UltraTech Cement Limited, India's largest cement and ready mix concrete (RMC) company, and Coolbrook, a transformational technology and engineering company, will jointly be developing a project to implement Coolbrook's RotoDynamic HeaterTM (RDH) technology in one of UltraTech's cement manufacturing units.
UltraTech will be among the first industrial players using Coolbrook's RDH technology for decarbonisation of cement manufacturing process and reduction of coal-based thermal energy in cement production processes. Using electrification from renewable sources for the heating processes in cement production, it eliminates the need to use fossil fuels, helping to further the decarbonisation of cement manufacturing.
This project is a part of UltraTech's efforts to use technology solutions in accelerating the decarbonisation of its operations in line with its 2050 Net Zero commitment.
The project plans to use Coolbrook's RDH technology to replace the use of fossil fuels for drying alternative fuels. The insights gained from this project will be used to expand the technology's application in cement production processes.
UltraTech signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Coolbrook in June 2022 to jointly explore the use of RotoDynamic Heater technology to electrify the cement manufacturing process. Coolbrook and UltraTech are now extending their cooperation following the successful large-scale pilot of an RDH unit at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen, the Netherlands, in December 2022. Using 100 per cent renewable energy, the heat generating capabilities of RDH units were demonstrated in real time at the pilot, proving the technology's capability of hitting the temperature target required for cement production.
K C Jhanwar, Managing Director, UltraTech Cement Limited, said, "As a founding member of the GCCA, we are committed to the sectoral aspiration of delivering Net Zero concrete by 2050. Towards this end, we are continuously striving to innovate at every stage of the whole life of concrete. Coolbrook's RDH technology represents an exciting technological pathway that we believe has the potential to exponentially accelerate our progress towards full decarbonisation."
Joonas Rauramo, CEO, Coolbrook, said, "The deployment of RDH units at an UltraTech cement plant will be a ground-breaking demonstration of the power of RotoDynamic Technology and clean energy. Burning fossil fuels will no longer be necessary in cement production thanks to our patented technology."
Ilpo Kuokkanen, Executive Chairman, Coolbrook, added, "By applying Coolbrook's game-changing technology, UltraTech becomes one of the first cement producers in the world to take the lead on implementing RotoDynamic technology. This epitomises the fact that Indian heavy industry is currently putting themselves on a track for becoming the global forerunners in clean manufacturing of basic materials like cement, iron and steel and petrochemicals. This will work in favour for the whole country in their ambition to emerge as the new manufacturing hub of the world."
