Operating experience and cost savings with FLSA's QCX/OnStream analyzer installed at St Marys Cement Co., Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada

The Bowmanville plant of St Marys Cement is located about 60 km east of Toronto, Canada, on the north shore of lake Ontario. This plant has been in operation since 1968, and was expanded most recently in 1991. Here, the authors describe how, at that time, a 5000 mtpd dry process preheater, precalciner kiln was commissioned to replace the two existing 1000 mtpd wet kilns. The major equipment installations included a 4000 t/h Atox mill for raw grinding, a 42,000 tonne controlled flow silo for kiln feed homogenization, and a separate line calciner (SLC) kiln system complete with grate cooler. The control system included QCX (Quality Control by Computer and X-ray), FuzzyLogic, and CemScanner.