Why choose WPT?
Built To Exceed All Customers’ Specifications
We are a service organization that manufactures new equipment. Founded in 1995, we have extensive experience in manufacturing composite autoclaves for many industries, including aerospace, rubber vulcanizing, glass, concrete, oil and gas, and automotive production. With this experience, we understand the importance of industrial quality, performance, and maintainability.
INDUSTRIAL QUALITY
Top Build Quality
- ASME certified to Section VIII, Division 1 pressure vessel, RT1
- Our autoclaves are fully x-rayed to ensure there are no defects
- Internal sheet metal is 16 ga, to handle more wear than the competition
Most Robust Door Hinge & Lock Ring in
the Industry
- 40% thicker than the competition
- Longest service life without repair equaling less downtime
- Completely adjustable in all directions
Premium Heating Coil
- High efficiency design heating systems
- Electric SCR-controlled
- Gas, hybrid electric and gas, oil
- 321H stainless steel
Premium Cooling Coil
- Box coil design to prevent electric heating element damage
- High quality 304 seamless stainless steel
- Tubes are recessed into the header to allow all water to drain from both headers, avoiding steam hammering and increasing coil lifetime
Optimized Fan Assembly
- Designed to force 100% of autoclave air through heating and cooling coil box
- Average of 300 FPM, driven by VFD controls on fan motors for enhanced airflow and efficiency
Additional Circuit Protection
- Upstream and downstream circuit protection to ensure high dollar electrical components, such as SCRs, are not damaged
Enhanced Air/Nitrogen System
- Instrument system includes a regulator and pressure transducer to ensure that valves have sufficient operating pressure
- Plant system includes a check valve, fail-close actuated valve, and pressure transducer to prevent running facility air or nitrogen below acceptable levels
PERFORMANCE
Faster Production Cycles
- The fastest heating and cooling rates, exceeding specified temperature uniformity standards, and precise controlled vacuum stability
- WPT installs oversized electric and gas heating coils in our vessels to exceed the standard 0-10°F per minute heating rates
- WPT installs oversized cooling coils in our vessels to exceed the standard 0°-10°F per minute cooling rates
- WPT installs high performance motors and fan wheels for optimized airflow
PERFORMANCE
Faster Production Cycles
- The fastest heating and cooling rates, exceeding specified temperature uniformity standards, and precise controlled vacuum stability
- WPT installs oversized electric and gas heating coils in our vessels to exceed the standard 0-10°F per minute heating rates
- WPT installs oversized cooling coils in our vessels to exceed the standard 0°-10°F per minute cooling rates
- WPT installs high performance motors and fan wheels for optimized airflow
MAINTAINABILITY
We use our experience to design equipment that is maintenance friendly | Heating and cooling coil bundles on casters for easy removal | Built with non-proprietary parts. We stock spare parts, but if you need pumps, valves, motors, etc. we leave the original part numbers on items for you to find locally
What are “Green Systems”
WPT Green Systems is committed to the technological advancement of environmentally friendly composite autoclaves, as well as other industrial process equipment.
Our environmental goals include cutting energy consumption, lowering emissions, and reducing your companies’ carbon footprint, while increasing efficiency in gas fired thermal process equipment.
WPT Green Systems has advanced gas fired thermal process equipment through the development of more intelligent burner technologies and controls, and is an industrial leader in low and ultra-low NOx burners, heat recovery systems and hybrid burner technology.
Lower Your Carbon Footprint
- Low and Ultra Low NOx Burner Systems
- Exhaust Gas Recirculation Systems
- 20-25% reduced fuel usage
during ramp - 80-90% reduced fuel usage
during soak
- 20-25% reduced fuel usage
Low and Ultra-Low NOx Burner Systems
The traditional autoclave gas burner system uses mechanical valves and linkages to control the air to fuel ratio. These systems do not account for the nonlinearity of mechanical components and cannot auto-adjust to accommodate a wide range of operation. Our low and ultra-low NOx burner systems utilize a nozzle-mixing, medium velocity, low excess air burner, with precision air to gas control valves, and an intelligent ratio controller to reduce emissions by up to 85% ppm and 99% CO ppm*.
