COST-BENEFIT-ANALYSIS OF CONTROL MEASURES IN CEMENT INDUSTRY IN INDIA

A cost-benefit analysis of pollution control equipment installed to co ntain dust emissions was undertaken in the Indian Cement Industry. An assessment was also made in large scale cement plants with production capacity greater than 200 Mg/d to examine the level of compliance with emission regulations stipulated by the Central Pollution Control Boar d. The pay-back periods for different dust control equipment were work ed out. For 300, 600, 1200, 1500, and 3000 Mg/d capacity cement plants , the following economic comparisons were made on the basis of erectio n costs and pay-back periods: electrostatic precipitator (ESP) and fab ric filter (FF) for kiln, cement mill, and coal mill; multiclone for c linker cooler; and fabric filter for packing section. The erection cos ts in case of electrostatic precipitator in kiln were Rs. 14.15, 18.10 , 22.89, 24.97, and 32.46 million, respectively. The pay-back periods in this case (kiln ESP) were found to be about 6.0, 2.5, 2.0, and 1.2 y for the plant capacity greater than or equal to 600 Mg/d. The pay-ba ck periods for fabric filter in case of kiln section were found to be high, varying from 14.8 to 118.8 y due to high operational and mainten ance cost as glass fabric being used as filter media is imported. Base d on the cost-benefit analysis, the ESP for kiln (>300 Mg/d), fabric f ilter for cement mill, coal mill, raw mill, and packing house for the reported capacities were found to be economically viable dust collecto rs. The assessment of the status of pollution control measures and com pliance with emission regulations made during the year 1990-91, reveal ed that out of the total number of 97 large scale cement plants, 64 co mply with emission norms and most of the remaining plants have a time- targeted schedule to install the required pollution control equipment. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.