Contact Us
Thank you for your interest in PEC Consulting Group. Feel free to reach out using the below details.
M: +1 (314) 803-2398
T: +1 (314) 878-0123
10123 Corporate Square
Saint Louis, Missouri 63132 USA
Fill out the form below and we will contact you as soon as possible.
How can we help you? Get in touch with our team of experts.
Transloading Terminals
Hydraulic fracture drilling operations have expanded in recent years, as a result, companies involved in the oil and gas energy sectors have focused their attention on the cost and complexities related to the logistics and cost of Frac Sand supply to the vicinity of the drilling operations.
Frac Sand production is not always near to the gas and oil fields. If distances exceed 100 miles, it’s more economical to transport by rail, in this case transloading operations at the location of the oil wells play an important role in the availability and reliability of Frac Sand supply.
Transloading terminals require efficient access and distribution capacity to optimize their commercial viability and growth potential. PEC Consulting Group is experienced in transloading terminals that efficiently and effectively optimize logistic costs.
Transloading Systems
There are 3 different systems for transloading, depending on requirements based on the “length of use” and “throughput”. The systems could be:
PEC Consulting is experienced in studies for the development of transloading terminals. We have served clients with feasibility studies, evaluation of potential sites, property acquisition, permitting and rail & truck logistics analysis.
How can we help you? Get in touch with our team of experts.
Structural Pathology
We have expertise in both concrete and steel structural pathology. We offer highly detailed analyses of behaviors of structures subjected to any kind of loading conditions including physical and/or chemical attack, allowing precise diagnostics and retrofits solution techniques for the best repair method. A structural pathology diagnosis comprises:
As a preventive and maintenance & reliability measure, we perform methodical analysis of the structural components of your facility. The breadth of knowledge of our Consultants in the Structural field allows us to provide a practical assessment of structural deficiencies, solutions and recommendations to prevent and repair imminent problems.
Because buildings, storages (silos, etc.) and equipment foundation systems are a major investment in a minerals processing facility, a structural evaluation provides a cost-effective solution to plant maintenance. It also prevents the risk of injury and life loss to plant personnel and it increases the plant’s reliability and life of the facility.
To learn more about this subject, click on this published article: Evaluation of Buildings and Structures for Heavy Industrial Plants
How can we help you? Get in touch with our team of experts.
Cement Distribution Terminals & Logistics
PEC Consulting is experienced in all aspects of cement distribution.
As plants become larger in capacity and distances to market increase, the economics of the distribution chain becomes critical to the financial success of a cement manufacturing facility. The design and operation of transporting, storing, and distributing is extremely important.
The distribution system components, such as types of storage and materials handling equipment, have an effect on the economics of the operation.
Logistical calculations of various options will show the capacity of the ship unloading facility, storage facility, and the size of reclaiming and truck load-out systems. The same applies when distributing from rail to truck.
Logistics for importing cement are very important in calculating the competitive position of imports versus local production. The following is taken into consideration calculations: dock occupancy with relation to the capacity of the ship unloader, required size of the ships, unloading time per ship, throughput of the terminal with the corresponding number of trucks, size of the storage facility, etc.
PEC Consulting offers comprehensive studies for cost-effective solutions for the distribution of cement to a satellite market. Our knowledgeable staff has designed many cement distribution terminals to fit our clients’ requirements. One of them, the cement transfer terminal with modular rail unloader, automated truck load-out and weight scale system, minimizes construction costs and installation time. Other designs, like the one appropriate for navigable rivers uses river cells for proper draft for the ship or barge.
We perform studies for cement distribution systems with logistics costs in mind. Furthermore, we have the know-how to design a system that will meet the specific needs of our clients. Regardless of the design, all the components of the distribution terminal, including the storage facility and conveying system, will be laid out to obtain optimal flow of cement and efficient ship loading. Consideration is also provided for the environment and a dust collector and a simple and complete de-dusting circuit is included in the design.
How can we help you? Get in touch with our team of experts.
Grinding Plants
When raw materials availability, funding, schedule or other factors do not support the implementation of a full clinker/cement manufacturing facility at a location, a Satellite Cement Grinding Plant could be a strategic alternative solution.
Additives used in blended cements, such as pozzolan or slag, may not be available at the location of the clinker plant. As an economic measure, many cement companies have opted to ship clinker to satellite grinding facilities for the supplementation of readily available additives at the location of the grinding plant.
In the manufacturing of Cement, clinker grinding is an important process in obtaining a high quality product. As the main requirement is to obtain a consistent fineness of the ground clinker, there are important factors to be considered such as, for example, the feed rate of clinker into the finish mill in an open circuit system, the addition of gypsum to control the setting properties of cement, temperature control, etc. Our team of Process Consultants is knowledgeable in all aspects of cement grinding process requirements. For many years, they have worked together on many projects which called for mechanical, process, structural and electrical engineering for the installation of new finish mills, selection of equipment, construction bid packages, construction management, commissioning, and start-up assistance.
PEC Consulting can do a study to install or upgrade a clinker grinding plant — complete with a packing plant and material handling equipment, including the economics of the project. The efficiency of a cement grinding plant is always a consideration, giving special attention to power consumption, the high performance of equipment, and quality of the end product.
We carry out scoping studies, pre-feasibility and full feasibility studies and can determine if the implementation of a satellite grinding plant is a recommended economic option for your cement operation.
How can we help you? Get in touch with our team of experts.
