Cement is the basic raw material of concrete and is a very important building material. In India, China, Africa, and other countries and regions that are vigorously developing infrastructure, cement production is a very promising industry. But building a cement factory is by no means a small project.
The manufacturing process of cement is rather complicated. It consists of raw materials mining, raw meal preparation, clinker calcination, cement grinding, and some auxiliary operations. Meanwhile, a large amount of dust and exhausted gas are generated in the cement production process, so the cement plant should also be equipped with complete sets of a dust control system and waste heat power generation equipment. Therefore, even the construction of a small cement plant can be counted as a large-scale engineering project, and we must go through thorough investigation and careful planning before starting a new cement factory.
If you are planning to enter the cement industry but don’t know where to begin with, here is the step-by-step guide for how to start a cement factory.
1. Clarify Your Production Scale and Cement Type
The first thing to do when you are planning to start a cement factory is to determine which type of cement you are going to produce and how many tons you are going to produce per day
The most widely used cement for concrete works is ordinary portland cement (OPC), apart from that, there is also pozzolana portland cement (PPC), white portland cement, quick-setting cement, refractory cement, etc.
The production capacity of cement factories also varies greatly, ranging from 50 TPD to 10,000 TPD.
What kind of cement does the cement factory produce? What is the production scale? To answer these questions, investors must consider the local cement market size, cement prices, and their own investment capacity. The larger the production scale of a cement factory, the higher the construction cost and production cost. However, if the local cement demand is large and the market competition is weak, then high output means high income and profit.
2. Find the Most Appropriate Location for Your Cement Factory
The site selection of a cement factory is very important. A good site can make construction easier, save construction costs and subsequent production costs.
Since the coverage area of a cement plant is very large and the cement industry produces heavy pollution, cement plants are usually built in the urban periphery or rural areas. And in most countries, approval from the local government is required to start a cement factory. The cement plant should also be as close to the limestone mine as possible to save the transportation cost of raw materials.
The site of a cement factory cannot be selected easily. It needs a professional team of engineers to investigate the local geological environment and soil before finally determining the appropriate site, and you can always rely on AGICO to find the most appropriate site for your cement factory.
3. Design the Cement Factory
As a large-scale industrial facility with complex structures and numerous machinery, the design and layout of a cement plant must be entrusted to the professional engineering design institute.
The design institute is the cooperative unit with the longest service time and the widest content for the project. The whole process of project construction cannot be separated from the cooperation of the design institute. Selecting an experienced design institute is very beneficial to the quality, investment, and progress of the project. The experienced design director will assist the construction team to make the project plan and remind the start-up time of each work.
As the EPC contractor of cement plant project, we have maintained a long-time cooperative relationship with many top design institutes in China, such as Hefei Cement Research & Design Institute and Tianjin Cement Industry Design & Research Institute, which can meet the design requirements for cement plants of various sizes.
4. Purchase Needed Equipment
There are many kinds of industrial equipment used in a cement plant, including thermal equipment, grinding equipment, dust removal system, transportation system, storage system, and so on. When placing an order, we may need to order different equipment from multiple manufacturers at the same time.
Some large-scale equipment in the cement plant, such as cement ball mill, vertical roller mill, cyclone preheater, rotary kiln, etc., has a complex structure and takes a long time to manufacture, so they must be ordered in advance according to the schedule of the construction period to ensure that they will arrive in time during the installation.
The supplier of each type of equipment should be selected in advance to make sure the design institute will have sufficient time to communicate with them to determine the parameters of the equipment. As a cement plant project contractor, we will directly provide clients with one-stop EPC service including engineering design and equipment supply, and help them save all the troubles on this matter.
5. Factory Construction & Equipment Installation
Once the overall structure design of the cement factory is completed, then it is ready to start building. The civil engineering and equipment installation of a cement factory are undertaken by two different professional teams.
After the civil engineering team starts working, it is necessary to check its construction organization and plan according to the design progress. There must be a detailed work breakdown for all the key sub-items. The equipment installation team is usually called one to two months after the start of construction. They need to cooperate with the civil engineering team to complete the foundation construction of large equipment and complete the installation of various machinery and systems.
6. Staff Recruitment & Training
The training of workers should start 2 months before the factory project is fully completed. Because workers are better to be in positions in the later stage of equipment installation and single machine commissioning, to get familiar with their positions and the machines they will be operating, so as to lay a good foundation for future operation and maintenance.
About AGICO
AGICO is a China-based cement plant project contractor and cement machinery supplier. We supply clients with competitive cement factory EPC service and various types of cement manufacturing equipment.
Our company currently covers a total area of 66,000 square meters, with a total factory area of 30,000 square meters and a total of 230 employees.