet. As shown in Table 9, the total
equipment purchase cost of the cement manufacturing process is estimated to be around $54 million.

Table 9. Equipment specification and FOB costs (2022 prices)

Quantity/
Standby/ Name Description Unit Cost ($) Cost ($)
Staggered
1/0/0 SL-107 Silo 5,000,000 5,000,000
Vessel Volume = 477.94 m3
3/0/0 HX-105 Heat Exchanger 4,000,000 12,000,000
Heat Exchange Area = 85.53 m2

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1/0/0 KLN-102 Rotary Kiln 4,000,000 4,000,000
Lateral Surface Area = 1845.81 m2
2/0/0 BHF-109 Baghouse Filter 2,416,000 4,832,000
Total Bag Area = 8032.76 m2
1/0/0 SL-104 Silo 2,180,000 2,180,000
Vessel Volume = 9176.47 m3
1/0/0 GBX-116 Generic Box 2,000,000 2,000,000
Rated Throughput = 533000.00 kg/h
1/0/0 GBX-101 Generic Box 2,000,000 2,000,000
Rated Throughput = 434441.54 kg/h
1/0/0 GR-103 Grinder 1,437,000 1,437,000
Rated Throughput = 325.00 MT/h
1/0/0 GR-101 Grinder 1,165,000 1,165,000
Rated Throughput = 260.00 MT/h
1/0/0 GR-104 Grinder 989,000 989,000
Rated Throughput = 218.01 MT/h
1/0/0 SL-106 Silo 888,000 888,000
Vessel Volume = 2258.82 m3
1/0/0 MX-110 Mixer 500,000 500,000
Rated Throughput = 617.91 MT/h
1/0/0 MX-103 Mixer 500,000 500,000
Rated Throughput = 325.00 MT/h
1/0/0 BC-101 Belt Conveyor 400,000 400,000
Belt Length = 100.00 m
1/0/0 SL-102 Silo 360,000 360,000
Vessel Volume = 1352.59 m3
1/0/0 GR-102 Grinder 347,000 347,000
Rated Throughput = 65.00 MT/h
1/0/0 BC-102 Belt Conveyor 273,000 273,000
Belt Length = 100.00 m
1/0/0 HX-102 Heat Exchanger 250,000 250,000
Heat Exchange Area = 5.87 m2
3/0/0 HX-106 Heat Exchanger 250,000 750,000
Heat Exchange Area = 86.53 m2
1/0/0 SL-105 Silo 159,000 159,000

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 Vessel Volume = 477.94 m3
1/0/0 GR-105 Grinder 142,000 142,000
Rated Throughput = 16.00 MT/h
1/0/0 SL-103 Silo 123,000 123,000
Vessel Volume = 320.60 m3
1/0/0 SL-101 Silo 120,000 120,000
Vessel Volume = 306.51 m3
Unlisted Equipment 13,472,000
TOTAL 53,887,000

Table 10, which was also extracted from the EER, provides a breakdown of the Direct Fixed Capital
(DFC) Cost, which is around $329 million for a plant of this capacity. The individual costs shown in this
table were estimated based on the equipment purchase cost using suitable multiplication factors.

Table 10. Fixed capital estimate summary (2022 prices in $)

A. Total Plant Direct Cost (TPDC) (physical cost)

1. Equipment Purchase Cost 53,887,000
2. Installation 23,465,000
3. Process Piping 18,860,000
4. Instrumentation 21,555,000
5. Insulation 1,617,000
6. Electrical 5,389,000
7. Buildings 24,249,000
8. Yard Improvement 8,083,000
9. Auxiliary Facilities 21,555,000
TPDC 178,659,000

B. Total Plant Indirect Cost (TPIC)

10. Engineering 44,665,000
11. Construction 62,530,000
TPIC 107,195,000

C. Total Plant Cost (TPC = TPDC+TPIC)

TPC 285,854,000

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D. Contractor's Fee & Contingency (CFC)
12. Contractor's Fee 14,293,000
13. Contingency 28,585,000
CFC = 12+13 42,878,000

E. Direct Fixed Capital Cost (DFC = TPC+CFC)

DFC 328,732,000

The total capital investment is calculated as the sum of DFC, working capital, startup and validation costs,
up-front R&D cost and up-front royalties. The values of these costs can be found in the profitability
analysis table of the EER (Table 13). As shown in Table 7, for each section, the working capital is
assumed to cover that section’s expenses for 30 days, and the startup and validation costs are taken to
be equal to 5% of that section’s DFC. Based on these assumptions, the working capital and startup &
validation costs for the entire project are around $8.9 million and $16.5 million, respectively. For this
project, the up-front R&D cost and up-front royalties are zero.

The operating costs associated with this cement manufacturing process are listed in Table 11. The
operating costs are also shown graphically in a pie chart in Figure 1. Both the above table and the above
chart can be found in the EER. Note that charts are included in reports only if the Include Charts flag is
turned on (checked) through the Reports  Options menu.

Table 11. Annual operating costs summary (2022 prices)

Cost Item $ %
Raw Materials 77,913,000 45.33
Labor-Dependent 8,978,000 5.22
Facility-Dependent 64,103,000 37.29
Laboratory/QC/QA 65,000 0.04
Consumables 82,000 0.05
Waste Treatment/Disposal 0 0.00
Utilities 10,895,000 6.34
Transportation 9,856,000 5.73
Miscellaneous 0 0.00
Advertising/Selling 0 0.00
Running Royalties 0 0.00
Failed Product Disposal 0 0.00

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 TOTAL 171,892,000 100.00

Figure 1. Annual operating cost breakdown

The total operating cost is estimated to be around $172 million of which 45% is due to the cost of raw
materials and 37% is attributed to facility-dependent costs (mainenance, depreciation of fixed capital cost,
insurance, local property taxes, overhead expenses). Other operating costs include the cost of utilites
(6%), labor (5%), and transportation (6%).

