Cummins early start

Around 15 MW of rental power supplied by Cummins Power Generation has allowed a new cement works in Mexico to start production six months earlier than originally planned.

When the new plant was constructed at Palmar del Bravo, 85 km south of the city of Puebla in Mexico, there was no utility power available to test the plant's motors, fans, conveyors crushers and kilns.

–In order to complete the testing and begin limited production, Cummins Power Generation was contracted to supply 13 rental power units with approximately 15 MW of generating capacity for six months,” says Oswaldo Chimal, sales manager, Mexico and Central America, rental business at Cummins.

Plant manager Ignacio Cruz, says the rented power played an important role in the project: –During the initial test production period we produced 25000 t of clinker and 5000 t of finished cement using the rental power units. This allowed the plant to begin manufacturing six months earlier than if we had waited for utility power.”

The Minneapolis based company supplied two 2 MW trailer generator sets and 11 1 MW trailer units, each with a complete power system-generator, monitoring control, automatic transfer switch and switchgear. For the first four months of the equipment testing, the rental power units operated for one shift of about eight hours a day.