We are delighted to announce that Vortex Hydra have yet again successfully finalized the installation and commissioning of another “complete” fully automatic high volume concrete roof tile production plant in the United Kingdom.
The owners of this new ‘completed’ plant are Persimmon Homes Ltd, one of the UK largest and prestigious house builders.
The fully operational plant consists of two production lines:
a) 1No. Fully automatic ‘Vortex Bi-Rotary Rack 30’ system for main tile production (60,000 tile capacity – two profiles) @120 tiles per minute.
b) 1No. Fully automatic ‘Vortex Rotary Rack 10’ system for ridge tile production (10,000 tile capacity – ridges) @ 40 tiles per minute.
This new plant enables Persimmon Homes to directly manufacture roof tiles for use on their numerous housing projects and so minimising the need to rely on external tile suppliers. This has proved to be particularly advantageous during recent challenging times with the current supply chain.
Their selection of the unique ‘Vortex Bi-RotaryTM Rack’ system has proved an excellent choice enabling the company to enjoy the many features that makes this type of production plant the most efficient roof tile curing system in the world.
Just look below at some of the many advantages that this model of plant offers:
PRODUCTIVITY ADVANTAGES
- The newly extruded tiles are conveyed to the rotary curing chamber where upon entry they are immediately elevated and loaded into a rotating steel ‘carousel’ curing rack. The chamber is preheated and has controlled ambient humidity. If for any reason the production of tiles temporarily stops the tiles loaded in the chamber continue to be cured whereas with a more conventional racking system, the new tiles can remain seated in an external rack while waiting for production to restart so loading can be completed and the full rack travelled to the ‘open’ curing chamber so causing disruption to the curing process.
- Regardless of the location of a tile in the rotary curing chamber, a controllable forced air flow system ensures consistency in the tile curing.
- The newly extruded tiles enter the enclosed rotary curing chamber via. a ‘letterbox’ type aperture so eliminating the need for rack entry/exit doors that can easily disrupt the temperature in a chamber when in operation. With the rotary chamber being a totally enclosed system, the required temperature and humidity with the chamber is easily maintained so making it an ‘energy efficient’ process with the heating boiler going off-line only until needed.
- Warm air continually circulates throughout the rotary chamber so eliminating the existence of ‘cold air spots’ that can create temperature variations dependant on rack location with an more conventional type curing chamber.
- Different temperature zones can be set up within the rotary chamber to suit the selected curing programme. The humidity in the chamber is also be controlled by the extraction of surplus moisture.
- Smooth tile travel through the rotary rack curing system ensures that tile movement is minimised so reducing the risk of product damage occurring. When a more standard racking system is employed, the tile can be more vulnerable to damage as it is exposed to greater movement sequences as it travels through the multiple changeover points.
- The rotary rack allows the automated changeover of different tile profiles so creating minimum down time and disturbance when profile changeover is required.
MAINTENANCE ADVANTAGES
- Should over time any steel slats in the ‘carousel’ rack become damaged they can be easily accessed and replaced at the end of a tile production run, followed by the carousel being rotated back into its required position when the repair work has been completed. When using a more conventional ‘open-chamber’ curing solution the damaged rack would have to be taken out of system and repaired to one side so risk disrupting production.
- No transfer cars or running tracks to be maintained.
- The rotary rack system eliminates the need for hundreds of wheels and bearings, as used on more conventional ‘open chamber’ curing systems, that can cause maintenance problems due to individual tile racks blocking access when replacement of these part types is required.
- No chamber entry/exit doors to operate or maintain.
- The base rollers that the rotating ‘carousel’ travels on are readily accessible and easy to change when the need arises.
FIELD COMMENTS RECEIVED ON THE ROTARY RACK SYSTEM
- “It’s just a far more robust system when handling millions of tiles”.
- “Far less equipment to go wrong and maintain”.
- “Consistent quality product”
- “First system I have seen and used that turns the tiles around in 6 hours with the use of NO extra additive being needed”
In summary we are pleased to add Persimmon Homes Ltd to our list of satisfied customers and we thank them for affording us the opportunity to once again demonstrate the unique and enviable ability that Vortex Hydra have in making sophisticated automated high volume tile production plants not only easy and efficient in their operation but with the minimisation of maintenance costs.
……… if you are interested in a Rotary Rack or any other Vortex Hydra roof tile manufacturing plant, simply contact us for further information – we look forward to hearing from you and await your call.