CHOOSE THE INSULATION SYSTEM APPROPRIATE FOR YOUR INDUSTRIAL FURNACES / KILNS - 14TH EDITION, FEBRUARY 2021 - Nutec Bickley
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14TH EDITION, FEBRUARY 2021 CHOOSE THE INSULATION SYSTEM APPROPRIATE FOR YOUR INDUSTRIAL FURNACES / KILNS
EDITORIAL DANIEL LLAGUNO
CEO
While the beginning of 2021 still presents
many challenges, most importantly those
related to the pandemic and its
consequences, we continue to operate
efficiently, processing our customers’ orders
and executing them without major
disruptions, in spite of the circumstances.
In fact, in recent months we have seen an
increase in demand for our products; of
course, some industry segments have
suffered substantially, but many others
have thrived.
Couple this with our reputation and market share increase, and that makes us optimistic
about what this year will bring to the company and to our customers.
We now have hard evidence that the initiatives launched as part of our PESQ Model
have had a positive impact on our customer satisfaction index and overall company
performance. Our repeat customer base keeps growing, and we continue to work hard
to delight these clients with our Performance, Execution, Service, and Quality.
We continue to implement procedures, controls, and policies, but all that within an agile
philosophy now engrained into our company culture. In hindsight, 2020 gave us the
opportunity to more clearly define our purpose, and to make sure we were completely
aligned in every area in order to achieve it.
I can confirm we are a better company as result of that, and with absolute
confidence I can say we will be an even better one by the end of this year. Having you,
Our Customer, in the center of our purpose and as our reason to exist, is and will be
our path to excellence.
1
14TH EDITION, FEBRUARY 2021
CHOOSING THE INSULATION SYSTEM FOR
YOUR INDUSTRIAL FURNACES / KILNS
By: Alberto Cantú, VP Combustion, Controls and Services
Insulation is one of the components with the
greatest influence on furnace performance.
How does the material used
influence the insulation?
A good or poor choice can make all the The two most common material alternatives
difference between efficient production for this part of the furnace are:
and a significant waste of resources.
A) Ceramic Fiber
Learn more about the importance of
insulation and what you should be looking Low density insulation.
at when choosing or changing your
equipment’s insulation.
Offers a significant advantage in intermittent furnaces, where the idea is to minimize heat
waste and lower fuel consumption.
Allows faster heating and cooling since it does not store heat, which gives us a better response.
Reduced need for maintenance, as long as there are no impacts to the fiber that would
damage it.
2
For these reasons, at Nutec Bickley we use 2.- Detection of hot spots that can
ceramic fiber in our furnace insulation in damage equipment
applications where it is feasible and delivers,
or will deliver, an operational advantage. This The existence of a hot spot is a concern,
material is sourced from our sister company not so much from the energy loss angle,
specializing in fiber products. but because it might damage an important
system component.
B) REFRACTORY BRICK
A couple of examples of this are:
Insulating material characterized by
greater hardness and density; therefore it Heat leakage can cause a valve to
overheat and damage it, or burn out wires,
demonstrates greater mechanical strength.
thermocouples etc, and consequently
Stores more heat so its response to adversely affect the operation.
temperature changes is slower.
In a car furnace, the heat can jam the
Consumes more fuel in an intermittent wheels and prevent them from moving when
furnace since it heats up and cools down inserting/removing the product.
more slowly.
When to change the fiber for If you are going to change your furnace’s insulation
optimal furnace operation? we suggest going for a complete overhaul rather than
putting a patch/plug in place. This is not advisable
The main criterion affecting our decision as the fiber will shrink with temperature, creating a
to change the fiber system is whether its gap and can then make the situation worse.
deterioration can adversely affect production
or equipment, such as: At Nutec Bickley we are specialists in industrial
furnaces and their various components. Contact our
1.- THERE IS A RISK OF PRODUCT
expert advisors to learn more about all the solutions
CONTAMINATION
we have available for you.
As the fiber ages it crystallizes, deforms,
and pieces can then fall off.
For certain products such as sanitaryware
or other porcelain products that require
a flawless finish, this constitutes
contamination, so ceramic fiber replacement
would be necessary.
In the case of steel products this does not
really affect product quality.
3
14TH EDITION, FEBRUARY 2021
INSTALLATION OF A BOX FURNACE FOR ALLOY
STEEL HEATING
EQUIPMENT SUPPLIED AND TECHNOLOGY
EMPLOYED
The regenerative firing system saves more than
half the fuel of a conventionally fired furnace.
Additionally, the temperature uniformity
does not suffer and fuel efficiency gains are
significant.
