The products are prepared cyclically in six lines. Director of Automation and Electrical Work Jouni Ristiluoma says that the factory’s production is always changing as one product’s production cycle can take anywhere from two weeks to six months. There are always demanding reaction stages under way at the factory. Ristiluoma and Plant Engineer Veli-Matti Sorvisto agree that they do not make basic products.
Infrared pyrometers are the kingpin of CABB Oy’s hazardous waste incineration plant
CABB Oy operates a factory in Kokkola in Finland that produces plant protection products and pharmaceutical binders. All of the factory’s products are exported to Europe and the United States.
Chemical process waste water treatment
The complex chemical reactions produce waste waters that require a local hazardous waste incineration plant, which uses fuel oil as an auxiliary fuel for its gravity-fed boiler. In the incineration process, waste water is fed into the middle and organic solvents are fed around the perimeter. The process uses pure oxygen, which is rare in incineration plants.
The plant can treat about 3.5 cubic metres of waste water every hour, along with 50 to 1,000 kilograms of organic solvent waste. Waste water is piped from production into waste water tanks and sent to the feeding reservoirs of the incineration plant. Some waste water components can be leached and cleaned with activated carbon instead of incinerated.
Diligent emissions monitoring
For organic compounds to burn away completely, flue gases must remain in the incinerator for at least two seconds. The emissions are measured continuously, and the measurements supplemented with two external audits every year. The heat energy of the gases is recovered and used for steam generation, where the company has reached full self-sufficiency.
Correct temperatures guarantee clean burns
Two infrared pyrometers are mounted to the side of the incinerator. One secondary pyrometer is also used to ensure operational continuity during maintenance and calibrations. The temperatures must be right for the incineration process to achieve a clean burn. The process temperature is 850 to 1,200 degrees. Pyrometers were chosen for the CABB process because the conventional probes of other thermometers would not survive the aggressive flue gases at high temperatures.
Pyrometers measure temperature from the infrared radiation emitted by the carbon dioxide of the flue gas during combustion. The gas has a specific wavelength measured by a camera. The pyrometer includes the optics and a detector for collecting the radiation and translating the data into a temperature reading.
The measurements are challenging due to the high ambient heat and dirt collecting on the optics. Replaceable lenses made of compressed crystal reduce the need for maintenance.
