Doing a Good Job in Inspection and Maintenance of Facilities and Equipments in Bulk Curing Barn

Yonghua CHEN, Hongquan SUN, Pengzhen LONG, Guoquan LIU, Taiwei LIU, Pengyu LU

Tongren Tobacco Company in Guizhou Province, Tongren 554300, China

Abstract Due to the limited management funds and insufficient management efforts, curing barns in traditional tobacco area are outdated and equipments are seriously damaged, which affects the normal operation and increases the maintenance cost of bulk curing barns, bringing adverse effects on tobacco leaf curing in the coming year and the sustainable development of tobacco industry in the future. To ensure the normal operation of curing barns and effectively prolong the service life of curing barns during tobacco leaf curing, we should do a good job in the publicity of management and maintenance, improve the system of management and maintenance, raise funds for management and maintenance, inspect facilities and equipments, carefully maintain equipments in curing barn and strictly perform examination and inspection.

Key words Bulk curing barn; Facilities and equipments; Inspection; Maintenance

1 Introduction

After tobacco leaf curing, tobacco farmers or cooperatives often pay insufficient attention to the management and maintenance of bulk curing barns. In addition, the long service life of curing barns and the aging of equipments will easily cause the damage of equipments and the running and leaking of curing barns[1]. Due to the limited management funds and insufficient management efforts, curing barns in traditional tobacco area are outdated and equipments are seriously damaged, which affects the normal operation and increases the maintenance cost of bulk curing barns, bringing adverse effects on tobacco leaf curing in the coming year and the sustainable development of tobacco industry in the future. To ensure the normal operation of curing barns and effectively prolong the service life of curing barns during tobacco leaf curing, we should do a good job in the publicity of management and maintenance, improve the system of management and maintenance, raise funds for management and maintenance, inspect facilities and equipments, carefully maintain equipments in curing barn and strictly perform examination and inspection[2-3].

Bulk curing barn is the main equipment for tobacco leaf curing, consisting of enclosure structure, heating equipment, ventilation and humidity discharge equipment, and temperature and humidity control equipment[4]. Because curing barn equipments are often in high temperature, high humidity and exposed environment, and tobacco farmers or cooperatives often have poor management and maintenance on bulk curing barn, the equipments in curing barn are easily corroded and damaged. In order to maintain good performance of curing barn and related equipments and prolong their service life, it is necessary to strengthen the management and maintenance of bulk curing barn, promote the standardization, systematization and scientization of management and maintenance work, improve the management level and enhance the awareness and responsibility of management and maintenance, thus ensuring the normal operation of curing barn and maximize the economic and social benefits of curing barn operation.

2 Doing a good job in management and maintenance publicity, and establishing management and maintenance consciousness

After bulk curing barns are used in the baking season each year, they should be managed and maintained to continue to be used in the next year, and the beneficiaries should be guided and urged to make full use of leisure time to carry out the management and maintenance of curing barns and equipments in an all-round way, so as to lay a good foundation for tobacco production in the coming year. At present, tobacco farmers do not have enough awareness of the management and maintenance of their curing barns. They think that after they bake tobacco leaves this year, they may not use this curing barn next year, so they are not willing to take good care of it. Therefore, grass-roots tobacco leaf station should report to the local party committee and government to strive for the support of village committee, make full use of tobacco leaf station, village affairs open column, propaganda slogan, holding courtyard meeting and other forms to increase publicity efforts, and publicize the importance and necessity of doing a good job in the management and maintenance of curing barn, thereby establishing the responsibility consciousness of the management and maintenance of curing barn. As a result, farmers will form a good habit of "whoever benefits should be responsible for maintenance, and whoever uses should be responsible for management."

3 Improving the management and maintenance system, and implementing the responsibility of management and maintenance

In accordance with the principle of "whoever manages will benefit and whoever damages should be responsible for maintenance", practical and feasible management and maintenance work plans are formulated to clarify the responsibilities of management personnel and the obligations of benefited farmers. The principle of "user must manage, idle barns can be managed, and combination of use and management" should be implemented. The responsibility of management and maintenance must be cleared[5-7]. As the person responsible for management, the station master is should report to the township, strive for support through communication and coordination with village committee, and do a good job of curing barn management and maintenance. The deputy station master is responsible for supervising tobacco technicians in the area to carry out the collection and cleaning of equipments. The general manager is responsible for setting up archives of curing barn. The tobacco technician in the area is the direct responsible person, responsible for supervising and urging the tobacco farmers in the area to timely clean the ditches and drain water around the curing barn, clean the site and remove the remaining coal ash in the furnace of curing barn, and responsible for the collection, cleaning and centralized storage of equipments in curing barn.

