Category Title

NFR 2.A.1 Cement production

SNAP 040612 Cement

ISIC 2694 Manufacture of cement, lime and plaster

Version Guidebook 2016

Coordinator
Jeroen Kuenen

Contributing authors (including to earlier versions of this chapter)

Jan Berdowski, Pieter van der Most, R. Wessels Boer, Otto Rentz, Dagmar Oertel, Jozef M. Pacyna,
Martin Pierce, Carlo Trozzi, Tinus Pulles and Wilfred Appelman

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 2.A.1 Cement production

Contents
1 Overview .......................................................................................................... 3
2 Description of sources .................................................................................... 3
2.1 Process description...................................................................................................................... 3
2.2 Techniques .................................................................................................................................... 5
2.3 Emissions ...................................................................................................................................... 6
2.4 Controls ......................................................................................................................................... 7

3 Methods............................................................................................................ 8
3.1 Choice of method ......................................................................................................................... 8
3.2 Tier 1 default approach ............................................................................................................... 9
3.3 Tier 2 technology-specific approach ........................................................................................11
3.4 Tier 3 emission modelling and use of facility data .................................................................13

4 Data quality ................................................................................................... 15

4.1 Completeness .............................................................................................................................15
4.2 Avoiding double counting with other sectors .........................................................................15
4.3 Verification ..................................................................................................................................16
4.4 Developing a consistent time series and recalculation .........................................................16
4.5 Uncertainty assessment ............................................................................................................17
4.6 Inventory quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) ............................................................17
4.7 Gridding.......................................................................................................................................17
4.8 Reporting and documentation .................................................................................................17

5 Glossary .......................................................................................................... 17
6 References ..................................................................................................... 18
7 Point of enquiry............................................................................................. 18

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1 Overview
Cement manufacture is a major mineral commodity industry. During the manufacturing process
natural raw materials are finely ground and then transformed into cement clinker in a kiln system at
high temperatures. The clinkers are cooled and ground together with additions into a fine powder
known as cement. Cement is a hydraulic binder, i.e. it hardens when mixed with water. Cement is
used to bind sand and gravel together in concrete.

In 2006, 266 million tonnes of cement were produced in the EU-27 by 356 installations (European
Commission, 2010). Large cement plants produce some 4 000 tonnes of cement per day.

Releases from the cement kiln system come from the physical and chemical reactions of the raw
materials and the fuels. The main constituents of the exit gases are nitrogen and excess oxygen from
the combustion air, and carbon dioxide and water from the raw materials and the combustion
process.

The exit gases also contain small quantities of dust, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon
monoxide, chlorides, fluorides, ammonia, and still smaller quantities of organic compounds and
heavy metals.

The cement industry, like other industrial activities, is strictly regulated via national and international
legislation regarding environmental protection. Emission levels of pollutants are, therefore, to a large
extent determined by the abatement technologies applied in order to comply with regulations.

In most countries, cement clinker production plants would probably be classified as ‘key category’
plants (see the general guidance chapter on methodological choice in Part A of the Guidebook for
further information) as regards emissions of certain pollutants, and ‘non-key category’ plants with
respect to other pollutants.

The combustion process in the cement kiln system is an integrated part of the production process,
where the fuel-ash becomes part of the cement clinkers and the energy input is consumed to create
the hydraulic clinker components. It is therefore not possible to distinguish the process and
combustion emissions from one another. Because most of the pollutants will to a large extent
originate from the fuels, all the emissions from the pyroprocessing will be addressed under source
category 1.A.2.f Manufacturing Industries and Construction (Combustion) – Other. In this chapter, a
tier 2 technology-specific emission factor table will be dedicated to emissions from combustion in the
cement production process.

2 Description of sources
2.1 Process description
The production of cement involves broadly four stages:

 extraction and pre-processing of raw materials;

 pyroprocessing to produce clinker;
 blending and grinding of clinker to cement;
 storage, packing and delivery of cement.

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 2.A.1 Cement production

2.1.1 Extraction and pre-processing of raw materials

The raw materials for cement production are a mixture of minerals containing calcium oxide, silicon
oxide, aluminium oxide and ferrous oxide. The main raw materials, including limestone, chalk, marl
and shale or clay, are extracted from quarries. In most cases, the quarry is close to the plant. After
primary crushing, the raw materials are transported to the cement plant for storage and further
preparation. Other raw materials, such as bauxite, iron ore, blast furnace slag, sand or recycled
material, are brought in from elsewhere.

Some 1.57 tonnes of raw materials are required to produce one tonne of cement clinker.

The raw materials, in controlled proportions, are ground and mixed together to form a homogeneous
blend with tight specifications regarding fineness and chemical composition.

