The Norcem Kjopsvik plant is located on a thin strip of land between mountains and the Tysfjord in Nordland, Norway.The limestone quarry with Kjopsvik, the Tysfjord and cement plant in the distance.The primary crusher is operated by a single member of staff.The FLSmidth limestone stacker-reclaimer is completely automated.The exit of the tunnel that houses the 1km-long limestone conveyor under Kjopsvik village.A wheeled loader delivers processed tyres to a fuel feeding station. (Point 21 on the plant schematic). Much of the plant infrastructure is cramped due to the proximity of the Tysfjord, village and mountains.The view from the top of the preheater tower shows just how close the Norcem Kjopsvik plant is to the village.Looking from the pre-heater tower towards the cement silos and domestic wharf. The vessel on the left is supplying fly ash and the vessel on the right is a cement delivery vessel chartered for the summer. In the extreme lower left, the RDF pellet storage facility highlights the lack of space on the site.Locally-sourced car and truck tyres are cut twice using the same shredder into relatively small pieces by RagnSells, an external contractor. The cut tyres are taken by tipper truck to the fuel loading area.Fluffy RDF material from a local source. It is fed into the process under the ground from a new storage building that is perched on the side of the fjord. (Point 20 on the plant schematic).Processed RDF in the form of pellets is sourced from relatively far afield, often the Netherlands. They are burnt in the main burner and are dosed using a Pfister Weighfeeder.The best view ever from a cement plant control room? The plant installed a Siemens CEMAT process control system, HeidelbergCement's preferred system, in 2008. "It is an effective system that conveys the right information to plant operators in good time," says Asgeir Kvitvik.

The 0.5Mt/yr Norcem plant in Kjøpsvik, Nordland, Norway is the most northerly cement plant in the world, operating inside the Arctic Circle at 68° North. One of two Norcem plants in the country, it has been on the same site since 1918, although it has been extensively upgraded over the years, most recently by FLSmidth in 1991 - 2. Today, its compact site and scenic location, on the side of the Tysfjord and almost on top of Kjøpsvik village, provide unique challenges in terms of logistics, environmental protection and planning for the future. Global Cement's Peter Edwards recently visited the plant, speaking with key staff from the plant and HeidelbergCement Northern Europe, of which Norcem is a part.

Global Cement (GC): Can you provide a background to cement production at the Kjøpsvik site and Norcem more widely?

Asgeir Kvitvik, Plant Manager (AK): The Kjøpsvik plant began life as Nordland Portland Cementfabrik, which was founded in 1918. There were three main reasons for establishing the cement plant here. Firstly, there is a limestone deposit that is 'ready-mixed' for cement. It has the correct proportions of calcium, silica, iron and alumina. We only need small amounts of additives. Secondly, there are nearby waterfalls, which were used to generate electricity. Thirdly, we have the Gulf Stream, so the fjord does not freeze in winter, which is very important for dispatch.

Over the years the first kiln was joined by three other wet kilns. Kilns 2 and 3 came immediately after the Second World War. The commissioning of Kiln 2 was actually interrupted by it. The largest wet kiln, Kiln 4, started production in 1965.

In 1968 the Kjøpsvik plant and Norway's two other cement plants, Cristiania Portland Cementfabrik (Slemmestad) and Dalen Portland Cementfabrik (Brevik, Telemark) were merged as Norcem. Norcem became a wide conglomerate over the years and, after merging with Aker in 1987, it merged its cement arm with Sweden's Euroc into Scancem 1995. Scancem was sold to HeidelbergCement in 1999. Norcem is now part of HeidelbergCement Northern Europe (HCNE), which also covers operations in Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden.

Returning to the Kjøpsvik site, the plant operated with three kilns (2, 3 and 4) from the mid 1960s until the late 1980s, when the decision was taken to install a new dry process Kiln 5 from Denmark's FLSmidth. Kilns 2 and 3 were demolished and we stopped Kiln 4 at the end of 1990. Kiln 5 was completed during 1991 and we commissioned it over New Year 1991 - 1992. Process and production

GC: Could you give a run-down of the production process here?

