MAINTENANCE OF KILN CARS
THE IMPORTANCE OF A GOOD SELECTION
Kiln car linings, submitted to hard working conditions in any brick & tile plant, are one of the most important parts of the initial plant investments and its perfect condition is a pre-requisite for a trouble free operational production; therefore the following is important:
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Design and construction must be adapted to the
product and process. -
To design a maintenance plan; this keeps the kiln-cars in an excellent condition, avoiding repair costs at a later date.
Forgestal, S.L. is specialised in a integrated solution for the kiln car construction and design combined with a maintenance solution in the ceramic industries.
Over years we have developed kiln car constructions and cleaning installations, adjusted to various different manufacturing systems; with this we have realised, that a clean kiln car is an absolute pre-condition for its own survival and life span.
Through the vacuum-cleaning of kiln cars, one avoids the entering of chips and dust between the refractory blocks. If one does not remove these chippings during the progression of firing cycles, which cause expansion and shrinkage movements, the chips penetrate into the joints and cause movements or even breakage of the refractory blocks, which form part of the kiln car lining.
In addition it is important that the expansion and shrinkage movements take place in the most equilibrate way, which means that the refractory pieces are heated and cooled as uniformly as possible. Forgestal provides for those cooling and heating principles in the design of its kiln cars so that the kiln cars fit as good as possible with the kiln firing curve.
Although the investment into an automatic vacuum-cleaning system does not influence the production process directly, it nevertheless is an installation, which pay itself back for the following reasons:
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Less repairs on kiln cars.
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No personnel required for cleaning and much lower for maintenance.
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Reduction of waste or second class ware in production.
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Increased life of all kiln cars.
BENEFITS FROM KILN CAR CLEANING
THE AUTOMATIC CLEANING SYSTEM
The automatic vacuum-cleaning installation, developed by Forgestal, S. L. comprises of a complete programme of modules, which can be combined to
meet any conditions found:
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Automatic Vacuum Module:
Herewith one cleans all free horizontal surfaces of kiln car linings. Additionally, the telescopic suction mouth allows cleaning the kiln car deck under the setting blocks, after these have been manually or automatically lifted off.
The direct, blockage-free connection-duct system without flexible hoses or friction joints between the moving suction head and the fixed suction-module, protected through our own patents, forms the principal base for a compact
solid machine with low head-losses, which optimises transport-volume to capacity.
The module includes the repositioning of setting blocks in width of kiln car deck, in order to keep them always at the same distance from the walls and to avoid any accident in the kiln. Even the small deck areas at both sides of the
setting tables are vacuum cleaned in order to eliminate any particles (dust-chips) in this area that could interfere with the kiln interlock.
The vacuum cleaning module is optionally prepared for vacuum cleaning and brushing of front and rear joints of kiln cars, taking care of seal joint fibre ropes and leaving them in a perfect condition.
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Auto-LineFront Module:
This module centres the setting blocks back into their original position in longitudinal direction.
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Lifting Module for setting blocks:
This module lifts the setting blocks so that the vacuum cleaning suction head can clean the deck surface.
Thereafter it positions the blocks back on to car deck and repositions and aligns them in a longitudinal way. When required, usually in the case of wide kiln cars, our machines reposition the setting blocks respecting the previously specified separation between them.
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Kiln car Positioning Transporter:
When it is necessary this machine moves kiln car under the cleaning installation, in coordination with the cleaning process. It can be fitted with a
controlled gripper which allows the forward and return motion of a kiln car.
The system allows various levels and degrees of combinations. Starting from vacuum cleaning installation one can progressively add the other equipments. It is even possible in certain conditions to start with an initial manual cleaning
module and upgrade progressively to a complete automatic installation with lifting module.
The design vacuum cleaning equipment is fully adaptable to any existing kiln car construction.
The cleaning cycle is always engineered to be faster than setting or dehacking, so it does not interfere with the rest of the production.
Fitting and commissioning of a complete Vacuum Cleaning Installation requires a short time, since the equipment is already tested in our workshops and pre-designed for a fast assembly on site. Under standard conditions one has not to stop production process during the installation of our equipment.