2.1.2 Pyroprocessing to produce clinker

This part of the production process is the most important in terms of energy input, emission potential,
product quality and cost.

The production of clinker takes place in a kiln system in which the minerals of the raw mix are
transformed at high temperatures into new minerals with hydraulic properties. The fine particles of
the raw mix move from the cool end to the hot end of the kiln system and the combustion gases move
the other way from the hot end to the cold end. This results in an efficient transfer of heat and energy
to the raw mix and an efficient removal of pollutants and ash from the combustion process. During
the passage of the kiln system the raw mix is dried, pre-heated, calcined and sintered to clinker, which
is rapidly cooled with air and stored.

The basic chemistry of the cement manufacturing process begins with decomposition of calcium
carbonate at about 900 ˚C to leave calcium oxide (CaO) and liberated gaseous carbon dioxide (CO 2);
this process is known as calcination. This is followed by the clinkering process in which the calcium
oxide reacts at a high temperature (typically 1 400–1 500 ˚C) with silica, alumina, and ferrous oxide to
form the silicates, aluminates and ferrites of calcium that constitute the clinker. The clinker is then
rapidly cooled.

The cement industry is highly energy intensive. The theoretical thermal energy demand for the
chemical/mineralogical reactions of clinker production (not including drying and preheating) is about
1 700 MJ/tonne clinker. The actual thermal energy demand for different kiln systems and sizes is
approximately 3 000 – 6 500 MJ/tonne clinker (European Commission, 2010).

Various fuels can be used to provide the heat and energy required for the process. The main fossil
fuels used in Europe are coal and petroleum coke. Costs normally preclude the use of gas or oil.
However, the high temperatures and long residence time in the kiln system imply considerable
potential for the destruction of organic substances. This makes the use of different types of waste
and biomass possible, and the use of such less expensive options has increased during the past
15 years.

The main ash constituents of fuels are silica, alumina and metal compounds. These combine with the
raw materials to become part of the clinker.

2.1.3 Blending and grinding of cement clinker

Portland cement is produced by inter-grinding cement clinker and sulphates such as gypsum and
anhydrite. Sulphates are required to achieve the desired setting properties of the cement. In blended

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 2.A.1 Cement production

cements (composite cements) there are other constituents, such as granulated blast furnace slag,
natural or artificial pozzolanas, limestone, or inert fillers. These will be inter-ground with the clinker
or may need to be dried and ground separately.

2.1.4 Storage, packing and delivery of cement

Cement is stored in silos. Different cements are stored separately. Cement is transferred from the
silos either directly into bulk road, rail or ship tankers, or to a bagging station.

Figure 2.1 Production of cement. Combustion emissions are indicated in red, process
emissions are indicated in blue. Emissions from quarrying are addressed in
chapter 1.B.1.a and those of combustion in chapter 1.A.2.f.

Chapter 1.A.2.f

Chapter 1.B.#

Raw materials
Pyroprocessing Milling Bagging
handling

Limestone Cement
Quarry Raw Mix Kiln Clinker Cement
mill
s
ti on
di
Ad
Fuel

2.2 Techniques
There are four main process routes for the manufacture of cement – dry, semi-dry, wet and semi-wet
processes.

 In the dry process the raw materials are ground and dried to raw meal in the form of a flowable
powder. The dry raw meal is fed to the preheater or precalciner kiln, or more rarely to a long dry
kiln.
 In the semi-dry process, dry raw meal is pelletized with water and fed into a grate preheater in
front of the kiln or into a long kiln equipped with crosses.
 In the wet process, the raw materials (often with high moisture content) are ground in water to
form a pumpable slurry. The slurry is either fed directly into the kiln or first to a slurry dryer.

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 2.A.1 Cement production

 In the semi-wet process, the slurry is first dewatered in filter presses. The filter cake is either
extruded into pellets and fed to a grate preheater or fed directly to a filter cake dryer for raw meal
production.

The choice of process is, to a large extent, determined by the state of the raw materials (dry or wet).
Wet processes consume more energy and are thus more expensive.

The hot clinker nodules must be rapidly cooled in order to preserve their hydraulic properties. Clinker
coolers are therefore part of the kiln system and placed directly after the hot end of the kiln. The
clinkers are cooled by ambient air which is then used in the kiln as combustion air. Part of the hot air
may also be used for drying solid fuels and raw materials or vented to the atmosphere.

Grinding of raw materials, fuels and cement are most often carried in large ball mills but roller mills,
roller presses and impact mills are also used.

