Impact of alternative fuels on the cement manufacturing plant performance : an overview

Cement manufacturing is a high energy consuming and heavy polluting process. To reduce the energy and environmental costs cement producers are currently using a blend of alternative fuels with conventional fossil fuels. Alkaline environment, high temperature and long processing time allow cement kiln to burn a wide range of alternative fuels including waste and hazardous materials. This paper summarizes and reviews literatures on the usage of different types of alternative fuel and their impacts on the plant performance. The past research suggests that the maximum benefit can be derived by using an appropriate blend of different types of alternative fuels together with fossil fuels. However, the studies on quantification of appropriate mixing ratio of different alternative fuels to increase the plant performance are scant. Further study is required to determine the correct blending ratios. This literature review is focused on the relationship between performance and blending of different alternative fuels used by leading cement manufacturing groups.