AK: The plant gets its limestone from the quarry, which is located around 2km from the plant along the road towards Narvik. It has a capacity to mine 1.2Mt/yr of limestone, which is blasted from the quarry and transferred to two CAT 775G haul trucks using a Volvo wheeled loader.

The haul trucks take 65t-loads to a 600t/hr Allis Chalmers gyratory primary crusher. There is also a secondary CMS Cepcor Svedala Hydrocone crusher and a 180m-long FLSmidth 30,000t homogenising storage facility. The homogeniser is a linear stacker-reclaimer that operates using a chevcone.

A 1km-long conveyor then takes the crushed limestone underneath Kjøpsvik village to the plant, where it is ground with a small proportion of additives in a 150t/hr ATOX 32.5 mill. Raw meal is stored in a 30,000t silo. This large capacity helps buffer the process when we are hit with weather-related delays in the quarry during winter.

The kiln is a 1600t/day FLSmidth in-line calciner with a bypass. Its primary fuel is coal, fed from a 10t/hr Polysius coal mill, but we also use a number of alternative fuels. The kiln has a bypass, which was originally intended to remove alkalis from the raw material. Today, however, we use it for dealing with high chlorine content in some of the alternative fuels.

AK: In the base of the pre-heater tower is the Hotdisk. It is a special reactor from FLSmidth that improves the ability of pre-calciner kilns to burn lumpy fuels. It was designed in the late 1990s and we installed the first ever prototype in the early 2000s.

The Hotdisk is a circular combustion chamber 6m in diameter that rotates very slowly. Lumpy fuel is fed from the top onto the combustion surface, where it reacts with tertiary air at 800°C. It sets on fire 'just like that.' The thermal energy is used in the calciner to replace some of the conventional fuels.

At Kjøpsvik we use the Hotdisk to burn 2t/hr of cut tyres. These combust completely due to residence times of several minutes. The ashes go to the riser duct and then the kiln: the steel cores from the tyres melt into the clinker. The Hotdisk can even burn whole truck tyres and large pieces of wood.

Despite FLSmidth having ironed out the early issues, the HOTDISK is still not very widely known. It provides benefits for this plant but it is not something that will find a home in every cement plant.

AK: After the cooler, clinker heads to a 45,000t storage facility. We have two FLSmidth cement mills that operate at 63 - 71t/hr depending on the cement type.

There are four cement silos that share a capacity of 33,000t for bulk dispatch. Cement is transported to these via a high-pressure pneumatic conveying system. The plant has a Haver & Boecker Rotopacker for 25kg bags and big-bags as well as a bag palletiser.

We make two types of cement. The majority, 90 - 92%, is a fly ash-containing CEM II AV 42.5 R. The other 8 - 10% is rapid-hardening cement with a high Blaine. We will shortly introduce a limestone-containing cement.

Above: Simplified schematic of plant location and layout.

1. Limestone taken to primary crusher by haul truck. 2. Primary crusher. 3. Secondary crusher. 4. Homogenisation / storage. 5. Underground conveyor: L = 1.0km, Ø = 3.3m, v =3.5m/s. 6. Raw mill feeders and homogenising silo. 7. Raw mill. 8. Raw meal silo. 9. Pre-heater tower. 10. Kiln. 11. Clinker cooler. 12. Clinker storage. 13. Gypsum storage. 14. Coal storage. 15. Cement mills. 16. Fly ash silo. 17. Cement silos. 18. Truck dispatch. 19. Packing plant. 20. RDF storage. 21. Fuel feeding and (to Hotdisk). 22. Additive storage. 23. Cooling water reservoir.

GC: How is cement dispatched from the plant?

AK: Most of the cement is dispatched via the Tysfjord, where we have two wharfs. The smaller wharf is for domestic transit to our network of terminals. We have 35 terminals in Norway alone but each is fairly small, around 1000 - 2000t.

The sizes of our domestic terminals, combined with the long coast, mean that it is sometimes tricky to get the cement to customers. In Norway there is a very short construction season in the summer months, so much of the domestic despatches are concentrated into a short period between April and October. We have relatively large cement and clinker silos to build up stock in the winter. Thankfully for staff at this plant, there is a separate logistics department that coordinates with our customers. The plant just delivers to the ship.

