German trials for portable gas testing
15 Jan 2000
Germany's lime and cement plants are often called Dreckschleudern - the filthy tongues - by their neighbourhoods, according to analytical systems developer Testo, which is based in Lenzkirch. However, a new portable flue gas analyser, the 360T can optimise production of cement and other materials and improve control of emissions, says managing director Peter Greiser.
A major lime and cement plant in Lagerdorf has been testing the 360T, which was launched in the UK in February. To determine energy balances in the different types of furnaces various process gas parameters need to be measured, on both clean and crude sides of the reaction. Measurements are primarily connected with process optimisation rather than emissions monitoring.
The 360T, which can be up and running 30min after being unloaded from a car, can assess the following process gases at a range of concentrations: CO at up to 4vol%; O2 (10); CO2 (50); SO2 and NOx at a few hundred ppm; and dust at up to 10g/m3. The 360T is fairly insensitive to interference by dust, operating satisfactorily at up to 100g/m3 and its overall performance in gas analysis is comparable to fixed systems, claims Greiser. Furthermore, the system operates at temperatures above 50 degreesC.
`Previously there has been no such portable system to fulfil these requirements,' Greiser told PE, `but there has been considerable interest in its cost savings and quality improvements.'
The Testo 360 T costs £15 000 against Greiser's estimate of fixed systems costing `four to eight times that.'
