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A publication of

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING TRANSACTIONS

The Italian Association
VOL. 35, 2013 of Chemical Engineering
www.aidic.it/cet
Guest Editors: Petar Varbanov, Jiří Klemeš, Panos Seferlis, Athanasios I. Papadopoulos, Spyros Voutetakis
Copyright © 2013, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l.,
ISBN 978-88-95608-26-6; ISSN 1974-9791 DOI: 10.3303/CET1335117

CO2 Emission Reduction in the Cement Industry

Hrvoje Mikulčića,*, Milan Vujanovića, Nataša Markovskab, Risto V. Filkoskic,
Marko Bana, Neven Duića
a
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb, Ivana Lučića 5, 10000 Zagreb,
Croatia
b
Research Center for Energy, Informatics and Materials, Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Krste Misirkov 2,
1000 Skopje, Macedonia
c
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University “Ss Cyril and Methodius”, Karpos II nn, 1000 Skopje, Macedonia
[email protected]

The cement industry is one of the largest carbon emitting industrial sectors in the European Union (EU)
and in the world. In line with the EU commitment to combat climate change, the cement industry needs to
decrease significantly carbon emission. The cement manufacturing process is not only a source of
combustion related CO2 emissions, but it is also a large source of industrial process related CO 2
emissions. There are several effective measures which can be applied in cement manufacturing processes
to achieve emissions reduction targets. Simultaneously, these measures can reduce the local
environmental impacts and improve the competitiveness of the cement industry. In this paper, the following
measures for CO2 emission reduction were analyzed in order to identify their environmental effectiveness:
use of alternative fuels, more efficient kiln process, and co-production of synthetic fuels. The study was
done on the case of a Macedonian cement plant. It was confirmed that the implementation of the selected
mitigation measures results in substantial CO2 emission reduction.

1. Introduction
During cement production process large amounts of different greenhouse gases, especially CO2, are
emitted. The cement industry alone accounts for approximately 4.1 % of EU’s, and around 5 % of world’s
anthropogenic CO2 emissions (Mikulčić et al., 2013). In line with the EU commitment to combat climate
change, the cement industry, as the third largest carbon emitting industrial sector in EU, needs a more
sustainable future. In 2005 the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) was launched. Due to high CO2
emissions from the cement manufacturing process, cement plants within the EU are obliged to participate
in this trading scheme. Cement manufacturing process is not only a source of combustion related CO 2
emissions, but it is also a large source of industrial process related CO2 emissions. The calcination and the
combustion of fossil fuels are the main processes contributing to almost 90% of CO2 emitted from the
cement manufacturing. The remaining 10 % comes from the transport of raw material and some other
production activities. The calcination process in fact, is the thermal decomposition of limestone into lime,
needed for the production of clinker. Combustion of fossil fuels contributes to around 40 % of CO2
emissions.
There are four main cement production processes which have the highest influence on the final cement
quality, fuel consumption, and pollutant formation. These processes are: raw material preheating,
calcination process, clinker burning, and clinker cooling. Prior to the raw material preheating, the raw
material is collected, crushed, mixed with additives and transported to the cyclone preheating system. The
cyclone preheating systems have been developed to improve the heat exchange process. Preheating
occurs prior to the cement calciner and the rotary kiln. Once preheated, the raw material enters the cement
calciner, where the calcination process occurs. Clinker burning occurs after the calcination process. It is
the most energy demanding process in cement production. The temperature of 1450 ˚C ensures the
clinker formation. After the clinkering process in the rotary kiln is finished, the cement clinker is cooled

Please cite this article as: Mikulcic H., Vujanovic M., Markovska N., Filkoski R., Ban M., Duic N., 2013, Co2 emission reduction in the
cement industry, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 35, 703-708 DOI:10.3303/CET1335117