PB: The export wharf is larger and deeper. It can accommodate ships of up to 60,000t at a maximum feeding rate of 10,000t/day.

This plant actually has a very long history of long-distance exports because it started sending clinker to West Africa in 1967. Up to 2008 we exported a lot of cement to the USA, specifically to New York. Exports increased significantly in 1994 because the demand in Norway had dropped due to poorer economic performance. After having approval to use our cement for US highways, we were really able to start opening up exports. In 1996 we actually exported 80% of our production to the USA. There were ships going to the USA and West Africa every week.

AK: It was a challenge to find a market at that time because we had only had the new line for a couple of years at that point. Logistical factors surrounding the plant's location and relatively small size made finding the market even more of a challenge but Norcem could not have foreseen the downturn in demand in Norway when it committed to the new line.

Currently we export some cement to Murmansk and Arkangelsk in Russia over the top of Norway. Up to 10% of our output goes to Russia at the moment. There are huge plans to develop oilfields in that area.

GC: You mentioned a bagging plant. How much cement is sent out in bags?

PB: It's around 2%. We used to deliver more big bags when we first started to export to Murmansk though.

GC: How has the economic crisis affected production levels at the Kjøpsvik plant?

AK: We saw a downturn for sure but in the past few years we have been able to increase production. The plant is rated at around 0.5Mt/yr of clinker and the most it ever made was 0.53Mt in 2007. However, in 2012 we only produced 0.4Mt. In 2013 we were able to increase to 0.46Mt of clinker and in 2014 I think that this will increase a little more, to around 0.48Mt.

GC: Can you take our readers through the plant's use of alternative fuels?

Per Brevik, Alternative Fuels Manager, HCNE (PB): The plant began using alternative fuels in 1996, when it started trials with refuse-derived fuel (RDF). In the early stages we had some trouble convincing suppliers that their material was a fuel, not a waste, and also making them understand that our specifications describe the product quality we want. We have since overcome these hurdles.

After the start-up of the Hotdisk in 2001, we started up a collection system for car tyres in the northern counties. This meant that we could add these to the mix. The early 2000s were a time when we were experimenting with new fuels. There was a lot of meat and bone meal (MBM), for example, due to an epidemic in livestock.

Today, we use a range of different fuels at this plant, including tyres, fluffy RDF, RDF pellets, MBM / fish meal and wood chips. We cannot burn hazardous wastes due to emissions constraints.

From the perspective of thermal substitution rate, we have the feeding capacity to run stably at 35 - 40% alternative fuels. However, these rates can be challenging. Aside from the correct chemical composition and particle size, a major problem here is sourcing alternative fuels due to our location and storage capacity. The MBM / fish wastes are local but in relatively small quantities. The tyres are sourced through our network and are cut adjacent to the plant by an external contractor. This is our second-largest alternative fuel in terms of tonnage. However, our most important alternative fuel, RDF pellets, is imported long-distance, mainly from the Netherlands. Getting the right size ship so that we can receive the entire load, due to our low storage capacity, and yet have a large enough load to be economical, is quite difficult for a low-value material like RDF. We have found that a 2000t ship works well.

Our bulk fuel is coal, which comes from Spitsbergen (Svalbard), Poland or Russia, which is ordered and supplied by the group company HC Fuels.

GC: Does the plant pay for alternative fuels or get paid to take them?

PB: For some we pay a little, but overall we have a small income. I think that, when there is a lot of capital expenditure for feeding systems, storage facilities and ongoing costs for staff and maintenance, it is only right for cement plants to take a gate fee.

GC: Could the plant accommodate more alternative fuels in principle?

PB: It would be possible for the kiln from a technical standpoint if we had a large pile of RDF sitting next to the plant. However, in the real world the limiting factors would still be storage and supply.

GC: Can you describe the plant's emission abatement controls?

AK: Historically, dust was the main problem with this plant. On the wet kilns there were no dust-control measures until the 1970s, when electrostatic precipitators (EPs) were installed. Our EPs were converted to baghouses by Boldrocchi in 2012.

