Lumber Manufacturer Increases Kiln Throughput with GEM™ Steam Traps

Mechanical steam traps serving five biomass-heated kilns were leaking and required annual replacement, creating a persistent maintenance and reliability burden across a critical drying asset.

To end the “fail, identify, replace” cycle, the mill converted all five kilns to GEM™ steam traps.

The GEM™ full venturi design continuously discharges condensate through a calibrated multi-stage throat, developing the variable back pressure needed to sustain a condensate seal as the duty changes; this allows the trap to clear higher start-up flow and continue draining at lower running loads without backing condensate into the coils or passing live steam. Manufactured from a single piece of stainless steel and containing no moving parts, GEM™ is backed by a 10-year performance guarantee on saturated steam.

The mill manager said:

Before installing the GEM venturi steam traps, the mill was experiencing repeat failures of mechanical steam traps. These failures were affecting mill production and using up limited maintenance resources. Since installing the GEM venturi steam traps, we have noticed faster warm up times, more stable temperatures within the kilns and less condensate flashing at the receivers. The repeat steam trap failures are now a thing of the past and these improvements have helped the mill reduce downtime and fuel consumption.

The project demonstrates how stabilising condensate removal can help mills make better use of their existing biomass-heated drying capacity.