SCG introduces WHR technology solutions to Vietnam's market

SCG today delivered a keynote presentation on waste heat recovery at the “Science and technology – the key driver of sustainable development of Vietnam’s building material industry” international symposium co-organised in Hanoi by Vietnam Building Material Association and the Ministry of Construction.

The presentation features the latest technological development, with a highlight on how cement producers can apply waste heat recovery (WHR) solutions to reduce long-term financial cost and protect the environment. WHR is a system used to recover the heat of gases discharged from the cement-producing process in boilers to produce steam. This steam is applied in steam turbines and generators set to produce electricity that can be reused as energy in cement plant again.

Under Vietnam’s cement industry development plan until 2020, with the vision towards 2030, all cement plants with clinker production capacity of 2,500 tonnes per day or above shall have to be equipped with a WHR system to save at least 20 per cent of their electricity consumption by 2015. However, it remains a challenge for local companies to install this system due to technical and financial barriers.

At the conference, SCG shared best practice of WHR technologies in cement plants, including Single Press System, Flasher System and Double Pressure System. Economically, if the WHR system is applied, the plant is able to generate self-power and save electric consumption. Additionally, the system would also help producers to obtain a carbon credit of 300,000 tonnes of reduced carbon dioxide per year.

“To realise our target to become an ASEAN sustainable business leader, SCG Cement and Building Materials have make its greatest efforts to operate greenly via the effective utilisation of resources and a policy exclusively focused on in environmental friendly innovation. This includes recycling waste in the manufacturing process and exchanging waste used as fuel or raw materials in cement plants,” said Surapon Oonchuen, manager of Operation and Maintenance Cementhai Energy Conservation Company under SCG Cement and Building Materials.