ATTOCK CEMENT PAKISTAN

LIMITED
Submitted By:

Zohaib Ahmed Memon

Senior Management Trainee (96658)
Production Department

[ORIENTATION REPORT]
I joined ACPL as a Senior Management Trainee i was briefed
by different area supervisors about the ACPL and process of
cement production. This is my 2 months orientation report
which is summarized according to my training plan.
 Table of Contents
S.
Description
No.
1 Plant Location, Layout & Briefing
2 ISO & Safety Orientation
3 Quarry
4 Crusher & Stacker
5 Reclaimer to Raw Mill
6 Pyro-Processing (Pre-Heater, Kiln, Cooler, etc.)
7 Gypsum Crusher, Cement Mills, Silos
8 Packaging Plant & Despatch
9 Coal Firing System & AFP
10 QC Laboratories
11 Electrical Grid Station
12 Electrical Cable Network
13 Compressed Air Network
14 Water Networks & Water Works
15 Waste Heat Recovery System
16 Stores Department
Mechanical Dept. (Machine Shop, Welding Shop, Vulcanizing Shop, Equipment
17
Repair Shop)
18 Electrical Workshop
19 Inst. & Communication Network
20 Auto Workshop
21 TS & D / Projects, Misc. & Others
 Plant Location Layout & Briefing
The cement manufacturing plant of Attock Cement Pakistan Limited (ACPL) is located in Hub Tehsil,
District Lasbela, of Baluchistan Province. When it comes to layout, the manufacturing plant consists of a
total of 3 production lines. The plant is spread over an area of over 17500 acres or 70 square kilometers.

ACPL has its own quarries which it acquired from the government of Pakistan on lease. Raw materials are
extracted from these quarries.

ISO & SAFETY

The ISO department is responsible for internal audits within ACPL. It is the department’s job to make
sure that ACPL complies with the certifications by analysing and inspecting quality, safety and
environmental policies. ISO also houses a library with relevant literature on cement engineering and
industries. The newly appointed trainees are assigned to ISO department for a certain time period in
which they complete their training. They also benefit from the numerous books present in the library.

ACPL has been certified with ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001. ISO 9001 defines the international
standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system, QMS. ISO 14001 governs the
international standard that specifies requirements for an effective environmental management system,
EMS. OHSAS, Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series, 18001 is an internationally applied
British Standard for occupational health and safety management systems certifications. ACPL was able to
achieve these certifications due to its perseverance and compliance with the standards of ISO and
OHSAS.

Safety department is responsible for ensuring safety within and, at times, out of the plant vicinity.
Furthermore, safety department also tends to raise the safety awareness within the employee circle. To
maintain safety, the department gives out briefings and hands out literature to new inductees. The
department also checks and authorizes the Personal Protective Equipment, PPEs. A representative of the
safety department roams about the plant to find violators of safety rules and deal with them.

The department also arranges monthly trainings for the employees. It also installs and maintains various
safety boards, signs, safety/emergency equipment, such as; fire extinguishers (CO 2, dry chemical powder,
etc.) and fire hydrants. Furthermore, safety alarms are also installed by the department in all buildings to
overcome any fire hazards and ensure fire safety.
 QUARRY
Quarry is the large mountainous area from where various raw materials are extracted. Quarry is
managed by the mining department. The mining department is responsible for the provision of raw
materials from quarry for production.

The mining department, in association with QC department, carries out the surface excavation in order
to extract the desired material from the quarry. The mining process involves the following steps:

Prospecting, Exploration, Development, Exploitation, Reclamation.

Since the excavation takes place on the surface, the mining technique used by the mining department is
‘open-pit mining’.

The explosion produces large boulders which are blasted via secondary explosion with holes drilled into
them via jackhammers. Then, the manageable pieces of raw material are then transported to the
crusher from the quarry via dumpers.

There are two main quarry areas, a limestone quarry and a shale overburden quarry. The quarries are
further divided in to four areas, A (4 benches), B (4 benches), C (16 benches).

CFRUSHER & STACKER

Crusher is a equipment used for size reduction. The boulders of raw material (limestone, shale, clay, iron
ore, etc.) are crushed into smaller pieces which are suitable for the grinding mills. The output size of
crusher depends on the grinding mills either it is a Ball mill or Vertical roller mill.

At ACPL, all three lines have hammer crushers installed, which is a type of impact crusher, for the
crushing of raw materials. All five hammer crushers are horizontal shaft single rotor hammer crushers.
Hammer crushers are capable of crushing material from soft to medium hard in nature. After being
crushed in the hammer crusher and passing through basket sieves, the raw material is sent to stacker via
an assembly of conveyor belts.

