Guidebook for Using the Tool BEST Cement: Benchmarking and Energy Savings Tool for the Cement Industry

摘要

The Benchmarking and Energy Savings Tool (BEST) Cement is a process-based tool based on commercially available efficiency technologies used anywhere in the world applicable to the cement industry. This version has been designed for use in China. No actual cement facility with every single efficiency measure included in the benchmark will likely exist; however, the benchmark sets a reasonable standard by which to compare for plants striving to be the best. The energy consumption of the benchmark facility differs due to differences in processing at a given cement facility. The tool accounts for most of these variables and allows the user to adapt the model to operational variables specific for his/her cement facility. Figure 1 shows the boundaries included in a plant modeled by BEST Cement. In order to model the benchmark, i.e., the most energy efficient cement facility, so that it represents a facility similar to the user's cement facility, the user is first required to input production variables in the input sheet (see Section 6 for more information on how to input variables). These variables allow the tool to estimate a benchmark facility that is similar to the user's cement plant, giving a better picture of the potential for that particular facility, rather than benchmarking against a generic one. The input variables required include the following: (1) the amount of raw materials used in tonnes per year (limestone, gypsum, clay minerals, iron ore, blast furnace slag, fly ash, slag from other industries, natural pozzolans, limestone powder (used post-clinker stage), municipal wastes and others); the amount of raw materials that are preblended (prehomogenized and proportioned) and crushed (in tonnes per year); (2) the amount of additives that are dried and ground (in tonnes per year); (3) the production of clinker (in tonnes per year) from each kiln by kiln type; (4) the amount of raw materials, coal and clinker that is ground by mill type (in tonnes per year); (5) the amount of production of cement by type and grade (in tonnes per year); (6) the electricity generated onsite; and, (7) the energy used by fuel type; and, the amount (in RMB per year) spent on energy. The tool offers the user the opportunity to do a quick assessment or a more detailed assessment--this choice will determine the level of detail of the energy input. The detailed assessment will require energy data for each stage of production while the quick assessment will require only total energy used at the entire facility (see Section 6 for more details on quick versus detailed assessments). The benchmarking tool provides two benchmarks--one for Chinese best practices and one for international best practices. Section 2 describes the differences between these two and how each benchmark was calculated. The tool also asks for a target input by the user for the user to set goals for the facility.