703
down to 100-200 ˚C. The cooling is rapid, preventing thus undesirable chemical reactions (Mikulčić et al.,
2012a).
There are several effective measures, which can be applied in cement manufacturing processes to
achieve CO2 emissions reduction. Simultaneously these measures can reduce the local environmental
impacts and improve the competitiveness of the cement industry. As the largest CO2 emitter, the
calcination process is the best to start with. The only way to reduce CO2 emissions from the calcination
process is to use alternative raw materials, which do not contain carbonates in their mineral structure.
However, till now no economically viable minerals from which the produced cement is comparable by
quality to the current portland-based cements, have been found (Gartner, 2004). Rosković and Bjegović
(2005) studied the influence of the substitution of a part of clinker with mineral additions on the mechanical
characteristics of cement and the reduction of CO2 emissions. The study showed that by reducing clinker
to cement ratio with various additives, the consumption of raw materials, thermal and electric energy, and
the CO2 emissions can be reduced notably. Due to high CO2 content in the flue gases, the most effective
way to reduce CO2 emissions from the cement manufacturing process is to capture CO2 from the flue
gases and store it (Deja et al., 2010). Barker et al. (2009), based on a newly built cement plant in Scotland,
United Kingdom, analysed the technologies that could be used for CO2 capture in cement plants, their
costs and barriers to their use. The study concluded that the oxy-combustion in contrast to the post-
combustion is an economically better solution for CO2 capture in cement plants, but still research and
development is needed, in order to enable this technology to be deployed. In addition to the previously
mentioned Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies, Bosoaga et al. (2009) analysed the use of
amine scrubbing and the calcium looping technology, as potential CCS technologies in cement industry.
The study showed that the benefit of the calcium looping technology is that the lime removed from the
cycle could be used for the production of clinker, and therefore reduce the CO2 emissions from the cement
industry. Furthermore, by improving the energy efficiency of the clinker production process CO2 emissions
can also be reduced. The most energy efficient cement production technology, best available technology,
today is the use of a dry rotary kiln together with a multi stage cyclone preheater and a calciner (Mikulčić et
al., 2013). In the study of Ke et al. (2012), on the case of China’s cement industry, it was shown that the
energy efficiency of the cement production process will be crucial for the reduction of CO2 emissions and
energy consumption. Following the fact that the use of the best available technology can reduce CO2
emissions, Moya et al. (2011) analysed the energy technology improvements that can contribute to the
decrease of energy consumption and CO2 emissions in the EU’s cement industry. In the study of
Valderrama et al. (2012), a life-cycle assessment methodology was used to compare the newly installed
best available technology and the former clinker production line. The study showed that an environmental
improvement was achieved by using the best available technology for the clinker manufacturing, in a form
of less fuel consumption. Furthermore, Mikulčić et al. (2012b), by using suitable numerical models
(Mikulčić et al., 2012c), presented the potential of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to support the
design and optimization of cement calciners operating conditions, and to support the reduction of CO2
emissions from the cement manufacturing process.
However, it was found that the substituting fossil fuels with alternative fuels may play a major role in the
reduction of CO2 emissions. Fodor and Klemeš (2012) presented the use of waste as an alternative fuel
and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the current and the developing waste-to-energy
technologies. The study showed how the different waste-to-energy technologies are being developed and
analyses their potential for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction. Kääntee et al. (2004) analysed
the use of alternative fuels in the cement industry, providing useful data for the optimization of the
pyroprocessing process when alternative fuels are used. Mokrzycki et al. (2003) reported the advantages,
both economical and environmental, of using alternative fuels in Polish cement plants. The study showed
that the use of alternative fuels is an environmentally friendly method of waste utilization. Aranda-Uson et
al. (2012) studied the use of sewage sludge as an alternative fuel in cement industry. The study showed
that significant technical and environmental improvements in the cement production process can be
achieved when the sewage sludge is used as an alternative fuel. Furthermore, Aranda-Uson et al. (2013)
presented the use of alternative fuels and raw materials in the cement industry. The study showed that
alternative fuels can decrease cement industry’s environmental impact, and furthermore that it can lower
the consumption of energy and material resources, and reduce the economic costs of cement production.
Aside from the studies investigating the environmental potential of using alternative fuels in the cement
industry, Mislej et al. (2012) studied both the combustion behaviour and the environmental effect of using
alternative fuels for heat generation in cement kilns. The study showed that there is a great potential,
especially environmental, of using alternative fuels in cement production.
All of these studies showed that by optimizing existing cement production lines, using more efficient
technologies, installing CCS technologies, using alternative fuels and by reducing the clinker to cement

704
ratio, a reduction in CO2 emissions can be achieved. However, none of these studies show the potential of
combining renewable energy resources and cement manufacturing process. The co-production of
synthetic fuel, a CO2 emission reduction measure considered in this study, is a method that could show
that potential. In this way, CO2 emissions related to fuel combustion could be avoided.
In this study cement plant Usje was selected as the case study. The paper analyses the existing pyro-
processing unit and its CO2 emissions reduction potential. Three measures, which can be applied in the
cement manufacturing processes, were analyzed in order to identify their environmental effectiveness. The
implementation of these measures results in a significant decrease of CO2 emissions in 2020, contributing
to a more sustainable cement production.

