Extraction system & briquetting

The following should be noted with regard to the technical characteristics and plus points of the system:

Energy efficiency                                      

By dividing the pipework system into 4 groups, the savings potential resulting from the different demand for extraction power can be fully exploited by speed control. This functionality is particularly important because the machine utilization has been increased in stages and even at full utilization the individual machines have different running performances.

The transport system in combination with the buffer container of the filter unit makes a further, considerable contribution to saving electricity costs. The capacity of this container has been designed in such a way that the chips arising in a single shift can be stored between them and only have to be pneumatically conveyed into the injection container via the ring line for a short time. This aspect is particularly important for the summer months when there is no heating load and the briquetting press therefore is not operated.

Quiet operation 

The exhaust fan is installed in the clean air chamber of the filter unit, which is lined with soundproof mats and contains a silencer on the exhaust side for further noise reduction.

In addition, the transport fan was fitted with a soundproof cover.

The noise emission of the filter unit and the transport fan is hardly perceptible, so that there were no problems with the home improvement store in the direct neighbourhood.

Briquetting 

The chip material separated in the filter unit is primarily briquetted and used as fuel to heat the production hall.

Below the filter unit, a room for the briquetting press was created by covering the supports with sheet metal panels, which is accessible via inspection doors. The SHB 125 (Fig. 2) was selected from SPÄNEX's extensive briquetting press range, which achieves an output of approx. 125 kg/h, corresponding to a material throughput of approx. 1 m³ of chips per hour. The octagonal briquettes produced are conveyed via a transport rail to the push floor container, which is fed via 3 filling stacks. The degree of filling is monitored by ultrasonic sensors.

The briquetting press is equipped with an oil preheater due to its outdoor installation. In addition, an exchangeable wear protection was provided to extend the service life of the machine body.

From the push floor container, a newly purchased boiler plant is fed with an automatic feed grate firing system. The maximum heating capacity is 350 kW.

Intelligent control technology

The function package of the electric circuit also automatically ensures the correct material handling.

During the heating period, briquettes are primarily produced from the separated chip material. For this, the briquetting press is fed via a rotary valve (decoupling link). If the separated chip material exceeds the throughput capacity of the briquetting press, the buffer volume of the chip container of the filter system is used first. If the filling level in the chip container reaches a maximum value, the pneumatic conveyor system is automatically activated and the excess chip material is blown into the chip container via a second rotary valve (decoupling element) and the transport fan. The filling level of this container is also monitored by a filling level indicator.

In the summer months, the chips are disposed of exclusively via the blow-in container.

Summary of the Management Board

After almost one year of operation, Mr. Strauß, the responsible head of operating technology at the Simmern site, is convinced of the performance and functionality of the plant as well as of the energy-saving and low-noise mode of operation. He sums up the result of the new extraction system as follows: "The extraction and briquetting system supplied by SPÄNEX, which was tailored to our special conditions, functions excellently and fully meets our requirements“.