Results:
- Zero cracks
- Same motor load and dewatering as with a standard compression housing
- Longer operational lifetime
- Lower running costs than with conventional plug screw presses
AdvaProtect Segments for plug screw feeders
Like new - every time
For the last 23 years, German fiberboard producer, Homanit, has been using
the same 3 plug screw feeder compression housings that ANDRITZ delivered
back in 1994. And they had no reason to change. As maintenance chief Achim
Klein pointed out, “They worked great - we were happy!” But after more
than two decades of successful operation, Mr. Klein has done exactly that –
changed.
In the medium- and high-density fiberboard (MDF & HDF) industry, wood fibers mean money. But they are also abrasive and, over time, they will wear out your machinery. Especially in conical plug screw feeders (PSF), which suffer heavy wear on the inner surface of the pressure housing. In the past, the only way to manage this was to run the unit until the flutes on the pressure housing wore out, then send it away to have more metal welded onto the worn-out flutes. Over and over and over again. It was the same story at Homanit. Until now.
ANDRITZ AdvaProtect Segments
Homanit operates three MDF/HDF plants, two in Poland and one in Germany. At its plant in Losheim, Germany, the firm produces 60 million m2/yr of high-density (820-870 g/m2) fibreboard (HDF) for doors and furniture. As part of this production, Homanit had been running its PSF until the pressure housing needed repairs – just like everyone else does – for more than 20 years. But now Losheim is the first plant in the world that doesn’t do it like everyone else. Instead, they decided to try AdvaProtect Segments from ANDRITZ.
Instead of the traditional way of maintaining the pressure housing, where you repair damage by welding on more metal, ANDRITZ’s new AdvaProtect Segments give you a genuinely brand-new housing interior every time, fresh from the factory. Simply remove the old ones and fit the new ones. No risk of cracks or deformation of the housing. And instead of 2 months, it takes 2 hours, and costs much less.
There is one fairly major spend involved with AdvaProtect Segments, as they require a new pressure housing when switching to the new set-up. However, this is a one-time only investment. And even including this, the total investment and the ongoing running costs are dramatically lower than with conventional plug screw presses.
Homanit has decided to order its next screw feeder refurbishment from ANDRITZ. Klein says “I told our Managing Director long ago that I wanted the AdvaProtect Segments. He said if we order it, we’ll think about ordering it for all 3 of our plants.”
