Grinding of raw material and cement at Cementos Lima's Atocongo Plant in Lima-Peru

Cementos Lima SA at its Atocongo Plant in Lima-Peru has initiated a long term expansion program managed by its Technical Advisor ARPL Tecnologia Industrial, involving capacity increase and modernization of the entire cement plant. A brief description of the strategical background and reasoning leading to the decision is given. A unique feature of the plant is that raw material as well as cement grinding is centered around high pressure grinding rolls (HPGR). After completion the plant will operate a total of six high pressure grinding rolls with an installed power of 2800 kW each. Three of them will grind raw material in finish grinding process, three will grind cement in either finish grinding or in "combi mode" with existing ball mills. Since the plant is largely dependent on the high pressure grinding rolls, special attention has been given to operational reliability and safety. Their availability must be within the range achieved by the ball mills. The paper reports on the experience from the first year of operation.