Sai Son Cement JSC, located in Sai Son commune, Quoc Oai District, Ha Noi, is the first cement facility in Vietnam to use blast furnace and the second cement facility of Vietnam after Hai Phong Cement company. Ever since the establishment, this unit has always been a key industrial enterprise of Hanoi.

Regular innovation to improve productivity and product quality is the target that leaders of the company has always aimed at. With that target, in November 1998, the company invested in the mechanized blast furnace cement production line of China with the design capacity of 60,000 tons per year. In 2002, the company invested in an additional synchronous production line, increasing the total design capacity of the two lines to 120,000 tons per year. Currently, each year, the plant manufactures and supplies more than 300,000 tons of cement to the main markets in Hanoi and surrounding areas.

Not only that, in the coming time, when the plant with the capacity of 1,000 tons of clinker per day at Nam Phuong Tien commune - Chuong My District is put into operation, the scale of the company will increasingly expand. Along with strong growth, the target of energy efficiency is also focused on. Currently, the company has completed the work of energy audit, and is in the process of considering investment in order to bring the best performance.

Results of energy audit at JSC Sai Son Cement executed by Hanoi Energy Efficiency Center have shown that, implementing energy efficiency measures proposed by experts, the company will have the opportunity to save nearly VND 7.4 billion annually. The measures focus on improving the technological line and replacing equipment to reduce consumption of electricity and coal.

According Mr Hoang Minh Lam, head of the audit team, through measuring and inspecting equipment at Sai Son Cement JSC to find appropriate solutions, the energy audit team has found that the installation of inverters for engines is the most possible and efficient solution. Six out of ten proposed solutions are to install inverters in areas such as pump motors, dissociating fans and sucking fans. Those areas consume much power, so the implementation of energy solutions may offer the potential to greatly reduce costs.

Overall, the solutions to install inverters have short payback periods (less than 1 year). For example, the installation of inverters for smoke exhaust fans in furnace unit 1 will save 206 kWh, equivalent to reducing cost by about VND 230 million, with the investment of only VND 180 million and the payback period of 8 months. Similarly, the installation of inverters for sucking and pushing fans requires the investment of VND 125 million, can save VND 130 million per year and has the payback period of about one year.

The most notable is the solution to optimize the production process and improve the control system. According to experts, the blast furnace technology at Sai Son Cement JSC is outdated. Although in recent years, the plant has made great efforts to improve the technology, flexibly operate manufacturing methods to reduce energy consumption and emissions into the environment, these measures can not overcome the limitations of technology

With the solutions to optimize production line, upgrade equipment - technology and install control system, the plant will reduce the intensity of energy consumption, reduce production costs and improve productivity. The solution will not change the current blast furnace technology of the plant, but gradually improve and upgrade the technology by  applying new achievements in advanced blast furnace technology.

Through initial analysis, the above solution will help reduce consumption of about 1.5 million kWh of electricity and over three thousand tons of coal per year. With the current cost price, each year, the plant will save over VND 4.1 billion with a payback period of 3.2 years.

Besides, the company should also immediately consider some solutions such as avoiding production in peak hours, improving the lighting system, which are easy to implement and can bring big benefits.

In such a difficult period of production due to high electricity prices, Sai Son Cement JSC has applied very good measures to reduce production costs and save energy. It has expressed the deep concern and the right strategy of the company’s Directorate.

By Minh Duc