HOLZ engineers’ solution eliminates expansion joint failures at ethanol plant

Alterations to expansion joints helped to stop shutdowns at a plant due to joint failure.

For top industrial expansion joints by HOLZ Rubber Company, businesses in Canada are wise to rely on Northern Industrial Supply Company (NISCO). Not only is the HOLZ team a renowned manufacturer of these products – it also comprises experts who work with customers to solve problems, including expansion joint failures.

For example, HOLZ used its skills and knowledge to help an ethanol plant improve the performance of its expansion joints a few years ago.

Wear from abrasive slurry

To manufacture ethanol, plants have to pulverize corn and turn it into slurry. The process then involves transporting the slurry through a series of tanks, pipes, and pipes, after which it gets refined into fuel.

This ethanol facility was experiencing a number of expansion joint failures in its slurry lines. The expansion joints that the company was using were not designed to handle the abrasiveness of the corn slurry or the high velocity at which it was running, so they did not last very long. The slurry was causing the insides of the expansion joints to wear away and expose the nylon reinforcements underneath, which kept leading to the failures. As a result, the facility was having expensive, unplanned shutdowns in order to replace the joints and clean up the hazardous areas where the failures had occurred.

The issue had to be solved, so the company got in touch with HOLZ. The latter’s engineering department worked with the ethanol plant and its local distributor to create a design to enhance the expansion joints’ reliability and function. The HOLZ team made two significant alterations to the design of the current joints: the first change was to add an abrasion-resistant liner made out of gum rubber, while the other was to change the arch style from wide open to a filled, smooth bore, in order to minimize turbulence.

The ethanol plant went along with these changes, and the results were immediate. The new joints worked perfectly, and expansion joint failures were no more.

With NISCO’s assistance, Canadian manufacturing facilities can easily get the same benefits from the HOLZ team’s expertise.

For more information, contact NISCO.

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