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Application- A major tire manufacturer in the Southeastern United States seeking to improve their steam curing process.

Challenge- As part of their maintenance schedule, this facility requires weekly shutdowns in key areas of the plant. When restarting these key areas, they often experience high levels of condensate in their steam piping. This condensate makes its way to the steam curing area. The process of steam curing requires very high-quality steam to be effective. As such, the presence of condensate can cause improper curing resulting in lost product. Any amount of lost product at this stage in manufacturing is at a very high cost to the company. So, the challenge was to determine the source of the excessive condensate and eliminate it.

Solution- After careful consideration, this facility selected VorTek Instruments’ VorCone™ meter for its unique steam metering capabilities. Specifically, the ability to provide a continuous steam quality measurement and total mass flow measurement (steam & condensate mixture). The VorCone meter was installed on the main steam header leaving the boiler. This allowed operators to confirm the quality of steam leaving the boiler. Also, pressure and temperature sensors were installed on each curing row to identify the presence of condensate further away from the boiler at the curing presses.