Cement Kilns: Drogheda

Approximate capacity: tonnes per year Drogheda Capacity

Drogheda cement kilns Picture: ©NERC, GeoScenic Cat No. P539927. This shows the kilns viewed from the slurry feeder floor in 1963. The three otherwise similar kilns show the progress in shell construction; to the right, No. 1 (1938) is entirely rivetted. No. 2 (1940) is partially welded, and to the left, No. 3 (1954) is entirely welded. In the centre is the tower, with elevator and silo, for feeding dust back to the three kilns through scoops downhill from the chains. A similar tower was installed for West Thurrock kilns 7 and 8. A certain amount of dust leaks from the seals of the return port hoods. Attachments for festoon chains can be seen extending to near the end of the expanded cold end of the kiln - the rest contained refractory crosses. The wharf and River Boyne are off to the left. See more pictures in the 1963 photo album.

Location:

Grid reference:
- ITM 710999,775962
- old style O1109875966
53°43'17"N; 6°19'0"W
Townland: Newtown Stallaban, Drogheda, County Louth

Clinker manufacture operational: 1938-1977

Approximate total clinker production: 13.9 million tonnes (31^st)

Raw materials:

Carboniferous Limestone (Tullyallen Formation, Milverton Group: 328-340 Ma) from quarries at 707300,776300, transferred by aerial ropeway around the northern suburbs of the town (3.6 km).
Boulder Clay from quarry at Togher, Louth, 713200,789500, moved by road (15 km) to the plant washmill.
Glaspistol Formation, Silurian shale (423-426 Ma) from quarry at 706500,777800, moved by road to the limestone quarry, crushed, and by ropeway to the plant

Ownership:

1938-1970 Cement Ltd
1970-1978 CRH (Irish Cement)

The company was begun as a joint venture between the Eire government and Tunnel/FLS. Tunnel’s participation was conditional upon the government’s imposition of sufficient import duties on cement to prevent any effective competition. This and the Limerick plant were nominally started up on the same day, allegedly by a start button, connected by telegraph! The plant was replaced by the nearby Platin plant, cement manufacture being ended when the large Platin A2 kiln was commissioned. The plant had excellent wharf facilities allowing small vessels to unload cheap coal and to deliver cement to the coastal cities. A substantial proprtion of the clinker produced was exported, particularly to Tunnel's Clydebank grinding plant. In addition, the plant had from the outset a purpose-built 2.3 km spur which allowed easy rail communication with Dublin (55 km). The plant remained in operation (under new ownership) for sea-water magnesia production, with the result that it was still more or less intact in 2009. See 1963 photo album.

Power supply

The plant was entirely electrically powered from the ESB grid from the outset.

Rawmills

Boulder clay was slurried in a washmill
Crushed limestone and shale were initially inter-ground in an FLS 18 × 2.4 m, four-chamber ball mill of 930 kW. Subsequent similar mills were added as kilns were added.

Three rotary kilns were installed:

Kiln A1

Supplier: FLS
Operated: 29/04/1938-1976
Process: Wet
Location:

hot end (cooler ports): ITM 710933,775957 {old style 311032,275961}
cold end: ITM 711058,775985 {old style 311157,275989}: hot end only enclosed.

Dimensions (from cooler ports): metric 129.00 × 3.600B / 3.300C / 3.600D
Rotation (viewed from firing end): clockwise
Slope: ?
Speed: ?
Drive: ?
Kiln profile (from cooler ports): -3300×3600, 43000×3600, 45000×3300, 95000×3300, 97000×3600, 127700×3600, 127700×3150, 129000×3150: Tyres at 4000, 17500, 36750, 57750, 79500, 100250, 122000.
Cooler: Unax planetary 10 × 6.50 × 1.200
Fuel: Coal, except Oil during the 1960s
Coal Mill: semi-indirect: Tirax ball mill
Exhaust: ID fan direct to stack: Lodge Cottrell electrostatic precipitator added 1940. Dust returned below the chain zone.
Typical Output: 510 t/d
Typical Heat Consumption: 7.3 MJ/kg

Kiln A2

Operated: 9/1940-1976
Location:

hot end (cooler ports): ITM 710935,775947 {old style 311034,275951}
cold end: ITM 711061,775975 {old style 311160,275979}: hot end only enclosed.

Kiln profile (from cooler ports): -3300×3600, 43000×3600, 45000×3300, 90250×3300, 92250×3600, 127700×3600, 127700×3150, 129000×3150: Tyres at 4000, 26500, 49500, 72000, 96000, 120250.
Exhaust: ID fan through Lodge Cottrell electrostatic precipitator. Dust returned below the chain zone.
Typical Output: 515 t/d
Typical Heat Consumption: 7.35 MJ/kg
Identical in all other respects to A1

Kiln A3

Operated: 1954-24/12/1977
Location:

hot end: ITM 710937,775938 {old style 311036,275942}
cold end: ITM 711070,775968 {old style 311169,275972}: hot end only enclosed.

Dimensions: metric 136.00 × 3.600 / 3.300 / 3.600
Kiln profile:
Cooler: Folax grate
Exhaust: ID fan through Lodge Cottrell electrostatic precipitator. Dust returned below the chain zone.
Typical Output: 540 t/d
Typical Heat Consumption: 7.2 MJ/kg
Identical in all other respects to A1

Sources:

Primary Sources:
- “New Cement Works in Eire”, Cement and Lime Manufacture,Vol 14, p 79 (1941)
- Pat Gray, Forty Years by the Boyne, Drogheda Independent Co., Ltd, 1979
- "Cement in Ireland", Cement Lime & Gravel, May 1963, pp 143-151
- Irish Cement 1938-1988, CRH plc, 1988
- OSI digital mapping
- GSI mapping and monographs
- BGS photography
Confirmatory Sources:
- Pugh, p 112: no details