STEP 1 - Process Solutions

DRYING

We have been designing the material drying process since the beginning of our business. Thanks to cooperation with world-renowned experts in the area of material drying, Prof. Czesław Strumiłło and Prof. Zdzisław Pakowski of the Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering at the Lodz University of Technology, our company specializes in modern methods for drying materials.

We offer design of drying process and design of industrial dryers as well as “turnkey” delivery of material drying installations. We design these installations for drying almost all materials that undergo industrial drying. We specialise in the supply of dryers for loose, crystalline and granular materials such as sugar, salt, sand, glass cullet, fertilizer granules, grains, coal, etc. For these materials, we offer a full range of fluidised bed dryers (stationary, vibration fluidised bed, with internal heat exchangers) and rotary dryers.

Rotary dryers can be used for drying crystalline materials, such as sugar, and for those that are not suitable for drying in fluidised bed devices.

Another type of dispersion dryers we offer are spray dryers used for drying liquids, solutions and suspensions (inorganic salts, food products or fruit juices).

For drying sludge, filter cakes and suspensions such as catalysts, sewage sludge, lime, etc., we offer paddle dryers that are diaphragm-heated with steam, hot liquid or thermal oil.

The size of installations and dryers is based on simulation calculations and tests on a laboratory and/or pilot scale, individually according to the customer’s needs, for the required capacities, initial and final parameters, available heating mediums and the spatial location of the installation in an industrial facility.

We offer these designs for both newly designed production facilities and renovated installations, presenting their visualisation and establishing the solution details together with the client.

COOLING

When the temperature of materials is limited due to the conditions of storage and packaging, they must be cooled, e.g. after drying or granulation. We offer the use of fluid bed or vibrating fluid bed coolers for cooling granular materials.

Depending on the process requirements, we offer multi-section fluid bed dryers and coolers, in which the material is dried with a hot gaseous drying medium in the initial sections and then cooled with cold air, or separate fluid bed devices preceded by a lump screen in the installation. To reduce the heat consumption, the air heated during the cooling of the hot material is recycled as a pre-heating medium in the drying process.

When the required end temperature of the product is lower than the cooling air temperature, we offer fluid bed coolers with water heat exchangers installed in a fluid bed. This solution can cool down the product to the temperature of 25oC, often required in sugar production, regardless of the cooling air temperature.

An alternative solution where cold water is used for cooling the material is cooling in a cooling tower with internal heat exchangers. The material is fed at the top of the vertical tower and flows by gravity between the water exchanger plates. During cooling, the entire tower is filled with material that slowly flows down, and the time it spends in the device is automatically adjusted in the feed volume function. We offer this solution for cooling of loose fine-grained materials such as sugar, sand, fertilizer granules, urea, etc.

DEDUST/ORGANIC SEPARATION

The dryers and coolers offered by OMNIKON are convection devices in which moisture or heat is transferred to the flowing gaseous medium, usually air. As a result, the fine material fractions are captured by the flowing air. Many other technological processes are also accompanied by the formation of dust. This is why we have expanded our range by adding dust extraction devices.

Depending on the type of dust as well as technological and environmental requirements, we offer various types of dust separators.

We offer centrifugal separators for high-density coarse dust. An example of application in the fertilizer production technology (supplying dust centrifugal separators for Zakłady Azotowe “Puławy”)

We offer bag and/or cartridge filters for the food industry (sugar drying and cooling), for the glass cullet recycling industry (glass cullet drying and cooling) and for glassworks (sand drying and cooling). We also offer such filters for the chemical industry and for the mineral processing industry. Our filters ensure excellent purification and meet the environmental requirements with permissible emissions of less than 10 mg/m3. If necessary, the filters can be equipped with explosion safeguards.

Spray washers and/or towers can be used for dusts and gases soluble in liquids (usually in water). In spray washers, the dust-laden gas comes into contact with water sprayed by special nozzles. Upon contact with a drop of water, dust particles dissolve in it and the purified air is discharged into the atmosphere. We offer this solution mainly for the sugar industry, where the sugar solution from the washer/tower can be recovered and returned to the technological process.

