Blackburn Chemicals is a family run company, founded in 1972, supplying a wide range of industries, including paper, food, paint and textiles, in over 50 countries. The company has been expanding production on site and most recently, since 2015, has invested over £8m on new plant and equipment which will help double production in different sectors.
As part of the expansion programme, Blackburn Chemicals has installed an EPC1000ES Thermal Fluid Heater to heat process vessels, a 2500kg/h VPX Rapid Steam Generator to heat storage vessels and an HEB 850 Hot Water Boiler to heat the process water, all from Babcock Wanson.
A long standing customer, Blackburn Chemicals has benefitted from a range of Babcock Wanson process heating systems over the years, including most recently in 2012 an HEB 300 Hot Water Boiler. Blackburn Chemicals’ Factory Manager Nicola Lord comments: “We have found Babcock Wanson equipment to be efficient and reliable and we always receive a good service from them.”
The Babcock Wanson EPC ES is a fully automatic coil type, multi-pass Thermal Fluid Heater which provides optimal distribution of the heat, high fluid velocity in the exchange tubes and continuous flow monitoring to ensure long fluid life and the highest level of safety. The EPC ES precisely matches fuel input to plant energy requirements and include their own in-built exhaust gas to combustion air economiser for highest practicable operating efficiency. With lower energy input demand also comes lower total exhaust emissions, so there are also environmental benefits.
The VPX vertical coil Steam Generator from Babcock Wanson features three full gas passes, plus an in-built combustion air pre heater to give high operating efficiency. With availability of steam from cold start in as little as three minutes and a low volume of water under pressure the VPX Steam Generator combines efficiency with safety, even at very high working pressure. The VPX is rugged in construction and very compact, requiring no additional devices normally associated with fire tube boilers which in turn means less boiler house manning demands.
The HEB Hot Water Boiler used at Blackburn Chemicals is a forced-circulation, fully automatic, oil or gas fired packaged unit, specifically designed for high efficiency and long working life. The reverse flame design provides optimum furnace loading and the radial firetube assembly minimises material stresses. A reversible front door allows simple and quick access for inspection of the combustion chamber and reversal tubes without the need to remove the burner.