Steam Generator for Tyre Curing
A long standing customer, Vacu-Lug has operated three Babcock Wanson dual fuel VPX 2000RR Steam Generators from 1989 as part of its curing process for retreading tyres; the tyres are used for applications varying from delivery vans up to large earth moving dumper vehicles. The Babcock Wanson Generators have retained their original coils for 25 years - a testament to the quality of the equipment and the water treatment regime carried out by Vacu-Lug’s maintenance department.
With the VPX-RR units reaching the end of their working life and with the opportunity to make considerable energy savings, Vacu-Lug has opted to update its steam rasing equipment by installing two Babcock Wanson gas fired vertical ESM2000.
The Solution
A coil type Steam Generator, the ESM2000 provides high operating efficiency coupled with low emissions. It utilises modern controls to maintain a close ratio between the burner firing rate and water input, whilst its variable speed drives for the fan and feed water pump enable the unit to stay on load while closely matching process demand. This ensures the lowest practicable consumption of both fuel and electrical power.
Both ESM2000s at Vacu-Lug have been fitted with economisers to allow the feedwater to collect heat from the waste flue gases prior to entering the steam generator. In addition to equipment supply, Babcock Wanson helped Vacu-Lug with the upgrade of its water softening and TDS monitoring systems.
What the Client Thought
Peter Connolly, Production Engineer at Vacu-Lug, is pleased with the performance of his Babcock Wanson Steam Generator: “The ESM 2000 installation, together with an ongoing programme of process plant lagging and steam trap maintenance, has enabled us to significantly reduce our gas usage and cushion the company against rising gas prices.”
With many manufacturers moving from steam to thermal fluid heating, Peter explains his company’s decision to remain with this heat raising technology: “The curing process is a critical element of the retread process and requires three variables – heat, pressure and time. Steam provides the heat element of this process. The steam generators have proven to be reliable items of plant.”
“Since Vacu-Lug is able to process a wide range of tyres from those that fit onto delivery vans up to very large tyres which can be as large as a delivery van, the curing process can lead to a highly variable steam demand. We have found that steam generators can react to variable steam demands as they can very quickly proceed from standby through to steam generation within minutes.”
With Babcock Wanson’s ESM2000 this is further enhanced through its quick Autostart facility, enabling a standby Generator to be brought on line in a very short timeframe if steam demand requires it.
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