Comparative Analysis Of Coal, Fuel Oil And Natural Gas For Cement Production

This study is a comparative analysis of the use of coal, fuel oil and natural gas for
cement production noting their physical and chemical properties, cost and
availability, impact on the environment and human health. Out of the seven cement
manufacturing industries in Nigeria, three industries use these fuels were selected
for the study. The industries are NigerCem –Ebonyi state, Dangote cement –Benue
state and UniCem -Cross river state. Questionnaires were used to gather information
on the three fuels. The likert 3- scale model was adopted, using 2.0 as the cut off
mark. Based on the analysis of the study, it was observed out that amongst these
three (3) fuels, fuel oil is presently expensive though available, while coal and
natural gas are cheap but coal is not available due to the closure of Nigeria‟s coal
mine. In terms of environment and health, coal and fuel oil emit much harmful
gases to the environment and cause more health problems to cement worker but
natural gas emits less of these harmful gases to the environment and cause less
health problems to workers. The study therefore shows that natural gas is the best
fuel because it is cheap, readily available and creates fewer problems to the
environment.