PRESS RELEASE: Magnesitas Navarras and BCB: Thermography in rotary kilns with the bcbRotaryScan system

Madrid, May 25, 2023.

A success story of monitoring with infrared thermography for early detection of failures and continuous and online surveillance

In metallurgy, monitoring furnaces and checking their correct operation is a vital activity. However, the high temperatures that are handled and the complexity of its design make this not an easy task. This is even more accentuated when the type of kiln to be studied is a rotary kiln: a large cylinder through which both solid and molten materials circulate, all of this rotating slowly on the longitudinal axis of the cylinder, which at the same time manages to remove and heat these materials inside. Like any oven, the rotary type can present failures, anomalies, and small defects that are magnified over time if they are not attended to. The high losses and high repair costs of a furnace are the motivation behind continuous and online thermographic monitoring systems such as those offered by BCB, a Spanish engineering and technology company dedicated to condition monitoring in different sectors. , from automotive to renewable energy. As a specialized distributor and integrator of the manufacturer of Teledyne FLIR thermal imaging cameras, BCB offers solutions that incorporate the most advanced thermal imaging techniques to ensure optimal conditions in production processes, regardless of how aggressive or hostile the environment. Thanks to thermography, a field in which BCB is an expert, it is possible to control the main parameter that governs an oven (its temperature) and have control over it at all times. In this context, the Spanish company Magnesitas Navarras, a leader in its sector, decided in 2022 to take advantage of the advantages offered by BCB to provide optimal monitoring of its two rotary kilns. In this way, the risk of damage, unexpected stoppages and maintenance of their ovens has decreased, as has their energy efficiency and long-term useful life. The monitoring system installed, called bcbRotaryScan, consists of an intelligent solution that combines thermography, the fusion of images from different cameras, their post-processing, and a series of functionalities integrated into the software to maintain constant control over the ovens and make the most of the data acquired by the cameras. The camera model chosen for this application was the FLIR A70, a modern and versatile camera recently developed by Teledyne FLIR, which manages to combine high resolution, excellent thermal sensitivity, and high acquisition speed. The large Magnesitas Navarras kilns, 60 meters long, are viewed by two cameras each, which send the data to the PC where the BCB software is installed. The bcbRotaryScan processes the information to extract as much utility as possible from it: first, the images from both cameras are rectified and merged, achieving a single level image of the entire length of the kiln. Thanks to this process, it is very easy for the operators to inspect the thermal state of the kiln at a glance, relayed on a monitor where the BCB application user interface is located. But not only the operators monitor the temperature of the oven, but the program has integrated alarms and specialized warnings, ready to be sent to those responsible for the process by different means of communication (SMS message, email, light beacon, siren, etc.) that report any thermal anomaly uninterruptedly, 24/7. Additionally, this system automatically generates consolidated images of each kiln rotation, which are used to carry out an analysis of the thermal evolution of its surface over a longer period. This makes it possible to see changes in its behavior and in its thermal response, and above all it facilitates the early prevention of failures and prevents an alarm situation from being reached. This tool, called Image Builder (developed by BCB), manages to put the entire surface of the oven cylinder in a single image, just as if a piece of paper had been rolled up into a tube. It is by comparing these images, coming from different turns of the kiln, how this profitable study can be carried out. In addition, the BCB application is able to communicate bidirectionally with the Magnesitas Navarras systems to find out, for example, the rotation speed of the kiln and get even more precision in the returned outputs. This project was a success for both BCB and Magnesitas, and shows once again that collaborations of this type are fruitful both for the service provider, who expands his presence in the sector, and for the client, who benefits from a product that improves your processes, increases your energy and economic efficiency, and ultimately improves as a company.

Contact Contact name: Juan Briñez Forero Contact description: Juan Briñez Forero Contact telephone number: 606 750 564