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Charcoal
Production
In a special
repair project, the European Union commissioned DIAK under
the Stabex budget programme to restore a failed charcoal production
system in an African factory. Previously the factory had invited
tenders to design and build on site a set of 3 large kilns
to convert dry waste husk, a by-product of their process,
into charcoal for sale in the local marketplace. The charcoal
was to be of significant environmental benefit, reducing the
local consumption of fresh wood, and finding a use for the
waste of the production line. A local firm won the tender,
but their kilns suffered from major design faults and the
expansion /contraction cycle resulted in dangerous cracks
which broke up the kiln walls.
DIAK designed
a repair process for the kilns which involved four stages.
The inner walls of the kilns were blasted clean of carbonised
remains. They were then lined with stainless steel mesh held
into the brickwork with stainless steel parrot clips. A high
pressure concrete spraying machine then lined the inside with
refractory cement of a special grade. As the new lining dried,
the outside of the kilns were strengthened with steel hoops
pinned into the brickwork. The work was done as a turnkey
project by British engineers on secondment from DIAK, with
equipment airfreighted in for the work. DIAK delivered all
materials to site by sea prior to their arrival.
In a later
separate project, the feed of husk was improved and automated,
with a new set of airlocks integrated into an existing pneumatic
conveying line, and routed via remotely operated diverter
valves to head feeder silos. The system controlled the flow
switching the feed of husk between the silos and an interim
storage silo working from a feedback battery of 20 level switches.
The pneumatics were designed by Chicago based consultants
for DIAK, and sourced and installed by DIAK engineers.
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