2.3 Emissions
The main emissions from the production of cement are emissions to air from the kiln system. Releases
come from the physical and chemical reactions of the raw materials and the fuels. The main
constituents of the exit gases are nitrogen and excess oxygen from the combustion air and carbon
dioxide and water from the raw materials and the combustion process which is an integrated part of
the process. The exit gas also contains small quantities of air pollutant. The following pollutants have
been listed in the Best Available Techniques Reference (BREF) document on the issue (European
Commission, 2010):

 oxides of nitrogen (NOx);

 sulphur dioxide (SO2) and other sulphur compounds;
 dust;
 volatile organic compounds (VOC);
 polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDDs and PCDFs);
 metals and their compounds;
 hydrogen fluoride (HF);
 hydrogen chloride (HCl);
 carbon monoxide (CO);
 ammonia (NH3).

The present chapter only considers emissions of particulate matter from cement plants, which mainly
originate from pre- and after-treatment. Emissions from the kiln are a combination of combustion
and process emissions but the emissions of the main pollutants — NOx, sulphur oxides (SOx), CO,
non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC), and NH3 — as well as heavy metals and
persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are assumed to originate mainly from the combustion of the fuel.
These emissions are therefore treated in chapter 1.A.2.f, which addresses combustion in cement
production. This does not mean that these pollutants are not emitted in the process but since it is not
possible to split the process and combustion emissions from cement production, it has been decided
to treat these pollutants in the combustion chapter.

In all kiln systems, the solid material is mixed with hot combustion gases. This mixing affects the
emission of pollutants, since it acts as a built-in dry scrubber in which the pollutants are absorbed by
or condensed on the fine raw material flowing counter.

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 2.A.1 Cement production

NOx are formed in the combustion process either by oxidation of the nitrogen in the combustion air
(thermal NOx), or by oxidation of the nitrogen compounds in the fuel (fuel NOx). Thermal NOx form at
temperatures above 1200˚C. Due to the very high temperatures in the cement kiln thermal NO x
dominate. Nitrogen monoxide accounts for about 95 % and nitrogen dioxide for about 5 %.

SO2 emissions from cement plants are primarily determined by the content of volatile sulphur in the
raw materials. This sulphur is emitted as SO2 from the low temperature end of the kiln system.
Sulphur present as sulphates in the raw materials is only partly decomposed at high temperatures
and almost completely discharged from the kiln system with the clinker. Sulphur introduced into the
kiln with the fuels is oxidised to SO2 and will not lead to significant SO2 emissions as SO2 formed at
the hot end of the kiln system reacts with the reactive, fine raw materials in the sintering zone, the
precalciner and the hot part of the preheater.

Dust (including particulate matter) emissions have traditionally been one of the main environmental
concerns in relation to cement manufacture. Today, however dust emissions are reduced and
controlled by very efficient filters. The main sources of dust are the stacks of the kiln system. In
addition some channelled dust emissions occur in connection with the various grinding processes
(raw materials, fuels, cement), and diffuse dust emission may arise from storage and handling of raw
materials, fuels, clinker and cement, as well as from vehicle traffic used at the manufacturing site.

Chlorides and fluorides may enter into the kiln system with the raw materials and/or the fuels. The
greater part is captured by the fine raw material particles and is discharged from the kiln system with
the clinker. Small quantities leave the kiln system adsorbed on dust particles.

Emissions of VOC, CO and NH3 can occur in the primary steps of the kiln process (preheater,
precalciner), when impurities (such as organic matter) that are present in the raw materials are
volatised as the raw mix is heated.

PCDDs and PCDFs can result from a combination of formation mechanisms, depending on kiln and
process design, combustion conditions, raw materials and the type and operation of emission control
equipment. In Europe, cement production is rarely a significant source of PCCD or PCDF emissions,
even when wastes and hazardous wastes are used as fuel, due to the high temperatures of
combustion in the kiln.

Metals introduced into the kiln through the raw materials or the fuel will be present in either the
releases or in the clinker. The vast majority of heavy metals are retained in the clinker. Extremely
volatile metals such as mercury and thallium are not incorporated into the clinker to the same degree
as other metals. At the high temperatures many heavy metals evaporate and then condense on the
clinker, on partly reacted raw materials or dust particles.

2.4 Controls
The cement industry, like other industrial activities, is strictly regulated via national and international
legislation regarding environmental protection. Emission levels of pollutants are, therefore, to a large
extent determined by the abatement technologies applied (e.g. dust filtration) in order to comply with
regulations.

The various emission reduction technologies used in the cement industry have been described in
detail in the BREF document (European Commission, 2010).