Specifications:
Following are the specifications of all 5 hammers crushers installed in ACPL. The reference used for these
specifications is Line Specifications Manuals which are available in Library.
 Line 1 Limestone crusher Line 2 Limestone crusher
Property Remarks Property Remarks
Capacity 600 TPH Capacity 800 TPH
Hammers 56 Hammers 50
Shafts 8 Shafts 5
Hammers/Shaft 7 Hammers/Shaft 10
Main Drive 1000 rpm, 1000 KW Main Drive 1000 rpm, 1000 KW
Discharge Size 25 mm Discharge Size 75 mm
Feed Size 1 - 1.25 m Feed Size 1 - 1.5 m
Hammer Weight 75 kg Feed Rollers 2
Coal Crusher for Line 1 & 2 Disks 11
Disk Shape Circular/Pentagon
Property Remarks
Hammer Weight 100 - 118 kg
Capacity 50 - 150 TPH
Hammers 16
Shafts 4
Hammers/Shaft 4
Main Drive 900 rpm, 45 KW
Discharge Size 25 - 30 mm
Feed Size 200 mm
Hammer Weight 10 - 15 kg

COAL CRUSHER LINE 3 Line 3 Limestone crusher

Property Remarks Property Remarks
Capacity 100 TPH Capacity 1200 TPH
Hammers 24 Hammers 50
Shafts 6 Shafts 5
Hammers/Shaft 4 Hammers/Shaft 10
Main Drive 988 rpm, 132 KW Main Drive 1000 rpm, 1000 KW
Discharge Size 25 - 30 mm Discharge Size 75 mm
Feed Size 400 - 600 mm Feed Size 1 - 1.25 m
Feed Rollers 13 Feed Rollers 2
Hammer Weight 75 kg Hammer Weight 100 kg
 STACKER
Stacker is the equipment which is used for pile formation of the raw mix.

The crushed raw material from the hammer crusher moves towards the first equipment of the pre-
homogenization store, the stacker. The stacker stacks piles of raw material following a certain stacking
method. The stacking method which is used is chevron method in this method, the depositing of
material moves to a new position and a new cone is formed against the shell of the first one. This
process continues in the longitudinal direction of the store until the stockpile is completed. The chevron
stacking method causes segregation of the material with fine particles in the central part of the pile and
coarse particles on the surface and at the bottom of the pile. To ensure proper blending a chevron pile
must therefore be reclaimed from the face of the pile, working across the entire cross section.
 RECLAIMER
Reclaimer is the second equipment belonging to the pre-homogenization of raw material or pile. After
the material is stacked, following chevron method by means of the stacker, the reclaimer starts
reclaiming the material.

The reclaimer has a harrow/rake (adjustable to the reclaimer natural slope) which make the material fall
at the reclaimer bottom. Here, the material is taken over by a scraper conveyer, discharged into the
reclaiming belt conveyer. Finishing the pile, the reclaimer will be automatically stopped by means of a
limit switch. The material is transported to proportioning bins. The proportioning bins (mixture bin, shale
bin, limestone bin, iron ore bin) are used to control the mixture that is fed into the raw mill with the help
of weigh feeders.

The Reclaimer type which is used is Bridge scraper reclaimer which operates with two piles. One pile is
stacked while the other is being reclaimed. Reclaiming takes place from the face of a pile at the natural
angle of material slide. The bridge runs on rails on either side of the stockpile. On the bridge is mounted
a raking harrow system whose sweeping movements cause the material to slide to the pile base. A
scraper chain system conveys the material to the outgoing belt conveyor.

Reclaimer travels with working speed of around 2.75 - 55 mm/min when reclaiming the material from
the piles. The speed which is used to transfer the reclaimer from one pile to another and it is around
7.95 m/min.

RAW MILL
The raw material in proportioning bins is really coarse. The surface area of the raw material amounts to
an insignificant value for the calcination reaction to take place. If calcination of the raw material is
carried out in this form then the reaction will be limited to only the surface of the raw material and will
not penetrate in to its core. Therefore, it is absolutely essential that the raw material first be grinded to a
fine powdered form to exponentially increase its surface area. The greater the surface area will increase
reactivity of the raw material. For this purpose, the raw material is introduced in raw mills so that it can
be finely grinded.

There are mainly two type of grinding mills used all across the world.

