Guides

Bulk material terminal design requires a breadth of disciplines and depth of experience that makes this a unique and challenging field. In the complexity of facility design and layout, designers may overlook important aspects related to safety and maintenance or treat them as secondary concerns. For the long-term profitability and longevity of a facility, however, these may be among the most critical design features. Various points will be discussed to highlight key safety and maintenance features for consideration.
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One large international cement producer made an assessment of the common characteristics of their plants with the best technical performance. The best performance was defined as plants with consistently high uptimes as well as consistent product quality, low energy consumption, excellent environmental performance and low production costs. On further investigation it was seen that these plants also had the best safety records. The company then investigated further to determine what could be critical factors in this success across all technical platforms and linked closely to safety performance. It was found that the keys to safety excellence and technical performance could be summarized in three critical areas. Reflection would indicate that these factors should not only give excellent technical results, but should also provide for a high regard for safety.
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This paper outlines the experience of one global cement producer that embarked on site surveys and studies to achieve arc flash safety compliance at 13 cement plants in the U.S. and Canada. The enterprise wide electrical workplace safety initiative resulted in compliance by all plant sites to the latest standards, with new labels affixed to each openable electrical panel that quantified the hazard. Labels designated the proper personal protective equipment (PPE) required to ensure electricians performing energized work would be safe from potential arc events. The experience of one plant in deploying select new technologies to mitigate arc flash in areas where hazards were very high will be reviewed in detail. Site electrical upgrades resulted in enhanced safety along with an unexpected benefit; a significant improvement in production reliability. A follow-up project to increase the plant grinding capacity at the site outlines how new additions to the electrical infrastructure employed a “safety by design” approach to ensure arc flash safety.
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It has been demonstrated that plants operating with a high level of equipment reliability have not only lower maintenance costs but also better performance in most other areas, such as plant cleanliness, safety, and productivity. The companies and plants that embrace maintenance excellence hold a sustainable competitive advantage. Yet many cement companies and plants do not yet embrace the concept of maintenance excellence. This paper explores the fundamental principles of maintenance excellence systems. Covering both the human and technical side of achieving extraordinary maintenance results.
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The purpose of this paper is to address the issue of preheater tower buildup in the cement industry. From this general information a plant should be able to develop a complete plan to safely deal with their preheater tower build up issues. This paper starts by a brief introduction to the preheater tower in a cement plant, its design and function. The paper then briefly discusses key factors thatn can influence the amount of buildup in a preheater tower. There is a discussion about the best practices in quantifying location and size of buildup. After this there is a review of the 4 most common methods in dealing with preheater tower buildup, their advantages and disadvantages. The last part of the paper deals with a plugged preheater tower and the special hazards that are unique to that situation. Best practices for clearing a plugged preheater tower are discussed in detail.
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This presentation will look at the benefits of employee training to improve conveyor safety for those who work on or around belt conveyors, and for those who manage the performance of belt conveyor systems. It will look at the fundamentals of adult education small group, interactive, hands-on education and how these principles can be applied to improve the worker training program covering belt conveyor operations, maintenance, and safety. The presentation will discuss conveyor training programs conducted recently at cement plants, detailing both how the training was supplied, and the lessons learned-by attendees and by plant management.
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For the past decade, the discussion of occupational electrical safety in the U.S. has largely focused on compliance with NFPA70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace. Without taking away from the importance of the requirements in the standard, this paper describes a more comprehensive solution, based on proven concepts known as systems safety. The paper provides an overview of systems safety and includes a 20+ year case history of a global Fortune 500 company’s effort to change the electrical safety culture in its operations to demonstrate results of applying systems safety techniques to electrical safety.
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Cement operations increasingly depend on contractor companies to provide specialized skills and expertise. However, relying on contractors carries associated safety risks that are gaining the attention of organizations. If not managed, these risks can lead to regulatory issues, productivity issues, legal action, and eventually a serious injury or death. While cement companies and their contractors have the same objective as it pertains to safety to prevent all injuries and accidents it is ultimately the cement companies that determine whether contractors put safety first. This paper identifies methods through which cement operators may effectively manage the risks associated with utilizing contractors to improve safety results. Topics include managing the contractor during selection and qualification, setting site work expectations, setting enforcement guidelines, and establishing channels of communication.
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