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 2.A.1 Cement production

3 Methods
3.1 Choice of method
Figure 3.1 presents the procedure for estimating process emissions from the cement industry. The
basic procedure is as follows:

 If the detailed information is available such that higher tiered methods can be employed: use it.
 A Tier 1 method may only be used if cement production is not a key category. This method is
based on default emission factors and national production quantities.
 If the source category is a key category, a Tier 2 or better method must be applied and detailed
input data must be collected. The decision tree directs the user in such cases to the Tier 2 method,
since it is expected that it is easier to obtain the necessary input data for this approach than to
collect facility level data needed for a Tier 3 estimate. The Tier 2 method is based on technology-
specific national emission factors and quality specific national production statistics.
 The alternative of applying a Tier 3 method, using detailed process modelling is not explicitly
included in this decision tree. However, detailed modelling will always be done at facility level and
results of such modelling could be seen as ‘facility data’ in the decision tree.

Figure 3.1 Decision tree for source category 2.A.1 Cement production.

Start

Facility data Yes All production Yes Use Tier 3

Facility data
Available? covered
only

No No

Use Tier 3
Facility data &
extrapolation

Use Tier 2
Technology
Stratification
Yes technology specific
activity data
available?
and EFs

No

Get
Key source?
Yes technology stratified
activity data
and EFs

No

Apply Tier 1
default EFs

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 2.A.1 Cement production

Cement clinker production plants may not be considered to be a key category as regards certain
pollutants, whereas they may be considered to be a key category for other pollutants. Also some
countries require emissions of certain pollutants from individual facilities to be reported to national
registers. So, all three tiers would probably have to be used in most countries to estimate the
emissions of the various pollutants from the cement industry.

Cement production includes emissions from combustion of fuels as well as processing the raw meal.
All emissions originating from combustion are treated in the chapter 1.A.2.f. However, this does not
necessarily mean that those emissions originate only from combustion of fuels. For instance, emitted
heavy metals and sulphur dioxide may also originate from the raw meal.

Since we expect the majority of these emissions to originate from the fuel rather than from the raw
meal, all emissions except for particulate matter are addressed in chapter 1.A.2.f.

3.2 Tier 1 default approach

3.2.1 Algorithm
The Tier 1 approach for process emissions from cement uses the general equation

E pollutant  AR production EFpollutant (1)

where:

 Epollutant is the emission of a pollutant (kg)

 ARproduction is the annual production of cement (in Mg)
 EFpollutant is the emission factor of the relevant pollutant (in kg pollutant / Mg cement produced)

This equation is applied at the national level, using annual national total cement production data.
Information on the production of cement, suitable for estimating emissions using the simpler
estimation methodology (Tiers 1 and 2), is widely available from United Nations statistical yearbooks
or national statistics.

The Tier 1 emission factors assume an ‘averaged’ or typical technology and abatement
implementation in the country and integrate all different sub-processes in the cement production
between feeding the raw material into the process and the final shipment off the facilities.

In cases where specific abatement options are to be taken into account a Tier 1 method is not
applicable and a Tier 2 or Tier 3 approach must be used.

3.2.2 Default emission factors

The Tier 1 approach needs emission factors for all relevant pollutants that integrate all sub-processes
within the industry from inputting raw materials to the final shipment of the products off site.

The default emission factors for cement production are provided in Table 3.1. The emission factors
for TSP are rounded figures calculated as the average of the ranges of emissions shown in Table 1.23
of the BREF document (European Commission, 2010). The BREF ranges are interpreted as the 95 %
confidence interval, while the geometric mean of this range is chosen as the value for the emission
factor in the table below. This ‘average of the ranges’ is used as these may well represent the situation
in an industry where there are no national emission limit values and no reported plant-specific

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 2.A.1 Cement production

emissions for certain pollutants (in which case Tiers 1 or 2 have to be used). The emission factor for
BC1 from cement industry is obtained from US EPA, SPECIATE database version 4.3 (US EPA, 2011).

The mass figures presented in the emission factor table are based on an average 2 300 m3/ton clinker
and 1 million tonnes of clinker per year. The IPPC BREF document (European Commission, 2010)
reports a specific heat demand for clinker production of approximately 3 000 to 6 500 MJ/tonne
clinker, depending on fuel type and kiln operation (wet or dry). The emissions due to the combustion
of these fuels are covered in chapter 1.A.2.f.

Table 3.1 Tier 1 emission factors for source category 2.A.1 Cement production.

