Laser based measurements in Titanium dioxide production (DuPont)0 pages

API APPLICATION STORY
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DuPont uses the Radian Laser Tracker

It is always loud in the Reaction Coke and Ore area at the
DuPont plant in New Johnsonville, Tennessee. Two 50-ton
ore dryers churn 24-7, processing tons of heavy minerals
at up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (204 degrees Celsius).
The end result is titanium dioxide, a white pigment used in
everything from toothpaste to notebook paper, but at this
stage of production, the area is dusty and tight, with piping,
catwalks, steel girders, and rollers surrounding the dryer.
In this environment, a team of workers and engineers
from DuPont recently replaced the aged and overworked
Dryer #2. They used the API Radian laser tracker to
ensure the dryer was installed and aligned perfectly.
While the dryer might appear huge and cumbersome, it must
fit and be positioned in a very specific way, said Micheal Callan,
a DuPont Equipment Alignment Specialist in the Rotating
Machinery Group. New Johnsonville replaced its other coke
and ore dryer, #1, a few weeks earlier. Those measurements
were taken using traditional optics, taking more than 14 hours.

Callan believed that a laser tracker could provide a much more
reliable and accurate measurement, which was critical in the job.
“A house is only as good as its foundation. It’s the same
with the dryer vessel. We have to have accurate equipment,
like the Radian, to ensure it’s in place,” Callan said.
The replacement job required Callan and his partner on this job,
rotating machinery consultant Mike Burgess, to know both the
position and slope of the dryer. The trunions upon which the rollers
were placed had to be set up at different heights to ensure the
exact angle. There was virtually no room for error, Callan said.
Three-thousandths of an inch off and you’re dead, he added.

The Lightweight and Portable
Measurement System
Callan has been doing alignment jobs for more than 16 years. He
saw that laser trackers would make set-up and operations faster
and easier, so, in 2012, he acquired a Radian from API. He said he
chose the Radian for its portability – compared to other trackers, the
Radian is the lightest tracker capable of continuous measurement.

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