Worthy contribution to the foundation of the future of the country

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The economy of Uzbekistan is on the rise, and one of the indicators of its growth is the revival of the construction industry of the country. Further intensive construction is envisaged by the state programs currently being implemented. And what kind of construction without building materials? How things are in the republic with the main building material - cement, how it is produced and where it is used - the Economic Journal of Uzbekistan addressed these questions to producers of cement materials and found exhaustive answers in the material prepared with the information support of the Kuvasaicement enterprise, the oldest manufacturer of the domestic cement industry.

About how to make the house durable, humanity began to think long ago. The first natural binder was clay. Indeed, the clay, after mixing with water and drying, acquires some strength. The first early predecessor of concrete was found on the bank of the Danube - in the hut of an ancient settlement of the Stone Age (more than 5000 years BC) there was a floor made of concrete up to 25 centimeters thick. As part of this floor was gravel and reddish local lime. But only in 3-4 millennium BC. began the history of mass production of binders. It was the process of burning rocks and the subsequent grinding of its products. The first binders produced in this way — lime and gypsum — were used during the construction of labyrinth galleries in Egypt, the Pantheon in Rome, the Great Wall of China, and the foundations of ancient houses in Mexico.

The inventor of modern cement can be considered an Englishman, Joseph Aspind, who in 1824 received a patent for its manufacture. Aspind proposed to make cement as follows: mix clay and lime dust, then subjecting this mixture to processing at high temperature. It turned out gray material - clinker. Then it was necessary to grind to fine grinding and mix with water. When dried, a high strength material was obtained. This material is called Portland cement.

Cement is one of the most important building materials. It is used for the manufacture of concrete, asbestos cement, concrete and concrete products, building solutions. Cement is the collective name for a group of hydraulic binders, the main component of which are silicates and calcium aluminates, formed during high-temperature processing of raw materials brought to partial or complete melting. The cement group includes all types of Portland cement, pozzolan Portland cement, slag Portland cement, alumina cement, expanding cements and some others. Cement of each type can develop during hardening different strength, characterized by the brand. Cement grades are regulated by GOST, various building codes and regulations. Cements produced mainly grades 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 (in terms of testing in plastic solutions), are manufactured in large mechanized and automated plants.

Today, the cement industry of Uzbekistan is represented by 18 enterprises, among which a cement plant in the city of Kuvasay in the Fergana region occupies a special place for almost a century of history. Now Joint-Stock Company Kuvasaycement is a high-tech enterprise for the production of cement by the wet method with a capacity of more than 1 million tons of cement per year. The territory of the enterprise exceeds 42 hectares, of which more than 8 hectares are occupied by production facilities, 6 hectares are gardens, and also a 10 km-long railway.

The construction of the plant was begun back in 1929, and after 3 years the plant with an annual capacity of 720 thousand barrels of cement was put into operation and produced the first products. The project for the construction of the plant was carried out by the Stromstroyproekt design organization; only imported equipment was installed in the workshops: the crushers of the Titan raw materials department 6-DR-75 produced by Ammer-Luther; raw materials and coal mills "Unidan"; rotary kiln "Unaks" firm "Smidt" and more. Drying drums, coal mill, augers, elevators, etc., small auxiliary equipment was manufactured at the plants of the former USSR.

In the post-war years, a lot of work was done on modernization: all belt drives in the factory were replaced with gearboxes, dump trucks were purchased to transport raw materials from the quarries, diesel and electric excavators were obtained for the development of quarries. The period 1956-1959 became significant in the history of the enterprise. As a result of further reconstruction and expansion of the plant, two new cement production lines were built and put into operation, equipped with modern for those times and, most importantly, powerful equipment with 150-meter rotary kilns.

