NEWS
RELEASE
May
9, 2017
Hanson
plans £20m investment at Padeswood cement plant
Hanson Cement is planning a £20 million
upgrade project at its Padeswood cement works in Flintshire which
will guarantee the long-term future of the plant and its 96
employees.
At
the heart of the project will be the installation of a new vertical
roller mill for cement grinding which will improve efficiency, reduce
energy consumption, and increase output. Hanson is also planning to
invest in new rail loading facilities to allow cement to be delivered
by train, reducing lorry movements.
A
planning application will be submitted to Flintshire County Council
in the summer. If approved, construction work will begin later this
year with the new mill fully operational by early 2019.
The
Padeswood plant currently has four operational mills but they are old
and inefficient. In addition, they do not have the capacity to grind
the volume of clinker made by the kiln, creating a production
imbalance and resulting in some of the clinker being transported
elsewhere for grinding.
Plant
manager David Quick said: “The plan is to mothball three of the old
mills and install a new vertical roller mill capable of grinding up
to 650,000 tonnes of clinker a year. The new mill will be fully
enclosed in a building, minimising noise and reducing the potential
for escape of cement dust.”
The
project also includes construction of new cement silos alongside the
existing railway line to load trains for delivery. At present the
rail link is used to bring in coal to fire the kilns. In future,
three trains a week will be despatched to Hanson’s depots in
London, Bristol and Scotland – around 15 per cent of total cement
production.
Hanson
is holding public exhibitions to explain the plans to local residents
on Tuesday May 23 at
Buckley Library and on Wednesday
May 24 at Penyffordd British
Legion Club, both 3.30pm to 7pm.
How
cement is made
Cement
is a critical ingredient in the manufacture of concrete – the
world’s most versatile construction material. It is made by heating
crushed limestone and other minerals to over 1,450 degrees centigrade
in a cylindrical rotary kiln. The heat is generated by precisely
controlled burning of powdered coal and alternative fuels such as
waste industrial solvents and meat and bone meal.
As
the ground stone moves through the kiln, the elements change to form
a new substance called clinker, which comes out as grey balls, about
the size of marbles.
After
the clinker is cooled, the milling plant grinds it into a fine powder
and mixes it with small amounts of gypsum and limestone to make
cement. The finished product is then put into 25kg bags and delivered
to builders’ merchants or into road tankers and transported to
ready-mixed and precast concrete plants for use in a variety of
construction projects.
About
Hanson
Hanson
is one of the largest suppliers of heavy building materials to the UK
construction industry. We produce aggregates (crushed rock, sand and
gravel), ready-mixed concrete, asphalt, cement and cement-related
materials from a network of more than 300 production sites and employ
over 3,600 people. We are part of the HeidelbergCement Group, which
has leading global positions in aggregates, cement and concrete with
operations in 60 countries and 63,000 employees.
Hanson
Cement is a leading manufacturer of cement, both in bulk and in bags,
and produces Regen (ground granulated blast furnace slag) – a
cement replacement in ready-mixed and precast concrete.
Media
contact:
ends