 Ball Mill
 Vertical Roller Mill
 BALL MILL
At ACPL, ball mill is used at Line - 1. It works on the principle of impact and attrition. The size reduction is
done by impact, as the balls drop from near the top of the shell, and also by attrition, as the raw material
is agitated and dragged between the grinding media of the ball mill. As the name suggests, a ball mill is
partially filled with balls, which is the grinding media. Ball mill utilizes closed circuit grinding to achieve
the required discharge particle size.

Ball mill has two chambers. Each chamber is loaded to one-third of its capacity with grinding media
(balls) of different sizes. The first chamber is filled with balls of sizes from 60 mm to 100 mm, while the
second chamber is filled with balls of sizes from 30 mm to 50 mm. The two chambers of the ball mill are
followed by a drying drum.

The raw material from feed bins enters the drying drum where a hot gas mixture from the pre heater
removes the moisture of pre homogenized raw material. Material is then screwed into the grinding
chamber where it gets grinded by the forces of impact and attrition developed by the combination of
grinding media (balls) and liner plates, simultaneously.

The output of the grinding chambers of the ball mill is collected in a bucket elevator that take the rather
grinded raw material up where it gets introduced into an air slide and is taken to the dynamic separator.
The ground material is then passed through a dynamic separator (classifier), which, in association with
multiple gravity settlers, separates the rather coarse material from fine material. The coarse material is
sent back to the raw mill and the fine material is collected and sent to a blending silo via a network of
multiple air slides and pneumatic elevators.

VERTICAL ROLLER MILL

Vertical Roller Mills (VRMs) are installed at Line - 2 and Line - 3 in ACPL. VRMs work on the principle of
compression. VRM consists of a rotating table and a set of heavy rollers which rotate in the same
direction. The raw material is fed into the mill where it is dropped on a rotating table, since the table is
rotating the centrifugal force acts on the raw material and pushes is to the side of the table where the
material is caught and compressed in between the heavy rollers, which are pressed against the table
surface through hydraulic jacks, and the table. Thus, the material is reduced in size to a fine powdered
form. The material in the feed, however, also gets deposited on the table and makes a bed. This bed is
necessary to reduce vibration, reduce friction between the rollers and the table, to ensure force transfer,
to reduce wear and tear, and to prevent slipping of the material.

There is a classifier in VRM which separates coarse and fine particles the rotations per minute of the
classifier can be adjusted according to the required fineness of the final raw meal output. The higher the
rotations the higher the fineness of the raw meal is obtained. The hot gases, after classifier, are
introduced into the multi stage cyclones where, on the action of centripetal, centrifugal, and
gravitational forces, both the hot gases and the fine particles of the raw meal are separated. Fine
particles, as they are heavier than air, fall down and are then conveyed by multiple air slides to the raw
meal homogenizing silo.

BALL MILL LINE 1:

TYPE BALL MILL
CAPACITY 170-250 TPH
GRIDNING MEDIA STEEL BALLS
DIAMETER 4.4M
LENGTH 11.6M
ROTATIONS 15-17 RPM
DRIVE #1 / DRIVER #2 2000 KW, 1000 RPM

VRM LINE 2:
TYPE VERTICAL ROLLER MILL
CAPACITY 260 TPH
GRIDNING FORCE COMPRESSION
TABLE DIA 3.7M
NUMBER OF ROLLERS 4
MOTOR DRIVE 2500 KW

VRM LINE 3:
TYPE VERTICAL ROLLER MILL
CAPACITY 320 TPH
GRIDNING FORCE COMPRESSION
TABLE DIA 4.2M
NUMBER OF ROLLERS 4
MOTOR DRIVE 3150 KW
 PYRO PROCESSING
The Pyro processing unit starts with preheating towers which are based on different number of stages
and consists of high efficiency cyclone separators in a specified arrangement. A brief description of the
process carried out in the preheating tower of Line - 2 at ACPL is given so as to suggest a general
overview.

The pre heater of Line - 2 is based on 5 stages and consists of 6 cyclones with their risers and a calciner.
The cyclones and their respective risers are referred to as, C1 (A) - R-1(A), C-1(B) - R-1(B), C-2 - R-2, C-3 -
R-3, C-4 - R-4 and C-5 - R-5, in accordance with their stages. The cyclone separators have riser ducts (gas
ducts) attached to them which are used for the purpose of transportation of the hot gases which
accompany the raw material from one separator to the other separator.

