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Webster Combustion delivers new aggregate drying burners to two asphalt plants

Winfield, Kan. – Webster Combustion announced the delivery and successful commissioning of two new, high performance, low NOx aggregate drying burners to asphalt plants in Kentucky and West Virginia to help improve their plants’ performance and efficiency. The model HDRA-RF long-nose style burner was developed in response to plant operators’ input on the need for a better technology than their existing burners.

Over the first several months of operation, the new 125,000,000 BTU/hour multi-fuel burners installed at Mountain Enterprises in Hazard KY and Mar-Zane Materials plant in Benwood WV are both delivering increased efficiencies and reduced operating cost per ton. Managers at both plants said they were very pleased with their performance and looking forward to a full evaluation as the season plays out.

The genesis of a new burner design

Webster’s engineering group listened to plant operators discuss the problems they had with their existing burner technologies and developed a prototype solution. The first model HDRA-RF Aggregate Burner was installed in November 2017 at a Mar-Zane asphalt plant in St. Marys West Virginia, one of the firms that early on challenged Webster to develop a better solution to replace their existing burner technology. Since, then, the burner has performed flawlessly with very good emissions numbers.

About the HRDV-RA burner

The Webster Combustion model HDRA-RF is a multi-fuel register-style burner for asphalt rotary dryers that allows users to shape the flame by automatically controlling the register vanes to optimally fit their dryer and combustion zone. The HDRA-RF is the first burner to introduce dynamic flame shaping to the aggregate drying industry. A servo actuated register located at the front of the burner continually controls the shape of the flame based on the output of the burner. The Webster Combustion HDRA-RF provides the option to to control the combustion air with a damper, a VFD, or both.

What does a burner that produces 125 million BTUs look like? Before the second unit was shipped this spring, the company staged a photo of it surrounded by their manufacturing staff.