Success Stories
CASE STUDY XIII: UNUSUALLY LARGE AIR VEIN BURNER

Ceramics Industry
SUCCESSFUL ECTS SYMPOSIUM IN MONTERREY (MEXICO)

News and Accomplishments
ADDED VALUE IN THE FILTERING OF GASES

Origin of the project

In mid-2006, the SEAT-VW automobile factory in Martorell (Barcelona) decided to look for an alternative to the heat generated by cogeneration used to heat the assembly buildings. The difficulty in managing cogeneration, added to the constant changes in energy policies in Spain, led them to think about the possibility of installing a large gas burner to replace the inefficiency of cogeneration, and to always have a second option. This is how BERALMAR received the query about the possibility of manufacturing a large gas burner.

Execution of the project

BERALMAR ended up designing what would be, and still is, the largest air vein type gas burner it has ever manufactured in its more than 50 years of history: a burner with 14,000,000 Kcal/h (16,300 kW) of power, which was labelled the VA-140.

All burner’s figures are huge: a combustion surface of 7.5 m2, gas consumption of up to 1,500 Nm3/h, double safety ramp, double body to reduce the ignition surface, generation of air up to 500 ºC and an air flow of 140,000 m3/hour. In short, an air vein burner very different from those usually manufactured in terms of its size.

BERALMAR was also responsible for developing the automatic process of energy efficiency between cogeneration and the new gas burner.

The VA-140 during manufacturing.

Testing outside the BERALMAR workshop.

The 14,000,0000 kcal/h (16,300 kW) air stream installed in the SEAT-VW factory in Martorell (Barcelona).

Conclusions

The commissioning went as expected and the targets were met regarding heat generation and coordination of the software with the existing cogeneration.

The ability of BERALMAR to develop unique and customized solutions in the field of combustion is well known. In this case, the company overcame the challenge of creating a gas burner of gigantic proportions. Its application was a clear success story.

The next case study will be published in Newsletter no. 132 in December 2018.

On 8 and 9 October, the ECTS held a ceramics symposium in Monterrey (Mexico).

The day was very well attended, with almost a hundred accredited ceramists from different states of Mexico, who listened to the presentations given by a dozen members of the ECTS.

On behalf of BERALMAR, the sales manager for Latin America, Rafael Andrés, gave a presentation on the history of our organization and the company’s experience in the supply of different types of complete plants.

BERALMAR has an important relationship with the Mexican ceramics industry, having supplied 2 complete plants in the country: NOVACERAMIC (Puebla) in 2002, and Ladrillero SANTA CLARA (Monterrey) in 2006.

After the presentations and the food, a series of B2B meetings were held between the attendees and ECTS suppliers, probably the most enriching part of the symposium for the suppliers, since it allowed them to understand the complex reality of the Mexican market.

The chairman of the ECTS, Miquel Moix, welcoming attendees to the symposium.

 

Rafael Andrés giving his presentation on BERALMAR.

The symposium ended the following day with a group visit by the members of the ECTS present to the two most important ceramics plants in Monterrey: LAMESA and LADRILLERA SANTA CLARA.

Overall the symposium was a success and we hope it will contribute to the development of the Mexican ceramics industry, full of opportunities and challenges.

BERALMAR has just launched a gas filter for CERÁMICA SANTIAGO, the largest manufacturer in Chile, located in the metropolitan area of the Chilean capital.

The kiln, which consumes a combination of natural gas and two types of biomass (sawdust and grape pomace) using a certain amount of moisture, needed to deal with the emissions of particles generated by the ash from these solid fuels.



ADDED VALUE PROVIDED BY BERALMAR IN THE FILTERING OF GASES



Despite the existence of suppliers exclusively specialized in the supply of filtering installations for all types of industrial kilns, the BERALMAR’s added value when defining gas filters is its knowledge how a tunnel kiln for firing ceramic materials operates. In other words, while a supplier specializing in filters will only focus on defining the necessary filter to achieve certain parameters, a specialist in ceramic processes such as BERALMAR also looks at how the presence of the filter affects the process where it is applied. This is especially relevant in our industry, since the temperatures of the gases in the chimney are often lower than those necessary for the gas filtering process (120 ºC). First of all, in these cases the application of a gas filter increases the energy expenditure of the kiln in order to adapt the temperature of the gases to be filtered, and BERALMAR, unlike a specialist in gas filtering, is able to regulate the kiln to compensate for this increase in the air intake temperature, either with a slight increase in production, or by modifying the firing curve and saving energy at another point in the kiln, etc.


Understanding the concerns of the ceramist and knowing how to regulate a tunnel kiln is BERALMAR’s significant added value as a supplier of gas filtration systems, as CERÁMICA SANTIAGO can attest. We would like to thank them for their trust in us.