Comparative Properties of Bituminous Coal and Petroleum Coke as Fuels in Cement Kilns
By Jagrut Upadhyay and Narayana Jayaraman
Bituminous coal has been in use as fuel in cement kilns for a long time. With coal costs continuously rising, cement plants have been looking for alternative less expensive fuels. Petroleum coke presents a viable alternative because of its lower cost since it is a byproduct of the refining process. It has a high heat value and low ash content, which favor its use in cement kilns. However, petroleum coke presents some challenges, such as high sulfur content and poor grindability, compounded by the need to grind it finer due to a low volatile content.
The following table provides a comparison between bituminous coal and petroleum coke with respect to their characteristics and operational and emission aspects. The comparison is on a very broad basis and an evaluation is required for each specific coal and petcoke origin.
Table 1. Comparison Between Bituminous Coal & Petroleum Coke
About the Author(s)
Narayana Jayaraman
Mr. Jayaraman has over 48 years of experience in the cement industry with expertise in plant conceptualization, layout, various operating systems, process calculations, production optimization, and Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) based power projects for cement and lime plants. He has led several studies to estimate realistic waste heat for power generation. He has had in-depth exposure to the technical, economic, and commercial aspects of large cement projects, and extensive experience in the upgrade and optimization of existing plants. He earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Osmania University, Hyderabad, India, and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India.
PEC Consulting Group LLC | PENTA Engineering Corporation | St. Louis, Missouri, USA
How can we help you? Get in touch with our team of experts.
How can we help you? Get in touch with our team of experts.
Plant Maintenance & Reliability Audits
A Plant Maintenance and Reliability Audit identifies aspects that prevent plants from increasing capacity and maximizing productivity. At PEC Consulting, we provide recommendations and action plans to bring each plant to a World Class / Best in Class Maintenance facility. In recent years, reliability engineering concepts have been adopted by process industries with significant improvements in financial performance.
Benefits
For each percentage of availability lost, facilities lose millions of dollars due to low production. However, a small increase in equipment reliability converts into an increase in production and substantial increases in revenue, particularly for those products in strong demand (by the magic of incremental margins). Considering the high capital costs invested in the minerals industries, increasing reliability results in a high return on investment.
What We Do
At PEC Consulting, we provide the following:
How can we help you? Get in touch with our team of experts.
Economic Analysis
All investment decisions should be made following a rigorous Economic Analysis
PEC Consulting’s Economic Analysis includes CapEx and OpEx calculations, Market Price and modeling of different scenarios to develop a Sensitivity Analysis. This model will determine how the Project’s Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return and Payback will be affected by variations in CapEx, OpEx and Market Pricing, which provides the investor with information on the potential risks originating from project variables.
Benefits
An Economic Analysis is a powerful tool used to assess the expected returns from an investment and for the Owner to choose among potential investment opportunities.
What We Do
How can we help you? Get in touch with our team of experts.
Alternative Fuels
The use of alternative fuels, also known as “co-processing”, is the use of combustible waste materials as a source of energy in pyro-processing of cement manufacturing plants, lime plants, and in the calcining of other minerals.
Some forms of alternative fuels are:
Benefits
Conversion to alternative fuels benefits the economy of operation by lowering fuel costs. In some cases, a facility that uses alternative fuels receives economic compensation for waste elimination (e.g. use of Hazardous Wastes). In addition to energy recovery, there are considerable environmental/green benefits, such as the reduction of emissions and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere by not using natural non-renewable raw materials and fuels such as coal. In certain countries, these savings can be utilized for Carbon Trading credits.
However, because of their inherent characteristics, the implementation of alternative fuels present a challenge to use which, if not handled properly, may impact the manufacturing process, product quality, and environmental exposure.
What We Do
At PEC Consulting we provide innovative and thoughtful solutions to help the cement industry and lime industry implement co-processing at their plants and become more cost efficient, which improves their economic competitiveness.
An alternative fuels project will evaluate the characteristics of co-processing and recommend ways to handle and utilize fuels in the pyro-process in the most effective and secure way.
Our scope of work includes:
How can we help you? Get in touch with our team of experts.
Waste Heat Recovery Systems
Waste Heat Recovery Systems (WHR) utilize the heat in industrial waste gases for the generation of electrical power. WHR Systems are common in cement and lime plants and other pyroprocess industries where Rotary Kilns are used and the price and reliability of grid power supply make the investment economically feasible.
In developing the concepts for the WHR system, the challenge lies in determining the optimum quantity of waste heat available for power generation and in integrating the WHR system with the cement process. PEC Consulting can assist the client to perform a Feasibility Study to assess the optimum size and configuration of the WHR system and the viability of the project. The study will provide recommendations for an efficient and economical system based on several factors such as the thermal capacity of exhaust gases, size and type of heat exchanger, and desired parameters of the cogeneration system operating conditions.
In some cogeneration systems, the exhaust gas from power generator sets using diesel oil or furnace oil is used as a source of heat for the WHR plant.
Benefits
What We Do
Learn more about WHR; click on the following publication:
Waste Heat Recovery for Power Generation
To download a list or Energy Efficiency/Process Studies, including WHR projects, please click here.
How can we help you? Get in touch with our team of experts.
Coal Mining Industry
PEC Consulting Group LLC is the consulting arm of PENTA Engineering Corporation, a full-service engineering and consulting company. Our senior consultants have extensive industry experience with world-class organizations to provide a wide range of consulting services to the mining industry. Areas of expertise include surface open pit and contour mines, underground longwall and room and pillar mines (bord and pillar), coal processing, material handling and transportation always focusing on identifying potential production enhancements and cost reductions. Prior clients have included Peabody Energy and Arch Coal.
Services
Our senior mining consultants have in depth-knowledge of the coal business and extensive experience providing value added services to the mining industry with a steadfast commitment to identify potential enhancements to production and cost reduction initiatives. We are accomplished professionals who routinely provide the following consulting services:
How can we help you? Get in touch with our team of experts.