* See table below for details
Why Worry About NOx Emissions?
Nitrogen Oxide is a leading cause of greenhouse gases and photochemical smog, both of which affect the environment and the human body. The emissions of NOx can severely irritate lung conditions such as asthma and cause a reduction in lung function, as well.
View the table below to see the results when upgrading from an outdated gas burner to a high-efficiency WPT ultra-low NOx burner system.
Original Burner System
| Test Run 1 | Test Run 2 | Test Run 3 | TCEQ 117.410 ESAD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NOx ppm @ 3% O2 Nitrogen Oxides Emission Rate, ppm @ 3% O | 66.7 | 66.5 | 65.9 | 29.3 |
| CO ppm @ 3% O2 Carbon Monoxide Concentration, ppm @ 3% O2 | 5272.16 | 5272.08 | 5362.95 | 400 |
WPT Ultra-Low NOx Burner System Retrofit
| Test Run 1 | Test Run 2 | Test Run 3 | TCEQ 117.410 ESAD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NOx ppm @ 3% O2 Nitrogen Oxides Emission Rate, ppm @ 3% O | 8.98 | 8.98 | 10.26 | 29.3 |
| CO ppm @ 3% O2 Carbon Monoxide Concentration, ppm @ 3% O2 | 14.64 | 4.18 | 2.31 | 400 |
*All tests were performed on customer equipment. Original burner statistics did not meet environmental standards for NOx emissions. Burner retrofit statistics are well below environmental standards. All results are reported by a 3rd party company, air quality control group. The fluctuation seen during the WPT test runs are the result of a WPT Technician tuning the burner during each testing phase.
Heat Recovery Systems
On most autoclave systems today the gas heating process takes place in a combustion system circulating hot air through the heating coil and then exhausting to atmosphere. By reintroducing the exhaust air back into the heating system it reduces the amount of energy required to heat the ambient air necessary to maintain the system process temperature.
This reduces fuel consumption of a gas burner by an average of 25% during ramp and 70% during soak per cure cycle.
95 °F to 400 °F 50 PSI
Burner Inlet Temp: 1200 °F
Exhaust Flow: 4300 SCFM
A/C Fan: 60 Hz
Recirculation System Disengaged
| Burner Firing Rate – Ramp | 4.36 Average | MMBtu/Hr |
| Approximate Time to Temp | 32 | Minutes |
| Approximate Fuel Usage – Ramp | 2.325 Average | MBtu |
| Burner Firing Rate – Soak | 1.88 Average | MMBtu/Hr |
| Approximate Soak Time | 60 | Minutes |
| Approximate Fuel Usage – Soak | 1.88 | MBtu |
| Approximate Total Fuel Usage | 4.2 | MBtu |
95 °F to 400 °F 50 PSI
Burner Inlet Temp: 1200 °F
Exhaust Flow: 4300 SCFM
A/C Fan: 60 Hz
Exhaust Valve Control to 500 °F – Max 80%
| Burner Firing Rate – Ramp | 3.4 Average | MMBtu/Hr |
| Approximate Time to Temp | 32 | Minutes |
| Approximate Fuel Usage – Ramp | 1.81 Average | MBtu |
| Burner Firing Rate – Soak | 0.75 Average | MMBtu/Hr |
| Approximate Soak Time | 60 | Minutes |
| Approximate Fuel Usage – Soak | 0.75 | MBtu |
| Approximate Total Fuel Usage | 2.56 | MBtu |
COMPOSITE AUTOCLAVE HEATER BLANKETS
WPT integrates heating blankets with composite curing autoclaves for reducing energy costs for running smaller loads | These heating blankets are controlled with WPT’s Process Control Software 2.0 (PCS) and can work with or without the composite autoclave main heating system
- 120V, 240V, and 480V
- Zone controlled to ± 10°F
- Maximum temperature up to 500°F
