Platin

Location:

Clinker manufacture operational: 1972 to date

Approximate total clinker production to 2022: 55 million tonnes (5th)

Raw materials:

Ownership: CRH (Irish Cement)

Built to replace the Drogheda plant, which was increasingly inconvenient to run because of the spread of Drogheda’s suburbs, restricting the extension of the quarry that might otherwise have allowed the conversion of the old plant to dry process. At Platin, raw materials were more or less unlimited, and the location is conveniently close to Dublin, while also allowing penetration of the Northern Ireland market. It had Ireland’s second dry-process kiln. The original plan of the plant allowed for four oil-fired long dry kilns: the 1973 energy crisis caused an immediate re-appraisal of this strategy, and subsequent developments confirmed the plant as the most efficient in Britain and Ireland. Kiln A2 was the first precalciner in Britain and Ireland: having planetary coolers it was necessarily of the “air-through” type. The planetary coolers were replaced with a grate in 1997, allowing conversion to “air-separate” operation. It is perhaps a comment on the state of the British industry that A2 has remained Britain and Ireland’s largest kiln ever since it was installed. With the installation of kiln A3 in January 2009 Platin became the largest plant in Britain and Ireland.

Please contact me with any relevant information or corrections. I am particularly interested in firmer dates and statistics.

Note: technical information on currently operational plants is ✄withheld in the public version of the site at present.

Power supply

Entirely electrically driven using power purchased from the grid.

Rawmills

Three rotary kilns were installed:

Kiln A1

Supplier: FLS
Operated: 1972-9/10/2008
Process: Long dry with 1-stage suspension preheater
Location: hot end (cooler ports) 706631,771825: cold end 706508,771791: unenclosed.
Dimensions: metric 128.00 × 4.350BC / 5.000D
Rotation (viewed from firing end): anti-clockwise
Slope: ?
Speed: ?
Drive: ?
Kiln profile: -20000×4350: 84150×4350: 87900×5000: 126000×5000: 128000×3000: tyres at -19000, 1650, 31800, 73800, 112800: turning gear at 68400.
Cooler: Unax planetary 11×16.80×1.650
Fuel: Initially oil: changed to coal in 1977, eventually supplanted by petcoke.
Coal Mill: indirect: FLS Tirax ball mill
Typical Output: 1250 t/d
Typical Heat Consumption: 4.1 MJ/kg


Kiln A2

Supplier: FLS
Operated: 1977 to date
Process: air-through precalciner: details ✄
Location: hot end 706613,771847: cold end 706533,771823: unenclosed
Dimensions: ✄
Rotation (viewed from firing end): anti-clockwise
Slope: ?
Speed: ?
Drive: dual
Kiln profile: ✄
Cooler: Unax planetary: details ✄: later grate: details ✄
Fuel: coal, eventually supplanted by petcoke.
Coal mill: ✄
Exhaust: ✄
Typical Output: ✄
Typical Heat Consumption: ✄


Kiln A3

Supplier: FLS
Operated: 1/2009 to date
Process: air-separate precalciner: details ✄
Location: hot end 706589,771726: cold end 706531,771709: unenclosed
Dimensions: metric 60.00 × 5.000(1)
Rotation (viewed from firing end): clockwise
Slope: 3.5% (2.006°)
Speed: ?
Drive: ?
Kiln profile: ✄
Cooler: FLS MMC 11 × 97 crossbar grate(1)
Fuel: petcoke, supplemented by solid refuse from 2015.
Fuel Mill: FLS ATOX 25 roller mill(1)
Exhaust: ✄
Typical Output: ✄
Typical Heat Consumption: ✄



References:
(1) FLS press release


Sources:

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