ST. MARYS -- A three-day test burn at the St. Marys Cement plant here was expected to begin today following equipment testing and calibration that started Tuesday.
The test, which was approved a year ago by the Ministry of Environment (MOE), involves the use of shredded plastic film as a substitute for about 30% (in thermal terms) of the normal fuel used in the kiln.
Martin Vroegh, corporate environmental manager for the company, said the test burn should be imperceptible to town residents.
Since fuel makes up only about 6% of what goes into the kiln, he explained, the substitute fuel amounts to a change of no more than 2%.
Vroegh said that although 30% fuel substitution is the goal, realistically it will be no more than 20-24% so the change in material in the kiln will be less than 2%.
"It would be imperceptible to notice it in all of the chemical analysis and all the testing we are doing. There will be almost no difference," said Vroegh.
Because of the volume of samples, full analysis of the burn won't be available for "several weeks," he said. But once the lab testing analysis is done, a full report will be prepared and the data will be made public.
MOE personnel will be on site for each day of the test and pre-approved monitoring. Stack emissions will be continuously monitored during the testing.
"Emission controls and monitoring are all in real time. As well, we are doing daily sampling of the fuel for calorific value and composition," said Vroegh.
Pending all going well with the equipment -- a cooling radiator on the equipment used for shredding the fuel overheated Tuesday and had to be replaced -- company officials expected the test would run three consecutive days.
For long-term substitution of the plastic fuel, the company will have to make another application to the MOE.
Material for the test is being trucked in from the Orgaworld waste management facility in London.
In April 2010, St. Marys Cement received MOE approval for the test burn under certain conditions. It was delayed, however, because the specialized equipment needed to conduct the burn was being used at a U.S.- based facility.
On March 22 of this year, company representatives appeared before St. Marys town council to inform them that the equipment would become available this month.
During that presentation, Vroegh told councillors that independent third-party consultants would be employed to monitor a wide range of parameters related to the test, including air quality within the emissions stack as well as the surrounding down-wind neighbourhood, effects on the "clinker" (kiln waste), changes in the finished cement itself and possible additional noise from the process.
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Cement and Concrete