When a coke-making plant in Germany undertook a partial rebuild of their 80+ unit coke battery in 1999, the rebuild included new door jamb cleaners, new pusher machines, and a total refurbishment of the overhead coke delivery system (Larry cars).
It was determined that hydraulic hose and electrical cable failures on the Larry cars accounted for approximately 3% lost production. The majority of these failures occurred when automated lid lifters opened the manhole-style covers on the top of the oven. Each time the lids opened, oxygen rushed in and immediately ignited the hot coke left on the furnace walls - causing a 10 to 20 second blast from the open cover. These flame blasts damaged the hydraulics and the electrical cables used to power and control the lid lifters.
ADL Insulflex, Inc. consulted on the project in support of our Dusseldorf-based distributor. We recommended upgrading from a low-cost industrial grade heat protection sleeve to our Aerostyle Pyrojacket®, which offers substantially better insulation values and more resistance to flame exposure.
From 1999 - 2004, not one hose or cable failure occurred due to heat damage. We revisited the application in 2004 and almost all the original Pyrojacket® was still in place — very dirty, but still in perfect operational condition, despite daily exposure to flame and outdoor conditions.
A few months later, the Coke plant ordered thousands of feet of Pyrojacket® sleeve to completely outfit all hydraulic hoses and electrical cables on the door cleaners, new pusher machines and quencher cars.
The case study provided above is based on information believed to be correct. ADL Insulflex® does not endorse or warranty any particular application, and assumes no liability for the accuracy of such information. ADL Insulflex provides free samples and recommends adequate testing be completed prior to the use of any Insulflex products.