ABOUT THE CLIENT
The customer produces various stainless
steel grades for the aerospace and power OUR SOLUTION
generation industry. This US company melts
The highly fuel efficient regenerative
the raw materials to produce ingots and bar
combustion system allows the exhaust
material for end users in these industries.
temperature to be much lower than a
conventional furnace.
OUR CLIENT’S CHALLENGE
It also allows the exhaust system to be a smaller
The facility where this equipment was installed
size, reducing the amount of opening in the roof
is shared with the US Military and there were
and allowing a much less invasive repair to the
additional technical hurdles to overcome to
roof.
allow additional equipment to be installed. For
example, the facility is also a machine shop
and a specific temperature is maintained RESULTS OBTAINED
inside the building. The furnace fuel savings and additional
production capacity were exactly what the
The furnace exhaust had to be removed so customer required and objectives were met as
as not to influence the ambient temperature. promised.
The building has a very high wooden roof
and rubber membrane covering. The furnace
exhaust temperature had to be set taking these
issues into consideration.
4
TWO CLAM-SHELL TIP-UP FURNACES FOR HEAT
TREATMENT OF POWER GENERATION COMPONENTS
ABOUT THE CLIENT
The client is a manufacturer of
forged products with plants in Santa
Catarina and García (both Nuevo León,
Mexico).
Its main product is seamless turbine rings
for the aircraft industry and for power
generation equipment.
OUR CLIENT’S CHALLENGE
The client needed two dual-purpose
EQUIPMENT SUPPLIED AND TECHNOLOGY
furnaces for its austenitizing (high
EMPLOYED
temperature) and tempering (low
temperature) processes. Features a hydraulic system operated
by a cylinder to open/close rapidly.
The company has to carry out the high
temperature process first, and Accurate determination of the location
then subsequently operatives remove the of the furnace support and opening
pieces with a forklift and put them into a points, to prevent any unwanted
quenching tank with water to create twisting that would cause damage to
the required hardness properties. the opening mechanism.
After that, the pieces are placed back Fire combustion system to deliver
into the now cooled furnace to carry the required process temperature
out the tempering process with a uniformity.
controlled heating curve.
Being a furnace that cools down and
heats up quickly, the insulation system
had to be thermal shock proof with a
low thermal mass.
Operational temperature range:
600ºC –1,160ºC (1,110ºF–2,120ºF).
5
14TH EDITION, FEBRUARY 2021
OUR SOLUTION RESULTS OBTAINED
We provided a tip-up furnace designed to Tip-up clam-shell design allows the
facilitate cooling by opening the ‘jaws’ of furnace to open up completely.
the equipment before starting the second
controlled heating cycle (starting at Furnace delivering excellent temperature
300°C/570°F). uniformity.
This cooling down process had previously
taken a long time using a furnace featuring
a conventional door.
A furnace that opens and closes effectively,
maintaining a seal superior to that of a
Having a tip-up design with an upper conventional box furnace.
area exposed to the atmosphere ensures
that the furnace is cooled to the desired Two-in-one furnace for both austenitizing
temperature between cycles, in the and tempering processes (very flexible).
minimum possible time and by natural
means (i.e. without forced air). Long lifetime spare parts.
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VISIT OUR
RESOURCES SECTION
You can download ebooks and success stories
Industrial Kilns for Ceramics Combustion Systems & Control
Industrial Furnaces Maintenance Services
Customized Combustion Equipment PLC Upgrades
More information
14TH EDITION, FEBRUARY 2021
WE HOPE YOU’LL JOIN US
AT ONE OF THESE EVENTS
ET SEMINAR 2021 CERAMICS EXPO 2021 DIE CASTING CONGRESS
& EXPOSITION
May 11 - 13, 2021 Aug 31 - Sep 1, 2021
Oct 4 - 6, 2021
Orlando, FL Cleveland, OH
Indianapolis, IN
FOLLOW US ON Not having a furnace maintenance
OUR SOCIAL MEDIA agreement in place creates a problem
since you are exposed to:
/NutecBickley
Constant production stoppages due to sudden,
/NutecBickley
undiagnosed failures.
/NutecBickley Unsafe operation of combustion equipment.
Operation with obsolete equipment or systems.
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We can help you avoid all
kinds of problems!
Ask for technical support
14TH EDITION, FEBRUARY 2021 NUTEC BICKLEY DO YOU NEED A QUOTE FOR ANY OF THESE SOLUTIONS? Contact us at bulletin@nutec.com and let us know about your project requirements so that we can respond effectively and as soon as possible. We look forward to hearing from you.
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