R&D LABORATORY

Apart from the design and office space, the new OMNIKON headquarters has a space intended for the construction of a research and development laboratory. At present, the laboratory is equipped with testing facilities and pilot installations. It will enable scientific research in cooperation with the Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering of the Lodz University of Technology. The pilot installations that are currently being constructed will facilitate small-scale drying tests of various materials. The collected results will be used to verify the results of model calculations and to obtain data that will enable the calculations of the drying process on an industrial scale.

The laboratory equipment is financed by the European Union and own funds allocated for development work.

Potential customers interested in purchasing material drying or cooling installations will be able to obtain a confirmation of the suitability of a particular drying method and see the installations working on a pilot scale before making the final decision on the project implementation.

Pilot installations include:

  • SPRAY DRYER INSTALLATION WITH SPRAY NOZZLES OR ROTARY ATOMIZER
  • FLUID-BED OR VIBRO-FLUID-BED DRYER INSTALLATION
  • DRUM DRYER INSTALLATION
  • PADDLE DRYER INSTALLATION
  • AIR PREPARATION SYSTEM FOR DRYING INSTALLATIONS USING GAS BURNERS OR STEAM HEATERS
  • DEDUSTING SYSTEM FOR DRYING INSTALLATIONS USING CYCLONE AND BAG FILTER

All of the above installations are equipped with primary measurement sensors and can be additionally equipped upon request with other measuring devices necessary for scientific research.

STEP 2 - Design

TECHNOLOGICAL LINES AND PRODUCTION PLANTS

PRODUCTS/DEVICES

Industrial dryers

OMNIKON specialises in designing and manufacturing of:

  • Fluidbed dryers
  • Vibro-fluidbed dryers
  • Drum dryers
  • Spray dryers
  • Contact paddle dryers

Depending on a granulometric composition of dried materials and their physical and chemical properties, we offer static fluidbed dryers, vibro-fluidbed dryers, fluidbed dryers with vertical mixers and fluidbed dryers with internal heat exchangers. For drying paste-like materials, filter cakes, slime, etc. we offer contact paddle dryers — the material comes into contact with the surface of rotary heating and transporting elements that are heated with steam. Drying process consumes a lot of energy and this is why we analyse each application individually in terms of optimal use of heat.

Industrial coolers

Depending on specifications of cooled materials and their location, we offer two types of devices for cooling loose and granulated materials:
Fluidbed coolers and cooling towers with moving bed equipped with pillow plate exchangers.

One of the key benefits of fluidbed coolers is their ability to dry materials and recover heat that is later reused in the drying process. Fluidbed cooling devices can be equipped with plate or tube heat exchangers immersed inside the fluidizing material layer, which significantly boosts the cooling process and allows achieving lower end temperature regardless of weather conditions (e.g. during hot days).

Cooling towers with moving bed operate by heat transfer through a membrane. Grains of material move by gravity between narrowly positioned plate exchangers and come into contact with their cold surface. Cooling towers are characterised by significantly lower electric energy consumption. Materials are transported downwards by gravity, thus, there is no need to use energy-consuming fans or filtration and air purifying systems during the cooling process, as in the case of convective method.

Dust extraction and air purifying devices

Dust laden gases are a by-product of drying and cooling installations in dispersing devices. Before recycling them or discharging into
the atmosphere they should be purified to the level required by environmental regulations. We offer bag filters, cartridge filters, cyclones
and wet scrubbers that extract dust and absorb gaseous pollutants.

We also specialise in exhaust ventilation systems with local exhausts at transfer points, transporting and sorting devices as well as at installations designed for separation and suction of dust or organic fractions.

Ventilation systems and industrial preparation of process gases

We specialize in preparation of process gases for drying or cooling processes using air pre-filtration, heating, cooling and heat recuperation devices. We care about saving energy and we offer a range of solutions that increase process’ performance and allow recuperation and reuse of heat.

