Real-time energy management in the cement industry

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate Demand-Side Management (DSM) opportunities in the South African cement industry. This was done by identifying four criteria that affect the DSM load shift process on a production facility. These criteria were used as benchmarks against which the viability of possible load shift projects on a cement factory was measured. In order to test these criteria, procedures were developed for identifying viable load shift projects on a cement factory. These procedures include everything from the introduction to the plant management, through data gathering and refining, to the simulation of silo levels and material flows, and optimisation of these to result in an optimised load shift schedule for different plant systems. These procedures were tested by means of a case study on a cement factory in the North- West Province of South Africa. The case study showed that it is possible to perform a viable load shift of approximately 9 megawatt (MW) on this factory, for an annual electricity cost saving of R 656,501.38. Various concerns of the plant personnel have been identified, and possible solutions have been proposed in order to help overcome these concerns. Even though there were some limitations preventing the full testing of these procedures, the study showed that it is definitely possible to find large viable load shift projects in the cement industry. It should be possible to expand the same principles to include other equipment on a cement factory, and should work for most similar cement factories.