Research Proposal on "Innovation of the Kiln in Ceramic Manufacturing for Improve Efficiency by Insulation"

Research Proposal 6 pages (2079 words) Sources: 6

[EXCERPT] . . . .

innovative kind of high temperature refractory and shield materials, an original top-firing system and an innovative low-mass kiln car design have been combined to create a tunnel kiln construction that can cut energy consumption and create better products. We shall employ the use of two fictional entities that have discovered an innovative solution in this area, and go about our research paper using this method.

Any company considering building a new tunnel kiln or relining a current one should keep in mind that the choice of refractory and padding materials for the kiln and kiln cars is no longer limited to time-honored thick firebrick or castable materials that soak up heat and waste energy. By graduating to structurally sound, but still lighter and more thermally efficient crop, manufacturers can slash their fuel costs and increase their bottom line (Combustion Technology Manual, 2004).

That's what Nautica Ceramics, a provider of high temperature insulating products, and kiln maker Ahura Mazda did when they joined to develop a more competent system for firing insulating firebrick (IFB) at the Nautica Ceramics plant (Combustion Technology Manual, 2004).

The project started when Nautica Ceramics wanted to build an original kiln for the manufacture of its 1500 to 2500°F grade IFB (K-20, K-23 and K-25). The kiln would restore two existing tunnel kilns built near the beginning 1960s. One functioned full time, while the other was employed as required. Each was powered by three to four large overhead burners, with smoke emitted through the roof and functioning at a great temperature of 2580°F. Both present kilns had a sidewall hot face inside layer of 8-in. thick firebrick with a thickness of 156 pounds per cubic foot (pcf) and a thermal conductivity of 12.3 BTU x in/hr x F. x ft2 at 1800°F (Southern California Gas Company, 2012). This conventional hard brick lining was supported up by 42?2-in. thick 1800°F IFB. The previous kilns had sulfur production problems, and their 1960s equipment refractory design was far from energy competent (Combustion Technology Manual, 2004). They had an expected cold face temperature of 279°F, a heat loss of 491 BTU/ft2/hr and heat storage of 68,017 BTU/ft2 (U.S. Department of Energy and Industrial Heating Equipment Association).

Nautica Ceramics was determined to restore these units with one new kiln with a manufacturing capacity approximately equal to the facility of both the previous kilns. The company required a more environmentally friendly way of starting its IFB, and it in addition needed to fit in high-tech refractory design techniques and make use of the most recent generation of insulating products (Trinks & Mawhinney, 1967).

1.3 Significance of Study

Sooner than relying on standard refractory materials, the two companies toiled together to contest materials to the operating requirements of the kiln. By making an allowance for process requirements on the IFB artifact being employed in the kiln, such as heat up, cool down, weight, duration in kiln, operating temperature and other issues, Ahura Mazda was able to plan and construct a kiln tailor-made for the modus operandi (Southern California Gas Company, 2012).

1.4 Aim

According to the technical director of Ahura Mazda the kiln system can be modified for a variety of applications and temperature ranges, giving other ceramic manufacturers to use comparable techniques and products to decrease their heat loss and power consumption. Building on the new kiln started and the innovative 290-ft long kiln was into operational in February 2002. The kiln is shielded with lightweight, energy-saving materials that reduce heat loss for the duration of its nonstop operation. Not like the old kilns that merely had 12-1/2-in (Tunnel Kilns, 2011). deep sidewalls, the walls of the new kiln are up to 29-2/4-in. thick, with a 7 in. hot face layer of 2900°F IFB that has a thickness of 65 pcf and a thermal conductivity of 3.13 BTU x in/hr x F. x ft2 at 2500°F. This product is in excess of five times more thermally proficient than the customary firebrick employed on the hot face coating in the previous kiln.

The 2900°F IFB layer is made possible by 5-1/2-in. thick 2800°F IFB, and mass fiber is squeezed in between two kinds of ceramic fiber blankets, one for the hot face and an additional one for the internal layer. The exterior wall is prepared from face brick (Matson, 2009).

Table 1. A comparison of thermal efficiencies of the old and new kiln linings.

