The Problem
Steel Cement, a subsidiary of Independent Cement and Lime, are based in Melbourne and are a leading supplier of cementitious products to the Victorian region. For their new $60 million Slag Grinding Facility in Yarraville they commissioned Luehr Filter to supply a 246,000m3/hr dust collector that was a more environmentally friendly product than the Clinker based alternative.
Solution
Luehr Filter’s key component in solving this problem is the superior technology in the offline, reverse-air filter cleaning system.
This system, isolates the airflow to the bag row being cleaned and the adjacent bag rows whilst a cleaning fan provides enough reverse airflow to release the dust cake from the filter bags. These rows remain offline long enough for the dust cake to fall down to the hopper, significantly reducing re-entrainment of particles on neighbouring bags.
The offline system is not competing against the filter’s main airflow, therefore, the air force required to clean the filter elements is far less than the common compressed air reverse pulse alternative. This approach reduces emissions, preserves the life of the bag and eliminates the need for compressed air
Removing the need for compressed air also eliminates blow tubes, which cause manual handling and storage issues during a bag change over.
To further reduce manual handling issues Luehr Filter also caps bag lengths at 2.5 metres for horizontally mounted or 3.0 metres for vertically mounted bags.
Result
The system was installed on time and commissioned without any issues. The plant has since been reliably producing hydrated and is meeting all expectations.
The intelligently designed system can reduce bag differential pressure by as much as 0.5 kPa resulting in a bag differential pressure of between 0.9 and 1kPa reducing the plant’s power requirements. Improved OH&S is also engineered into the system reducing the effort and the time required to change filter bags, resulting in lower operating costs. These outcomes make the Luehr Filter’s offline reverse-air technology even more attractive.
In 1997 Luehr Filter supplied a reverse pulse cleaned mill filter to Steel Cement’s Port Melbourne plant which is still in operation today. This legacy of proven reliability, coupled with the state of the art cleaning technology of this new mill, reaffirms Luehr Filter’s reputation as an industry leader.