The cement plant was able to adequately survive the difficult transition of the 90s of the twentieth century, quickly reorienting to a market economy. With the transition to market relations, it became obvious that the viability of an enterprise depends on the production of high-quality products with the lowest cost of its production due to the technical re-equipment of production and the construction of new technological lines of the highest level. Up to 65% of the cost of cement production accounts for the cost of energy - fuel and electricity. Since August 1995, the plant has become a joint-stock company, and since the beginning of 1996 new aspiration-ventilation systems have been introduced in all technological lines. The whole process of preparing raw sludge, burning clinker and cement production began to manage the computer.

Today, the Kuvasai plant is a unique enterprise. Cement production is based on energy efficient and environmentally friendly technologies. It produces various types of cement (sulfate-resistant portland cement SSPTS M400 D20, GOST 22666-94; portland cement for the production of chrysotile cement products PHC, O’z DSt 913: 2017) for housing, infrastructure and industrial construction.

The raw material is limestone from the Lyagansky and Andijan deposits, iron-containing components of local origin from Kyrgyzstan, and gypsum from the Shursuvsky deposit. The primary task of the company is to produce high-quality and sought-after products, therefore, the company's activities are aimed at continuous improvement of the quality of products. Today, all products manufactured by the company are certified, have high performance and stability of properties that meet the needs and requirements of consumers. For example, in 2007, an international standard was introduced at Kuvasaycement JSC that regulates the requirements for the quality management system - ISO 9001: 2000.

The annual production capacity of the main technological equipment of the enterprise is 839.1 thousand tons for clinker and 1001 thousand tons for cement. The production of the plant has proved itself from the best side on the most large-scale construction projects in the republic. Its marking is a guarantee of high quality cement. Providing construction materials, large infrastructure facilities, Kuvasaycement changes the appearance of cities and villages of Uzbekistan. Residential buildings, industrial and road infrastructure, sports, social and cultural facilities are being built on the cement of the plant.

To keep the brand, the plant continuously improves and modernizes production. So, in 2006–2007 complete modernization of the chain zone on 4 rotary kilns was made, frequency converters on the main drives were installed. As a result, the equipment productivity increased from 935.6 thousand tons to 1001.0 thousand tons of cement and from 769.9 thousand tons to 839.1 thousand tons of clinker. The consumption of fuel and energy resources per 1 ton of clinker decreased from 256.1 to 240.2 kg of reference fuel. To improve the accuracy of control over the weighing of raw materials and products, static truck scales were installed: 3 with a lifting capacity of 60 tons and 2 with a lifting capacity of 40 tons, as well as two new railway electronic scales with a lifting capacity of 150 tons of products.

In order to increase the volume of supplied raw materials, 8 new BelAZ trucks, 16 MAN dump trucks, 4 NORTHBENTH dump trucks and modern truck cranes with a lifting capacity of 100 and 30 tons were purchased.

Since 2008, the construction of raw material mill No. 2 was started with a capacity of 300 thousand tons of raw sludge per year. The mill has already been commissioned and is actively involved in the process. Also, upgrading of raw material mills No. 3, No. 4, No. 5 was carried out with the replacement of the housing and the installation on the main drives of new gearboxes of type 2535 V-2 manufactured by VAKOMA (Germany). As a result, the design productivity of mills increased from 50.4 t / h to 60 t / h, the number of downtime decreased by 10 percent.

In order to improve the dosing of the supplied raw materials and increase the utilization rate in the raw material and cement mills, weighing tape dosing units DVND-100 Vibro-M LLC (Russia) were installed. The overhaul of rotary kilns was carried out with the modernization of recuperative refrigerators made of heat resistant steel 12x18H10t. These measures ultimately yielded positive results: improved working conditions for the machinists, increased the life of the furnace unit by 5-10%, the output clinker temperature decreased from 350 to 150 ° C, which improved the quality of the clinker and reduced the specific fuel consumption percent. For the stable supply of cement mills with clinker, 2 new grab cranes were installed in the grinding area. The modernization of the cooling tower in the compressor section, with the introduction of polymer blocks of irrigators and drift eliminators of the type BOP-1-Sh-650-U2, BKP-Sh-42-200-U2. After installing these units, it became possible to cool the water without the fans working during the autumn-winter period, which resulted in energy savings of 185580 kWh / year. To provide the enterprise with individual heating and hot water supply, two sets of modular thermal units type АCS 600,300,150 were installed and put into operation. Before the installation of the boilers, the gas consumption was 902678.7 cu. m / year, after the installation of new boilers, gas consumption amounted to 741312 cubic meters. m / year As a result, natural gas savings amounted to more than 80 thousand cubic meters. m / year Also created an additional 9 jobs (master - 1 units. Boilers - 8 units). New slurry pumps of the HGI50LHS-C3 type, manufactured by the German company Thyessen Krupp, have been installed. When installing a slurry pump instead of a turbine type 6FSH7A with water-cooled bearings, the slurry moisture was reduced by 1%, which resulted in saving of natural gas consumption by burning clinker by 480.2 thousand cubic meters. m / year