We calculate, design, manufacture, deliver and install whole systems for preparation of process gases which may include pre-filtration units, fans, heaters, coolers, burners, piping system, valves, steel structures and maintenance platforms etc.

Bulk material handling

Each bulk material treatment process (e.g. drying, cooling, sorting, crushing, granulating, etc.) usually requires also bulk material handling system.

Within these system, one can mention:

1. Infeed station

Infeed station is an initial station where raw bulk product is loaded. Typically, it consists of infeed hopper and discharge device (vibratory or belt feeder).

2. Conveying equipment

For various bulk products, we offer a wide range of transport devices, including:

– belt conveyors

– screw conveyors

– vibrating conveyors

– bucket elevators

3. Transfer chutes

While designing the installation for bulk material treatment, the engineering always tend to use as few transport devices as possible. Instead of using electrical power to transport bulk product, one should use gravity. Gravitationally driven material flow is possible only if the proper chute angle is maintained. Otherwise, a conveyor is needed. We also propose an intermediate solution – a vibrochute which uses vibrations to help the gravity in terms of too low angle.

Depending of bulk material type, we offer a wide variety of transfer chutes.

4. Bulk material flow control

We offer both manual and automatic devices for controlling bulk material flow:

– on-off slide valves

– flow regulation slide valves

– two-way flaps

– multi-directional diverters

5. Storage silos

STEEL STRUCTURES

Our engineering department carries out calculations to the latest EN standards and prepares documentation of complex and demanding supporting structures based on state-of-the-art 3D designing systems (BIM). In order to optimise designs we offer a range of analyses:

  • Modal analysis — natural vibration frequency
  • Harmonic analysis — a dynamic response of a structure in the function of forcing frequency
  • Time analysis — a response of a structure to complex dynamic loads caused by vibrating machines

We provide services to a number of well-known vibrating machines manufacturers in Europe: Trennso Technik, BHS-Sonthofen, Mogensen,
Saint-Gobain Everglass.

STEP 3 - Manufacturing, installation, and commissioning

TURN-KEY INSTALLATIONS

We offer turn-key solutions. The turn-key project may consist of:

  • a 3D laser scanning survey of a facility,
  • multi-discipline design (process, mechanical, structural, piping and electrical branch),
  • selection process of appropriate devices,
  • manufacturing of specialized devices (dryers, coolers, bulk handling equipment),
  • selection and delivery of off-the-shelves devices (incl. fans, heaters, burners, etc.),
  • design, calculations, and manufacturing of supporting structures including the structure of building and concrete blocks,
  • assembly of installation together with a power source, controls and automation systems,
  • full launch and implementation.

ON-SITE MEASUREMENTS: SCANNER, TRACKER

Scanner

Capturing the measurements of large object or building with conventional documentation methods can take days or weeks, and even then the data might contain errors or missing details. Using our scanners, we create accurate, complete, and photorealistic 3D images/pointclouds of any environment or object in just a few minutes. These data can be converted into:

  • set of 3D photos suitable for viewing and geometry measuring,
  • 3D solid/mesh model which can be imported directly into your 3D design software,
  • pointcloud divided into subregions which can be imported directly to your 3D design software.

Tracker

If higher accuracy is needed, we use our laser tracker.

Ultra-large measurement volume of up to 320 metres (ø), with, minimum measurement distance less than 0.8 metres with micrometers accuracy – these are the features of the tracker.

Integrated environmental unit monitors conditions including temperature, pressure, and humidity to compensate for changes and ensure accurate measurements regardless of external factors.

We are able to proceed an effective measurement in even the harshest environments, and operating temperature range of -15 to 45 degrees Celsius.

Exemplary applications:

  • rotary kilns/dryers alignment,
  • rails alignment for gantries,
  • positioning of large castings or forgings before machining,
  • devices positioning while new machinery installing,
  • inspection of steel structures requiring small displacements.

Equipment:

  • FARO Premium 3D laser scanner
  • FARO Focus X130 laser scanner
  • Geo SLAM movable laser scanner
  • FARO Freestyle 3D scanner
  • Leica AT430 laser tracker