Ceramics Industry
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Success Stories
CASE STUDY III: HISPAPLUS. PARADIGM SHIFT IN FIRING

Corporate
SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN 2016
BERALMAR CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY SCHEDULE
BERALMAR AT THE 2017 CERAMATECH FAIR

News and Accomplishments
NEW PROJECT IN MOROCCO

In 2006, the ceramics plant HISPAPLUS in Zamora (Spain) presented BERALMAR with a series of firing problems that were beginning to create a dire situation. The initial situation can be summarized by the following data:

- Daily production: 35 cars/406 tonnes.
- Impulse time: 15 minutes and 12 seconds.
- Waste: 8-10%.

The tunnel kiln, which had a double input and output door, a length of 130.5 m, an internal width of 4.5 m and a useful height of 2.2 m, was fuelled by natural gas. Moderate production levels had to be maintained to avoid higher levels of breakage, which, in spite of everything, were at a painful 10%. The firing curve revealed the origin of the problems: differences in temperature of up to 250 °C between high and low areas of the packages, in the pre-heating area and in the cooling area.

BERALMAR proposed to fix the problem by equipping the kiln with these new features:

- Two vertical groups of nine high-speed burner units each.
- One group of eight high-speed, cold-flame side burner units.
- High-temperature hot air (above 600 °C) recovery.
- Side injection of ambient air, between the package and the kiln roof, between the pre-heating area and the kiln’s second input door.

These changes greatly improved the firing curve:

Regarding kiln production, the results were overwhelming, increasing production by 20% and eliminating breakage almost entirely:

- Daily production: 42 cars/ 488 tonnes.
- Impulse time: 11 minutes and 6 seconds.
- Waste: 1%.

Large format (500 x 650 x 50 mm) Carrobrik production turned out impeccable:

The story of HISPAPLUS illustrates which features we have at our disposal to solve firing problems and achieve nearly perfect curves: 1) the use of ambient air side injectors (instead of traditional recirculating fans) during pre-heating, 2) recovery of high-temperature hot air to speed up the kiln’s cooling process in a controlled fashion and thus decrease impulse time (as well as optimize the volume of hot air recovered by the dryer), and, above all, 3) the installation of high-speed, cold-flame burner units (in the area between 300 and 500 °C during pre-heating). These features give us total control over the firing curve without increasing the dryer’s thermal consumption.

The next case study will be published in Newsletter no. 112 in February 2017.

This year, once again, BERALMAR has organised a campaign to collect food and toys that have been collected by EL REBOST in Terrassa. EL REBOST is a project that encompasses the work of the main institutions in Terrassa which distribute food to the most deprived people in the city, through basic food hampers that complement their basic diets. This entity has more than 150 volunteers, and anyone interested in collaborating may contact them at:

EL REBOST
Santa Maria Mazarel·lo 94, Terrassa
Tel. +34 931681623
albert.soler@creuroja.org

We would like to thank all our BERALMAR colleagues for their contributions which will surely make a difference to the most disadvantaged people in our city.

We wish to inform our customers, friends and collaborators that the BERALMAR offices will remain closed for the Christmas and New Year's holiday period between 24 December and 1 January inclusive.

On 2 January the entire company will be fully operational once more.

BERALMAR will participate once more in Moscow’s CERAMATECH fair, which over the past years has become the ceramic industry’s leading fair in Russia.

The fair is to be held at the Expocentre Fairgrounds in Moscow from 24 to 27 January, and visitors will be able to find BERALMAR at stand No. D10 in pavilion 7.

We look forward to seeing you in Moscow!

BERALMAR has just received an important order from Morocco: the renovation and implementation of a production line that has been stopped for years, for BRIQUETERIE SLAOUI in Salé.

The BERALMAR project will focus mainly on the tunnel kiln and consists of:

- Comprehensive renovation of the tunnel kiln:

• Reduction pre-kiln length.
• Extension of the firing zone.
• New high- and low-temperature hot air recovery system for the dryer.

- Installation of:

• Injection of ambient air during pre-heating, INJECTAIR model.
• GARIM rapid cooling, to be alternated with the new high-temperature hot air recovery system.
• MICROMATIC micronised petcoke firing facility.
• MICROBER automatic management system for the firing process.

The BRIQUETERIE SLAOUI has trusted BERALMAR on several occasions in the past and, despite changes in factory management, it has continued to trust BERALMAR for this major renovation, which will allow the ceramics plant to operate two production lines simultaneously and thus increase its global production capacity considerably. We would like to take this opportunity to thank BRIQUETERIE SLAOUI for their repeated trust in BERALMAR.