4 Raising funds for management and maintenance from multiple sources

The implementation of management and maintenance fund is the core of the whole management and maintenance work, and the implementation of management and protection funds should be raised in many ways. First, the tobacco sector allocates special management and maintenance funds from production input. Second, the person in charge should actively strive for some funds from county and township as a special management and maintenance funds for curing barn management and maintenance and rewards of personnel and farmers who have done a good job in management and maintenance. Third, the village committee charges certain rent to tobacco farmers who use the curing barn, which can be used as the fund for management and maintenance of curing barn. Fourth, the masses are guided to develop a variety of industrial operations by using curing barn during the idle period, and appropriate fees are charged as management and maintenance funds[8].

5 Doing a good job in facilities and equipment inspection

Before the inspection of curing barn, tobacco technicians should master the baking point and the number of curing barns according to the planting area of tobacco farmers under the jurisdiction, and prepare the standard drawings, tape measures, thermometers and other tools for the construction of curing barn. The curing barns should be examined term by term in each point, to eliminate security risks and faults.

Whether the heating chamber of curing barn and internal and external walls and roof of tobacco loading room are air-leaked is checked, especially whether the wall painting is uniform, and the presence or absence of pores and cracks in the roof. The flexibility of opening and closing the door of tobacco loading room and the sealing after closing is checked, especially whether the door shaft and door frame are deformed and whether the sealing rubber strip falls off. Whether the circulating fan maintenance port, cleaning door, furnace door, ash pit, hot air intake (return air inlet), dehumidification outlet, combustion support tuyere, chimney outlet and cold air inlet on the wall of heating chamber are cracked and whether the size meets the standard are checked. Whether the center of the circulating fan and the center of furnace are on a central axis is inspected. Whether the building distance meets the requirements, whether the smoke beam is firm, whether the smoke beam on the top of curing barn is 60 cm from the roof and 20 cm lower than the air outlet, whether the smoke beam on the bottom of ascending curing barn is 130 cm from the ground are examined. Whether the chimney is blocked by foreign matter, whether it exceeds the top board surface by 120 cm, and whether it is equipped with chimney cap are all checked. Whether the floor of the tobacco loading room and heating room is level and clean, and whether the floor of the air duct is waterproof and moisture-proof is examined. Whether the drainage ditches around the curing barn are unimpeded is inspected as well.

6 Carefully maintaining the equipments in curing barn[9]

Customer manager should guide and supervise cooperatives and tobacco farmers to carefully manage and maintain the curing barn.

6.1 Tobacco loading roomWhether there are cracks, holes and peeling paint on walls and roofs, whether the door of tobacco loading room and the sealing strip of inspection window are broken, whether there are door cracks, deformation and glass damage are checked. Whether the louver of dehumidification outlet is deformed and falls off is examined, and it should be repaired in time if damaged. The tobacco loading room should be cleaned and all doors and windows should be tightly closed.

6.2 Heating chamberThe integrity and sealing of wall, roof, circulating fan room, hot air duct enclosure structure should be checked, and the damaged parts must be repaired. Whether the circulating fan maintenance port, cleaning door, furnace door, ash pit, hot combustion support tuyere, chimney outlet and cold air inlet on the wall of heating chamber are cracked is checked, and they should be repaired in time if there is cracking.

6.3 Thermally insulated wallWhether the wall, hot air intake, return air inlet and dehumidification outlet are cracked is checked, and they should be repaired in time if there is cracking.

6.4 Heating equipment

6.4.1Maintenance of coal-fired furnace. Whether the refractory lining (firebrick) in the furnace falls off and cracks, whether the furnace body and top have collapse, damage, welding, leakage and other problems should be inspected, and they should be repaired if there is any problem. The damaged furnace door should be repaired or replaced, and damaged sealing strip of soot door needs to be replaced. All furnace doors, soot door surface, door shafts and doorknobs are coated with oil to prevent rust. After removing slag in furnace and ash pit, about 15 kg of quicklime or grass charcoal or dry straw are placed on grate or furnace bottom plate for moisture-proof, and the furnace door and soot door should be tightly closed to ensure that the furnace body is sealed and dry without rust.