A breakdown of the raw materials cost is listed in Table 12, which can also be found in the EER. In this
table, the purchase prices of raw materials can also be seen. The major contributors to the raw materials
cost are the costs of limestone (53%) and natural gas (20%) followed by the costs of coal (13%) and clay
(7.7%). The purchase prices of limestone and clay were assumed equal to $20/MT and $15/MT,
3
respectively. The purchase price of natural gas was assumed equal to $0.34/Nm whereas the purchase
price of coal was assumed equal to $82/MT.

Table 12. Materials cost

Unit Cost Annual Annual Cost
Bulk Material %
($) Amount ($)
Air 0.00 2,955,878,373 kg 0 0.00
BrownCoal 82.00 126,720 MT 10,391,040 13.34
Clay 15.00 514,800 MT 7,722,000 9.91
Gypsum 8.00 75,880 MT 607,043 0.78
Limestone 20.00 2,059,200 MT 41,184,000 52.86
Natural Gas 0.34 48,494,093 m3(STP) 16,303,502 20.93
NH3 (20% w/w) 135.00 7,920 MT 1,069,200 1.37

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Water 1.10 578,084 m3(STP) 635,892 0.82
TOTAL 77,912,677 100.00

NOTE: Bulk material consumption amount includes material used as:

- Raw Material
- Cleaning Agent
- Heat Transfer Agent (if utilities are included in the operating cost)

Table 13 shows the profitability analysis results in more detail. This information can also be found in the
EER.

Table 13. Profitability analysis

PROFITABILITY ANALYSIS (2022 prices)

A. Direct Fixed Capital 328,732,000 $

B. Working Capital 8,890,000 $
C. Startup Cost 16,437,000 $
D. Up-Front R&D 0$
E. Up-Front Royalties 0$
F. Total Investment (A+B+C+D+E) 354,058,000 $
G. Investment Charged to This Project 354,058,000 $

H. Revenue/Savings Rates
Cement (Main Revenue) 1,726,603 MT/yr

I. Revenue/Savings Price
Cement (Main Revenue) 125.00 $/MT

J. Revenues/Savings
Cement (Main Revenue) 215,825,428 $/yr
1 Total Revenues 215,825,428 $/yr
2 Total Savings 0 $/yr

K. Annual Operating Cost (AOC)

1 Actual AOC 171,892,000 $/yr
2 Net AOC (K1-J2) 171,892,000 $/yr

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L. Unit Production Cost /Revenue
Unit Production Cost 99.55 $/MT MP
Net Unit Production Cost 99.55 $/MT MP
Unit Production Revenue 125.00 $/MT MP

M. Gross Profit (J-K) 43,934,000 $/yr

N. Taxes (20%) 8,787,000 $/yr
O. Net Profit (M-N + Depreciation) 66,377,000 $/yr

Gross Margin 20.36 %

Return On Investment 18.75 %
Payback Time 5.33 years

MP = Total Flow of Stream 'Cement'

Summary

The model of this example analyzes a process for manufacturing Portland cement from typical raw
materials such as limestone, clay, and gypsum. As indicated by the preceding analysis, a plant with
capacity around 218 MT/h of cement requires a total captial investment around $354 million and has
annual operating expenditures around $172 million. The main contribution to the operating costs is
the cost of raw materials (45%) followed by the facility-dependent costs (37%) and by smaller
contributions from the costs of utilities (6%), transportation (6%) and labor (5%).

Overall, the process produces annual revenues around $216 million, which corresponds to a gross
margin about 20% and a payback time of nearly 5 years. In addition, the return on investment was
estimated around 18% and the net present value at 5% interest was estimated to be approximately
$476 million. A net present value close to the total capital investment suggests that an investment on
this project would be profitable and attractive. Clearly, these results are strongly subjected to the
validity of all assumptions, from prices to performances, whose consistency must be thoroughly
verified.

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References

1. M. Gheibi, M. Karrabi, M. Shakerian, M. Mirahmadi, Life cycle assessment of concrete

production with a focus on air pollutants and the desired risk parameters using genetic algorithm,
J. Environ. Heal. Sci. Eng. 16 (2018) 89–98. doi:10.1007/s40201-018-0302-x.
2. P.C. Aïtcin, Cements of yesterday and today - concrete of tomorrow, Cem. Concr. Res. 30
(2000) 1349–1359. doi:10.1016/S0008-8846(00)00365-3.
3. F.N. Stafford, F. Raupp-Pereira, J.A. Labrincha, D. Hotza, Life cycle assessment of the
production of cement: A Brazilian case study, J. Clean. Prod. 137 (2016) 1293–1299.
doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.07.050.
4. NOx Control Technologies for the Cement Industry: Final Report, EPA, September
2000. https://www3.epa.gov/airquality/ctg_act/200009_nox_epa457_r-00-
002_cement_industry.pdf
5. Alternative Control Techniques Document Update – NOx Emissions from New Cement Kilns,
EPA-453/R-07-006, November 2007. https://www3.epa.gov/ttncatc1/dir1/cement_updt_1107.pdf
6. L.A. Tokheim, The impact of staged combustion on the operation of a precalciner cement kiln,
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