Free lime is confirmed after the clinker has left. Extra fuel covers the quality band. Mill power is given away against a fineness margin. The tonnes still have to ship.
01
The free lime while this meal is still in the kiln
Give the panel an estimated free lime on this feed and this fuel — not on a lab slip for clinker that has already left the cooler.
02
Fuel that matches this mix, not the last one
Hold firing, draught and feed against the quality band, so extra gas is not the only safe move every shift.
03
The mill setting for this clinker, not the average one
Hit the required fineness at the lowest power for the clinker currently being fed, rather than carrying a safety margin the certificate never shows.
On the kiln and the mill
Cement plants lose money in three places that rarely share one screen: a free-lime result that arrives after the kiln has moved, extra fuel carried as insurance, and mill power given away against a fineness margin. Most of that is already in tags, lab files and historians — after the fact.
The labThe lab result describes meal that has already left the burning zone. Operators fire hotter than chemistry needs because the slip cannot catch drift in time. The tonnes in the silo are already made.
The fuelCut specific heat and the burning zone tightens. Fuel and feed keep moving. The easy correction is more coal or gas — and process CO₂ with it — unless the operator can see feed, fuel and quality together.
The millMills run to a fineness target with a safety margin that never appears on the certificate. That mill giveaway shows only on the power bill — for the clinker currently being fed, not for an average one.
Most plants run conservatively — extra fuel is the insurance, paid for on every tonne, every shift.
INSUS works from the kiln tags, lab results and equipment logs a plant already keeps. If the gap is a drifting analyser, a maintenance job or a missing join to the right meal, that is what we will say.
Industry figures
Four external figures, each with its source. Nothing on this page is an estimate we made up. Where we cannot cite a number, we describe the situation in words instead.
CO₂
7%
of global CO₂ comes from cement and concrete. The sector has committed to net-zero concrete by 2050 — the cut still has to land on the kiln and mill you run today.
Source: GCCA, Concrete Future
Power
60%+
of a cement plant's total electrical energy is consumed by the grinding circuits — raw meal and finish grinding together.
Widely reported industry range. See Energy-Efficient Technologies in Cement Grinding
Quality
~90min
is the interval many plants live with between clinker being produced and free lime being confirmed by the laboratory.
Typical plant practice. Varies with sampling interval and laboratory method.
Trend
>2015
cement CO₂ has not fallen back under 2015 levels. Near-zero routes are still costly — the cut is on this kiln's fuel and this mill's power.
Source: IEA, Breakthrough Agenda 2024
Common problems
None of these show up as a single alarm. They show up in the fuel bill, the spec sheet and the shift log — a little worse than they needed to be, every time.
Temperatures, fuel, feed and gas conditions interact continuously. Control systems stabilize the kiln; they do not search for a better operating point. Extra heat then becomes the safe move, and thermal energy, quality and emissions drift with it.
See: Clinker Production Temperature OptimizationRaw-material composition shifts while the lab result is still on the way. By the time compressive strength, fineness or setting time is confirmed, that production window has already left. Corrections then land on a different meal.
See: Cement Quality PredictionFeed and fuel keep changing; the burning zone cannot. Operators carry extra fuel — overburning a little more heat than the clinker needed, on every tonne, every shift.
See: Kiln Fuel & Feed OptimizationUse cases
Each is a specific starting point — this kiln, this meal, this fuel mix — and a next conversation if it is worth your time.
Recommend kiln and burning-zone temperatures from existing DCS, historian and free-lime data so plants can cut unnecessary thermal margin. Advisory only.
See the full use case
Predict compressive strength, fineness and setting behaviour from meal composition and process data already in DCS, historian and LIMS. Lab stays the system of record. Advisory only.
See the full use case
Recommend cement kiln fuel, air and feed settings from existing DCS, historian and free-lime data when meal chemistry and fuel mix keep changing. Advisory only.
See the full use caseFAQ
A practical look at what INSUS needs, where it fits and what your team can expect.
The work that fits is the data a cement plant already produces: kiln tags, lab results, fuel records and equipment logs. Clinker Production Temperature Optimization, Cement Quality Prediction and Kiln Fuel & Feed Optimization have dedicated pages. Closed-loop kiln control is not a day-one promise.
Usually not. Most plants already log kiln feed, fuel flows, draught, gas analysis, cooler and mill signals, plus laboratory results. Where a transmitter has been drifting, that comes before any model.
No. The person who knows this kiln, this fuel mix and this clinker type stays responsible. The aim is to recommend better kiln and mill operating conditions from data you already log — not to take the panel away.
No. It advises the CRO or process engineer first. Your DCS, PLCs and any APC stay in charge of the loop. Safety interlocks are never touched. Selected closed-loop applications are only considered after advisory recommendations have been validated.
AI models learn how kiln temperatures, fuel, feed and gas conditions affect energy, quality and emissions, then recommend a feasible operating point. The first deployment is advisory. Existing DCS and APC stay on the loop. That is the Clinker Production Temperature Optimization use case.
No. Cement Quality Prediction uses raw-material composition, process data and historical lab results you already keep to flag likely deviations earlier. The laboratory remains the measurement. Production adjustments stay with your team.
Kiln Fuel & Feed Optimization uses kiln, fuel, feed and process data you already log to recommend a feasible operating point. The first deployment is advisory. Existing DCS and APC stay on the loop.
Yes. The approach is built around the systems you already run. Integration is defined during the assessment. Statutory recipes, tickets and safety reporting remain yours.
Yes. One kiln line, one mill, or one recurring quality problem is usually the practical start. Measure that, then decide whether to widen.
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