According to the supplier, the process gas burner technology is delivering tangible gains in both energy usage and process efficiency, compared to an older system that it has replaced, with the focus on the production of wool grease, a natural by-product of the wool washing operation.
It has designed, installed and commissioned an elevated tank and burner assembly located on a gantry adjacent to the processing operations. Adrian Cadman, process burners sales manager at Lanemark Combustion Engineering, describes the set-up. “This [the tank] comprises three internal chambers which are progressively filled with water mixed with naturally-occurring wool grease from the wool washing process.” This byproduct is then sold on to customers worldwide, particularly in the cosmetics industry.
The three internal chambers, each one cubic metre in size, sit within an outer tank. The Lanemark TX 30 burner fires through the tank wall into a 10-pass submerged tube arrangement. This acts as a heat exchanger for the internal tanks containing the wash water/wool grease mix, raising the temperature level to approximately 50°C – which is said to be ideal to maintain the fluidity of the separated wool grease. Continues Cadman: “The products of combustion are pulled through the tube layout by a fan to ensure even and efficient distribution of heat.”
From here, the by-product is discharged into barrels for onward packing and shipping.Around one tonne of wool grease is made from 100 tonnes of wool processed every day by Thomas Chadwick and Sons, part of Standard Wool UK.
Cadman adds that the key elements – burner, gas train, fan and control panel – are fabricated from stainless steel. The burner itself is also covered for protection during washdown operations.