
Is Your Dryer in a Tight Spot?
We can build a sectionalized rotary dryer replacement with factory specs.
What can material processors do when their aged and worn rotary dryer needs replacing and yet, since it was originally installed, structural steel or even a complete building has been erected around it? Now that the dryer needs to be replaced, both the dryer and the owner-operator are in a tight spot!
Yet Louisville Dryer Company has provided several customers with the ideal solution for such challenging circumstances. We custom-build sectionalized replacement dryers that are produced and completely assembled in our factories, then disassembled and shipped to the customer’s site, and then rebuilt onsite by our team with exacting precision. The new sectionalized dryer replaces the old dryer that had been cut up and removed from ‘inside the bottle’ using heavy lifting equipment including gantry cranes.
How We do it.
The individual sections are designed and custom-manufactured by our dryer craftsmen:
- They are assembled in our ASME facility typically using flanges with machined pin holes and dowels, disassembled, and shipped, and then precisely reassembled at the customer site..
- Initial alignment is achieved using bolts through the flanges, and then further fine tuning is done using dial indicators before the sections are permanently welded together.
- Precise sectional welding is another area where our expertise shines – as we maintain the specified shell runout and consider weld draw (distortion of the metal from welding).
The Louisville Dryer installation and commissioning teams ensure that the new unit and all related components are professionally installed, precisely balanced and optimally performing.
Some of our numerous projects for which we have provided Sectionalized Rotary Dryer Replacements.
For a minerals processor in California
A mineral company processing sodium sulfate had two direct heat dryers which were beyond their useful life cycle. The feed ends of the units were partially nested in a building and the dryers were surrounded by dust control and process equipment.
Louisville Dryer developed a plan to build each of the replacement dryer drums in three sections. Each section was flanged so that the drum could be completely assembled in our shop to hold to normal runouts. Once transported to the customer, the dryer sections were lifted into place and flange-mounted, then the sections were field welded. The result was a fully fabricated drum operating to factory specifications.
A sectional hastelloy dryer for an agricultural products processor in Illinois
For a Western region mining and refining company
Additional sectionalized dryer projects
Challenges of Building Sectionalized Dryers
Some of the engineering challenges of a sectionalized dryer solution include:
- Design it with the fewest number of shell sections.
- Avoid locating a welding seam in the middle of a tire or gear tube support.
- Maintain the specified shell runout, taking into account weld draw.
Ideal Solution for Processing Companies
who are in a Tight Spot.
While sectionalized rotary replacement dryers are more expensive than monolithic rotary dryers, they can be designed to either match or exceed the production rate of the original dryer. And they can often serve as the ideal solution for material processing companies who require such design ingenuity to resolve their space limitations and equipment challenges.
As we have proven time and time again – and as confirmed by thousands of satisfied customers – Louisville Dryer Company is the team who can help you and your dryer get out of a tight spot.