Coke Plant Door Machine Increased Reliability

The Problem - Due to the inherent environment, process, and design challenges in the steel coke plant, the door machine would on occasion catch fire and need to be entirely replaced. This process would take 3-4 days and result in the loss of thousands of tons of production.  Additionally, any retrofit would have to be completed in a 12-hour window. The Existing System consisted of a closed loop hydraulic tram drive and an open loop hydraulic system for the other functions. 

The Solution - IRG created a system that would increase reliability, and safety, improve recovery time after a fire and simplify troubleshooting. The new door machine removes a coke oven door and places a refractory lined chute to convey 2300 F coke to a transfer car and then replaces the oven door. Process Safety and Dependability are paramount. Ambient temperatures can reach 130 F and coke dust is a very fine hard particle that permeates everything.

Working with plant engineering, IRG designed a modularized hydraulic system, able to be replaced in its entirety in 12 hours. During the project, real-time test data was analyzed, and complex hydraulic systems were simplified.

• All hydraulic functions were made open loop and the closed loop pump was replaced with a duplicate open loop pump thus providing an onboard spare
• The reservoir was completely sealed and all functions were protected by 3 micron absolute filtration
• The filter assemblies were moved from beneath the machine to an easily accessible area.
• A custom manifold was put in place that eliminated 100+ fittings
• Onboard diagnostics were installed and troubleshooting the hydraulic system was simplified
• Individual component integrity could be determined in under 5 minutes.
• The component placement was changed to allow for ease of maintenance.
• Failed components can either be bypassed or replaced in minutes.  

IRG remained onsite during the startup process and trained maintenance and production personnel in the function, proper maintenance, and troubleshooting procedures of all components. 

After a year of operation, there have been no fires, hydraulic fluid usage is significantly down and no components have been replaced after the system performance was finalized. Additionally, the new system has increased reliability and reduced spares inventory. The remaining three units are in the process of conversion.