ALTERNATIVE FUELS Dirk Lechtenberg MVW Lechtenberg & Partner
Using olive kernels as an environmentally
friendly fuel resource for clinker production The use of alternative fuels in clinker production processes is becoming common practice around the world. However, with regards to time and cost efficiency, it is important that cement plants have access to readily available and ready-to-feed alternative fuels. In this paper, Dirk Lechtenberg describes how clinker production plants are making use of the waste matter derived from the production one of the cooking industry’s most popular ingredients – olive oil.
W aste from the olive industry – as well other agri-
cultural wastes, such as rice husks, coconut shells or other biomass-derived crops – is, depending on the and more accurate. The centrifuges have one exit for the watery part and one for the oil. The separation process in smaller oil mills is not always perfect, thus country, one of the most common, ready-to-feed alter- sometimes a small watery deposit containing organic native fuels for the cement industry. Over 750m olive particles can be found at the bottom of oil bottles. trees are cultivated worldwide and 95% of the world’s 3. In modern steel drum mills, the grinding process olive oil production is located within the Mediterranean takes about 20min. After grinding, the paste will then basin, which supplies 2.6Mt of olive oil each year! be stirred slowly for another 20-30min in a particu- lar container (malaxation), where the microscopic The process oil drops unite to form bigger drops, which fa- The olive milling process produces a variety of wastes, cilitates the mechanical extraction. The paste is then of which a proportion is an easy-to-use and ready-to- pressed by centrifugation and the water is thereafter feed fuel for clinker production. The milling process is separated from the oil in a second centrifugation as described below: described before. 1. The olives are ground into paste using large mill- stones (traditional method) or steel Olive kernel drums (modern method). If ground Olive kernel is of the main residues of with mill stones, the olive paste the olive oil production procedure (see generally stays under the stones for Figure 2). Its composition depends on 30–40min. A shorter grinding proc- the oil production procedure. Accord- ess may result in a more raw paste ing to its material properties and largely Figure 1 (left): Feeding that produces less oil and has a less lignin- and cellulose-based composi- hopper for olive kernel ripe taste, while a longer process may tion, olive husk is an excellent source of increase oxidation of the paste and biomass. reduce the flavour. Olive husk is hugely variable in its 2. After grinding, the olive paste is composition and this is largely depend- spread on fibre disks, which are ant on the oil production procedure. It stacked on top of each other in a is not a homogeneous chemical com- Figure 2 (left): Dried olive column, then inserted into a press. pound, but instead is a mixture of a wide sludge. Pressure is then applied onto the variety of hydrocarbon compounds and column to separate the vegetal liquid metals whose structure remains largely from the paste. This liquid still contains a significant unknown. The main chemical elements within the olive amount of water. Traditionally, the oil is shed from husk are: Cl, As, Cd, Co, Cu, Mn, Ni and Zn. In the ce- the water by gravity (oil has a lower specific weight ment industry, heavy metals are also fed with the raw than water). This very slow separation process has material and the fuels to the kiln. Due to their behav- been replaced by centrifugation, which is much faster iour, heavy volatile metals will be bound to the clinker
globalcementMAGAZINE May 2009 21
ALTERNATIVE FUELS completely, while light volatile metals, like mercury and • Receiving hoppers; thallium, will be bound partly to the clinker and the • Extraction by remaining parts will be emitted. To prevent exceeding screw conveyors; emission limits, the addition input of such heavy metals • Automatic weigh- must be limited. ing by rotor weigh Olive oil sludge feeders or weigh Parameter Olive oil sludge Olive kernel Olive oil industry and sludge from oil belt feeders; sludge processing • Pneumatic feeding Proximate analysis, % w/w During the olive equipment. Moisture 13.5 29.2 6.01 processing, the first- Volatiles 61.1 - 43.15 stage of extraction Emissions Fixed carbon 16.8 11.5 44.34 produces two differ- The calorific value of the fuel used in the clinker pro- Combustibles 77.9 - - ent wastes: liquid and duction process is obviously an important factor in Ash 8.7 1.9 6.5 sludge. The sludge is terms of the plant’s efficiency and profitability. However, Calorific values (kJ/kg) sold to large extraction CO2 reduction values have also become increasingly Gross 18,080 - 25,462 units for second-stage important. Therefore, the use of waste materials from Net 16,782 15,771 - extraction, while the the olive extraction process, which are considered to be Density (kg/m3) toxic liquid is dried at CO2 neutral and renewable fuels, present themselves as Density - - 558 open air ponds. These an attractive alternative to coal or gas. liquids may contain a A typical CO2 emission reduction calculation is high content of phenol shown in Table 3, below. By using 12,000t of olive ker- Top right: Olive waste on a and are therefore hazardous wastes. MVW Lechtenberg nel each year (1.6t/h), the plant prevents 20,000t of CO2 weighing belt in a cement is currently working on a study to process these phe- being released into the atmosphere. This not only has plant. nol-based wastes into fuel. Dried sludge from smaller positive environmental consequences, but has also ena- Table 1 (above): An traditional olive mills is normally dried in open ponds bled the plant to save a total Euro230,000. overview of the composite and can also be used as a highly calorific fuel for the properties of olive kernel. production of clinker. Economics Besides its effectiveness in reducing CO2 emissions, the Use as a fuel overall economic value of using olive kernel as an alter- The direct combustion of olive waste is the simplest way native fuel grows proportionally with prices of petcoke. to exploit its high energy content. The calorific values of This can be seen in Graph 1, below. . the different waste materials from the process are shown Table 3 (right): Table in Table 2. In the production of clinker, these wastes can CO2 emissions reduction from kernel utilisation Olive kernel showing the potential CO2 be used directly, without further processing, as alterna- Husk consumption (t/y) 12,052 emissions saving if olive tive fuels in three forms: Husk calorific value (kJ/kg) 16,850 kernel is used as an • Olive oil sludge Fossil fuel heat equivalent (TJ) 203 alternative fuel. • Olive kernel CO2 emission factor olive oil husks 100.0 • Sludge from oil industry Total CO2 (t/y) 20,307 This can be achieved through the use of a fuel mix (mixed with petcoke or coal) or by direct firing. In the mixing process, the maximum level of substitution of olive kernel and sludge is limited to 5%. The reason for this is to reduce the likelihood of sticking problems Graph 1 (far right): Graph occurring within the mill. To produce this mix, some demonstrating the potential plants use wheelloaders or ‘mixing drums’ to mix the economic value of using olive kernel as an alternative fuel. Waste source Energy (kCal/kg) Table 2 (right): Calorific Olive oil sludge 3000 values of various sources of Olive kernel 3500 waste that can be used as Sludge from olive oil industry 4800 alternative fuels In many olive oil-producing countries, olive kernel olive kernel or olive sludges together. Athough this is a is collected and exported in vast quantities to European simple process, it is not a safe or sustainable solution. coal-fired power plants, namely in Italy, the Nether- A more effective and sustainable substitution can be lands and Germany. Due to the need for reductions in achieved by pneumatically feeding the fuel mix directly their CO2 emission levels, these power plants are paying into the kiln. Since olive kernel has a very small grain up to US$35/t FOB Seaport at the Mediterranean Sea, size, it can be fed directly to the kiln burner or the pre- therefore a price of up to US$15/t ex-works olive mill calciner. With this method, substitution rates of up to for long term contracts is a highly competitive price 40% are possible. Using this method, MVW Lechten- for a sustainable and environmentally friendly fuel re- berg has implemented a number of projects using: source.