SD Vision - Halyps Cement

Kaufmann Jr., Charles and Ray Eames.
As an international symbol of business
commitment to innovation and excellence
in architecture and design, the award is
assigned on an annual basis in 23 project
classifi cations, including, as of 2008, a
sustainable development category.
i.lab is a reference point of eco-sustainable
architecture in Europe and the
benchmark of innovation for architects
and the design world.
FYM: a new concrete to
minimise the environmental
impact of buildings
FYM, Italcementi Group’s subsidiary in Spain,
Labein-TECNALIA, a technology research
centre, and the company Hormigones y
Morteros Agote (Hormor) collaborated in
“Kubik”, a one-of-a-kind infrastructure
project unique worldwide for its R&D&I
focus on improving energy effi ciency in
construction. This collaboration has mainly
consisted of developing new construction
materials from iron aggregates – until now
wasted and dumped – to lay the foundation
of “Kubik”. The “Kubik” project has already
seen its fi rst material application: a special
concrete employed in laying the foundation
of Labein-TECNALIA’s new infrastructure
in the Biscay Technological Park, where
real-scale R&D&I activities will be carried
out to evaluate the extent to which new
construction solutions and heating, air
conditioning and lighting systems increase
buildings’ energy effi ciency. The innovation
not only consists of this cutting-edge iron
aggregate concrete (HAS), but also in the
manner in which it was laid, the volume
used and the execution of structural
elements, such as foundation slabs and
basement walls. The job was successfully
completed thanks to coordinated efforts
among developers, concrete manufacturers
and iron aggregate production companies
and managers. Together, they managed to
substitute 80% of the natural aggregate
volume which normally would have
been extracted from quarries. FYM was
in charge of manufacturing, transporting
and laying the iron aggregate concrete.
On its part, Hormor successfully took
care of transformation and supply from
its plant in Zestoa, turning an industrial
by-product into a recovered raw material
for use in a value-added material: structural
concrete type HA-30/F/20/IIa+Qa (slab)
and HA-30/B/20/IIa+Qa (walls), laid in the
foundations of Labein-Tecnalia’s facilities.
This structure can resist up to 3,000 tonnes
of weight per square metre.
This industrial by-product, widely available
in the Basque Country with more than
800,000 tonnes produced per year, is
called black steel slag and was uncontrollably
wasted or dumped until just a few
years ago. This new application shows
that it is possible to build an aggregate
with optimum guarantees fi t for the most
demanding requirements associated with
commercial reinforced concrete which has
structural purposes and responsibilities.
The team formed by FYM, Hormor and
Labein-Tecnalia has managed not only to
execute a real structural application, but
also to present a clear path for turning
waste into the foundations of what will
serve as an example for effi cient construction
in the sector’s economic, social and
environmental arenas. The researchers at
Labein-Tecnalia and FYM believe that there
is more to be explored in this fi eld given
Foundation slabs and basement walls realised within the “Kubik” project, Spain
the interesting opportunities in analysing
possible improvements to HAS features
in comparison with traditional concrete
manufactured with natural aggregates. For
example, it might be possible to achieve
high initial resistances faster, greater gains
in long-term resistance, better durability,
fi re resistance, etc.
ECO-EFFICIENT
PROCESSES FOR CEMENT
MANUFACTURING
How to reduce NO x
emissions from kilns
The request to reduce nitrogen oxide
emissions has become increasingly urgent
in recent years. The cement industry, along
with other industrial sectors, responded
to this request by increasing applied
theoretical research into both formation
mechanisms and possible ways to eliminate
NOx before they reach the atmosphere. A
detailed study of formation mechanisms,
which are very complex and still under
examination, has led to the so-called
“primary methods”, which are in fact
largely based on preventing the formation
of nitrogen oxides in the fl ame. Acting
adequately on ways and times of reaction
between oxygen in the combustion air and
fuel, it is possible to hinder the formation
mechanisms of these compounds and
therefore to reduce emissions. However,
in the case of the cement kiln, this way of
preventing NOx formation is strongly limited
by the need to work at high temperatures
(up to 2,000°C in the main burner fl ame)
and with appropriate amounts of excess
air to guarantee the quality of the clinker
being produced. The adoption of “LOW
NOx” burners and staged combustion
in precalciners are precisely ”primary
methods” widely used by the cement
industry with interesting results which,
however, are now often insuffi cient to
satisfy regulatory requirements. Parallel to
“primary methods”, “secondary methods”
have been developed aiming at acting on
NOx after their formation.
The most widely used “secondary method”
provides for the injection of aqueous
ammonia or urea solutions into the gas
stream leaving the rotary kiln at temperatures
of around 950°C, with consequent
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