Dust Suppression in Cement Manufacturing (23K € in Prizes)

Mario HonrubiaRecent Challenges

 The challenge brought to you this time has to do with the dust suppression during the cement manufacturing process. The dust generated is so heavy that it causes damage in the equipment and it poses a risk in workers by blocking their vision. Help this company solve the challenge now!

The challenge

The client is a world leader cement manufacturer. During the cement manufacturing process, the raw material is delivered from the quarry and, after going through the raw mill and the rotary kiln, the resulting clinker is stored inside a warehouse. The clinker is stored using a bridge crane that was supposed to be automated, which was not possible mainly because of the amount of dust in the warehouse. This is very damaging for the electric and electronic equipment installed in the warehouse. Even though the operator is in a pressurized control cabin inside the bridge crane, the dust may block his vision, resulting in the halt of the process for safety reasons. In addition to damaging the equipment and machines operating inside the warehouse, which increases the maintenance costs, it also interferes with control and automation elements. Different methods have been tested in the past, but all of them could not meet the needs. ont and back until the dust problem is solved.

What the client is looking for

The challenge in this competition is to find a way to reduce the dust generated when the clinker comes from the rotary kiln and the storage silo.

Evaluation criteria

The evaluation criteria for each round are:
  • Significant reduction of dust
  • Lowest required investment
  • Lowest maintenance needed
  • Feasibility evidence

Timeline

This is a 3-round competition: Round 1: 4 weeks + 2 weeks for evaluation Round 2: 4 weeks + 2 weeks for evaluation Round 3: 8 weeks + 1 week for final evaluation

 Prize

Reward of23.000€ Terms:All the participants (max. 6) that make it to Round 2 will receive 600€.The winner will receive a prize of: 10,000€ if the investment is lower than 500,000€ / 15,000€ if the investment is lower than 250,000€ / 20,000€ if the investment is lower than 50,000€