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Use of waste derived fuels in cement industry: a review

Nickolaos Chatziaras (Department of Electrical Engineering, Technological Educational Institution of Piraeus, Egaleo, Greece)
Constantinos S. Psomopoulos (Department of Electrical Engineering, Technological Educational Institution of Piraeus, Egaleo, Greece)
Nickolas J. Themelis (Earth Engineering Center, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA)

Management of Environmental Quality

ISSN: 1477-7835

Article publication date: 14 March 2016

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Abstract

Purpose

Cement production has advanced greatly in the last few decades. The traditional fuels used in traditional kilns include coal, oil, petroleum coke, and natural gas. Energy costs and environmental concerns have encouraged cement companies worldwide to evaluate to what extent conventional fuels can be replaced by waste materials, such as waste oils, mixtures of non-recycled plastics and paper, used tires, biomass wastes, and even wastewater sludge. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The work is based on literature review.

Findings

The clinker firing process is well suited for various alternative fuels (AF); the goal is to optimize process control and alternative fuel consumption while maintaining clinker product quality. The potential is enormous since the global cement industry produces about 3.5 billion tons that consume nearly 350 million tons of coal-equivalent fossil and AF. This study has shown that several cement plants have replaced part of the fossil fuel used by AF, such waste recovered fuels. Many years of industrial experience have shown that the use of wastes as AF by cement plants is both ecologically and economically justified.

Originality/value

The substitution of fossil fuels by AF in the production of cement clinker is of great importance both for cement producers and for society because it conserves fossil fuel reserves and, in the case of biogenic wastes, reduces greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the use of AF can help to reduce the costs of cement production.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

A previous version of this paper has been presented in the 12th International Conference on Protection and Restoration of the Environment, Skiathos Island, Greece, June 29 to July 3, 2014.

Citation

Chatziaras, N., Psomopoulos, C.S. and Themelis, N.J. (2016), "Use of waste derived fuels in cement industry: a review", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 27 No. 2, pp. 178-193. https://doi.org/10.1108/MEQ-01-2015-0012

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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