OREANDA-NEWS. Laitex Oy (Finland) has supplied a new ash conveyor as part of the ash handling retrofit at the boiler plant. The water-filled ash conveyor has been designed to protect from high temperatures and dust hazards encountered during ash removal, transportation and storage.

The new conveyor features a modular construction with maximum reliability and fully automated operation. It consists of six major parts and a chain, with a total weight of ten tonnes.

The installation was carried out by a Nizhny Novgorod-based contractor, assisted by Volga's own specialists from the mill's automation, electric and utilities supply divisions.

The conveyor was first pre-assembled alongside the boiler and then installed at the boiler structure and hooked up to the boiler systems.

July 29, a Laitex Moscow office manager Alexander G. Vartanian came to the mill to check the newly installed equipment in terms of quality of assembly and availability for service and to discuss specifics of its startup. The parties agreed that the installation and startup works had been carried out successfully in line with the manufacturer's documents.

As the boiler plant was shut down to install the ash conveyor, Volga's personnel were also busy replacing a rotor at the bark crusher unit used to crush wood rejects for the boiler.

The new ash handling system ensures an easy and safe ash removal process. Now that the ash is quenched with water in the conveyor, it cannot damage a transport vehicle or pose a hazard during storage.

In addition, the energy consumption and efficiency after the retrofit were improved by eliminating three ash valves, power 0.75 kW each, and two augers, power 5.5 kW each, while the new conveyor drive consumes only 1.1 kW.