Product category:
Boilers, Heat Exchangers, Dryers and Refrigeration
News Release from: Orthos (Engineering) | Subject: Ventilex dryer savings
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 08 November 2006
Dutch dryer manufacturer achieves fuel
savings
WBB Minerals at Warmsworth near Doncaster showed fuel savings of about 30% achieved by a newly installed Ventilex dryer/cooler, as compared with the rotary drum dryer which it replaced
In these days of large increases in the price of industrial gas and other fuels, any technology, which genuinely offers worthwhile savings in fuel consumption, is of interest The Netherlands manufacturer of continuous fluid-bed dryers, Ventilex, claims that its designs do just that
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 16 Sep 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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In July 2005,Quarry Management reviewed the GBP4.5 million investment carried out by WBB Minerals at Warmsworth near Doncaster, showing fuel savings of about 30% were achieved by the newly installed Ventilex dryer/cooler as compared with the rotary drum dryer which it replaced.
In this case the new dryer is handling 110 tonnes an hour of 2mm and 3mm dolomite sand containing 11% moisture and discharging it with a moisture content below 3% and at a temperature less than 35C.
These figures, which were obtained from a three-month study carried out after the successful commissioning of the new plant early in 2005, are claimed to be representative of the results obtained generally by Ventilex in the drying of finely divided minerals.
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A study carried out over a longer period at a typical sand drying plant, of which there are now several operating in the UK and Ireland, mostly in the dry silo mortar sector, produced significant gas savings.
The comparison was made between the Ventilex dryer currently in use and a previously installed rotary drum dryer.
In this case the Ventilex dryer was handling 100tph sand and evaporating 5.5 tph water.
The sand was discharged from the machine at 51C with a moisture content of 0.5%.
The temperature of the exhaust air in this plant was 64C, whereas the exhaust air temperatures quoted by manufacturers of rotary drum dryers lie between 90 - 110C.
This clearly shows that more of the energy supplied to the dryer (an effective energy absorbtion rate of 96% is claimed) is used in the removal of moisture than is the case with a rotary drum dryer, ie that the Ventilex dryer is more energy efficient.
Fuel saving varies depending on the configuration of the fluid bed dryer.
Figures showing the typical fuel consumptions of a rotary drum dryer and four forms of Ventilex dryer operating in a 100tph sand drying/cooling plant are as follows:.
* Typical drum dryer - 305MJ/tonne.
* Standard Ventilex dryer - 235MJ/tonne, (23% saving).
* Ventilex with exhaust air recirculation - 210MJ/tonne, (31% saving).
* Ventilex with by-pass evaporative cooling - 190MJ/tonne, (38% saving).
* Ventilex with heat exchanger evaporative cooling - 180MJ/tonne, (41% saving).
A gas-fired Ventilex dryer, which has been operating for several years at a plant owned by a subsidiary of Heidelberg-Maxit and handling 70,000 tonnes a year of various grades of sand ranging from fine (up to 1mm), through 2.5mm - 4mm up to pea gravel, is reported to consume consistently on average 224 MJ of fuel /tonne of sand, whereas the rotary drum dryer, which preceded it required 358 MJ/tonne.
The saving is 37%.
Transport of process material through the Ventilex machine is achieved by means of a low frequency/high amplitude shaker mechanism rather than by the more usual vibratory technique.
This ensures, it is claimed, that product is almost entirely unaffected by lateral mixing, i.e that "plug" flow occurs.
As a result, energy is not wasted in overheating product that has already been sufficiently dried.
A further benefit of the system is that smaller dynamic forces are imposed upon the dryer and its support structures with consequent savings in maintenance and installation costs.
Also, a continuous fluid bed dryer/cooler of the type described above usually occupies about a quarter of the floor space as that needed by a rotary kiln unit of the same capacity.
A further very significant factor in the Ventilex design is the software developed by the company to control in a fully integrated manner all process functions and parameters.
Responses to changes in operating conditions are extremely rapid and balanced throughout the entire system.
This, according to the manufacturer, ensures that air flows and temperatures are maintained at optimum values at all times, and helps to avoid wastage of energy. Request a free brochure from Orthos (Engineering) ...
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