New cement silo, mill and packaging-plant expansion
for NPC at Simuma
BATEMAN has been awarded a substantial turnkey contract by Natal
Portland Cement Company Pty Ltd (NPC), a subsidiary of CIMPOR of Portugal.
The contract covers a new 12 000 t, multi-compartment cement-storage
silo, to be constructed at the Simuma site near Port Shepstone, KwaZulu-Natal,
RSA, as well as mill and packer palletiser systems.
Four components are included in the contract, being the storage silo,
a cement mill, a packaging and palletising plant and raw-materials
handling systems.
The storage silo will have five compartments to enable it to handle
a full range of conventional and limestone-extended cements. It will
be fully equipped with Bateman-Ibau equipment, designed and supplied
by BATEMAN, including extraction and transport airslides and flow-control
gates. There will be two road outloading points, equipped with Bateman-Ibau
250 t/h mobile road outloaders, weighbridges and transport systems
to feed the packaging plant. The design will accommodate the subsequent
addition of transport systems to possible future packing plants and
rail-outloading systems.
At the heart of the cement mill will be a two-chamber ball mill,
to be obtained unused from an NPC associate, currently stored at the
manufacturing company's site in Brazil. The mill output will depend
on the product, but will reach up to 77 t/h. The mill circuit will
have its own bagfilter to capture the airborne dust and return it
to source. The mill has been subcontracted to Polysius, which will
also provide the mill linings, media and separator.
In the packaging and palletising plant, the cement will be bagged,
palletised and shrink-wrapped for dispatch. The Harver and Boeker
packaging units and Beumer palletising units will be subcontracted
through BME.
The raw-materials handling system will comprise seven belt conveyors
of varying specification to move the feed material from the existing
clinker silo and limestone stockyards to the mill-feed bins. A bucket
elevator will lift the cement 60 m at a rate of 150 t/h to the top
of the silo. All conveyor transfer points will be de-dusted to prevent
the release of cement to the atmosphere.
BATEMAN will be responsible for all the subcontractors, ensuring
the work is coordinated to provide an integrated plant which includes
all civil, structural, electrical and control systems. The site installation
will be managed so as to maximise the use of local content and labour.
The site of the Simuma silo is located alongside the limestone source
in the mountainous, environmentally-sensitive Oribi Gorge area. Accordingly,
the design will ensure that dust emissions from the plant will be
controlled within a target limit of 25 mg/m³, well below regulatory
requirements. In addition, the lower floors of the mill building will
be insulated to maximise noise suppression and limit noise pollution.
The need for the new silo is driven by the current high demand for
cement and a supply shortage in Kwa Zulu-Natal. It will be very similar
to one supplied to NPC's Durban plant in 1998 and a large proportion
of the team engaged on the Durban silo will be included in the BATEMAN
team for the Simuma project. The estimated duration of the project
will be 18 months. The silo should be completed and commissioned late
in 2006, enabling the Simuma site to produce cement for the first
time.
For more information, contact David Gale, BATEMAN Manager, Cement,
on +27-11-201-2300 or email pneumatics@batemanengineering.com.
