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The inside of a pre-calciner (preheater) tower at a cement plant. In this system the hot combustion gasses from the kiln are passed up through the falling raw meal in a series of cyclones. The average preheater typically produces a hot feed that is 20% calcined when it enters the kiln, increasing the clinker output of the plant. Watch out for stainless steel that exhibits signs of chloride stress corrosion cracking on your preheater tower. Salts in the raw mix are often evaporated in the kiln and re-condense on cool points further upstream in the form of sodium chloride or potassium chloride.

By |2019-04-12T05:35:44+00:00April 12, 2019|Projects|Comments Off on The inside of a pre-calciner (preheater) tower at a cement plant. In this system the hot combustion gasses from the kiln are passed up through the falling raw meal in a series of cyclones. The average preheater typically produces a hot feed that is 20% calcined when it enters the kiln, increasing the clinker output of the plant. Watch out for stainless steel that exhibits signs of chloride stress corrosion cracking on your preheater tower. Salts in the raw mix are often evaporated in the kiln and re-condense on cool points further upstream in the form of sodium chloride or potassium chloride.
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Last load of Pennguard Block that International Chimney is installing in a 700’ stack. The Pennguard Block lining system provides an impervious barrier for the inside of chimney flues, protecting them from acidic condensation. It is also an excellent insulator, which helps keep the temperature of your wet-scrubbed flue gas higher – reducing steam plume and liquid carryover.

By |2019-04-08T20:36:51+00:00April 8, 2019|Projects|Comments Off on Last load of Pennguard Block that International Chimney is installing in a 700’ stack. The Pennguard Block lining system provides an impervious barrier for the inside of chimney flues, protecting them from acidic condensation. It is also an excellent insulator, which helps keep the temperature of your wet-scrubbed flue gas higher – reducing steam plume and liquid carryover.
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We got a call complaining that the new brick floor we supplied to this acid plant was heaving and cracking it’s phenolic mortar joints. We discovered that although the phenolic mortar could take hot sulfuric acid, as could the brick, there was a Viton (flouroelastomer) expansion joint right beneath the hot acid tank in this picture. Whenever the tank overflowed it destroyed the expansion joint – exposing the asphaltic membrane beneath to hot H2SO4, which caused membrane failure and allowed sulfuric acid into the concrete foundation. Call Interep for tips on your brick design to avoid situations like this.

By |2019-03-20T06:35:51+00:00March 20, 2019|Projects|Comments Off on We got a call complaining that the new brick floor we supplied to this acid plant was heaving and cracking it’s phenolic mortar joints. We discovered that although the phenolic mortar could take hot sulfuric acid, as could the brick, there was a Viton (flouroelastomer) expansion joint right beneath the hot acid tank in this picture. Whenever the tank overflowed it destroyed the expansion joint – exposing the asphaltic membrane beneath to hot H2SO4, which caused membrane failure and allowed sulfuric acid into the concrete foundation. Call Interep for tips on your brick design to avoid situations like this.
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Recon Engineering & Construction has been having fun blasting out refractory cement from the inside of the preheater tower at this cement plant. Once it’s all cleaned out they’ll do steel repairs, weld in anchors where the old ones have failed (our S-Bar anchors can help with that issue) and then shoot new refractory cement. This is the best time to replace refractory-lined expansion joints because the refractory contractor can line the expansion joint at the same time as the ductwork, saving the plant money.

By |2019-03-19T00:35:52+00:00March 19, 2019|Projects|Comments Off on Recon Engineering & Construction has been having fun blasting out refractory cement from the inside of the preheater tower at this cement plant. Once it’s all cleaned out they’ll do steel repairs, weld in anchors where the old ones have failed (our S-Bar anchors can help with that issue) and then shoot new refractory cement. This is the best time to replace refractory-lined expansion joints because the refractory contractor can line the expansion joint at the same time as the ductwork, saving the plant money.
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A combination of pipe stress due to poor anchoring & sulfuric acid buildup from SO2 rich gas caused the flanges on this composite expansion joint belt to separate from the duct. If this happens on a positive pressure duct you introduce unintended & unmonitored emissions. If the duct is negative pressure you’re bringing ambient (cold) air into your process (which is already full of SO2 – speeding formation of sulfuric acid H2S04) and increasing parasitic load on your fans.

By |2019-03-07T05:33:59+00:00March 7, 2019|Projects|Comments Off on A combination of pipe stress due to poor anchoring & sulfuric acid buildup from SO2 rich gas caused the flanges on this composite expansion joint belt to separate from the duct. If this happens on a positive pressure duct you introduce unintended & unmonitored emissions. If the duct is negative pressure you’re bringing ambient (cold) air into your process (which is already full of SO2 – speeding formation of sulfuric acid H2S04) and increasing parasitic load on your fans.
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The rectangular metal bellows on this feed shelf was exposed to 1600F temperatures and deformed. The duct is lined with high-temperature refractory and the expansion joint is packed with ceramic insulation. The air cannons here blew the refractory off of the walls near the expansion joint and so it was no longer protected from the high gas temperatures.

By |2019-03-05T18:36:13+00:00March 5, 2019|Projects|Comments Off on The rectangular metal bellows on this feed shelf was exposed to 1600F temperatures and deformed. The duct is lined with high-temperature refractory and the expansion joint is packed with ceramic insulation. The air cannons here blew the refractory off of the walls near the expansion joint and so it was no longer protected from the high gas temperatures.
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This Proco customer figured they could use ductile iron flanges on their 443-BD expansion joint because the 78% sulfuric acid wouldn’t get on the outside of the process piping. After 3 years, turns out the best case scenario wasn’t real life. They’ve since switched to using 316 stainless flanges.

By |2019-03-01T05:35:28+00:00March 1, 2019|Projects|Comments Off on This Proco customer figured they could use ductile iron flanges on their 443-BD expansion joint because the 78% sulfuric acid wouldn’t get on the outside of the process piping. After 3 years, turns out the best case scenario wasn’t real life. They’ve since switched to using 316 stainless flanges.
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A crude heater at an oil refinery where the original Carl Horecky was called in as a consultant with Horecky / Fahrig Associates to revamp the catcracker with his high temperature regeneration technology. Looks like these heavy-wall expansion joints might have seen more angular movement than they were designed for.

By |2019-02-23T02:34:10+00:00February 23, 2019|Projects|Comments Off on A crude heater at an oil refinery where the original Carl Horecky was called in as a consultant with Horecky / Fahrig Associates to revamp the catcracker with his high temperature regeneration technology. Looks like these heavy-wall expansion joints might have seen more angular movement than they were designed for.
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