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THE
COMPANY
Cemento
de El Salvador S.A. de C.V. (CESSA), established in the
late forties, is the sole cement-producing company in
El Salvador. It is close to the city of Metapán, about
120 kilometers to the northeast of the capital, San Salvador.
The company primarily does business within the Salvadoran
market, in which it holds a very important position.
In
1993 CESSA acquired the MAYA plant after presenting the
winning bid in a contest to buy it from the government.
CESSA modernized and expanded the plant during 1994 and
1995, and was able to increase its production capacity
by 50%. The company also has its own limestone mines,
close to its CESSA and MAYA plants, which have confirmed
reserves for at least 100 years. In 1998 the company sold
more than one million tons of cement.
ITS
FACILITIES
CESSA
has three wet furnaces and one dry furnace that manufacture
cement. It recently added another dry furnace to its new
line #5, which has made a difference in the company's
performance. The three wet furnaces have a daily capacity
of 1,050 tons of clinker, whereas the dry furnaces have
a capacity of 1,200 (furnace 4) and 2,200 (furnace 5),
respectively. MAYA, on the other hand, has only one dry
rotary furnace, with a daily capacity of 1,200 tons. These
new facilities give company plants a productive capacity
of close to two million tons of cement per year.
It
is important to point out that three of CESSA’s furnaces
are of the wet rotary type. This kind of furnace is notably
inefficient, consuming large amounts of fuel because of
the large amount of energy required to dry the paste that
is fed into the furnace, prior to the calcinating, synthesizing,
and cooling of the slag. The change to the use of dry
furnaces is a better option because no energy is required
for drying the paste, due to the fact that air is used
instead of water for homogenization. The result is a decrease
in the use of energy in combustion.
THE
PROJECT
Because
of increased cement consumption in El Salvador and a concern
for environmental preservation, the company has been working
since 1993 on the installation of a new cement production
line (line #5) at the CESSA factory. The company contracted
with Sereland, a Spanish consulting firm, to define the
viability of the project, then chose, in a bidding procedure,
the Danish FLSmidth Group to carry out the project. This
company, in turn, subcontracted the Mexican firm ICA Fluor
Daniel to perform the work in construction.
The
total cost of the project is U.S.$84 million. The new
line includes a modification of the crusher to increase
its capacity, a vertical grinding mill, a dry furnace
with five preheating phases, a calcinator and terciary
air, a cement ball mill, infrastructure improvements,
and a conveyer belt, among others.
This
project was implemented in October of 1997 and is being
financed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC)
of the World Bank, as well as by the Multi-Sector Investment
Bank through the Agricultural and Commercial Bank of El
Salvador. It complies with the World Bank’s environmental
regulations for new and existing furnaces, in which particulate
emissions must be a maximum of 50 and 150 mg/nm3,
respectively.
The
new cement line has a daily production capacity of 2,200
tons of clinker. By using new technologies in the process,
CESSA will be able to decrease its consumption of electric
power per ton of clinker, thereby reducing its CO2
emissions. An additional benefit is that this new technology
in furnace burners also reduces nitrous oxide particulates.
MITIGATION
OF CO2
CO2
emissions from the manufacture of Portland cement are
generated in three different ways:
-
-
Calcination
of limestone or other calcareous materials
-
The
company determined the amount of CO2 emissions
per ton of clinker per furnace. From these results, a
prediction was made of the amount of clinker generated
per year according to cement sales projections. An estimate
also was made of CO2 emissions.
The
period for CO2 reduction is expected to be
from 2000 to 2011, with the possibility of extending it,
depending on the cement consumption rate. These calculations
were made using an estimate of 6% as a growth rate. If
this rate were to decrease, CO2 reductions
would take place over a longer period.
The
following table shows total CO2 emissions per
ton of clinker produced through calcination of limestone,
combustion, and consumption of electric power for each
of the furnaces being used, including the new one at line
# 5, at both the CESSA and MAYA facilities.
CO2
Emissions per Ton of Clinker
|
Furnaces
|
t
CO2/t of clinker |
| F
– 1 Cessa |
1.1411
|
|
F – 2 Cessa
|
1.0959
|
|
F – 3 Cessa
|
1.0815
|
|
F – 4 Cessa
|
0.8777
|
|
F – 5 Cessa
|
0.8170
|
|
F – 1 Maya
|
0.9163
|
OUTLOOK
As
a part of this project, an estimate was made of total
CO2 emissions according to type of furnace
and the useful life of the project. In addition, an analysis
was performed for two possible situations: with the installation
of the new line and without it. Projections called for
total reductions in CO2 of 908,826 tons, as
can be seen in the following table:
Emissions
and Reductions of CO2 According to Furnace Type
| Year
|
Annual CO2 Emissions (t)
|
CO2 Decrease (t)
|
|
Without
Line #5
|
With Line #5
|
|
2000
|
829,117
|
757,614
|
71,503
|
|
2001
|
887,826
|
801,038
|
86,789
|
|
2002
|
949,012
|
847,067
|
101,945
|
|
2003
|
997,803
|
895,858
|
101,945
|
|
2004
|
1,049,521
|
951,345
|
98,176
|
|
2005
|
1,104,342
|
1,010,240
|
94,103
|
|
2006
|
1,162,453
|
1,072,668
|
89,785
|
|
2007
|
1,224,050
|
1,138,842
|
85,209
|
|
2008
|
1,289,343
|
1,208,986
|
80,358
|
|
2009
|
1,358,554
|
1,300,224
|
58,331
|
|
2010
|
1,431,918
|
1,397,448
|
34,469
|
|
2011
|
1,509,683
|
1,503,470
|
6,213
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
|
14,568,192
|
13,659,366
|
908,826
|
In
addition to the decrease in emissions from the change
in technology, CESSA is also carrying out activities for
reforesting an average of four hectares per year, which
results in a four-ton-per-hectare decrease in CO2.
Many of these areas to be reforested are used-up mining
pits, abandoned roads, or new lands that have been deforested.
Also underway is an effort to protect an area of natural
forest on the property, with an eye to expanding reforestation
in the region. This program is called "GREEN CESSA”,
and it clearly demonstrates the Salvadoran cement industry’s
compatibility with the environment.
CONCLUSIONS
With
the implementation of new technology, as well as programs
for reforestation and protection of green areas, CESSA
is contributing to the reduction of greenhouse effect
gases, which impact the environment adversely. In this
way, the company continues working to develop strategies
that promote efficiency in its technical and environmental
performance, while also supporting environmental preservation
projects to help achieve sustainable development in El
Salvador.
CONTACT
Ing.
Luis Mariano Herrera
Manager
of Quality Control and Environment
Lic.
Jaime Hill Tinoco
Manager
of Marketing and Sales
Cemento
de El Salvador, S. A.
Av.
El Espino y Blvd. Sur
Antiguo
Cuscatlán, La Libertad
El
Salvador
Tel.
(503) 243 7722
Fax
(503) 237 7717
E-mail:
cessamer@cessa.com.sv
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