The economic and energy costs of dust handling in the cement industry

The production of waste dust is a major problem in the cement industry in terms of monetary, energy, environmental and resource costs. This is particularly so for wet process plants. The monetary and energy costs of returning the dust are more than outweighed by the savings attained by recovering the partially processed raw materials. Proper handling and return of dust can save a typical wet process plant approximately $16 to $32 and 13 to 14 GJ per hour for each kiln.

A new technique, briquetting of the dust before its return, shows promise for plants which formerly had little success in dust recovery. This technique might also be used to process the piles of dust generated by some plants over the years. These piles are a large potential source of partially processed raw materials.