ICAI selects industrial-scale GEA spray dryer to manufacture more environmentally sustainable leather tanning compound
Founded in 1954, Italy-based I.C.A.I. S.p.A. (ICAI) is a leading manufacturer of specialized industrial chemicals, including syntans, retanning agents, natural and synthetic fat liquors, and emulsifiers for the global leather industry, as well as additives for metalworking. ICAI has consistently driven its growth through a strong emphasis on product and process innovation, supported by significant investments in R&D, cutting-edge technology, and advanced engineering.
The partnership between GEA and ICAI has flourished for nearly 25 years. ICAI's industrial-scale GEA NIRO® spray dryers, installed in 1999 and 2005 at their main facility in the Turin metropolitan area, continue to serve as reliable workhorses for processing a diverse range of products. Recently, ICAI commissioned a new GEA NIRO® spray dryer at the same site, enabling the company to meet the industry's increasing demand for products with a reduced environmental impact.
ICAI’s main site in the Turin metropolitan area
Revisiting GEA NIRO® spray dryer technology
ICAI's in-house R&D team is actively utilizing sustainable raw materials and innovative analytical processes to develop new pathways for both existing and future products. In recent years, ICAI has introduced a comprehensive range of products with low bisphenol content, significantly reducing the environmental and health impacts of these industrial chemicals across various sectors, including fashion and automotive.
In 2022 ICAI partnered with us to begin the design and configuration of a third large-scale GEA NIRO® spray dryer. This new plant will be specifically dedicated to producing low bisphenol products, which are currently being marketed to tanneries in the high fashion and automotive industries, and for other applications.Safety first
Safety and environmental protection were key design features for this major investment by our customer. Sited adjacent to ICAI’s existing NIRO® spray dryers, the new plant includes several upgrades and additional safety features that have been developed by GEA since 2006.
The complete new line – which ICAI has established to reduce bisphenol concentration in the final product down to just a few parts per million - has a dedicated piping system for reception and transfer of feed liquid through the process stages.
Following its successful installation and commissioning in early 2024, the new GEA NIRO® spray dryer passed regulatory audit to achieve full CE marking, and commercial production was initiated during the first half of the year. We’ve remained on hand throughout the process, providing minor requested adaptations, and working with ICAI to ensure that the system has given top quality functionality and performance from day one.
GEA NIRO® spray dryer
Understanding goals
The collaborative design and configuration project for this third spray dryer allowed us to understand important goals for ICAI. These included optimized operation, assurance of plant and process safety, and a focus on reducing waste and potential sources of pollution. ICAI operates an efficient treatment system for the decontamination and recycling of process water to comply with stringent environmental protection requirements.
GEA configured and installed an air-to-air heat recovery system for the new spray dryer. The system captures waste heat in the exhaust gas and reuses it to heat the intake gas. This heat recovery capability effectively reduces the plant’s overall energy consumption by about 200 kW, when compared with energy draw that would be expected without the system. By taking heat from the exhaust gas the air-to-air heat recovery technology also reduces the exhaust gas temperature from about 92°C to around 62°C.
Reducing risks
The new NIRO® spray dryer design includes GEA DRIVENT® 2.0 explosion vents in the spray drying chamber and bag filter. These provide critical, certified protection against explosion risks, and are designed for a long lifespan, easy fitting and simple maintenance. The plant has in addition been configured with the latest GEA scrubber units and bag filters to reduce product loss, pollution and improve equipment lifespan.
The complete plant design complies with all regulatory requirements, and also facilitates regular and ad hoc audit.
CODEX® automation supporting top performance
The semi-automated GEA NIRO® spray dryer is controlled by our state-of-the-art GEA CODEX® platform, which monitors key parameters to ensure that the plant is running optimally 24/7. As well as helping to reduce the likelihood of safety issues arising, CODEX® oversight can significantly improve plant efficiency and productivity, resulting in more reliable, high quality product output, while minimizing the risk of unplanned stoppages and errors. Under CODEX® control the plant is directly linked to the site’s silos and feed tanks, speeding more seamless process stage connectivity. This level of connectivity and automation further reduces the need for manual tasks and any associated delays.
The CODEX® platform in addition offers plant personnel user-friendly visualization tools and hands-free operation, not only minimizing the risk of human errors, but also freeing operators to carry out other important plant functions.
Plant interconnectivity, in combination with state-of-the-art equipment and CODEX® process control automation, have contributed to obtaining tax incentives from the Italian government under the Industry 4.0 program.
Luigi Vallifuoco
CEO ICAI
Connection to SAP and warehousing
Importantly, the new spray dryer is connected to the ICAI SAP and warehousing infrastructure to help support just-in-time manufacturing. As well as further reducing punctuations in product processing and delivery to customers, connecting process to inventory and ordering can help to minimize unnecessary stockpiling, and potentially cut waste. Major investment in ICAI on site warehouse capacity – the new spray dryer investment is second in value only to that of the warehouse investment - allows the company to respond rapidly and in full to new orders.
Supporting change
The ICAI production infrastructure, and its GEA equipment, have been configured to allow fast adaptation to changing market demands and expectations. So, while the new GEA NIRO® spray dryer at ICAI has been configured for manufacturing a single product, the plant retains native flexibility, and is supplied with our atomizer and COMBI-NOZZLE® system to support plant reconfiguration at any time for manufacturing a range of products. ICAI may in future opt to use the system for processing completely new product types. The plant may also be reconfigured to increase process capacity for spray dried products that are currently manufactured on the company’s pre-existing GEA spray dryers.
GEA always accessible
GEA has an ongoing, active partnership with ICAI that means we are always on hand to work with our customer, whether remotely or on site in Italy. Our aim is to keep our customers’ equipment running at peak performance, and we can provide advice, support and testing options for new and existing processes, as well as suggest upgrades or system improvements. Continued collaboration supports our partners’ drive to offer products and processes that meet market demands, and grow more sustainable, profitable and environmentally sound business models.
There is always a process of learning for every part of a business working with new processing equipment and production lines. GEA support is always available to us to help with any queries and to provide advice. Our personnel have been well supported.
Luigi Vallifuoco
CEO ICAI
