06.11.2009
On November 11, 2009, a new production line designed to produce 250 000 cube meters of autoclaved aerated concrete blocks per year was commissioned at the Asbestos-cement Production Plant of OJSC KRASNOSELSKSTROYMATERIALY.
After the adoption of the business plan, the appropriate project was made and passed through the State expertise. There were bidding procedures, tenders and the contracts for the main design were made (notably, the company Orgtechstom from Minsk became the contractor for the general design).
The project was financed with the company’s own funds and the credits of Belpromstroybank S.A. The funds were used to buy the equipment made by MASA-Henke (Germany) which included batching, mixing and preparation mixture conveying equipment; mixture maturing equipment; cutting equipment; equipment for the pre-autoclave processing, partitioning and packing. The company Uralchimmash S.A. supplied autoclaves AT 1.2 x 2.9 x 39 m.
The company Cemstroy was chosen to become general contractor for the production line construction. The construction started in May, 2008, and ended in November, 2009.
The urgency of this project is determined by the high pace of house building in Belarus and high occupancy rates of the existing aerated concrete blocks production capacities. The commissioning of the line ensured the realization of one of the items of the State target program for the development of material and technical basis of construction industry in the Republic of Belarus; hence the project is economically efficient. Total number of jobs created is 108.
The serial production will start in late November, 2009.
For this production line, the manufacturing scheme was chosen as follows. The blocks are made of lime, cement, sand, gasifier (aluminum powder) and water. Mixing these components produces aerated mixture which is then put into mould for hardening. Then the mixture with the required plastic strength is cut onto the blocks of needed sizes. Then the blocks are conveyed to the autoclave for the processing that will increase the material’s strength.
The technology is based on the use of lime-sand-cement binding which ensures the output moisture of aerated concrete 15-20% below than the output moisture of aerated concrete made with gypsum binding.
The product range includes blocks with joggles and blocks with pocket-hold.
Due to this type of joining there are no vertical seams, hence the blocks are put very tightly with each other, so that the warmth is kept inside of the building. The minimum amount of warmth is lost through thermal bridges in the horizontal layers of mortar.
The blocks with pocket-hold make carrying and laying easier which significantly decreases the labor intensiveness of construction.
The solemn ceremony of commissioning was opened by Valentin Veretilo, CEO of Krasnoselskstroymaterialy. The ceremony was attended by Vladimir Savchenko, the president of Grodno executive committee; Alexander Seleznev, the Minister of Architecture and Construction; Dmitri Golets, the president of Volkovysk district executive committee; Harald Malichenko, the technology engineer of MASA-Henke GmbH; among many others.
Valentin Veretilo reminded in his speech that, not so long ago, in the same workshop where the new line is operating, there had been four of six existing asbestos-cement roofing slates production lines (now there are only two remaining lines). But as asbestos-cement slates are gradually phased out the market and, in contrast, the demand for the aerated concrete blocks is increasing, the decision to build here a new production facility is not random.
“This let us use the manufacturing areas more efficiently, decrease transport costs of the raw materials, as the production line is very close to the Cement and Lime Production Plants”, said the CEO. “We were facing the following challenges: we should have the most up-to-date technology and equipment; the products should be price and quality competitive and meet the international standards.” The first challenge was achieved by buying the technology and equipment of MASA-Henke, the leading manufacturer in that field, and also by constructing a highly efficient mini power producing plant.
The second challenge was achieved by buying test equipment for the laboratory that will control the quality of the products and ensure their compliance with international standards. That is why the high quality of our products is guaranteed.
Now the company is facing the challenge to find the market for the new products. Traditionally and geographically, the enterprise is closer to EU market. Mr. Veretilo is confident that in the first quarter 2010 the company will be able to sell new products to the EU consumers, primarily in the Baltic countries and Poland.
On behalf of the Krasnoselskstroymaterialy’s staff, the CEO thanked the local and regional authorities, the Ministry and the Belpromstroybank, the construction enterprises which assisted us in the realization of this project. Then he wished to the new production line staff (108 people) many successes in their work of implementing new technologies and achieving full capacity by the end of this year.
The guests and participants were shown the working line and familiarized with the technology.
06.11.2009