Tier 1 default emission factors

Code Name
NFR source
category 2.A.1 Cement production
Fuel NA
Not applicable PCBs
NOx, CO, NMVOC, SOx, NH3, Pb, Cd, Hg, As, Cr, Cu, Ni, Se, Zn, PCDD/F, Benzo(a)pyrene,
Not estimated Benzo(a)fluoranthene, Benzo(k)fluoranthene, Indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene, HCB
Pollutant Value Unit 95 % confidence interval Reference
Lower Upper
European Commission
TSP 260 g/Mg clinker 130 520 (2010)
European Commission
PM10 234 g/Mg clinker 117 468 (2010)
European Commission
PM2.5 130 g/Mg clinker 65 260 (2010)
US EPA (2011, file no.:
BC 3 % of PM2.5 1.5 6 91127)

Emission factors in the table above are provided for particulate fractions only and include the
additional emissions resulting from the handling and processing of the product and raw materials.
Particulate matter (PM) emissions from the combustion processes are included in chapter 1.A.2.f. For
Tier 1 the emissions of NOx, CO, NMVOC, SOx, heavy metals and POPs can be assumed to be mainly
due to the combustion of the solid and waste fuels and will be included in the emission factors in
chapter 1.A.2.f. To avoid double counting, it is good practice to estimate these emissions in chapter
1.A.2.f. In the Tier 1 approach they will, as far as they originate from the chemical composition of the
raw meal, be reported as ‘not estimated’ (NE).

3.2.3 Activity data

Information on the production of cement, suitable for estimating emissions using of the simpler
estimation methodology (Tier 1 and 2), should be a basic nationally available statistic. It is good
practice to collect these data from the national statistical agency, but it is also is widely available from
United Nations statistical yearbooks or from CEMBUREAU (www.cembureau.eu).

Since emission factors are expressed per mass of clinker produced, activity statistics must be
recalculated from cement to clinker production statistics. Most cement produced is Portland cement,
which has an average clinker content of 90–97 % (IPCC, 2006).

Further guidance is provided in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories,
volume 3 on Industrial Processes and Product Use (IPPU), chapter 2.2.1.3 ‘Choice of activity statistics’

1
For the purposes of this guidance, BC emission factors are assumed to equal those for elemental carbon (EC).
For further information please refer to Chapter 1.A.1 Energy Industries.

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 2.A.1 Cement production

(IPCC, 2006). The IPCC 2006 Guidelines require collection of production data for different types of
cement and on the clinker content of these cement types. For the emissions of CO 2, this is probably
more important than for the emissions of air pollutants. Nevertheless, if these data are available for
the reporting of greenhouse gases, it is good practice to also use this data for the estimation of air
pollutant emissions. The IPCC 2006 Guidelines provide default clinker fractions for different types of
cement in table 2.2 in Chapter 2 of Volume 3.

3.3 Tier 2 technology-specific approach

3.3.1 Algorithm

The Tier 2 approach is similar to the Tier 1 approach. To apply the Tier 2 approach, both the activity
data and the emission factors need to be stratified according to the different techniques that may
occur in the country. These techniques may include:

 different end products with different clinker contents;

 wet or dry milling processes;
 dust capture;
 any other emission abatement technologies implemented in the country.

The approach followed to apply a Tier 2 approach is as follows. First, stratify the cement production
in the country to model the different product and process types occurring in the national cement
industry into the inventory by:

 defining production using each of the separate product and/or process types (together called
‘technologies’ in the formulae below) separately; and
 applying technology-specific emission factors for each process type:

E pollutant   AR
technologies
production,technology  EFtechnology,pollutant (2)

where:

ARproduction,technology = the production rate within the source category, using this
specific technology

EFtechnology,pollutant = the emission factor for this technology and this pollutant

A country where only one technology is implemented is a special case where the algorithm in equation
(2) reduces to:

E pollutant  AR production EFtechnology,pollutant(3)

where:

Epollutant = the emission of the specified pollutant

ARproduction = the activity rate for the cement production

EFpollutant = the emission factor for this pollutant

The emission factors in this approach still will include all sub-processes within the industry between
the feeding of raw materials until the produced cement is shipped to the customers.

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 2.A.1 Cement production

3.3.2 Technology-specific emission factors

Applying a Tier 2 approach for the process emissions from cement production, technology-specific
emission factors are needed. A BREF document for this industry is available at
http://eippcb.jrc.es/pages/FActivities.htm. In subsection 4.3.1 of the present document emission
factors derived from the emissions associated with the use of Best Available Techniques (BAT) are
provided.

3.3.3 Abatement

A number of add on technologies exist that are aimed at reducing the emissions of specific pollutants.
The resulting emission can be calculated by replacing the technology-specific emission factor with an
abated emission factor as given in the formula:

EFtechnology,abated  (1  abatement)  EFtechnology,unabated (4)

The present subsection sets out default abatement efficiencies for abatement options, applicable in
the cement industry.

