In-situ machining keeps china clay kiln running
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Metalock Engineering product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Jul 2, 2002
To eliminate the risk of a cracked casing on one of its china clay drying kilns, Imerys Minerals called on Metalock Engineering to in-situ machine one of the tyres on a 41 year old kiln.
To eliminate the risk of a cracked casing on one of its china clay drying kilns Imerys Minerals, formerly English China Clays, called on Metalock Engineering to in-situ machine one of the tyres on a 41 year old kiln to remove the effects of wear.
Vibration caused by tyre wear can result in cracks in the hot metal shell of a kiln and also the internal refractory lining can become detached and break away to contaminate the product.
Kilns used for china clay drying operate at 1080C at the hot end down to 600C and revolve on circumferential tyres running on support rollers.
A typical 15m-long drying kiln used by Imerys has two tyres and the kiln is rotated by a rack and pinion system.
Tyres tend to wear unevenly as moisture removal while the china clay progresses down the kiln reduces the weight supported by the rollers.
The tyre in question had reached a stage where it could no longer be tolerated due to the degree of vibration it was causing.
Using the Internet, the Imerys engineer in charge investigated companies that had the capability he was seeking and decided to consult with Metalock Engineering as being the most suitable for the job in hand.
Metalock Engineering who has vast experience of kiln tyre grinding undertook to regrind the most badly worn 300mm-wide 4m-diameter steel tyre.
The kiln needed to be stationary while Metalock to set up its purpose-designed equipment but as the tyre needed to be revolved to grind it normal production was resumed, thus reducing downtime to a minimum.
Normally, a kiln will run continuously - 24 hours a day all year round.
Although Metalock had originally planned to restore only one tyre at St Austell, such was the success that it was asked to repeat the operation on a second identical tyre on the same kiln while the company was on the premises.
Metalock was on site for five days for the setup and dismantling and the regrinding of two tyres to clean up and restore roundness.
During three of those days, production continued as normal.
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