Sizeable savings with new nozzles

The questions from cement plants are always the same. ‘Why are my air cannons not powerful enough?’, and ‘why are they not cleaning what we need them to clean?’. These concerns are expressed more than any others, and plant operators have every right to question why their equipment is not performing at maximum capacity. The answer to these concerns is quite simple, yet also complex at the same time. The short response would be to advise cement plants to update their equipment and cleaning technology to meet the evolving market, but the full answer is much deeper than this.

For many years, cement plants have often accepted mediocrity within their cleaning operations in order to avoid the high costs of updating their equipment. Unfortunately, the area of improvement that OEMs generally push in their marketing is the upgraded air cannon and not the nozzle itself.

IGS believes most of the issues regarding performance are based on the nozzle design and the amount of cleaning energy used. Technology is knocking on the door of the air cannon and cement industries, and plants must be prepared to embrace this technology if they wish to keep up with market demands. Yes, proper installation and maintenance are important, but how effective can cleaning truly be when the equipment a plant uses is old and outdated. This is often when plants decide to give up and accept inferior cleaning and reduced production simply because they do not know about the existence of more advanced options. IGS have introduced a new and improved range of nozzle designs that look to provide superior cleaning capabilities for the cement industry. It should be kept in mind that it does not matter how powerful the air cannon is if it is not working, and it does not matter how reliable the air cannon is if it is not cleaning!

Life of a nozzle

In a recent poll conducted by IGS during a World Cement webinar, participants were asked how often they are forced to replace their nozzles. The options to choose from were every year, every two years, or three years. Sadly, the highest percentage of participants answered that they replace their nozzles once a year. This is an unacceptable occurrence as it generates unnecessary costs for replacement nozzles in addition to mediocre cleaning and lower productivity. The cement industry must collaborate better with OEMs to ensure they are receiving higher quality nozzles at affordable prices. Air cannon nozzles should last for up to five years. Anything less should be treated as intolerable, and all cement plants should strive to make it a standard practice to purchase better nozzles.

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Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/special-reports/30122022/sizeable-savings-with-new-nozzles/