In practically any and all brickworks, large volumes of air have to be handled. While the pertinent processes are checked and evaluated as part of the acceptance inspection, they are hardly ever scrutinized again.

Compared to emission monitoring, the air handling situation is usually treated in a “stepmotherly” fashion, especially when the air is being used to recover heat. One typical example is when excess energy is to be moved from the kiln to the drying process. In most cases, the volumetric flow is only measured at the time of commissioning. Actual energy reviews (conducted in the course of operation) are a rarity, though, because the corresponding information is lacking.

This is where the Luftmeister air energy metering system by halstrup-walcher comes in. Based on high-precision volumetric and mass flow readings taken in the air duct, the air quantities flowing through it are not only tallied but, with the aid of enthalpy and temperature sensors, also monitored in terms of thermal energy content. The steady stream of consumption and energy flow data from the air duct is permanently available on line, so that all facets of air handling, especially of heat recovery, can be injected into the operational energy management system.

Dipl.-Wirtsch.-Ing. (TU) Jens Amberg, halstrup-walcher GmbH