Tank washing head in cage
Innovative techniques in industrial cleaning take people out of the danger zone
Duisburg, 6.12.17 - Industrial cleaning at an aluminum plant like Trimet's in Voerde is a special task - because aluminum production facilities have their own peculiarities, due to production by means of electrical mass conversion, or electrolysis for short. One of the air pollution control systems in the anode factory, as well as that of the Trimet furnace, was to be cleaned of tar and pitch residues from the manufacturing process. Lobbe Industrieservice used its own design to clean the connecting pipes between the two flue gas systems for this purpose: a tank washing head in a cage. "Our first and foremost concern was occupational safety. After all, we work with maximum water pressure in ranges of 1,000 bar. The cage design keeps the relevant skilled workers outside the danger zone," says Dr. Reinhard Eisermann, Managing Director of Lobbe Industrieservice. A tank washing head is typically used to clean large storage tanks, such as those found on refineries. However, this new design is also suitable for curved pipes in aluminum production. "With this technical aid, none of our employees have to climb into the large-volume pipe anymore, but can position and control the tank washing head from a safe distance," says Dr. Eisermann.
The air pollution control system of the aluminum plant are cleaned with automated techniques such as the tank washing head in the cage
Recoil forces provide rotation
In November 2017, Lobbe Industrieservice had the order to carry out cleaning in areas of the kiln, on one of the two air pollution control systems, and on various connecting pipes of this system at Trimet in Voerde. For this purpose, a tank washing head was attached to two brackets and pulled through the curved exhaust pipe between the two flue gas filters. In order not to damage the washing head, Lobbe Industrieservice made a cage-like construction for this purpose. In it, the washing head lies freely movable around its axis. The recoil of the water at 1,000 bar now causes the arm of the tank washing head to rotate about its own axis. In addition, the body of the tank washing head rotates around itself. This rotation around two axes ensures that the outgoing water jet reaches every point on the pipe or tank wall. For a lasting effect, the selection of the nozzle size and the angle of the nozzle arrangement are quite decisive for the cleaning performance - after all, all inner walls of the pipe should get clean. A magnetic brake inside the wash head housing ensures a constant rotation speed. As a leading supplier of high-pressure processes, Lobbe has the specialist know-how for combining the optimum nozzles in each case.
The advantages of such an innovative process are obvious: The tank washing head reaches even extremely hard-to-reach places and the skilled worker is outside the danger zone. Secondly, Lobbe's specialists used a large sewer cleaning nozzle, which was used here to clean a large exhaust pipe. This device is also known as a "bomb" because of its appearance and has ten staggered high-pressure nozzles from which the water escapes. After a safety net is placed in front of the opening of the pipe, the "bomb" can be pulled through the cavity from the outside - again, the respective skilled workers positioning the sewer cleaning nozzle are outside the danger zone.
No residual materials into the environment
Lobbe's professional equipment includes a suction-pressure tanker. This not only has a vacuum pump, but also a high-pressure pump that can generate a water pressure of up to 1,000 bar. In addition, a water tank with a capacity of 3,000 liters is installed to first degas the water taken up by a hydrant. Only trained specialists are allowed to set the respective water quantities and pressures at the control panel. The dirty water from the cleaning process is picked up again by the same vehicle and sucked into a tank with a six-millimeter wall thickness made of duplex steel. The process water is first pumped into troughs. When the solids have settled in the trough, the liquid is sucked off at the surface and disposed of at specialized collection points.
Aluminum is everywhere
Aluminum is an all-purpose metal: In the aviation industry, for the construction of car engines or in the household as foil, the light and strong material is indispensable. However, the extraction of aluminum is not entirely simple. It occurs as bauxite in alumina. Instead of using heat, as is the case with iron ore, pure aluminum is extracted by electrolysis. This requires a positive pole, the anode, and a negative pole, the cathode - similar to a conventional battery. However, the dimensions in an aluminum plant are considerably larger than those of a conventional battery. The anodes are consumables, because they melt within three weeks during the electrolytic process.
Trimet Aluminium in Voerde produces such anodes: from pitch, petroleum coke and dusts that can be combined to form a solid mass. Conducting rods, the pins, are then inserted into the openings of the gigantic blocks to create a voltage field between the anode and cathode. This stress field generates temperatures of around 960 degrees Celsius and dissolves the alumina, which is in a salt bath, into aluminum and oxygen. Oxygen and carbon from the anode then combine to form carbon dioxide. The gases and alumina dusts produced by the process are passed through flue gas equipment, cooled by water mist and cleaned by a filter made of bags.
About Trimet Voerde
In May 2014, TRIMET acquired Voerde Aluminium GmbH, further expanding its production capacity for primary aluminum. A total of 280 employees work in the aluminum smelter and the adjacent anode factory, making the Voerde site an important mainstay for the production of high-purity aluminum in Germany.
Trust in proven quality
Day by day, raw aluminum is produced in Voerde which is then processed into rolling and extrusion ingots. In addition, the anode plant produces the anodes required for the electrolysis process. Both the employees and the technical equipment ensure that only flawless quality leaves the plant.
The Voerder plant at a glance:
- 188 electrolysis furnaces in 2 halls, PBCWPF (Kaiser technology, side by side)
- Rectifier plant with connection to the extra-high voltage grid
- 000 tons of electrolytic aluminum annual production capacity
- Own port facility and logistics for unloading alumina and petroleum coke
- Anode factory with open ring chamber furnace. In the 36 sections, up to 65,000 tons of fired anodes are produced with the lowest specific energy consumption using state-of-the-art technology
- 300 employees, including 10 trainees
About Lobbe
Lobbe is a medium-sized, family-run company in the technical services sector based in Iserlohn. The successful company comprises the areas of industrial services and waste disposal. Nationwide, Lobbe has 2,700 employees at 58 locations and currently has 138 trainees. Lobbe generates 360 million euros annually (as of 2020).
Contact
Lobbe Entsorgung West GmbH & Co KG/
Lobbe Industrieservice GmbH & Co KG
Sabine Günther
Public Relations
Stenglingser Weg 4 - 12
D-58642 Iserlohn
Phone: +49 23 74 - 504 - 349
Fax: +49 23 74 - 504 - 353
sabine.guenther@lobbe.de
www.lobbe.de
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