2. Methodology
Direct CO2 emissions from the production of cement are attributed to: (1) Calcination process - the process
of transforming raw materials into clinker which is the main component of cement; (2) Fuel combustion -
fuels (oil, coal, petrol coal etc.) burn in the kilns and produce CO2 as a result of the chemical reaction
between carbon and oxygen. Indirect emissions of CO2 are released during the generation of electricity
required for the production of clinker and cement, as well as during the transportation of raw materials, fuel
and final products.
There are several measures in the cement industry, which can reduce CO 2 emissions significantly. One of
the measures is the reduction of clinker to cement ratio with different additives. However, since this ratio
for the final products of the cement plant Usje is already low, (amounts 0.57), it is not likely that its further
reduction will be considered if blended cements, with at least as good performance and durability
characteristics as the current portland-based cements, are to be produced. Furthermore, replacing fossil
fuels with alternative fuels may play a major role in the reduction of CO 2 emissions. The other advantage
of the application of this measure is the reduction of energy costs of cement production, and even more
significant is the advantage that this measure is also an environmentally friendly method of waste
utilization. Improving the energy efficiency of the kiln process is also one of the possibilities for CO2
emissions reduction. Finally, co-production of synthetic fuel is a measure that could combine renewable
energy resources and cement manufacturing process, and recycling the CO2 from the flue gases lower
CO2 emissions notably.
Most of these measures are influenced to a large extent by environmental policy and legal framework and
integration of these measures will only be possible if the policy framework will foster the cost-effective
deployment of the best available technology. In this study, the CO 2 emissions for each of the named
measure were calculated according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
methodology (IPCC, 2000). This methodology is widely used for tracking and reporting of greenhouse gas
emissions from the industrial facilities. For cement industry it specifies that there are two different sources
of CO2 emissions: the combustion of fossil fuels, and the thermal decomposition of limestone, known as
the calcination process. The former refers to combustion CO 2 emissions, and the latter refers to process
CO2 emissions.

3. Results and discussion

The case study of this paper is the cement plant Usje, Macedonia’s only cement plant. The Republic of
Macedonia, a party of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) since
1998, belongs to the non-Annex I countries (group of countries without binding targets), but as a candidate
country for EU membership, it is committed to develop inventory of GHG, climate change mitigation and
adaptation plans, to undertake climate change related observation and monitoring, research and
development, education and public awareness, as well as to report regularly the national climate change
activities in National Communications (Taseska et al., 2008).
The kiln process applied in the cement plant Usje is a dry rotary kiln, with four-stage cyclone pre-heater
and a clinker cooler. Calciner is not used in this cement plant; however the plant operator is planning to
increase the cement production while decreasing the CO2 emissions. To ensure both criteria are satisfied,
the plant operator plans to improve the kiln process by including the calciner in it.
The energy efficiency of a particular cement plant is evaluated in a way that the specific energy
consumption of that particular cement plant is compared with the specific energy consumption of a
benchmark. The specific energy consumption is also used to evaluate the improvements in the energy
efficiency of the cement production process (Ali et al., 2011). The current average specific thermal energy
consumption of a kiln process in the Usje cement plant is 3.7 GJ/t clinker. It can be noted that there is still
space for certain improvement of the energy efficiency of the Usje cement plant, and that the next step in

705
improving the energy efficiency would be the addition of a calciner prior to the rotary kiln. Some energy
consumption indicators of the Usje cement plant are shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Energy consumption indicators

Electricity consumption for production of clinker 80 GWh/y
Electricity consumption for production of cement 73.5 GWh/y
Specific consumption of electricity for clinker 80 kWh/t clinker
Specific consumption of electricity for cement 42 kWh/t cement
Fuel consumption per kg clinker 3,700 kJ/kg clinker
Total fuel consumption 3,700x109 kJ/y
Electricity consumption for other activities in the plant 40 GWh/y

The CO2 emissions reduction measures considered here are: (a) use of alternative fuels; (b) more efficient
kiln process; (c) co-production of synthetic fuels. The selection of the measures was based on the criteria
of the ability to decrease CO2 emissions compared to current practice, prospects for realisation, and level
of difficulty of implementation.
To compare the environmental effectiveness of each measure, the CO2 emissions for last five years from
the cement plant Usje were calculated. The results (see Table 2) show that CO2 emissions from cement
manufacturing in Macedonia, decreased sharply from 2007 until 2009, due to the decreased cement
production during the economic crisis, and after 2009 when Macedonia’s economy started to recover, the
CO2 emissions from the cement production slowly increase.

