www.cementamericas.com • Winter 2015 • CEMENT AMERICAS
FEATURE
MARTIN ENGINEERING
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between Omaha and Lincoln, the fa-
cility in Louisville, Neb., has an an-
nual output of about a million stpy of
portland and blended cement.
PROBLEMS
When system operators began notic-
ing material buildup in the precal-
ciner, they found that it was impeding
the flow through the preheater and
into the kiln.
The staff used the common technique
of water lancing to remove blockages,
particularly from the preheater tower's
riser duct. But the time-consuming
process had to be repeated twice daily,
when maintenance personnel would
open access doors into the tower and
remove the accumulation with a high-
pressure spray.
"Efficient material flow is a critical
element of dry-process cement man-
ufacturing, and accumulation or
blockages can take a big bite out of a
plant's profitability," explained Martin
Engineering's Andy Marti. "Although
many plants still use manual tech-
niques to remove build-up, the cost
of labor and periodic shutdowns has
led many producers to investigate
more effective methods for dealing
with this type of maintenance."
AIR-POWERED SOLUTION
In order to prevent the loss of effi-
ciency and clinker quality at Ash
Grove Louisville, a group led by
process engineer Mark Junkins inves-
tigated possible solutions. They met
with material handling experts from
Martin Engineering, and together the
group designed a network of Martin
XHV Air Cannons Air Cannons for the
main production line.
Martin Engineering technicians in-
stalled the air cannons during a
scheduled maintenance outage,
starting where the accumulation ap-
peared most severe: below the riser
orifice, where the duct is reduced in
size to increase velocity.
The unique cannon design requires
no high-temperature discharge pipes