6.4.2Biomass burner maintenance. After baking, the particles in the storage box should be first removed, and the fuel in the auger must be sent out. Afterwards, the burner is stopped, and the dust on feed inlet, blower passage and furnace bar should be cleaned up. The bearings of chain and auger should be serviced with butter. Finally, the burner is wrapped with plastic film and sealed, or the burner is unloaded, wrapped with plastic film and sealed in a unified warehouse for storage.

6.5 Heat exchangerThe ash deposition in smoke box and heat exchange tube should be removed, and whether there is deformation and leakage hole is checked. If the heat exchanger is seriously corroded which will affect baking, it must be reported to cooperatives and tobacco leaf stations after statistics, and should be repaired or replaced before baking next year.

6.6 Circulating fanAfter baking, the fan can be disassembled to clean the dirt on its surface, and the screws and nuts are smeared with oil to prevent rust, while the exposed power cords are taken back and sealed for preservation. The motor bearing is checked, and lubricating oil resistant to high temperature above 120℃ should be filled in case of oil starvation, to maintain a good lubrication state of the motor. If possible, the fan can be disassembled and preserved with plastic film, and stored in a ventilated and dry environment.

6.7 Automatic controller and sensing lineAfter baking, the main power supply of automatic controller is turned off, and the dry battery is taken out. The dirt inside and outside the automatic controller must be cleaned up. All connecting parts of automatic controller should be checked and tightened. The automatic controller is removed and put into an airtight plastic bag. The temperature and humidity sensing line is removed, and the kettle and wet bulb gauze is cleaned, dried and wrapped in a plastic bag. All equipments must be stored in a ventilated and dry warehouse.

6.8 Automatic cold air inletThe connector wire of cold air inlet is taken down and stored in a plastic bag. The dirt on the surface of cold air inlet is cleaned, and the rotating shaft is lubricated with oil to prevent rust.

6.9 BlowerThe plug of blower is taken down, and the dirt on blower surface and blades is cleaned. The rotating shaft is lubricated with oil to prevent rust. The blower shall be packed and stored in a ventilated and dry warehouse.

6.10 ChimneyThe integrity of soot door and pipe of chimney is checked; the dust in the chimney is cleaned. The corrosion of chimney pipe inside and outside should be checked, and antirust paint is brushed. The soot door of chimney is tightly closed, and the chimney cap and chimney outlet are tightened with plastic cloth to ensure that the chimney does not leak rain and prevent rainwater from entering the heat exchanger.

6.11 Connecting line of electric applianceThe connecting lines of all electric appliances are wrapped in plastic bags and put in a ventilated and dry warehouse, and rats gnawing and damaging wires should be prevented.

6.12 Charging lineThe charging lines should be carefully checked and maintained to ensure the safety of power supply. The power supply of curing barn should be cut off in non flue-cured tobacco season.

7 Conclusions

After baking, the baking equipments are recovered and preserved by tobacco stations or cooperatives, and the damaged quantity will be counted by classification[10]. The baking equipments are received and installed by cooperatives or tobacco farmers before baking in the coming year, and certain amount of deposit should be paid if received by tobacco farmers. At the end of baking, when the controller, circulating fan, blower and other baking equipment are taken down and transported to the tobacco station or the storage place designated by the cooperative, the deposit paid by the tobacco farmers shall be returned. At the same time, the main body of curing barn, auxiliary facilities and standby generators should be checked and maintained, and the environment should be kept clean and dry. The broken equipments shall be cleaned and stored separately. The broken equipments shall be transported back to the warehouse of the central station when the central control and maintenance point takes inventory, and centralized maintenance and replacement will be carried out in June. Do not stack sundries in the tobacco-weaving shed, aisle and tobacco loading room of curing barn. If the curing barn is used to develop diversified industries during the idle period, it should not affect the baking during baking season or damage the equipments of curing barn. The supervision of the management and maintenance of curing barn should be strengthened, and the quality of the management and maintenance of curing barn should be annually inspected.