Wiegand Glas Steinback has put a second batch preheater into operation. With this addition, all three components of the Sorg Batch 3 system are being utilised on furnace 5: The EME-NEND charger, to reduce dust outside of the furnace; the IRD Doghouse to minimise dust in the furnace and regenerators; and now the batch preheating system to reduce energy and increase throughput. The batch preheater was scheduled to be commissioned in one week. After 12 hours, Wiegand achieved a batch preheat temperature of 260 deg C. After 24 hours commissioning was completed, a constant batch preheat temperature of 270 deg C was achieved without any upset to production. In addition to 14% energy savings, the furnace is now producing 270/tpd compared to 250/tpd before the preheating unit was installed.