The purpose of calciner is basically the pre-calcination of the raw material to reduce the load on the kiln
and to improve the overall efficiency of the clinker production process. Calcination (formation of CaO)
takes place by decomposition of calcium carbonate into calcium oxide (CaO) and carbon dioxide. The
preheating tower is responsible for about 90 to 95% conversion of calcium carbonate into calcium oxide
(CaO). The Tertiary Air Duct (TAD) provides the burner of the calciner with oxygen required for
combustion.

Feed enters, from the bucket elevator from feed silo, into the riser of C-2, R-2, then hot gases takes the
feed to the cyclone C1 (A) and C-1(B), the raw material drops from the bottom outlets. From the bottom
outlets of C-1(A) and C-1(B), the feed is introduced into the riser of C-3, R-3, then the hot gases take the
material to the cyclone C-2. The bottom outlet of C-2 drops the feed into R-4 and hot gases take the
material into the cyclone C-3, the material is dropped into R-5 and hot gases take the material into the
cyclone C-4. From the cyclone of C-4 raw material is fed to the calciner.
 Bucket C-1(A)
R-2
Elevator C-1(B)

R-4 C-2 R-3

C-3 R-5 C-4

Kiln C-5 Calciner

 PRE HEATER OBJECTIVE
 Preheater promotes heat exchange and performs precalcination.
 The inlet temperature is around 850 to 950 ˚C and outlet temperature is around 300 to 325 ˚C.
 90 - 95% of the total calcination is achieved within the preheater.
 Preheater reduces the specific heat consumption and also reduces the specific power
consumption of raw material in kiln.

CALCINER
The purpose of calciner is basically the pre-calcination of the raw material to reduce the load on the kiln
and to improve the overall efficiency of the clinker production process. Calcination (formation of CaO)
takes place by decomposition of calcium carbonate into calcium oxide (CaO) and carbon dioxide. The
preheating tower is responsible for about 90 to 95% conversion of calcium carbonate into calcium oxide
(CaO). The Tertiary Air Duct (TAD) provides the burner of the calciner with oxygen required for
combustion.

Kiln
Kiln is a long metallic tube made up mostly of stainless steel. Kiln is internally lined with refractory bricks
(alumina & magnesite type), slightly inclined at an inclination of 4% and slowly rotates on its axis. The
kiln is rotated by a girth gear powered by a DC drive. Kiln is supported by supporting rollers as well.

Raw material is fed in at the upper end and the rotation of the kiln causes it, gradually, to move downhill
to the other end of the kiln. At the other end, pulverized solid fuel, is blown in through the burner pipe,
producing a lengthy flame. As material moves under the flame, it reaches its clinkerization temperature,
before dropping out of the kiln into the cooler. As we know that oxygen is necessary for ignition, for that
blowers are installed which provides fresh air to the main burner. The refractory brick lining on the inner
side helps to prevent heat losses from the kiln and at the same time protects the kiln shell. These bricks
have different materials of construction depending upon the zones they are designed for.
ZONES IN KILN:
KILN INLET Upper
transition zone

CALCINING ZONE
Lower
transition zone
BURNING ZONE

COOLING ZONE Sintering zone

After being preheated and precalcined in the preheater, the material enters in the calcination zone of the
kiln where the remaining calcination is completed. From calcining zone, it moves to the upper transition
zone where the temperature of the feed rises and it starts to partially convert into liquid. The liquid
percentage is somewhere around 25% at optimum conditions. Therefore, around 25% of the feed gets
converted into liquid. CaO starts to react with silica to form calcium silicates. When the partial liquid feed
makes its way to the lower transition zone, its temperature drops and the liquid phase reaches near a
temperature where the feed starts to convert into solid again. Cooling zone is located just some meters
away from the cooler end of the kiln where the temperature is dropped down significantly. The
temperature in cooling zone falls down to around 1200˚C. The cooling zone is present to reduce the load
on cooler and also because the C3S may be unstable and might revert back to C2S if not cooled down
rapidly. From cooling zone, the clinker falls into the cooler where it is quenched, with air supplied by
multiple fans, for rapid cooling.
 COOLER
Cooler is an assembly that is installed just at the outlet of the kiln. The main purpose of the cooler is to
quickly cool down the clinker that is dropped out of the kiln.

Cooling of the clinker takes place at two locations:

 Cooling zone of kiln.

 Clinker coolers.

