April 2025

The April 2025 issue of World Cement kicks off with an interview between Elizabeth Moore, a research scientist at MIT’s Concrete Sustainability Hub, and Rick Bohen, Senior Vice President of Cement at the Portland Cement Association. They discuss Moore’s work and the ongoing push for decarbonisation in the US cement industry. The issue then delves into a variety of technical topics, including a feature from our cover advertiser, FLSmidth Cement. These topics cover air cannons & silo clean-out, raw material processing, additives & grinding aids, pyroprocess optimisation, air pollution control, gears, drives & motors, decarbonisation, digitalisation, and plant design.

This month's front cover is brought to you by FLSmidth Cement.

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REGIONAL REPORT: NORTH AMERICA

C.C.U.S.A.
Dr. Elizabeth Moore, a research scientist at MIT’s Concrete Sustainability Hub, sat down for an interview with Rick Bohan, the Portland Cement Association’s Sr. Vice President of Cement, to discuss her work and the ongoing drive for decarbonisation in the US cement industry.

COVER STORY

Industry 4.0 – Are We There Yet?
Anders Noe Dam, FLSmidth Cement, explores why the cement sector lags in embracing Industry 4.0 technologies and highlights key opportunities to accelerate the digital transformation of cement plants.

AIR CANNONS & SILO CLEAN-OUT

The Costly Air Cannon Conundrum
Jeff Shelton, Dracyon, outlines a three-step strategy to tackle leaking air cannons and eliminate the ‘million-dollar problem’ of air leaks.

Can You Handle Alternatives?
Alan Highton, Martin Engineering, examines challenges and raises solutions for handling alternative feedstocks in cement plants.

Successful Silo Solutions
Kearsten Huffman, Mole•Master Services Corporation, highlights the importance of proactive cement silo cleanout and inspection to prevent costly downtime, improve storage capacity, and ensure operational safety.

RAW MATERIAL PROCESSING

Crushing The Limits
Manuel Mühlbacher, Christian Pfeiffer, highlights innovations in roller press technology, focusing on enhanced reliability, simplified maintenance, and greater efficiency for raw material processing.

ADDITIVES & GRINDING AIDS

Stronger Blends, Greener Ends
Mike Stanzel & Oliver Sohn, Chryso North America, present a multilayered approach to maximising blended cement performance for use in concrete.

Great Gains With Grinding Aids
Gopala Rao Dhoopadahalli and Sheo Pujan Pandey, UNISOL CHEMTECH LIMITED, examine the role of grinding aids in enhancing the productivity, efficiency, and sustainability of cement production.

PYROPROCESS OPTIMISATION

Pushing Preheater Potential Lars Andersen, HASLE Refractories, explores the critical role of dip tubes in preheater cyclones and highlights how the latest generation of vortex finders is delivering extended lifetimes and improved process stability.

Marvels of MI-CFD Mechanics
M. Akritopoulos and T. Abbas, Cinar, explore the advantages of mineral interactive computational fluid dynamics (MI-CFD) in enhancing combustion efficiency, optimising alternative fuel use, and addressing challenges in the cement industry.

A Once In A Decade Chance
Katie Grube, a writer for the refractory, cement, packing, and lime industry, explains how a custom-engineered suspended platform revolutionised furnace refractory reinstallation, improving safety and efficiency during a shutdown project.

AIR POLLUTION CONTROL

24 Hour Baghouse Boost
Steve Klein, IAC, outlines how targeted interventions can optimise baghouse performance in just 24 labour hours.

Optimising HCL and SO₂ Abatement
Ian Saratovsky, Gerald Hunt, and Travis Reynolds, Lhoist North America, explore key strategies for optimising HCl and SO₂ abatement in cement production.

GEARS, DRIVES & MOTORS

Gear Up For Success
Mohamed Rezk, MAAG Gear Middle East and Sub-Sahara Africa, highlights a gearbox replacement project in Iraq that increased production and reduced energy consumption.

Powering Production With Predictive Maintenance
Andy Turner, SEW-EURODRIVE UK, discusses the benefits of using predictive maintenance software to reduce downtime in the cement industry.

DECARBONISATION

Turning Tyres Into Tomorrow
Molins demonstrates how an end-of-life tyre recycling project is advancing decarbonisation efforts in the cement industry.

DIGITALISATION

Digitalising Cement Manufacturing
Ighnatios Maatouk, ES Processing, explains how AI and machine learning are driving the digital transformation of cement manufacturing processes.

The Future Is Digital
Ashutosh Dave, Schneider Electric, explores how digitalisation is key to tackling the challenges facing the cement industry, from improving competitiveness to addressing sustainability goals.

PLANT DESIGN

Tailored Foundations
thyssenkrupp Polysius reveal why prioritising proven equipment and adaptive workflows is key to rapid plant ramp-up and sustained profitability.