mproving Clinker Production Coal Utilization Using Six Sigma Methodology in Mugher Cement Factory
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Date
2019-07
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Six sigma is the process improvement tools which can be applied in various sector for defect
minimization and better utilization of resource using DMAIC methodology. A DMAIC methodology
is used to identify which output parameter needs to be give more priority to get a better result.. Thus,
in this research which focuses on improvement of clinker production coal utilization without affecting
the clinker quality production, an integration of six sigma with design of experiment was performed.
The tool integration major significance was, it provides a mechanism to narrow down the source of
variation to be more explicit and for optimizing the responses.
This research was conducted by first identifying the major response variable from quality &
resource utilization. Therefore, from coal utilization perspective, coal consumption for the 3
line kiln
and from quality point of view, C3S and free lime content was selected by first conducting a
brainstorming session with company professionals .Thus, the identified factors which affect this
variables were determined by conducting brainstorming session and with considering the highest coal
consumption month ,which was August,2018 to study the potential causes .As a result ,from the root
cause analysis, different factors were identified. Among them, kiln feed (proportioned raw material )
such as Lime Saturation Factor(LSM), Silica Moduli(SM) and Refractory Moduli(RM) were selected
to observe their influence in coal consumption by considering their quality target range of each
material obtained from the quality department of the case company .
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From the analysis result ,the optimized coal consumption was found at the setting of
LSM=97,SM=2.4 and RM=5.5 which give a specific coal consumption of 116kg coal per ton of
clinker production while the company average specific coal consumption during April,2018-
March,2019 was 127kg to produce a ton of clinker. In addition to these, the quality level of the
produced clinker, particularly the C3S and free calcium content were within the preset and expected
quality target levels.
Finally, based on the found improved setting, a controlling mechanism for sustaining the
material proportioning target and uniformity was suggested. In addition, a guiding framework was
proposed for implementation of continual improvement of resource and quality improvement in Muger
Cement Factory.
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Keywords
Six Sigma, Coal utilization, Clinker production, Design of Experiment