The rate of the cooling can be critical to the clinker quality and performance of the cement the rate of
the cooling in the kiln is determined by the flame, flame temperatures and the rate of material flow
through the kiln. As the clinker temp entering in cooler is about 1200 - 1250 0C it will cool down to a
temperature at 250 - 100 0C. This process of sudden cooling is called quenching. Sudden cooling, or
quenching, of clinker is of great significance as the C3S formed in clinker is unstable in nature and if
subject to slow cooling it may revert back to C2S. Therefore, to make sure that the C3S content of the
cement remains, sudden cooling is required.

TYPES OF COOLERS USED IN ACPL:

Characteristic Line 1 Line 2 Line 3

s
Capacity 2400tpd 3500tpd 4000tpd
System Mechanical Hydraulic Mechanical
Stages 7 7 7
Fans 7 7 9
Crusher Hammer Roller Roller
 STORAGE SILOS
Silos are large cylindrical tanks that are used for the storage of either raw material, intermediate
product, or final product. Silo can serve other purposes apart from just storage, such as blending and
homogenization.

Raw Material Silos:

These silos are located before preheater and are used for the storage of the raw material having
maintained physical chemistry. These are also called ‘raw meal homogenizing silos’. As the name
suggests, they are also designed so as to homogenize the raw material.

Grinded raw material enters the silo through a bucket elevator and gets dropped on cassettes which are
continuously blown for aeration and fluidization of the fine material. Material in cassette has eight inlets,
which are in four pairs, to the storage bin in the silo. Weigh feeders are installed at the bottoms as to
maintain a desired flow rate of the raw meal as the flow rate of the raw meal should not be fluctuating.
Weigh feeders drop the raw meal into an air slide. The airside conveys the raw meal to a bucket elevator.
The bucket elevator takes the feed up top and drops it in the riser duct, R-2, of the cyclone C-2 employed
at the second stage of the preheater.

Clinker Silos:
Clinker silos serve as the means of intermediate storage of the clinker before it is sent to get grinded. The
cement that is to be sent for grinding is dropped outside of the clinker silo, with the help of a bucket
elevator, into the clinker yard.

Number of Silos Storage Capacity Each

LINE 1 2 15000 Tons
LINE 2 1 50000 Tons
LINE 3 1 50000 Tons
CEMENT SILOS:
The cement, once ground, is stored in cement silos. In the cement silos, the cement is aerated from the
bottom to level out any variations present in chemical composition or physical properties of the cement
that is processed and stored over a wide period of time. The aeration also helps to avoid any lump
formation.

NAME TYPE CAPACITY

Cement Silo 1 Export OPC 9000 Tons
Cement Silo 2 Local OPC 9000 Tons
Cement Silo 3 Local OPC 9000 Tons
Cement Silo 4 SRC 9000 Tons
Steel Silo FBC 1000 Tons
Line 3 Cement Silo 1 Local OPC 9000 Tons
Line 3 Cement Silo 2 Export OPC 9000 Tons

CEMENT GRINDING MILLS

The purpose of the cement mill, same as the purpose of the raw mill, is to grind the clinker down to
cement powder of suitable fineness. Before the coarse clinker is charged into the mill, a proportioned
amount of gypsum is added to it. The amount of gypsum added is usually ≤ 5% in proportion.

There are mainly two type of grinding mills used all across the world:

 Ball Mills
 Vertical Roller Mills

At ACPL, ball mills are used at Line – 1 and Line - 2. It works on the principle of impact. The size reduction
is done by impact, as the balls drop from near the top of the shell, and also by attrition, as the clinker is
agitated and dragged between the grinding media of the ball mill. As the name suggests, a ball mill is
partially filled with balls, which is the grinding media. Ball mill utilizes closed circuit grinding to achieve
the required discharge particle size.

A Loesche Vertical Roller Mill (VRM) is installed at Line - 3 in ACPL. VRM works on the principle of
compression. To simply put it, VRM consists of a rotating table and a set of heavy rollers which rotate in
the same direction. The raw material is fed into the mill where it is dropped on a rotating table, since the
table is rotating the centrifugal force acts on the raw material and pushes is to the side of the table
where the material is caught and compressed in between the heavy rollers, which are pressed against
the table surface through hydraulic jacks, and the table. Thus, the material is reduced in size to a fine
powdered form. The material in the feed, however, also gets deposited on the table and makes a bed.
This bed is necessary to reduce vibration, reduce friction between the rollers and the table, to ensure
force transfer, to reduce wear and tear, and to prevent slipping of the material from the rollers.

