The Indian cement industry, by embracing technological upgradation in a big way, has improved the lives of many a people.

The industry, in the process, also achieved the twin objectives of cutting down operation costs and produce high quality cement in an environmentally-friendly manner.

The process, which began in a big way with the conversion of wet process to dry process, has today resulted in substantial savings in costs. Average energy consumption has decreased from 120 units per tonne to 80 units per tonne while fuel consumption, especially coal, has decreased from 1300 kilo calories per Kg to 750 Kilo calories.

Improvement has taken place in wide spectrum of the manufacturing process. At mining stage the latest technology is the `surface miner', an equipment which mines only therequired quality of limestone from the surface itself.It obviates the need for blasting and segregating the deposits. It is environmentally-friendly and reduces operating costs while at the same time ensuring mining of good quality limestone.

Limestone crushing has also undergone significant changes. Earlier wet process ball mills have given way to energy efficient vertical roller mill. In the wet process the limestone is mixed with water and crushed. This meant more fuel consumption towards drying before the raw meal (crushed limestone plus a few additives) is burnt in the kilns. Dry process saved power on this account. The more recent developments are the pre-calciners. This stage of the process prepares the raw meal by heating it up and the material requires lesser amount of heat to burn. This also helped in more than doubling the kiln capacity.

Cross-belt analysers monitor the quality of limestone that is fed into the kiln and has automatic corrective ability. The clinker that comes out of the kilnhas a temperature in excess 1300 degrees centigrade and is cooled in such a manner that substantial quantum of heat is recovered to be reused in various processes thereby saving fuel costs. The cooled clinker is then stored in stackers and reclaimers, an improvement over crude dump storage, which help in averaging the varied quality of clinker before it is sent to cement mill.

At cement milling stage, companies have begun to install vertical roller mill though many still continue to have dry ball mills. The entire process of manufacture can be controlled with regard to quality from a computerised control room.

Among the Indian companies, Madras Cement has many firsts to its credit having pioneered introduction of many new technologies. Other manufacturers are also opting for latest technologies considering the benefits that accrue out of modernisation.

Cement industry consultants feel that upgradations have reached a limit and any significant jump could be possible only if there is a big technologicalbreakthrough.