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A recent upgrade at the Obourg (Belgium) facility of Holcim, one of the world’s leading cement producers, has seen the production plant move to an automated laboratory for the routine analysis of cement composition and particle size. The system of choice for particle characterization was the Insitec ALISS from Malvern Instruments, which is now installed and is delivering routine process analysis with negligible manual input. The instrument was purchased by Holcim France Benelux1 as part of an agreement with Malvern to supply two Insitec ALISS systems for use at sites in Belgium and six Insitec on-line systems for facilities in France.

At Holcim’s Obourg plant, all aspects of particle size measurement are fully automated. At the heart of the automated laboratory is a robot which receives both clinker and cement samples, prepares them for analysis and transports them to the appropriate analyzer. The Insitec ALISS requires no sample preparation so the robot simply pours material directly into the analyzer; measurement of the 80 g sample is complete in under one minute.

1Holcim France Benelux belongs to the Holcim Group, one of the world’s leading producers of cement, aggregates, concrete and construction-related services.