Table 2: CO2 emissions from the Usje cement plant

Year Emissions of CO2, ktCO2
2007 867
2008 814
2009 439
2010 442
2011 457

3.1 Use of alternative fuels

The alternative fuel used for the calculation of the potential CO2 emissions reduction was the refused
derived fuel well known as RDF. RDF is produced from the high calorific part of the waste after the
removal of the inert substances and drying of the waste. By using RDF together with fossil fuels, a
decrease in CO2 emissions can be achieved, due to biogenic part of the RDF. For the purpose of this
study, it was assumed that the biogenic part (wood, textile, paper, etc.) in RDF is 40 % (Schneider et al.,
2012).
The CO2 emissions reduction potential was calculated by estimating the total energy consumption of the
cement factory. An assumption was made that RDF has the lower heating value of 15 MJ/kg and that in
2020 RDF will have a 50 % share in the fuel mix that will be used for the cement production. The actual
amount of the RDF, that will be used in 2020 as the alternative fuel is 123.5 kt. That results in the CO2
emission reduction potential of 104.4 ktCO2eq in 2020.
3.2 More efficient kiln process
For more efficient kiln process it was assumed that the existing kiln process, with an average specific
thermal energy consumption of 3.7 GJ/t clinker, will be replaced with the currently best available kiln
process that has an average specific thermal energy consumption of 3.0 GJ/t clinker. The direct result of
the implementation of a more efficient kiln process is the decrease in fuel consumption. The actual amount
of the fossil fuel that will be used in 2020 is 89.5 kt for a more efficient kiln process, while 110.4 kt of fossil
fuel will be needed for the existing kiln process. The CO2 emissions reduction potential in 2020 for a more
efficient kiln process is 65.7 ktCO2eq.
3.3 Co-production of synthetic fuels
The use of synthetic hydrocarbon fuels in cement production processes is a possible solution for reducing
fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The basis for producing synthetic hydrocarbon fuels is the synthetic
gas, or shortly syngas, a gas mixture that contains varying amounts of CO and H 2. The syngas is produced
during the co-electrolysis of CO2 and H2O in solid oxide electrolysis cells. After that, the Fischer–Tropsch
synthesis can be used to produce liquid hydrocarbon fuel from the syngas. In this study an assumption

706
was made that the sources of CO2, the basis for hydrocarbon fuels, is the post-combustion carbon capture
and recycling (CCR) technology. The electricity which enables the co-electrolysis process is provided by
wind turbines. This option is chosen to integrate renewable resources into the cement production process.
Furthermore it was assumed that due to modest efficiency of current solid oxide electrolysis cells and the
Fischer–Tropsch synthesis, methane, the produced synthetic fuel, will have a 20 % share in the fuel mix in
2020.
The CO2 emission reduction potential was calculated by estimating the total energy consumption of the
cement factory. For methane the lower heating value of 50 MJ/kg was used. The actual amount of the
methane, that will be used in 2020 as the synthetic fuel is 14.8 kt. That results in the CO 2 emission
reduction potential of 28.8 ktCO2eq in 2020.
Table 3 summarizes the CO2 reduction potential for three considered measures. It can be concluded that
the use of alternative fuels has the biggest CO2 reduction potential. Hence, this measure should be first for
the implementation in cement manufacturing processes in the cement plant Usje.

Table 3: CO2 emissions reduction potential

CO2 emissions reduction measure CO2 emissions reduction potential, ktCO2eq
Use of alternative fuels 104.4
More efficient kiln process 65.7
Co-production of synthetic fuels 28.8

4. Conclusion
Reduction of CO2 emission in cement industry is one of the most important measures for achieving the EU
climate targets for 2020 and beyond. The paper analyses the environmental effectiveness of three different
CO2 emissions reduction measures, in order to determine the priorities for implementation in the
considered case. The three considered measures were: Use of alternative fuels, More efficient kiln
process, and Co-production of synthetic fuels. It should be noted that the recycling of CO2 into synthetic
fuels will open the door to renewable energy in the cement industry sector.
The integral CO2 emissions reduction potential of the three measures shows that approximately 0.2 million
tons of CO2 can be avoided in 2020, which is around 1.7 % of Macedonia’s current GHG emissions, or
around 40 % of total CO2 emissions of the cement plant Usje. These figures also show that the CO 2
emission reduction potential in cement industry could be a significant part of the efforts to meet the
potential post-Kyoto target, and that the implementation of the considered mitigation measures contributes
to more sustainable cement production.

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