Efficiency and total control thanks to cutting-edge SACMI-Riedhammer tableware firing technology. This project is part of Loceria's ambitious technological leap from double-fire to single-fire faience porcelain products.
The Caldas production facility goes back 140 years and is now set to complete an ambitious technological surge to take all its production and processes into the future. It’s a clear strategy from Loceria Colombiana: the company recently installed and started up a new Riedhammer TWT 66/400/60-G EMS NEO tunnel kiln as part of a project to convert the faience porcelain production line from double-fire to single-fire.
‘NEO’ is the ultimate Riedhammer kiln technology for sanitaryware and tableware. At the core of the system lie its on-board electronics, with advanced sensors that allow precision control of all parameters. The kiln features 90 and 140 kW burners, sized to maximize temperature uniformity along the entire length of the kiln, while sensors and digital controls deliver precision control of the atmosphere along the full length of the machine.
The solution supplied to Loceria is 66 meters long and has a 4 meter wide inlet with an effective infeed height of 60 cm. The kiln – with an ultra-high capacity that’s one of the largest for tableware applications - can handle more than 80,000 pieces per day: that’s 2.5 million items per month. Consisting of three sections - a pre-kiln for rapid glaze drying, the kiln itself, and a channel for rapid cooling - the line also has a unique loading system that includes silicon carbide setters to ensure saturation of kiln load density; there’s also extreme attentiveness to the nature of the single-fire process to ensure that unfired, already-decorated glazed items can’t come into contact with each other.
Following that same logic, an automatic kiln car handling system was supplied to keep pace with the extremely high kiln productivity, resulting in a linear process that observes lean manufacturing principles. Part of a project that completes the technological leap from double-fire to single-fire (already achieved by Loceria in its Vitreous China operations), this kiln delivers faience porcelain products with outstandingly rich colors and decorations.
The Loceria Colombiana solution is the first application of Riedhammer NEO technology in the tableware sector, following initial sales in the sanitaryware sector (TWS models). In addition to total control of process quality, NEO also offers unparalleled energy performance thanks to the exclusive EMS 200, the energy management system that retrieves hot air from the chimney and redirects it to the pre-combustion area. Another advantage of electronic atmosphere control is rapid adjustment of parameters to the optimal set-point, drastically reducing transitory situations (e.g. gaps in material flows) and thus boosting machine availability.
Compared to a traditional kiln, this machine can provide consumption and emissions savings of around 30%. For Loceria, this is a strategic investment that ramps up quality while providing a response to the recent surge in energy prices on the Colombian market.
The partnership with Loceria has been further strengthened not just by the advanced technology but also the plant engineering provided by the network of SACMI tableware companies. Along with the kiln, all the handling systems and new finishing equipment were installed on schedule, ensuring continuity of production throughout every stage of the project.