Plant Applications: Steel strip coater reduces gas usage with regenerative thermal oxidizer

June 30, 2010

Situation

The color coat line at the Corus (formerly British Steel) Shotton Works in Flintshire, U.K., produces painted steel strip by applying paint and drying it in an oven system. The finished materials are used in the construction industry and for household appliances.

The company decided to embark on an energy-saving project aimed at updating its 30-year-old system and reducing its gas consumption by 45 percent.

Resolution

In partnership with Anguil Environmental Systems, Milwaukee, Spooner Industries Ltd. of West Yorkshire, England, provided Corus with a regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO) that destroys the harmful solvents evaporated in the process and recovers more than 85 percent of the energy required to destroy the solvents.

The installation required bringing the old ovens up to current standards and adding a new computerized control system with dedicated safety systems. The control communicates with the central system at Corus to set up the ovens correctly for each product.

Since the installation of the oxidizer, Corus is on track to save 60 percent in gas usage, representing more than $1.5 million a year, and reduce CO2 emissions at the plant by more than 1.1 tons each hour - - nearly 8,800 tons each year.

In addition to the oxidizer, a secondary heat exchanger recovers energy by preheating the air going into the ovens.

Spooner Industries Ltd., Railway Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, LS29 8JB, England, 44-1943-609505, www.spooner.co.uk