3.3.3.1 Dust capture

The abatement efficiencies given in Table 3.2 below are based on the Coordinated European
Particulate Matter Emission Inventory Program (CEPMEIP) (Visschedijk et al., 2004) and calculated with
respect to an older plant, with only an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) in the main stack and limited
control of fugitive sources.

Table 3.2 Abatement efficiencies (ηabatement) for source category 2.A.1 Cement production.

Tier 2 Abatement efficiencies

Code Name
NFR Source Category 2.A.1 Cement production
Fuel NA not applicable
SNAP (if applicable) 040612 Cement (decarbonizing)
Abatement technology Pollutant Efficiency 95% confidence Reference
interval
Default Value Lower Upper
ESP on main stack and smaller particle > 10 μm 93% 62% 100% Visschedijk et al. (2004)
fabric filters for moderate control 10 μm > particle > 2.5 μm 34% 23% 51% Visschedijk et al. (2004)
of fugitive sources 2.5 μm > particle 40% 27% 60% Visschedijk et al. (2004)
Additional fabric filters on the oven particle > 10 μm 98% 66% 100% Visschedijk et al. (2004)
stack; effective control of fugitive 10 μm > particle > 2.5 μm 80% 53% 100% Visschedijk et al. (2004)
sources 2.5 μm > particle 73% 49% 100% Visschedijk et al. (2004)

3.3.4 Activity data

Information on the production of cement, suitable for estimating emissions using the simpler
estimation methodology (Tiers 1 and 2), is widely available from United Nations statistical yearbooks
or national statistics, or from CEMBUREAU (www.cembureau.eu).

For a Tier 2 approach these data need to be stratified according to the technologies and abatement
applied. Typical sources for these data might be industrial branch organisations within the country or
specific questionnaires submitted to individual cement works.

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 2.A.1 Cement production

Since emission factors are expressed per mass of clinker produced, activity statistics must be
recalculated from cement to clinker production statistics. Most cement produced is Portland cement,
which has an average clinker content of 90–97 % (IPCC, 2006).

Further guidance is provided in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories,
volume 3 on Industrial Processes and Product Use (IPPU), chapter 2.2.1.3 ‘Choice of activity statistics’
(IPCC, 2006).

3.4 Tier 3 emission modelling and use of facility data

3.4.1 Algorithm
There are two different methods to apply emission estimation methods that go beyond the
technology specific approach described above:

 detailed modelling of the cement production process;

 facility-level emission reports.

3.4.1.1 Detailed process modelling

A Tier 3 emission estimate, using process details will make separate estimates for the consecutive
steps in the cement production process:

 handling raw materials;

 pyroelectric processing;

 final steps to produce the products as they leave the facility (‘bagging’).

3.4.1.2 Facility-level data

Where facility-level emissions data of sufficient quality (see the guidance chapter on inventory
management and data collection in Part A of the Guidebook) are available, it is good practice to use
these data. There are two possibilities:

 facility reports cover all cement production in the country;

 facility-level emission reports are not available for all cement plants in the country.

If facility level data cover all cement production in the country, it is good practice to compare the
implied emission factors (reported emissions divided by the national cement production) with the
default emission factor values or technology-specific emission factors. If the implied emission factors
are outside the 95 % confidence intervals for the values given below, it is good practice to explain the
reasons for this in the inventory report

If the total annual cement production in the country is not included in the total of the facility reports,
it is good practice to estimate the missing part of the national total emissions from the source
category, using extrapolation by applying:

 
ETotal, pollutant  E
Facilities
Facility, pollutant   National Production   Production Facility   EF (5)
 Facilities 

Depending on the specific national circumstances and the coverage of the facility-level reports as
compared to the total national cement production, it is good practice to choose the emission factor
(EF) in this equation from the following possibilities, in decreasing order of preference:

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 2.A.1 Cement production

 technology-specific emission factors, based on knowledge of the types of technologies

implemented at the facilities where facility-level emission reports are not available;
 the implied emission factor derived from the available emission reports:

E Facility , pollutant
EF  (6)
 Production
Facilities
Facility
Facilities

 the default Tier 1 emission factor. This option should only be chosen if the facility-level emission
reports cover more than 90 % of the total national production.

3.4.2 Tier 3 emission modelling and use of facility data

Cement kilns are major industrial facilities and emissions data for individual plants might be available
through a pollutant release and transfer registry (PRTR) or another emission reporting scheme. When
the quality of such data is assured by a well developed QA/QC system and the emission reports have
been verified by an independent auditing scheme, it is good practice to use such data. If extrapolation
is needed to cover all cement production in the country either the implied emission factors for the
facilities that did report, or the emission factors as provided above could be used (see subsection
3.3.2 above).