PACKAGING AND DESPATCH

The cement that is stored in the homogenizing silos is sent to the packing plant for packaging. Rotary
packers are for the packaging of fine cement powder into multi-ply paper bags of 50 kilograms capacity.

The rotary packer machines at ACPL consist of 8 nozzles. As the name suggests, the packer rotates while
filling the bags with cement. This feat is accomplished by an automatic valve. Electronic weighing system
is installed so as to make certain that the bags being filled are filled with a positive tolerance of around
5%. If there is any fluctuation in the weight of a bag, it is rejected before it is ever loaded onto the
conveyor.

Line 1 Line 2 Line 3

Number 2 2 3
of Packers
Number 8 8 8
of Nozzles
Packers 50-52 45-48 40-50
Capacity
Bags/min
Hopper 20 30
Capacity
Tons
Number 2 4 6
of
Discharge
Belts
 Dispatch
The packed cement is then dispatched as per the orders received from clients. Dispatch of cement is
done on daily basis. There is an exceptional demand of the cement produced by ACPL, both, in the local
market and as well as in the international market. ACPL functions on advance payments. The customers
and dealers are first required to pay for the order they are placing. After the clearing of payments, the
head office issues the clients the necessary documents for the collection of the order. The trucks are
then sent to the factory site for the orders to be collected. After the documents are verified, the trucks
are weighed and then are allowed to move forward. Once the verification process is complete, the trucks
are directed towards some specific packaging plant conveyor according to the required product in the
order. There are multiple bag colors and designs based on the region to which the order is to be
transported to. For instance, the cement transported to Baluchistan and Punjab is contained in green
colored bags and that transported to Sindh is contained in blue colored bags. While, the cement
transported to Karachi is contained in black colored bags. There are in total 75 different patterns, colors,
and designs of bags in which cement is packed and dispatched so as to be transported or shipped to
different regions, national and international.

STORES DEPARTMENT
The store department acts as a facilitator for other departments to acquire equipment, whether it is new
or a spare. The store maintains storage yards and has spares for nearly all critical and noncritical
equipment of plant. The store department is also responsible for the management of the scrap material.
The scrap material at ACPL is also categorized into various groups with respect to their convenience.

Store conducts inspection of stored parts and assigns condition codes. Every item in the inventory is
assigned an 8 digits code called VOCAB code. The first 2 digits represent the department and next 2
digits indicate the particular item while the last 4 digits indicate the item code or model. For example
00150050, here 00 indicates the electrical department, 15 indicate the bearing category and 0050
indicates the Bearing number. There is also an item location code for each item that indicates the exact
position of the item. For the abovementioned bearing, its item location code is EMS-062-C. EMS
indicates Electrical Main Store, 062 indicate the rack number and indicates the bin.
 QUALITY CONTROL LABORATORIES
The basic purpose of the Quality control department is to optimize and check the quality of the raw
material and clinker product. The application of QC is on-line control and optimization techniques and of
the associated operational benefits during cement manufacturing. Effective material processing,
proportioning, and product characterization coupled with a controlled kiln operation, as attained by
optimization and control technique are fast becoming the key to a stable, more efficient and productive
cement operations.

By placing the analysis and control modules in direct proximity with each process, significant
improvements in frequency of analysis and the availability of real time data allow for both immediate
and automatic process corrections.

QC Department consists of following Labs:

 Analytical Lab
 Physical Lab
 Coal Lab
 X-Ray Lab

The analytical lab checks the chemical composition of raw material, clinker and grinded cement and
makes sure it adheres to desired standard and Blaine size. For instance, local OPC 2700 gm/cm 2, export
OPC 3300gm/cm2 and SRC 3200gm/cm2.

Physical lab checks the physical parameters of the raw material, clinker and final cement. Mortar cubes
and cylinders are made and then immersed in water for multiple days to test the strength of material.

The coal lab checks the calorific value and fineness of coal. Furthermore, moisture content and sulphur
content of coal supplies is also checked to ensure that the coal received is of better quality.

The x-ray lab houses an x-ray analyzer that detects the composition of 9 different specified chemical
components present in the final manufactured cement. The x-ray analyzer is an offline analyzer.

