MEMORANDUM

To: Jay Lee

cc: Randy Loewen
From: Mike McLoughlin
Date : November 29, 2010
Subject: Snuff Steam Recommendation for Starch Dryers

Snuff steam is used on starch dryers to help quench fires in starch dryers. Snuff steam
is used when the outlet air temperature of the dryer goes above some pre-specified
value normally in the range of 85C to 90C. The term snuffing steam and quench steam
are used interchangeably in this document.

Recommendations for Snuff Steam

Snuffing steam is an excellent means of extinguishing fires in closed systems. Snuff

steam is recommended for all starch dryers, not gas fired dryers.

 Size steam line to deliver a minimum of 8 lbs/min (3.63 kgs/min) for each 100 ft3
(2.83 m3) of dryer volume. Include the cyclone area in the dryer volume.
 When snuff steam is activated, the fans on the system must also stop.
 During quenching, no inlet air should be allowed. This means that no manholes
should be opened.
 The following valves are recommended:
o Steam will pass through a manual valve and then an automatic valve on
its path to the dryer.
o Manual valve allows you to shut off the steam after activation of the
automatic valve. It also gives at least one blocking of steam for
inspection inside the dryer. Remember you will need a double block and
bleed system for the steam line to allow anyone inside the dryer.
o The manual valve should have a limit switch that prevents the dryer from
starting unless the manual valve is open.
o Both the manual and automatic valves should be easily accessible and
should be installed a safe distance from the dryer so people can inspect
them safely when they are activated.
 Determine what level to set the high temperature alarm and high temperature
emergency shutdown with snuff steam activation. To do this:
o Determine the highest normal operating temperature for the exhaust air
from the dryer.
o Alarm should be 10 degrees C above this temperature normal operating
temperature.
o High temperature shutdown should be 10C above the high temperature
alarm. This is likely to be in the 85C range.
 A high temperature shutdown will cause the snuff/quench steam to activate and
everything else on the dryer should stop including:
 o Any fans on the system should stop.
o Any conveyors to the dryer should stop.
o The kicker mills supplying starch to the dryer should stop.
o Any automatic air dampers on the inlet of the dryer should close.
o Any steam to steam coils on the hot box should close.
o Any natural gas to the furnace should be off.
o Any rotary airlocks or conveyors on the cyclone outlet should stop.
o Stop any pneumatic conveying system after the cyclones to prevent
carrying embers to storage.

Reasons for Snuffing or Quench Steam

The primary purpose of a snuff steam line is to quench fires that are already present in
a dryer. The snuffing steam will remove oxygen in the dryer below 10% and as such it
will snuff or stop the fire. It often does not put out smoldering fires that are buried under
layers of starch. It may prevent an explosion after the snuffing steam has been initiated,
but is usually not considered an explosion suppression system. It is a fire quenching
system. Explosions can still occur from sparks or fires before the snuffing steam is
activated.

A natural gas starch dryers does have more potential to have a fire than a steam starch
dryer, but snuffing steam is recommended for both types of dryers. Steam starch dryers
can still have fires, they are just less common. Remember that layers of starch can
buildup within a dryer and these can start to smolder and can be a common root cause
for a fire in either type of dryer. The other causes of fire are also not limited to gas fired
dryers such as sparking from metal hitting other metal or static electricity.

It is also necessary that dryers have many other safety systems and this does not take
the place of those. For example, you still need explosion venting for the dryer even if
you have snuffing steam.

Snuff Steam Line Sizing

The steam line should be sized to deliver a minimum of 8 lbs/min (3.63 kgs/min) for
each 100 ft3 (2.83 m3) of dryer volume. Include the cyclone volume in the calculation.
Based on 10 barg steam supply on the steam header, then the following sizes would be
the minimum required line size.

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 Figure 1, Snuff Steam Line Size
Dryer Duct Diameter, Minimum Snuff Steam
(Inches) Nominal Line Size,
(Inches)
24 2
30 2
32 2
36 3
48 4
72 4

Figure 1 above is just a guideline; each dryer volume should be checked.

This is based on Figure 2 below.

Figure 2 (Steam Line Pressure Drop for 10 Barg steam)

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Figure 3 shows the snuff steam line sizes of several starch dryers within Corn Products
International.

Figure 3
Plant Dryer Tube Snuff Steam Airflow, Capacity, Design By?
Diameter, Line Size, ACFM Metric tons
Inches Inches per Day of
Starch
Winston 55 4 225-250 CPC
Stockton 55 4 225-250 CPC
Argo 40 4 200-225 CPC
Cardinal 32-34” 2
Balsa Nova 42-43” Two 1 Inch Barr Rosin
Cali Two 1 Inch 150 Barr Rosin
Cali Two 1 Inch 250 Barr Rosin

You will see that in the U.S.A, most dryers are using a single 4 inch snuff steam line. In
these cases, the snuff steam goes to the outlet of the hot air box supplying the dryer
tube and is therefore well before the kicker mill. The Cardinal plant has a 2 inch snuff
steam line after the kicker mill on the dryer tube. The 3 Barr Rosin dryers all have two
locations they input snuffing steam, since these are ring type dryers. They have a 1
inch line on the hot air box outlet to the dryer tube before the kicker mill and they also
have a 1 inch line at the inlet to the dust collector. Cali’s dust collector is a bag house
dust collector and Balsa Nova has cyclones.

Location

For ring type dryers, particularly P style ring dryers, I’d recommend a snuff steam line to
the hot box outlet and one to the inlet of the dust collectors. For CPC style dryers, non-
ring dryers, then a single location at the outlet of the hot air box is sufficient.

Most plants extend the snuffing steam line into the dryer and orient it to spray in the
direction of the dryer tube from the hot air box.

Manual Valve

The manual valve will normally have a limit switch to recognize the open condition on
the valve. If the valve is not confirmed open, the dryer should not be allowed to start. It
is common for this manual valve to get closed on shutdowns and for operators to forget
to re-open the valve before start-up. This limit switch prevents starting the dryers
without snuffing steam capability.

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This valve needs to be in an easily accessible location and also needs to be in a safe
location in case there is an explosion. We don’t want to have to send an operator into a
dangerous area to open or close this valve.

Automatic Valve

After the manual valve, there is an automatic valve that opens when the high
temperature for emergency shutdown is activated. This puts snuffing steam in the
dryer. The temperature will stay high as long as snuffing steam is in the dryer. Once
the operator is certain the fire is out, he could then either have the automatic valve close
per a DCS command or close the manual valve. If the temperature starts to come down
in the dryer, then it is likely that the fire is out. If it stays high, then it may be necessary
to re-introduce the snuffing steam.

Remember though that there can still be smoldering within the dryer underneath layers
of starch. It is usually necessary to clean the dryer after activation of snuff steam. You
need to remove any smoldering starch layers and also remove any burnt starch that you
do not want in the final product.

I would recommend a bleed valve between the manual valve and the automatic valve
that can serve as the bleed in a block and bleed system for when operators have to
open and inspect the dryer. Since the automatic valve is likely a fail open valve, you
would have to close the manual valve, blind off the steam line to the dryer, and bleed
the pressure from the system.

You may also want to consider what you do if you send a signal to open the automatic
valve and it fails to open. It is possible that even a fail open valve does not open. Will
you need a gear operated override for the valve or a bypass around the valve?

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