Emission levels of pollutants from cement plants are to a large extent determined by the abatement
technologies applied in order to comply with regulations. National emission factors may therefore be
calculated from national emission limit values, providing a reasonable estimate for the country’s
specific emission factor.

National emission limit values (ELVs) exist for several pollutants in most countries. Normally, such
ELVs apply to all cement plants, independent of the technology used and the type of final products.
As the emissions from cement production originate almost entirely from the kiln system during clinker
production, the ELVs may be related to the exit gases from the kiln system.

Emission factors related to clinker production may be calculated as follows:

EFpollutant ,clin ker  ELV pollutant  EGclin ker (7)

where :

EFpollutant, clinker = clinker-related emission factor of pollutant (mg pollutant/tonne

clinker)

ELVpollutant = national emission limit value of pollutant (mg/Nm3 exit gas)

EGclinker = volume of exit gas (Nm3/tonne clinker)

Emission factors related to various types of cement may be calculated as follows:

EFpollutant ,cement ,type  ELV pollutant ,clin ker  CF (8)

where:

EFpollutant, cement type = emission factor specific for cement type (mg pollutant/tonne
cement)

EFpollutant clinker = clinker related emission factor of pollutant (mg pollutant/tonne

clinker)

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CF = clinker factor (tonnes clinker/tonne cement)

If cement production cannot be disaggregated by cement type and it is expected that significant
amounts of blended cement are being produced in addition to ordinary cement, it is acceptable to
assume an overall clinker factor of 0.75. If cement production is known to be essentially all ordinary
cement, an overall clinker factor of 0.95 may be used, as suggested in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for
National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC, 2006).

If national emission limit values are not available for certain pollutants and national emission factors
for the various cement types can not be found by other means, the default emission factors presented
in Table 3.1 may be used as the clinker related emission factor (EFpollutant,clinker).

3.4.3 Activity data

Since PRTR generally do not report activity data, such data in relation to the reported facility-level
emissions are sometimes difficult to find. A possible source of facility-level activity might be the
registries of emission trading systems.

For projection purposes, plant-specific emission factors would be required. These could be calculated
from recent reported plant emissions divided by recent information on total cement production.

Should annual emissions not be available for certain plants calculations may be performed based on
ELVs included in their operating permit. Calculations may be carried out in a similar way as described
in subsection 3.3.2 above.

In many countries national statistics offices collect production data at the facility level but these are
in many cases confidential. However in several countries, national statistics offices are part of the
national emission inventory systems and the extrapolation, if needed, could be performed at the
statistics office, ensuring that confidentiality of production data is maintained.

4 Data quality
Cement production is a process in which the hot flue gases from a combustion process are directly
injected into the reactor where the chemistry and physics take place. This means that splitting the
emissions between combustion and non-combustion is not always simple. If such a split is indeed
difficult to obtain, emissions could be reported under the present source category (2.A.1) or under
source category 1.A.2.f.

4.1 Completeness
In cases where attempts are made to indeed split the emissions from cement manufacturing between
combustion emissions and non-emission combustions, care must be taken to include all emissions.

It is good practice to check whether the emissions reported as ‘included elsewhere’ (IE) under source
category 2.A.1 are indeed included in the emissions reported under combustion under source
category 1.A.2.f.

4.2 Avoiding double counting with other sectors

In cases where it is possible to split these emissions, it is good practice to do so. However, care must
be taken that the emissions are not double counted.

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 2.A.1 Cement production

It is good practice to check that the emissions reported under source category 2.A.1 are not included
in the emissions reported under source category 1.A.2.f.

4.3 Verification
Figures based on Tiers 1 and 2 may be checked against data available in pollutant release and transfer
registers e.g. E-PRTR.

National emission figures based on the Tier 3 method could be checked against default emission
factors described in Table 3.1 and against data reported under E-PRTR.

4.3.1 Best Available Technique emission factors

The revised BREF document for the cement and lime industry (European Commission, 2007) describes
the techniques and associated emission levels when using Best Available Techniques. The BAT
associated emission levels are listed in Table 4.1. More information is available in the BREF document.

Table 4.1 BAT associated emission factors for source category 2.A.1 Cement production.
BAT compliant emission factors
Code Name
NFR Source Category 2.A.1 Cement production
Fuel NA not applicable
Pollutant Value Unit 95% confidence
interval
Lower Upper
NOx 300 mg/Nm3 200 500
SOx 300 mg/Nm3 200 400
TSP 25 mg/Nm3 20 30

The factors in Table 4.1 are expressed related to the gas flow. These can be recalculated in terms of
mass per mass of cement produced or energy used. To compare the emission factors, knowledge
about the gas flow per tonne of cement produced is required. The following average conversion
factors may be used:

 2 300 m3/tonne clinker;

 90 % default clinker content of cement.