Consumers of products are both the most important players in the construction market, and dealers who help to sell products, and private developers. At the enterprise, they treat with understanding the consumers who are responsible for the projects that are enormous in scale and volume of investments. Here everyone is respected, they strive to make every effort to satisfy their requests. To improve the product delivery process, an 8-choke packing line with a capacity of 120 t / h manufactured by FLSmidth Ventomatic (Italy) was commissioned. To improve the quality control of the products produced, modern laboratory equipment was acquired, which guarantees a high level of process control, speed and accuracy of analysis, exclusion of the human factor in the results, stability and high quality of products. At the same time, the company meets the highest environmental standards.

The merits of the company do not go unnoticed. For high performance and efforts made to produce products of world quality, as well as for professionalism, “Business Initiative Directorate” on November 17, 1997 in Madrid awarded Kuvasaytsement JSC with the highest award “For World Quality”, and on October 25, 1999 in Geneva - a special international award “Gold Star for Quality”; in 2001, GQM awarded the international award “For Quality and Excellence in Marketing”; in 2002, the Joint-Stock Company for striving for quality and leadership, for advanced technologies and innovations in taught international prize "Arch of Europe". On September 17, 2004, the International Foundation "For High Quality in Business Practice" awarded the "Gold Medal" award for positive economic indicators, high level of corporate movements and for its impeccable reputation. In 2008, at the annual competition to determine the rating of enterprises of the industry of building materials and the construction industry of Uzbekistan, Kuvasaycement JSC took the first place and received a diploma for the results achieved.

Kuvasay Cement Plant is a city-forming enterprise, thanks to its work in the region more than 1,300 people have been employed, for whom safe, innovative and comfortable working conditions have been created. In the arsenal of the staff of its own sanatorium-preventorium "Rohat" for 100 places there is the latest equipment for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of workers' health. Among the workers are regularly held sports events in football, volleyball, chess and other types of sports, in the summer organized a collective outdoor recreation.

The nearest intentions of Kuvasaycement JSC include the further attraction of investments in the renovation of production equipment, namely:

● installation of a KEV frequency converter in order to automate the provision of constant pressure in the system of pumps of the CHP plant and to save electricity up to 90.9 thousand kWh / year

● introduction into production of a soft starter at the main drives of cement mills. After the modernization, it is expected to save electricity up to 656.3 thousand kWh / year, a decrease in the number of starts and stops, as well as an increase in the service life of high-voltage electric motors.

● installation of compressed air flow meters in the compressor section. Energy savings per ton of output up to 96.9 thousand kWh / year and the elimination of over-expenditure of compressed air used in the main equipment is expected

● construction of the clay-stocking department with the installation of universal mills in the raw materials shop

● transition to alternative fuel - from natural gas to coal powder

● start of production of reinforced concrete products (foundation blocks, cinder blocks, concrete, etc.) for their own needs.

As one of the leading and largest suppliers of high quality building materials to the markets of Uzbekistan and the Central Asian region, Kuvasaycement JSC looks confidently into the future and makes a worthy contribution to the constructive work and prosperity of its native country.

Zafar Ruziev,
Candidate of Economic Sciences

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