Chemical Tests:
 Total Carbonates
 Free Lime
 Residue
 Blaine
 Liter Weight

Physical Tests:
  Cement Strength
 Expansion
 Settling time

Coal Tests:
 Calorific Value
 Suplhur Content
 Moisture Content
 Ash Content

ELECTRICAL NETWORK
Electrical power is received from K-Electric Hub grid stations via a line that is around 11 km Long. This 11
km long line Is carried by 49 towers which bring in the cables in an open style grid station. At the
electrical grid station, the 132 KV voltage of the current is stepped-down to 6.3 K. This is accomplished
by the application of three 25 MVA transformers. For instrumentation there are 3 PT and CT with
isolators between them. From transformers the power is distributed via supply points. Distribution is
divided into two parts, one standby and the other active with a bus coupler between them along with 8
substations from A to H. The WHRS feeder is also synchronized and it provides, an average, 13 MW of
power from all the three lines combined. The total load of the plant amounts to about 44 - 48 MW.
Around 33 MW of power is consumed by Line - 1 and Line - 2 combined, while the power consumption
of Line - 3 is around 15 MW. This power amounts to around 600,000 to 700,000 units of power per day.

CABLES:
The type of cable used for HT purposes is XLPE cable (Cross-Linked Poly Ethylene) with 3 cores. For LT, 4-
core cable is used with PVC insulation. Cable specifications can include gauge, cross sectional area and
number of conductors inside them. All cables are twisted core so as to cancel out the flux between them.

WORKSHOP:
Electrical work shop is responsible for the electrical maintenance of all the plant Equipment. Several
machines are employed in the electrical workshop for the said purpose.
 Utilities
Water Networks:
Water is the most basic utility which is exceptionally essential for the smooth operation of the plant.
Therefore, concrete arrangements have been made to make sure that ACPL gets an uninterrupted supply
of water, if the water supply is interrupted then to cover for it ACPL has 5 water reservoirs at their
disposal with a 6th one under construction.

Reservoir Capacity Capacity m3

Gallon
1 4500000 20000
2 4500000 20000
3 4500000 20000
4 4500000 20000
5 6500000 30000
6 6500000 30000

The water is obtained from the Hub dam water canal via 3 pumps (1 standby), having capacity of 204
m3/hr and a motor of 90 KW each, situated at module. The reservoirs are filled up. From there, pump
houses of the three lines take up the water for industrial, domestic, and fire safety purposes.

Daily consumption of water at the plant amounts to an average of about 1000000 gallons (≈ 4500 m 3),
around 40000 gallons of which is converted to drinkable water by applying reverse osmosis process.

COMPRESSED AIR NETWORK:

There are multiple compressor rooms situated in multiple areas of the plant at all three lines. Majority of
the compressors have an unloading pressure of about 7 - 7.5 bars. These compressors involve both air
cooled compressors and water-cooled compressors.

Compressor is mechanical equipment used to transport gases from one place to another. The various
types of compressors and their basic operation are given below.

The two basic types of air compressors are:

 Positive Displacement Compressor

 Dynamic Compressor
ROTARY COMPRESSORS:
 Lobe Type
 Screw Type
 Gear Type

Here in ACPL there are three compressors at line 1 and all are Screw Type compressors. 90kW motor
installed, having pressure of 8 bars, water cooled. Loading and unloading through valve. Two dryers are
used for drying the compressed air. There are four vessels for storage of compressed air two are before
vessel and other two after vessel.

At line 2 there are four compressors and all are Screw Type compressors. 132kW motor installed, having
pressure of 8.5 bars, air cooled. Loading and unloading through valve. Three dryers are used for drying
the compressed air. There are eight vessels for storage of compressed air four are before drying vessel
and other four after drying vessel.

WASTE HEAT RECOVERY SYSTEM

The waste heat recovery system utilizes the waste heat of the process and converts it into electrical
energy. It needs treated water for steam generation. Around 12 MW of wasted heat is saved in terms of
energy. The purpose of WHRS is to preserve environment, reduce fuel consumption and overall cost
reduction.

This system is dependent on the hot gases that are being evolved and liberated from two areas of each
line, that is, the preheater and the cooler. WHRS works on Rankine Cycle as it traps the hot gases,
exchanges heat from the gases to convert water into steam and make electricity out of it.

A Suspension Preheater (SP) boiler has been installed that exchanges the heat from the hot gases coming
out of the preheater, usually have a temperature around 300 - 350 ˚C, whereas, the maximum bearable
temperature for the bag house is around 120 - 150 ˚C. When the hot gases enter the boiler, steam is
generated by the heat exchange phenomenon.

Hot gases from the cooler are pulled towards an Air Quenching Cooler (AQC) boiler. An exactly similar
process as mentioned above takes place to exchange heat between the hot gases and water.

