Energetic: Kirchdorfer cement plant and ALFUMA burn environmentally friendly

Due to the high energy costs, the restricted availability and the increasing prices of fossil energy carrier and raw material, secondary material becomes more and more important for the cement industry. In addition to this the issue of sustainable added value is one of the key issues for the Kirchdorfer cement plant.

The increased use of alternative raw material and substitute burning material saves valuable resources in a sustainable way. At the same time the reduction of the emission relieves the environment. The ALFUMA Gmbh with its registered seat in Kirchdorf has continuously been setting new international standards and has been dealing with alternative fuels more intensively since 2011. In the meantime the company has become one of the leading experts in this field.

The Kirchdorfer cement plant is currently working with 60 to 70% alternative fuels. “Our focus is on rubber granulates from scrap tire recycling as due to its homogeneity this material has a high heating but low chloride value and thus makes it especially suitable as alternative fuel.” Says Anton Secklehner, authorized signatory of ALFUMA and plant manager of the Kirchdorfer cement plant. The application of alternative fuel has absolutely no effect on the cement factory: “The quality remains the same. This is tested in the lab on a regular basis.”

Textile lint, plastic light fraction and PU pellets from the recycling of refrigerators are fuels that Kirchdorf specializes on successfully. Apart from the unchanged cement quality the application of alternative fuels uses considerably less resources and decreases the CO2 emission.

The annual coal requirement could be reduced by more than 50%, which corresponds with a CO2 reduction of about 20,000 tons. Based on the per capita emission (source: Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC), status 2008) of one Austrian of about 8.6 tons CO2 per year this saves the annual consumption of 2,300 people.

Jürgen Secklehner, assistant of the corporate management describes the emphasis of the enterprise “At present we work on the purchase and sale of alternative fuel and alternative raw material. In the future we will also deal with the preparation of alternative energy carriers.” Beside the Kirchdorfer cement plant the ALFUMA GmbH also supplies other cement plants with alternative fuels. “In the future the two Lafarge cement plants Mannersdorfer and Retznei but also other incineration plants shall be supplied with high-quality secondary fuel material.”says Jürgen Secklehner.

In the field of alternative raw material ALFUMA’s product range goes from alternative iron to aluminum and silicon carrier that is used for the production of clinker. “The central idea is to use resources as sustainably as possible and to minimize the requirement for primary resources. On the short or medium term ALFUMA shall become the number one address in the field of alternative fuels and alternative raw materials in and around Austria.” says Anton Secklehner about the company’s ambitious goals.