Boilers for the Construction Material Industry

The heat requirements of the building materials manufacturing process are very varied. From the need for high temperature storage for asphalt plants (production of bitumen and asphalt) to insulation manufacture and through to paint production Babcock Wanson has a solution to meet the needs of each process.

One of the most crucial factors in the management of bitumen is the process of heating the product storage tanks. The temperature of the bitumen needs to be kept sufficiently high – a constant 165°C is typical - to maintain its fluid state in order to ensure that the product can still be pumped when it reaches the customer. When bitumen’s temperature drops too low it becomes difficult or impossible to pump, and therefore to use, and so an accurate and reliable heat source is of paramount importance.

Product Recommendations

There are three basic heat sources that are commonly used for heating bitumen storage tanks. The first of these and, the most basic source of heating, is hot water which, when used in a high pressure closed system can provide high levels of heat transfer rate - but only with the water at high pressure and with limited opportunities to turn the temperature up a few degrees if required.

The second heating source used is steam. This most traditional form of process heating using steam produced using fire tube boilers or coil type steam generators has a number of advantages including a high heat transfer coefficient, good latent heat characteristics at low pressures and the ability to maintain heat transfer at constant temperatures. This method of heating bitumen storage tanks is still used extensively but is rapidly being replaced by the use of thermal fluid heaters due to their very simple operation at high temperature in a closed loop and at low pressure.

Essentially replacing water as the heat transfer medium within a closed system, a thermal fluid system operates as a low pressure, no-loss circuit. Heat loss is minimal making it the most efficient method of heating bitumen tanks. Unlike steam systems which generally need to be in a separate plant room due to their size, thermal fluid systems are compact in size so, not only do they not require special site work, they can fit into small spaces which means that, in most cases, they can be installed close to the heating tanks.

Services Available

To ensure high operational availability of the equipment, Babcock Wanson is committed to offer service and technical aid which can be customised according to the client needs.

  • Telephone service and rapid response times: Implementing a rigorous scheduled service and maintenance plan will provide you greater equipment reliability and efficiency.
  • Availability commitment: Babcock Wanson’s extensive network of Service Engineers are fully qualified and trained to respond to any service needs related to your heater or boiler.

Construction Material Industry Boilers Customers

ALSTOM-logo
ARCELOR-MITTAL-logo
BOUYGUES-CONSTRUCTION-logo
Gurit-logo
jaguar-land-rover-logo
PSA-PEUGEOT-CITROEN-logo