ELECTRICITY GENERATION:
The boilers are water finned tube boilers of horizontal tube type and require treated water to generate
steam. A two-stage impulse type steam turbine is used to generate power which uses low pressure (0.35
MPA) and high pressure (1.5 MPA) to function. The turbine spins at 3000 rpm which in turn provides the
generator with mechanical energy to generate up to 12 MW of electricity. From the outlet of the turbine,
the steam travels to the condenser where it gets condensed by exchanging heat through cooling water.
The condensate then travels to the de-aerator where it is treated to remove dissolved oxygen and gases
and is send back to the boiler forming a closed circuit. The cooling water is cooled down through cooling
tower.

MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT
Mechanical department is the one of the most essential departments of the factory as all the
mechanical related work is handled by this department. It is mainly divided into the following
sections.

Maintenance Department:

The maintenance department is solely responsible to carry out every kind of maintenance and
overhauling activity of the whole plant.

Inspection Department:
The inspection department is responsible for analyzing and detecting faults and troubles all across the
plant.

Procurement Department:
The procurement department, in collaboration with the store department and the production
department, functions to manage every kind of new and spare mechanical parts and equipments and
maintain the inventory.

Mechanical Workshops:

Mechanical department is equipped with versatile and efficient workshops to carryout

maintenance activities. The workshops are divided into 4 sections:

Machine Shop:
The workshop comprises of a machine shop that contains various types of machines for mechanical
machining of parts. This shop includes the following machinery:

 Universal Drilling Machines

 Lathe Machines
 Drill Presses
 Milling Machines

Welding Shop:
This shop is responsible for all kinds of welding and cutting. The shop is equipped with the following
machinery;

 Welding Plants
 Gas Cutters
 Gas Welding Plants.

There are also welding plants situated at different sites of the production line to perform on spot
welding.

Vulcanizing Shop:
This shop is responsible for all kinds of vulcanized maintenance. They have various types of cutters and
solutions for repairing belts, conveyers and other vulcanized rubbers.

Auto Workshop:
The auto workshop caters to the needs of various vehicles used throughout the plant. Various types of
dump trucks and bulldozers working in the quarry need routine maintenance. Repair and maintenance
work are also done on the mining equipment by auto workshop.

INSTRUMENTATION AND
COMMUNICATION NETWORK
The instrumentation and communication departments operate under and co-ordinate with the electrical
department as they manage the vast network of communication and control systems present
throughout the plant.

All internal and external communication carried out by ACPL is handled by the communication sector.
Communication within and out of the plant premises is divided into the following categories;

 Telecommunication
 Wireless communication
 Mobile Sim Devices
Telecommunication involves the hardwired internal and external communication between various
departments. Extensions are allotted to the personnel of different departments. There are 350 total
extensions, ranging from 300 to 650, derived from the Electronic Public Branch Exchange (EPBX).
Furthermore, there are 10 trunk lines for external communication purposes. Trunk line numbers, when
dialed with extension at the end, work as a number for external calling. Some other devices involved in
telecommunications include the ‘High Path 3000 (Siemens)’ and the ‘Operator Console Set with BLF
(Billing Lamp Function)’. This whole system is run on standard PTCL copper wiring.

Wireless communication occurs within the plant on Motorola walkie-talkies. The wireless
communication is further categorized into three sub-divisions, which are; security, WHRS, and
engineering (plant coverage). A specific frequency is allotted to for communication on walkie-talkies.
External communication on wireless network is achieved with the help of a PTCL number the frequency
to which are brought to ACPL via PRI. The frequency to the wireless PTCL number is first transmitted by a
PRI in Karachi and piggybacked on by a PRI in Hub. The Hub PRI transmits it to ACPL. The single PTCL
number is further truncated into 30 numbers.

ACPL own SIM cards of all telecommunication companies of Pakistan except ZONG. Two Warid numbers
are allotted to ACPL for international communication.

INSTRUMENTATION:
Instrumentation can be regarded as a collective term for measuring instruments that are used for
measuring, recording and then displaying physical quantities.

Instrumentation deals with a number of sensors that are incorporated in the complex industrial control
system in any manufacturing industry, same as ACPL. All the data, information, and controls are relayed
by the systems incorporated by the instrumentation department.

General Instrumentation Loops:

Sensors

Transducers

Transimtters

PLC

LAN Switch

HMI
Major Instrumentation Loops:

Temperature Flow

PT-100 Thermocouple Pyrometer

Pressure Level

Magnetic
Sonic
Type