For specific information on these conversion factors, please refer to the BREF document for the
cement and lime industry (European Commission, 2010).

4.4 Developing a consistent time series and recalculation

No specific issues for Tier 1 and 2.

For Tier 3 using facility-level data, it might occur that a different selection of facility level data is
included in different years. This can lead to time series inconsistencies. Moreover, PRTR data generally
are available for specific years only. Splicing such recent reported data under EPRTR/EPER with
historical data could be used to get consistent time series. Splicing could be used for both the activity
data and the country-specific emission factors.

Unexpected discontinuities in time series can occur when specific cement works come into operation
or are closed in specific years. If this happens, it is good practice to document such explanations
clearly in the inventory archives.

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 2.A.1 Cement production

4.5 Uncertainty assessment

It is rather difficult to assess current uncertainties of emission estimates for pollutants emitted during
the cement production. The uncertainties of sulphur dioxide emission estimates can be assessed in
a similar way as the uncertainties of the estimates for the fossil fuel combustion (see chapter 1.A.2.f).

It has been concluded that up to 50 % of uncertainties may be assigned to the emission estimates of
most of the trace elements emitted from major point sources in Europe (Pacyna, 1994). Similar
uncertainty can be assigned for emission estimates of these compounds from cement production.

4.5.1 Emission factor uncertainties

No specific issues.

4.5.2 Activity data uncertainties

No specific issues.

4.6 Inventory quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC)

Emissions from cement production as discussed in the present chapter only include the emissions
due to causes other than combustion of fuels. Emissions from fuel combustion are to be reported
under source category 1.A.2.f in the combustion sector. It is good practice to check whether the
cement production data used in the present chapter are consistent with the associated fuel use as
reported in the combustion sector. As indicated above (in subsection 2.1) the energy required to
produce clinker is 3.5–5 GJ/tonne. However, because of heat loss during production, actual values can
be much higher.

4.7 Gridding
It is good practice to consider cement production plants as point sources if plant-specific data are
available. Otherwise national emissions should be disaggregated on the basis of plant capacity,
employment or population statistics.

4.8 Reporting and documentation

No specific issues.

5 Glossary
ESP Electrostatic precipitator: dust emissions abatement equipment

FF Fabric filters: dust emissions abatement equipment

combustion A process in which the hot flue gases from a combustion process are directly
process with injected into the reactor where the chemistry and physics take place
contact converting the raw materials into the product. Examples are:
 primary iron and steel
 cement
 lime

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 2.A.1 Cement production

6 References
European Commission, 2001. Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC), Reference
Document on Best Available Techniques (BREF) in the Cement and Lime Manufacturing Industries,
December 2001.

European Commission, 2007. Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC), Reference
Document on Best Available Techniques (BREF) in the Cement and Lime Manufacturing Industries.
Draft September 2007. Available at http://eippcb.jrc.es. [Accessed 5 August 2009].

European Commission, 2010. Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC), Reference
Document on Best Available Techniques (BREF) in the Cement and Lime Manufacturing Industries.
May 2010. Available at http://eippcb.jrc.es [Accessed 5 June 2013].

IPCC, 2006. 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. Eggleston, H.S., Buendia,
L., Miwa, K., Ngara, T. and Tanabe, K. (eds), National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme. IGES,
Japan.

Kakareka, 2008. Personal communication. Institute for problems of use of natural resources and
ecology, Belarusian National Academy of Sciences, Minsk.

US EPA, 2011. SPECIATE database version 4.3, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA). Available
at: http://cfpub.epa.gov/si/speciate/ [Accessed 5 June 2013]

Visschedijk, A.J.H., Pacyna, J., Pulles, T., Zandveld, P. and Denier van der Gon, H., 2004. ‘Coordinated
European Particulate Matter Emission Inventory Program (CEPMEIP)’. In: Dilara, P. et. al (eds),
Proceedings of the PM emission inventories scientific workshop, Lago Maggiore, Italy, 18 October
2004. EUR 21302 EN, JRC, pp. 163–174.

7 Point of enquiry
Enquiries concerning this chapter should be directed to the relevant leader(s) of the Task Force on
Emission Inventories and Projection’s expert panel on combustion and industry. Please refer to the
TFEIP website (www.tfeip-secretariat.org) for the contact details of the current expert panel leaders.

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