In its latest newsletter, Geometrica provided an overview of a project carried out for Carthage Cement in Tunisia.
Geometrica supplied three bulk-storage structures for Carthage Cement’s new plant in Djebel Ressas. The plant began to take shape in late 2010 and was completed in 2013. Designed to produce 5800 tpd of cement, it is now Tunisia’s largest and most technologically advanced cement plant.
“We have paid particular attention to adopting the latest technology, high economy of energy consumption and great respect for the environment,” said Lazhar Sta, CEO of Carthage Cement.
To complete the plant, Carthage Cement contracted FLSmidth to supply machinery and engineering. Turkish contractor, EKON, was FLSmidth’s partner for the civil works, including civil design, supply of structural steel and plate work, site preparation, plant erection. The civil work compares in scale to that required to build an entire town.
Quality, efficiency and safety
Geometrica supplied three storage buildings: for additives, coal and limestone. The additives and coal longitudinal buildings are 200 m and 300 m long, respectively, and similar in span (50 m). The limestone building is a 90 m circular dome.
All domes were reinforced with arch ribs. “We assembled the domes in half-arch segments on the ground. Then we lifted the arches into place, and stitched them to the growing structure.
This minimized the amount of time workers had to spend working at heights,” said Fernando Gracia, Geometrica’s lead engineer for the project. “Oval hubs in the bottom chord of the domes’ ribs allowed us to use two rectangular bars in parallel, reducing the overall arch count, and increasing structural efficiency.” Gracia explained.
“Their structures are light and easy to install – like Lego®!” said Sevük. “Because the components are so light, and are packaged so efficiently, we saved money on transportation as well. Those savings in time and money, combined with their cooperative and professional approach, confirmed that we’d made the right decision in choosing Geometrica.” Green success
Geometrica’s bulk storage structures contain the dust from stacking and blending of raw materials and fuel, helping meet the plant’s environmental goals.
