The Impact of Mathematical Modeling on the Production of Special Purpose Cement

Introduction What impact can mathematical modeling have in the production industry? Our partnership with Almatis B.V., a special purpose cement manufacturer, resulted in the complete elimination of unscheduled plant shut-downs. Almatis now reports a much more stable manufacturing process and hence a very significant productivity increase. The key to our success resides in the deployment of advanced computational fluid dynamics techniques. It is currently driving a long-term collaboration expanding into different branches of Almatis. Students employed on the project can train in the mathematical modeling of turbulent combustion, granular material flow and material phase transformations. They are offered the opportunity to experiment with modern simulation software on parallel hardware and to interact with experts in various engineering disciplines.