Specialist articles

After 29 years of operation, the waste wood recycling plant of the Gigler company was refurbished. Production manager Alexander Schönacher optimized the plant together with HejuTec and FB Ketten. The result: a more efficient and reliable plant. *Challenge and objective The refurbishment of the waste wood recycling plant was a demanding task. The objective was to renew the wear components, eliminate bottlenecks in the conveyor system and ensure operational reliability and performance for the next three years through technical optimization. At the same time, it had to be ensured that the work was completed within the planned revision time window in order to keep the production loss as low as possible. *Implementation of the renovation A decisive success factor was the close and professional cooperation of the three project partners Alexander Schönacher from Gigler, Jürgen Heinzelmann from HejuTec and FB chain application specialist Mario Fähndrich. The scraper chains, sprockets, bearings and chain wear strips were expertly replaced and the scraper floors lined with wear plates. In addition, targeted optimizations were made to the conveyor system to minimize material flow disruptions and increase

Controlling moisture content throughout the process eliminates common issues The moisture content in a product can have serious effects on its final quality. Controlling and adjusting the moisture content throughout the process can eliminate many common manufacturing issues. While laboratory and other manual methods have been used for years, new automated moisture measurement and control systems can play an important role in improving product quality monitoring, increasing plant efficiency, and lowering energy costs. Moisture measurement technologies and benefits Moisture levels present in raw materials and finished products play a critical role in manufacturing quality and consistency. They also have a bearing on costs – water weight is heavy and manufacturers can lose millions of dollars when moisture levels are too high. Those buying and shipping out materials with too much water weight are shouldering needless costs. There are several available methods for moisture measurement in industrial manufacturing settings, including visual

Reduces waste and energy costs and improves process efficiency Incorporating the right combination of automation tools can help production facilities overcome challenges posed by outdated machinery and labor-intensive procedures that hinder overall productivity. One key example is automated moisture monitoring, where the “steel collar” worker automates mundane, repetitive, and time-consuming tasks, allowing valuable human resources to focus on more critical jobs and eliminate inefficiencies that hinder peak production. When installed directly on the production line, automated moisture monitoring significantly reduces human error inherent in time-consuming and out-of-date manual processes. Incorporating moisture measurement during production allows the user to create a closed-loop process and have full control over the production line. While several methods are available, the use of near-infrared (NIR) technology can produce a high return on investment (ROI). Benefits of moisture content measurement equipment and processes:

Presentation of a special shear for cutting aluminum profiles with which production companies can close the internal recycling cycle. Successful commissioning of shear for cutting scrap profiles from aluminum profile production in press shops. With the shear, our customers are able to shred the profiles internally without much effort directly on site in order to melt them down again if necessary, or to take them to the remelter with little logistical effort. The shear require little space, can be loaded with a forklift and, thanks to their well-thought-out design, have low investment and operating costs. This saves our customers time-consuming handling, unnecessary storage and logistics costs and thus a big step towards the “circular economy”.

Causes of fire in recycling are complex. Veolia has identified the main risks in the process and ensured effective fire protection in its own plants. Veolia relies on T&B’s holistic protection concept to reduce fires in plants. We regularly read about devastating fire incidents in the recycling industry that destroy an entire plant and often threaten the continued existence of the company. Leading recycling companies have therefore had an internal damage management system in place for several years. The aim is to determine the causes of fire incidents and develop suitable countermeasures. Evaluations at Veolia, the global market leader in the areas of waste disposal, energy and water, have shown that shredders are a key risk area for fires. In Germany, the Veolia Umweltservice Group operates around 70 waste sorting and recycling plants with a total of over 150 pre- and post-shredders in operation. Main causes precisely identified The main causes of fires at and in shredders are impurities and faulty waste in the delivered waste. Most noticeable are pressurized containers, highly flammable liquids and

TDR sensors meet the highest safety standards, which makes them the preferred technology, especially in the pharmaceutical sector. A manufacturer of veterinary products equipped several of his process tanks for various liquids with modern level measurement technology. Due to the process conditions, the coaxial version of the guided wave radar sensor from UWT was installed within the injection reactors. Modular device design for flexible installation solutions In the course of expanding investments in machinery, equipment and buildings, a manufacturer of various pharmaceutical veterinary preparations in Argentina was looking for an accurate and durable solution to automate level measurement within his production facilities. Over 500 registered veterinary products are manufactured there for the global veterinary market. A special installation with radar measurement technology was implemented for level measurement within several 2000 liter reactors with different injection products. Due to the implemented heating system of the tanks, the interior space for the installation was very limited. The

Plant operators are busy keeping pace of the wide range of challenges presented by raw materials of the building sector, the changing operating conditions in silos or pipelines or the need for ex-certificates. Such requirements call for measurement solutions that are versatile, whilst representing a cost-effective investment and offering versions fully equipped to meet a wide variety of these requirements. Due to the fast development of the building and quarry industry in the MENA countries during the past years, the demand for more solution approaches for applications of cement plants there has increased. Solutions of appropriate sensor technology for content and point level measurement have to be found in order to support the process flow of the cement production in the most reliable way. - Case study: In one of Saudi Arabia’s largest cement plants UWT was confronted with especially harsh working conditions. For his cement silos the plant operator was looking after reliable contents measurement technology as well as after a flexible sensor system for level limit detection. The combination of a very high dust generation and an extremely high process temperature was

Solutions in the dam - Compact limit switch for process optimization for hydropower plants as a backwater detector for wood chip conveyance. One of the largest energy supply companies in the UK was looking for modern equipment for its northern dam with flexible metering technology. The electricity and natural gas supplier for local households and businesses has been focusing on hydropower generation for several years, in addition to wind power. The centrepiece of the dam’s hydropower plant is the installed wood chip system, which was recently implemented to curb pollution in the dam. Accumulated wood chips are transported to a designated storage area via a series of chain conveyors. These chain conveyors need to be monitored with modern and robust measurement technology. Namely, an indicator that functions as a full detector is required in the transfer chutes in order to detect a blockage with the wood chips in good time. Full detection for wood chip conveyance Together with the subsidiary UWT (UK) Ltd in Shrewsbury, a safe solution was found after several tests with oscillating probes that work according

About magnetic filtering, magnetic separation, several ways to remove metal foreign bodies from your product streams. Magnetic separators remove metal foreign bodies from your product streams. Metal foreign bodies ’contaminate’ your product, and they can also cause severe damage to your machinery. Rejection of batches is costly, but it can be even more costly if the foreign bodies are not removed, making it necessary to conduct a product recall. You will then be faced with huge costs and reputation damage. Examples of metal contaminants / foreign bodies: staples, nails and screws, bolts and nuts that have vibrated loose, wear of the moving steel and stainless steel machine parts and rust particles (corrosion). Magnetic separators filter and remove metal contaminations from your product streams, in order to guarantee high product quality and prevent damage to machines. Magnetic separator or metal detector? A magnetic separator filters/traps (and later removes) or immediately removes the metal contaminants from the product flow. Magnetic separators cause practically no product