Cement Business & Industry Brazil & Latam 2019 – Conference & Exhibition

AI Technology, Innovative Equipment and Waste Valorization

Regional and international top executives and industry experts from 15 countries attended the 17th edition of the Cement Business & Industry (CBI) Brazil & LatAm 2019 - Conference and Exhibition hosted on April 11th and April 12th at Sheraton WTC Hotel in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

CBI Brazil & Latam 2019 provided the opportunity to exchange views regarding the latest technologies, investments and trend insights in the cement industry in Brazil and beyond, packed with multiple networking opportunities among international attendees from Austria, Brazil, China, Denmark, Germany, Guatemala Italy, Pakistan, Panama, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA.

The meeting series focused towards creating a forum to strike new partnerships and explore the possibilities of new deals by sharing global opportunities, practices, technologies and perspectives following a dual-track program.

The presence of the most important local & international cement producers, action leaders and industry specialists transformed CBI Brazil & Latam 2019 into the ideal forum for discussing the key topics of the cement sector, integrated in a complex program covering technical subjects, business, strategy, environment and logistics. The conference was sponsored by Gebr. Pfeiffer, FCT Combustion, UNTHA, Malvern Panalytical, Haver & Boecker, , Sinoma, Firefly AB, Kima Process Control, Enotec, Loesche, Wuerth Consulting Engineers, RUD, Sick AG , Inform Software and supported by CemWeek Magazine.

Presentations explored thoroughly the local and international market outlooks, covering topics ranging from the current market status to changes in the environment, all integrated in a complex program debating commercial and technical subjects,trading and logistics.

General aspects of the cement industry and market were presented within the general sessions of the day. Eduardo Porciuncula, Head of Coprocessing of Votorantim Cimentos began the first session, presenting “New initiatives in order to improve coprocessing in the Votorantim Factories". Keeping this general perspective, Francisco Silveira, from Cimento Nacional discussed about the “Threats over cement revenue loss due to logistics – an institutional concern”. Continuing with a more detailed overview on the Brazilian regional outlook, Glaucio Roland, from the Logistics Department of Cimento Itambe that presented “Petroleum coke supply chain analysis in the Brazilian cement industry”.

After exploring the general perspectives, the sessions turned to new trends in the industrye. Thus Mr. Alaim de Paula, Managing Director, Kappa Gears Consulting focused on the “Solid Recovered Fuel An Alternative Pathway to develop coprocessing TSR in the Cement Industry and to leverage Non-Hazardous Waste Valorization in Brazil. Hector Montellano, Sales and Business Development of UNTHA shared their findings on “Revalorization of solid waste as SRF/RDF”.

Further developments on the topic of cement fabrication process, were exposed by

New developments of technology and and machinery insights were provided by Edson Palorca, Sales Manager at Haver & Boecker, who shared “The packing machine of the future: Roto-Packer RVT” . Andre Cruz, Managing Director at Gebr. Pfeiffer presented “Maximum flexibility with Pfeiffer’s unique ready2grind”. “Optimization of Kiln Operation: Case studies of IR-controlled kiln surface cooling by water mist was presented by Dirk Schmidt, Director at Kima Process Control.

Further exploring the topic of new developments, Luiz Vieira, Research and Development Consultant, Votorantim Cimentos discussed about the “Use of steel slag as a substitute for aggregates in concrete production”, followed by Seiiti Suzuki, Corporate R&D Manager at InterCement with “Carbon Dioxide bio fixation by microalgae: an alternative to Carbon Capture Storage”.

Several options for measurement equipment and instruments were offered by Leandro Almeida, XRD and XRF Application Specialist, Malvern Panalytical talked about- "The use of X-ray Diffraction in the routine analysis of clinkers and cements” and

Siegfried Andraess, Strategic Industry Manager Building Materials at Sick AG, who presented “Continuous process gas measurement solutions for optimum alternative fuel usage”.

A broad view of the Combustion in Minerals Processing was brought by Douglas Oliveira, Project Manager, FCT Combustion.

Some of the latest technological advancements in the industry were introduced by Thomas Bergmans, Senior Vice President of Inform Software with “Alexa, where’s my cement? Leveraging AI technology in the cement industry”, and Zhu Linhe, Vice President, Sinoma who presented “Energy Saving and Environmental Protection Technology in Cement Industry” focusing on major industry challenges such as pollution growing, dwindling natural resources and alternative fuels.

Parallel to the cement technical sessions of the conference, a Lime Forum was organized that gathered the lime end-users, producers, technologists and other lime industry stakeholders. Among these was Silvia Vieira, General Manager of R&D & Quality, Votorantim Cimentos with her view on “New Brazilian Cement Standard: The use of limestone filler as a lever to decrease the environmental footprint of cement industry” and Francisco Silveira, New Business Development, Cimento Nacional presenting “Hydrated lime with bactericidal and fungicidal properties”.

The 2019 edition of CBI Brazil Conference & Exhibition reviewed key factors that challenge the cement market, in an interactive format that encouraged discussions, debates and revealed different approaches and new opportunities for the delegates to apply in their businesses.

One of the event highlights was the 5th Edition of the Dr Clemente Greco Award Ceremony for the Best Cement Innovation, Environmental or Sustainability Project – a moment which ended the first day of the CBI Brazil & latAm conference and exhibition.

Once again, on behalf of Votorantim Cimentos, Mrs. Silvia Vieira, General Manager of R&D & Quality and José Eustáquio Machado, Technical Consultant - received the 2019 Award for “Producing pozzolans based on basic slags acidification” ..

The event enjoyed numerous on-site discussions among the participants during the coffee breaks and especially during the cocktail session, where in a more relaxed setting the attendees could network easier. Organizers offered assistance for all delegates and facilitated getting in contact with specific company representatives and arranging post-event meetings.