A fiery debut in Carregado
A kiln that can be loaded on two levels is taking over the work of three tunnel kilns at the Portuguese ceramics plant – and saving huge amounts of energy and CO2.
Spread across two levels, the rows of WC ceramic appliances wait their turn to travel through the brand-new, 120-metre-long kiln at temperatures of 1,200 °C. Once they reach the end of the tunnel, the blanks have become fired, durable ceramic appliances.
An efficient kiln
The new kiln is not only impressive from the outside. “It replaces three old tunnel kilns,” explains Managing Director Mário Cunha. The pride in Carregado (PT) is clear for all to see: “The new kiln is the first at Geberit that can be loaded on two levels.” As a result, it achieves a greater capacity than the three old counterparts together – 1.3 million pieces per year instead of 900,000. That works out at over 3,500 fired ceramic sanitary appliances per day.
Geberit CO2 strategy
Energy-efficient kilns are an important part of the CO2 strategy at Geberit. The goal is to reduce Group-wide CO2 emissions in relation to currency-adjusted net sales by 5 percent per year.
3,500 tonnes of CO2 saved per year
Compared to the old tunnel kilns, the new gas-fired kiln achieves all this with a 40 percent reduction in energy. This means the plant saves 3,500 tonnes of CO2 a year. Mário Cunha also appreciates another side effect: “The new solution requires less space.”
The new kiln is the first at Geberit that can be loaded on two levels.
Energy recovery
The new system can do even more: energy can be recovered from the hot exhaust air in the cooling zone. Diogo Gameiro, Production Process Manager, says: “The additional kilowatt hours of energy cover part of the energy requirements for operating the boilers, dryers and ventilation units in future, meaning less gas is required.”