CONCH GROUP PARTNERS WITH CBMF AND HUAWEI TO LAUNCH AI MODEL FOR CEMENT INDUSTRY
A Conch Group official introducing the cement building materials industry AI model at the launch event in Wuhu, China
Conch Group, the China Building Materials Federation( CBMF), and Huawei, have collaborated on the launch of a first-of-its-kind AI model for the cement building materials industry, marking a significant milestone in the Digital Transformation of the cement building materials sector.
With the support of the China Building Materials Federation, Conch Group and Huawei began constructing the AI model for the cement building materials industry in April 2024. Since then, Conch Group and Huawei have identified over 200 promising AI application scenarios across 15 categories spanning the entire process – from mining to packaging and shipment.
Conch has set up an AI training centre using Huawei Cloud Stack. It is using Huawei Cloud Pangu prediction, CV and NLP models to create an AI operating system that integrates central training, edge inference, cloud-edge synergy, continuous learning and ongoing optimisation.
The AI model in the cement building materials industry leverages extensive cement industry data and industry expertise. Through real-time data analysis and autonomous learning, it has made significant breakthroughs in more than 40 scenarios in five categories: quality control, production optimisation, equipment management, safe production and intelligent Q & A.
In places where the model has been implemented so far, operators have benefitted from dynamic optimisation of process parameters, response to exception warnings in seconds and maximisation of resource utilisation, introducing a new intelligent engine for high-quality industry development.
More specifically:
• Quality control: The current strength detection of cement clinkers is delayed and does not provide timely production guidance. Using the Huawei Cloud Pangu prediction model, real-time recommendations of key quality features enable accurate prediction of three-day and 28- day clinker strength. The predicted strength values closely match test results, with deviations within 1 MPa and an accuracy rate exceeding 85 %. This allows for the optimisation of raw material mixtures and cement formulas, shifting from post-event adjustment to real-time control.
• Production optimisation: A global optimisation model for clinker burning is created by integrating data from
multiple sources in the production process, studying the control strategies of the burning system and utilising expert knowledge. This model provides real-time recommendations for key process parameter targets and automatically adjusts the optimal operational plan based on varying operating conditions. This enables a 1 % reduction in standard coal consumption beyond the level-1 energy efficiency baseline. For a 5000 TPD clinker line, this leads to an annual reduction of over 4500 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
• Equipment management: Based on the Huawei Cloud Pangu CV model and distributed optical fibre sensors, real-time monitoring and control are implemented for 28 scenarios, including roller exceptions and belt tearing. This enables unmanned inspection for long-distance belt conveyors.
• Safe production: AI-based management boosts production efficiency, enables 24 / 7 monitoring and achieves a 95 % accuracy rate in identifying over 20 events like personnel violations and equipment malfunctions.
• Intelligent Q & A: Utilising the NLP model to summarise and consolidate industry knowledge, expert experience and other information, provides a‘ smart digital assistant’ for employees that answers plainly phrased queries.
The AI model in the cement building materials industry represents not only a significant achievement for Conch Group in its Digital Transformation journey, but also embodies the result of deep collaboration between Conch Group and Huawei. Conch Group and Huawei plan to continue to use advanced technologies like AI to fuel intelligent transformation and foster steady and rapid growth in sectors like cement, building materials and the wider manufacturing sector. �
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