Japan: Nippon Steel has reported that ABB’s Ability™ Expert Optimiser has contributed to lower energy consumption and improved product quality at its 1.6Mt/yr Muroran cement plant in Hokkaido, Japan. The digital solution for control, stabilisation and optimisation of industrial processes has reportedly supported the producer to reduce specific heat consumption by 2%. Free lime was also reported to have decreased by about 10%, resulting in a higher-grade output. ABB completed a performance evaluation to validate the results on Nippon Steel’s operation with and without the Expert Optimiser in place.

Following the first commissioning phase with Expert Optimiser in place, automatic operation exceeded 90%. The system also reduced manual operator interventions by approximately 80% and maintained effective process control during preheater cleaning and other abnormal operating conditions.

Nippon Steel produces blast furnace slag cement as part of its steelmaking business and is moving towards highly automated or autonomous operations. The product is categorised as a low-carbon cement because the total CO₂ is around 40% less than ordinary Portland cement (OPC) when clinker is replaced by slag.

Expert Optimiser reduces emissions impacts further by utilising model predictive control (MPC) processes and AI to predict occurrences and automatically take actions in response to variables such as temperature, pressure or exhaust gas concentrations. Frequent controls are increasingly important to reduce process variability and meet productivity, cost reduction and quality targets.

“Reducing manual operator intervention and cutting fossil fuel consumption are key priorities as we work toward carbon neutrality,” said Hiroyuki Abe, plant manager. “We selected ABB Ability Expert Optimiser because it offered the best path to achieving those goals. We have seen significant improvements in process stability, clinker quality and overall operational consistency, while reducing the need for manual control. We look forward to building on these results with even more advanced operations in the future.”

Germany: The FEhS Building Materials Institute has published a report on the Save CO₂ project investigating the suitability of electric hot metal slag (EHMS) from hydrogen-based direct reduction steelmaking for use in cement production. The project aims to establish whether EHMS might replace conventional ground granulated blast furnace slag. Laboratory and large-scale trials showed that EHMS achieves glass contents close to 100% and achieved comparable 91-day compressive strengths to ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and other slag cements in a 50% blend. Lifecycle assessments indicated a 35% reduction in CO₂ emissions, subject to renewable energy supply. The German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space funded the research.

FEhS Building Materials Institute says that the next steps will be to secure REACH registration and standardisation, ahead of eventually building a large-scale plant at a Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe site.

Netherlands: Tata Steel IJmuiden (TSIJ) and Ecocem Materials Ltd (Ecocem) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen their collaboration on the development and potential use of two steelmaking slags in low‑carbon cement, mortar and concrete applications across Europe.

The MoU builds on an existing joint research program and sets out a shared intention to explore new technical, commercial and regulatory pathways for the valorisation of steelmaking slags produced at TSIJ. Alongside the existing commercial relationship between TSIJ and Ecocem for the valorisation of Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GBS) in cement and concrete, this new collaboration focuses on basic oxygen furnace (BOF) slag as an alternative cementitious material, alongside the continued development of electric arc furnace (EAF) slag as a supplementary cementitious material.

The aim of the BOF and EAF slags project is to transform these steel industry by-products into cementitious binders or constituents that can support the decarbonisation of cement and concrete production, while advancing circular economy principles. By developing new pathways for the beneficial use of these materials, the collaboration also aims to increase the availability of low-carbon concrete solutions in the market, providing designers, concrete producers and contractors with a broader range of sustainable material options.

Germany: Loesche has won a contract to deliver a slag grinding plant for the Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, site of industrial by-products management company Ferro Duo. Loesche says that the plant will have a capacity of ‘several hundred thousand tonnes per year’ and comprise a vertical roller mill with a dynamic Loesche LSKS classifier, rotary feeder, product filter, mill fan and electric heater. The supplier will serve as engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) management partner for the plant’s tendering, construction and installation. The plant will supply super-fine slag to help Ferro Duo customers to further reduce the clinker factors of cementitious materials produced using it.

Loesche says that it previously delivered a ‘similar project’ in Germany. It says that it won the sale thanks to its ‘excellent’ references for superfine slag grinding plants and for the technological possibilities offered by its vertical roller mill.