PROJECT LEAD: University of Louisville
PARTNERS: Argos
PROBLEM STATEMENT: Cement manufacturing is energy-intensive (5GJ/t) and comprises a significant portion of the energy footprint of the composite material. Incorporating modern monitoring, simulation and control systems will allow lower energy use, lower environmental impact and lower costs.
PROJECT GOAL: Using predictive process models, data analytics, sensors and machine learning, a Smart Manufacturing for cement control system platform will be developed in partnership with ARGOS USA cement in an effort to provide a more energy-efficient clinker production process with better quality control.
TECHNICAL APPROACH:
- Instrument and Model the operation of the Cement Kiln, tracking material input chemistry the resulting output to operate in a tighter tolerance fashion.
KEY TASKS AND MILESTONES:
- Thermal Model of Typical Kiln and Sensor Deployment Plan
- Scale Model of a Rotary Cement Kiln
- Product Quality Assessment and Sampling
- Multi-physics Modelling
- Model-Based Control System Development and System Optimization
- Economic Analysis of control strategies
- Implementation & validation of limited version of control system at a cement plant
POTENTIAL IMPACT:
- Contributions will be made to the SM Platform™ core technologies
BENEFITS:
- Because energy (fuel) costs are a significant portion of the cost of the cement production, lowering firing temperatures and times will reduce cost and environmental impacts making this industry more viable through adoption of Smart Manufacturing technologies and processes (specifically in the data acquisition for high temperature manufacturing, contextualization, and control)
- A multi-physics cement manufacturing model will be developed that will serve as a basis for process analytics and control for similar processes through the SM Platform
- Building on the SM Platform core technologies, data analytics and machine learning algorithms will be developed that can be used for process assessment and control across a wide range of high energy manufacturing processes
| Member % Cost Share | CESMII % Cost Share | Duration |
| 32% | 68% | 24 months |