Technical reviews and energy reviews

Improving the efficiency of the highly complex cement production process requires sound scientific analysis of the entire manufacturing process (equipment, raw materials, energy demand, fuels, cement portfolio, emissions, environmental protection laws etc.). VDZ’s expertise in cement production, backed by scientific research and proven in practice, our qualified specialist personnel with their extensive knowledge of the latest techniques and measurement technology, accredited laboratories and many years of experience with international service projects allows us to offer our customers technical reviews and energy reviews tailored perfectly to their requirements.

Over the years, VDZ has devised its own assessment rules and applied these in the conduction of technical reviews and energy reviews all over the world. Depending on the review objectives, we offer three types of review (basic, advanced and detailed):

Basic Review: expert assessment based on available plant data
Basic Reviews utilise data available in the cement works that is supplied to VDZ. An on-site tour is not included, meaning that the plant’s current conditions are not taken into account.
Advanced Review: expert assessment based on available plant data and on-site inspection (without on-site measurements)
Advanced Reviews supply a more in-depth overview of the condition of a cement work’s technical systems: On-site inspections can identify any unprofitable practices and technical defects. The review produces a report that lists improvement measures and options for cutting production costs and/or proposes further action. If required, detailed analysis of plants, plant sections or processes are proposed, e.g. of cement grinding (Detailed Review, finish mill, kiln plant), quality assurance (Laboratory Review) or maintenance organisation.
Detailed Review: complex on-site measurements and analysis of results (mass and air flows, emissions, particle size distribution etc.)
Detailed Reviews are recommended if the data quality produced by an Advanced Review is insufficient to justify recommended optimisation measures with high CAPEX (e.g. plant refurbishment) from a costs perspective. VDZ thus always conducts Detailed Reviews with objectives and scopes of measurement specific to the respective customer’s requirements.

The review’s conclusions are compiled in a report that can be produced in German, English or Russian language. The performance indicators used in the report can be agreed individually with the customer in advance. VDZ guarantees that project management, review activities and assessment meet the highest demands regarding technical expertise, accuracy and confidentiality.

Technical reviews

VDZ’s technical reviews allow identification of the optimisation potential in a customer’s specific cement production process (from quarry to sales despatch) and assessment of the optimisation measures’ cost impact. The reviews determine and depict transparently the data available in the plant in accordance with the customer’s objectives. Our customers here benefit ideally from VDZ’s many years of international experience in the field of thermal and mechanical process engineering.

The technical reviews we offer supply our customers with an impartial and sound assessment of their plants’ condition. Alongside the entire production process, product quality is also an aspect of assessment. Another focus of our work is the development of innovative solutions for emissions reduction (nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, greenhouse gases etc.).

Services at your disposal in the field of technical reviews:

Determination of your plant’s efficiency taking into account emissions, quality, production output, costs and performance indicators regarding safety
Comparison of your plant with the data available to VDZ and BAT values (best available techniques)
Bottleneck analyses and optimisation measurements
Identification and quantification of your processes’ optimisation potential taking into account plant design and desired product quality (e.g. energy and output performance indicators, capacity increases etc.) as well as identification of cost-cutting potential
Identification of mechanical improvement measures for your plant

Energy reviews

As a consequence of the production processes’ high power consumption, a plant’s energy efficiency is of key significance in the building materials industry. VDZ therefore conducts in-depth energy-efficiency analyses to identify savings potential in individual production processes. In addition, potential improvements of the entire production line’s energy efficiency are investigated.

VDZ defines the scope of an energy efficiency analysis’s application in accordance with the customer’s specific requirements. The entire production line or only sections within the production plants can be examined. Upon request, our experts are also available for specially tailored inspections on site. Furthermore, we can also compare the obtained energy data with the data available to VDZ and with BAT values (best available techniques). Our customers are thus supplied with a transparent and impartial analysis of their plants’ electrical and thermal energy efficiency.

Services at your disposal in the field of energy reviews:

Comparison of your plant with the data available to VDZ and BAT values (best available techniques)
Determination and analysis of your production processes’ energy demand
Conduction of optimisation measurements
Assessment of your plant’s energy management system
Identification and quantification of savings potentials in your plant
Expert assessment of your production processes in terms of CO₂ reduction measures