On-Site Heat Treatment of Rotary Kiln at the Górażdże Cement Plant

During the final months of 2021, the Wizards of Metal started an interesting heat treatment project at the Górażdże Cement plant, the largest, most modern cement plant in Europe. The project involved the fast mobilization of a large team of Heatmasters heat treatment specialists, equipped with multiple heat treatment units suitable for continuous preheating of the clinker rotary kiln’s components.

Górażdże Cement Plant

The Górażdże Cement plant is located in Chorula, a village in south-western Poland. The plant is owned by Heidelberg Cement Group and began operations in 1977. During the plants’ history, there have been many development and modernization investments, which have strengthened its position at the forefront of the largest and most modern cement plants in Europe.

The plant has technological lines for firing Portland clinker, including two rotary kilns for burning clinker and four cement mills. Raw materials used for production include limestone and marl which are obtained from two nearby mines.

 

Scope of Project and Heat Treatment at the Cement Plant

Our team received news of urgent repairs requiring preheating. Within a few days, they were on-site, ready to start working. The clinker rotary kiln’s components were to be repaired/replaced, and the process included disassembly, welding with continuous preheating, followed by reassembly.

 
Welding works were completed by one of our partners on-site. They were also responsible for the detachment of the rotary kiln components, welding works, and attaching the new components (requiring utmost accuracy).

The tube in the below images was rotated by 45 degrees for welding, twice per day. This meant that during the preheating process, cables from our heat treatment machines, and all the flexible ceramic heaters had to be reconnected several times.
 

 
Our operators utilized Heatmasters’ flexible heating elements, which were attached to the component with pins that were welded onto the surface.

 

Equipment for Preheating

Our operators were equipped with Heatmasters semi-automatic preheating units. These thyristor-controlled transformer-type units have been designed with usability in mind: their simple and lightweight structure allows effortless mobility and efficient pre-heating at any location.
Several HM403T heat treatment units and accessories such as thermocouple wire, insulation material, and Heatmasters’ flexible ceramic heating elements were required to get this job done.

 
These units are designed for on-site preheating works, and they feature our BTC Temperature Control System. It is a simple, bulletproof system that allows the user to set the holding temperatures and control heating and cooling ramps with just a few buttons.
The HM403T has a power output of 40kW and 3 heating channels. Heatmasters also offers 6-channel and higher power-output models.
 
For any heat treatment processes which require documentation, such as post-weld heat treatment, Heatmasters suggests and utilizes our fully automatic units. These feature a digital, computer-based temperature control system. This control system allows complete process control, digital documentation, and features such as on-site/remote

Half a century of experience in on-site works has allowed us to design equipment and solutions that are innovative and designed with industry requirements such as ease-of-use and a long product lifetime in mind!
 

Heat Treatment and Industrial Services

Heatmasters looks forward to future challenges utilizing our knowledge and long-term experience in high-quality heat treatment and industrial services.
In addition to on-site pre-heating and post-weld heat treatment (PWHT), Heatmasters provides custom-tailored solutions including:
• Heat treatment of workpieces in fixed furnaces
• Heat treatment of large workpieces in portable temporary furnaces
• Refractory dry-outs
• Wide range of industrial services (NDT, surface treatment, welding, etc.)
• High-tech heat treatment equipment (furnaces, transformers, temperature control systems, etc.)
• Modernizations for all manufacturer’s heat treatment equipment

Click here to read more about the Górażdże Cement plant.