Annika Steien, Environmental Manager (AS): The dust emission limit was previously 50mg/Nm3 and the EPs were designed to work at 30mg/Nm3. The baghouse conversion was the result of the current 30mg/Nm3 limit, which the EP was just about able to meet. Now, with the Boldrocchi installation, the dust emissions is ~3mg/Nm3, lower than the detection limit.

We recently installed a selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) system. In theory it should reduce our NOx emissions by 65%. However, in the period prior to the installation we had unfortunately seen NOx emissions gradually rising. I think that this is due to changes in the coal supply but there could be other explanations.

Elsewhere, continuous emissions monitoring (CEM) equipment was installed by Gasmet Technologies of Finland in 2013. The system covers a very wide range of emissions, not only dust, NOx and SO2 but also total organic carbon, HF and NH3 slip, which is possible due to the plant using SNCR. An external contractor checks our heavy metal emissions every six months.

AK: It's also important to consider the effects of the plant on our neighbours because we are so close to them. Because of this we have invested a lot in noise reduction and we map the noise in and around the village. There are strict limits but we meet them.

We communicate regularly with local people and keep them informed of what we are doing and any planned changes via a newsletter. Of course many of the locals already know what we are doing because they work here. There are 114 employees at the plant and just 872 residents in Kjøpsvik.

GC: Are there any new emission-related projects on the horizon?

AS: The next priority is reducing the SO2 limit. We currently operate below our 400mg/Nm3 limit at just above 300mg/Nm3. When we have the SNCR working stably, we will look at possible SO2 measures.

PB: Having a plant-specific limit based on BAT is an advantage of being in a small cement industry like we have in Norway.

PB: Beyond the immediate concerns of this plant, we recently launched Norcem's 'Zero Vision' for CO2 emissions from our concrete products by 2030. By using more alternative fuels and raw materials and investing in new technology, for example CO2-harvesting concrete products and even CO2 capture and storage (CCS), we think that this is a realistic target in the future. However, we need cooperation from the authorities, government bodies, other industries and academics. CCS in the real world

GC: The Norcem Brevik plant recently began CCS testing. Can you comment on any progress and whether Kjøpsvik could use CCS in the future?

PB: There are four technologies that have been tested at Brevik. First is the Aker Solutions amine-based solution, which has been tested at other industrial locations. Second is the Membrane Consortium. The partners are the Technical University (NTNU) in Trondheim, DNV GL (a Norwegian/Dutch technology provider) and an Israeli engineering firm.

Third is an American company, RTI, which is testing a solid adsorbent. RTI recently completed the first stage of testing and will commence a larger trial starting in early 2015. The fourth technology is Alstom's Carbonate Looping, which is very interesting from a cement producer's perspective because the technology uses limestone as an adsorbant. It is also possible that the carbonated limestone could then be used in cement production.

Aker's technology is the most established. The second and third technologies are up-and-coming but still need a lot of research. The Alstom technology is the youngest of the technologies tested so far.

Overall, come summer 2015 we will have a lot of results. Depending on those, we might be able to start seriously thinking about a CCS plant attached to a cement plant later on in 2015. With respect to your question about the Kjøpsvik site, it's impossible to comment on where any such plant would be.

Whatever happens, a huge question in my mind is, 'What do we do with the CO2 once it is trapped?' However, I think that this issue is for governments, not companies.

GC: How does the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) affect the Kjøpsvik plant?

PB: Even though Norway is not part of the EU, it is in the ETS. Kjøpsvik is okay at the moment but we might have to buy a small number of credits as we head to 2020. I'm not sure what will happen when the current ETS scheme ends in 2020 but I'm sure that it won't be a higher CO2 ­­benchmark!

The best plants in Europe will survive but others will inevitably have to close. I believe that the Kjøpsvik plant is well placed to be one of the best plants.

GC: Finally, what are the plant's main targets for 2015?

AK: Increase the alternative fuel substitution rate and increase cement production. We have some good indicators from the markets that this will be possible.

GC: Thank you all very much for your time.

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