Chemical Engineering September 2010 - 6

A boost in
accurate
positioning
Letters
Texas cement plant ready to share
Trial-and-error tuning during
start-up is a thing of the past.
Thanks to its precisely manufactured
bypass restriction, the
rugged Type 3755 Booster by
SAMSON can be set exactly for
its task and lead-sealed. As the
booster is completely balanced,
it works reliably and remains
unaffected by changing pressure
conditions. It supplies one-to-one
signal pressure with a defi ned
hysteresis. And the booster does
all this very quietly.
Combined with a positioner, the
booster has even more to offer:
Both devices ensure a fast and
accurate positioning of the valve,
even when handling high fl ow
rates or pressure drops.
SAMSON Type 3755 -
boosting performance
award-winning process
On May 5, 2010 Texas Lehigh Cement (Buda, Tex.; www.
texaslehigh.com) was awarded an Environmental Excellence
Award by the state environmental agency Texas
Commission for Environmental Quality (TCEQ; Austin;
www.tceq.state.tx.us). The company won for its alternative
fuel project because of its outstanding community partnership
process. Judges for the award said they could see
potential for other plants and other industries to apply
this type of process, and Texas Lehigh Cement president
Robert Kidnew has said he would be happy to help other
firms understand it and use it for themselves.
Alternative fuel voluntary testing protocol. In 2008
Texas Lehigh Cement needed a more economic and reliable
source of fuel to supplement the coal used in its
kiln. As they started to evaluate a locally manufactured
fuel made of chipped waste wood and chipped waste
tires, they hired Carbon Shrinks (Austin, Tex.; www.
carbonshrinks.com) to develop a community engagement
process. Together they designed a voluntary testing protocol
that addresses concerns expressed in one-on-one
discussions with local environmental critics and community
members.
Carbon Shrinks listened to concerns about air emissions
and potential odors that are beyond the scope
of permits. They designed a process that weighs and
scores science-based test results and transparently explains
them to a community advisory committee. That
process is now available for anyone else to use in their
own alternative fuel project.
Economic benefits never more important. The recession
has hit all U.S. cement plants hard, so the financial
benefit of every project has to be solid. For Texas Lehigh,
the return on investment of their voluntary testing protocol
stacks up well, and the environmental benefit positions
them well for the future. Not only do they now have
capacity to use cheaper fuel and the direct experience of
using it - showing that the quality of their manufacturing
process is uncompromised - they have thoroughly
mitigated the risk of expensive community push-back.
Potential critics are now friends and allies.
Future market demand for lower-carbon cement. The
U.S. Green Building Council and Wal-Mart are both developing
supply chain standards that look at the carbon intensity
of manufactured inputs. It may only be a matter of
time until bid specifications for cement and concrete with
lower carbon intensity are commonplace. Wood-fuel-ready
plants such as Texas Lehigh are poised to jump in at the
head of the pack to win those bids.
Terry Moore, principal and co-founder
Carbon Shrinks LLC, Austin, Tex.
Germany · SAMSON AG · MESS- UND REGELTECHNIK
Weismüllerstraße 360314 · Frankfurt am Main
Phone: +49 69 4009-0 · Fax: +49 69 4009-1507
E-mail: samson@samson.de
Internet: www.samson.de
U.S.A. · SAMSON CONTROLS INC.
4111 Cedar Boulevard · Baytown, Texas 77523-8588
Phone: +1 281 383-3677 · Fax: +1 281 383-3690
E-mail: samson@samson-usa.com
Internet: www.samson-usa.com
Postcripts, corrections
July, Chementator, Fast pyrolysis, pp. 11-12: In the
description of the fast pyrolysis plant that Ensyn Technologies
is building with Tolko Industries in High Level,
Alberta, the annual production was cited as 850,000 L. In
fact the annual production will be 85 million L. ■
A01088EN Circle 28 on p. 62 or go to adlinks.che.com/29254-28
Visit us at
Rio Oil & Gas Expo 2010
Hall 2, Booth B21d
http://www.texaslehigh.com http://www.tceq.state.tx.us http://www.carbonshrinks.com http://adlinks.che.com/29254-28 http://www.samson.de http://www.samson-usa.com
Chemical Engineering September 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering September 2010