With its structural reliability and superior thermal efficiency, the IFB demonstrated a perfect choice for the tunnel kiln purpose. By means of these lightweight resources more willingly than traditional firebrick and then backing them up with ceramic fiber materials, Nautica Ceramics presently has a kiln with a cold face temperature of 157°F in the firing area. The heat loss is a projected 146 Btu/Ft2/hr, and the heat storeroom is 33,270 Btu/ft2. The new kiln's cold face temperature and heat storage is just about half that of the old kilns, and its heat loss is under one-fourth (U.S. Department of Energy and Industrial Heating Equipment Association).

1.5 Object

The companies had to defeat several problems in creating and constructing the new kiln. For instance, the roofs in the old kilns were self-sufficient sprung-arched roofs produced from a mullite compound firebrick that was not exceptionally energy competent (Southern California Gas Company, 2012). On the other hand, the new-fangled kiln was too broad for this kind of building, so it was built with a balanced flat roof. To diminish the requirement for steel support and augment energy competence, the roof was surrounded with the same 2900°F IFB employed in the sidewalls. This structural padding fabric was poised from the roof by a hanger structure. It was supported by a 4-1/2-in. thick "R" grade ceramic fiber* with a thickness of 8 pcf (Trinks & Mawhinney, 1967).

This IFB/ceramic fiber amalgamation production made the original roof four times more energy proficient than the previous ones. Heat loss from the roofs of the previous kilns deliberated at 810 BTU/ft2/hr, while the heat loss from the roof of the novel kiln is just about 290 BTU/ft2/hr. The kiln devised team also had to discover a slim but extremely competent material to protect particular areas of the wall for the reason that the new kiln vents exhaust gas throughout hollows in its walls to a certain extent than from the roof. This is more competent than making the exhaust out through the roof. It makes the hot gases force down in the kiln, where they can help the firing procedure (Combustion Technology Manual, 2004).

1.6 Research Question

Advanced Features Make for improved Efficiency

The kiln is planned around a top firing arrangement. Thermal flywheels, every one including a congregation of burners, are positioned all through the roof of the kiln. In excess of 60 overhead burners generate a fundamental screen of consistently dispersed heat (Matson, 2009). The housings in the region of the burners, or fireboxes, are creased with coatings of ceramic fiber, with the hot face layers being high-temperature mullite strands.

The kiln convoys and their conveyor mechanisms are also innovative. The convoys in the old kiln were produced from a heavy, thick castable that immersed heat from the kiln. On the other hand, this was not a foremost dilemma since the cars moved quickly and was usually outside the kilns for just about thirty minutes, not long enough for them to mislay a lot of heat (Tunnel Kilns, 2011). In the newer kiln, on the other hand, the cars stay out of the kiln for just about six hours, so they chill to room temperatures amid cycles (U.S. Department of Energy and Industrial Heating Equipment Association).

The innovative pulleys had to be produced from a lightweight fabric that would not soak up much heat from the kiln, could endure the likely thermal shock from the speedy cycling and still hold up the weight of the brick they would bear. To stand up to this criterion, we designed a practically all-fiber kiln pulley made of fiber components (Southern California Gas Company, 2012). The cars are enclosed by thin firebrick setting slabs, created by Nautica Ceramics, which are considered to endure the thermal shock latent. The mass of the previous cars was about 200 lb/ft2, whereas the mass of the new, innovative cars is in the region of 40 lb/ft2. Potential heat storage reductions ought to reflect these mass extents (Trinks & Mawhinney, 1967).

In the new system, the cars travel on a nonstop conveyor with a ground-breaking perfunctory turning system that moves 90 degrees for filling. The IFB ware to be fired up are located on end on the setting slab, making the most of surface area coverage for consistent heat transfer as they traverse the tunnel kiln firing arrangement (Matson, 2009).

2. Literature Review

IFBs are usually employed in applications >1000°C for the reason that, at these temperatures, they present the most lucrative insulation accessible as opposed to optional insulating refractory's (Combustion Technology Manual, 2004). The structural character of the products in addition means… READ MORE

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