Challenge

A pulp mill was having issues with its pulp drying machine evacuating condensate and the rotary joints and piping were leaking. The current service contractor was unable to resolve the issues and had been installing non-OEM parts. The mill had outsourced much of its service over the years and its in-house experts were spread thin.

The mill maintenance supervisor asked Kadant Johnson Services to conduct a dryer inspection. Dryer surface temperature measurements revealed that 11 of the dryers were flooded. Further inspection showed out-of-position syphons, including some that were upside down. Kadant Johnson Services then uncovered the non-OEM syphon shoe had lock nuts made with nylon, causing them to melt and the syphon shoe to come loose. Additionally, the horizontal syphon pipes were short-circuiting because the non-genuine O-rings had rolled during installation. The O-rings were misfit and had poor material properties.

Solution

Kadant Johnson Services immediately fixed the mis-installations and replaced failed components with new genuine parts where possible. One PTX™ steam joint and syphon system was installed as a trial to demonstrate the operating performance for future hardware change decisions.

Results

Kadant Johnson Services brought all 11 dryers back online after the shutdown and is now the go-to partner to inspect, repair, and maintain the mill’s dryer section. Dryer surface cleaning and NDT services are also being provided. The maintenance supervisor now can focus his limited resources elsewhere in the pulp mill.