SER Burner Addition, York, Pa.

DEPARTMENTS: INDUSTRIAL HEATING
MARKET: PROCESS HEATING, SPECIALTY COATINGS, REFRACTORIES, STEEL, FOUNDRIES
TIMELINE: 5 DAYS
LOCATION: YORK, PA

Three-Phase Solution

Walton & Company works with industrial heating clients in Central Pennsylvania and Maryland, including a global manufacturer in York, PA of refractory products for the steel, cement, and glass industries. Products manufactured in their facility are used in furnaces, kilns, and ladles that hold molten steel and glass. More than 50% of the product produced in their facility is cured in a convection oven that operates at 550°F. The oven operates at maximum capacity and with increased demands of product by their customers, the company looked for solutions to increase the output of refractory products from the oven.

THE WALTON SOLUTION

Walton & Company worked with the plant’s engineers to implement a three-phase solution that would increase the capacity of the oven:
• Phase 1 - Modify the oven’s internal air plenums to drive more convective heat into the first oven zone. Walton & Company designed and installed custom air plenum plates that were installed over a four-day shutdown period.
• Phase 2 - Add 10 additional burners to the top of the second oven zone. Walton & Company installed 10 single-end recuperators (SER) burners on the top of the second oven zone which already contained eight side burners. New combustion air piping, gas piping, and stainless steel vent pipe were installed along with a supplemental combustion control panel. After five days, the installation was completed and the ten burners contributed an additional 900,000 BTU/H of heat input to the oven capacity.
• Phase 3 - Add 4 burners on the side of the third oven zone. Planned for the future, phase 3 will further increase the capacity of the oven.