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The European journal for handling, processing and transport of premium bulk products

INTERNATIONAL NEWS • PEOPLE • PRODUCTS

MARCH/APRIL 2014 ISSUE 38

French manufacturer Thimon offers multiple possibilities of layout and sues when wrapping bag stacks and other types of load. With film thicknesses from 40 microns, it is capable of wrapping as many as 140 pallet loads per hour and more, depending on the application. Further details of this and other latest bag palletising/load securement technologies are described on p12.

IN THIS ISSUE News................................. ....................... 3-10

Schaffer·Verfahrenstechnik now pari of Kreisel; powder tankers

Ioaded by aero-mechanical conveyor; Thiele Technologies

acquires Dutch palletizer manufacturer Symach; aluminium silo

extension at Carr's Flour Scotland; Bernhard Scherer no longer

chairman of Zeppelin Systems

Tubular inclined belt conveyor ideal for food-

grade products .................. ....... ....... ............ 11

Latest developments in load securement of bag

stack .......................................................... ".12

Pneumatic conveying: focus on handling

abrasive/problematic products .................... 14

Valves, diverters and gates for controlling dry

b-..Jk .Oows ••• " ... j •. "!Ii .'. l'<§ . ........... i .... .. .. ir· .. . .. il .. . ' ''' _1'" . , ••• • , .... . ........ . . 1 fi

New equipment .......... ....................................... 17

Latest TOPAS sets benchmark for high-speed FFS bagging;

powder screening with integrated metal detection and

sampling; three milling processes from one machine;

X-ray technology attains new food safety levels; self-cleaning

magnet for non-free-flowing products

, Twin blow tank arrangement for low-velocity conveying of foundry sand supplied by NEU International Process of France. Additional information is given about this company's NEUPHASE slow-speed dense phase conveying system which is suitable for handling fragile as weil as abrasive materials. Further detaJIs outlining other recent innovations in pneumatic conveying systems and components can be found on p14.

The French designed and manufactured Liftvrac takes the pipe conveyor concept a stage further, providing both gentle and hygienic enclosed transfer of food powders, nuts, diced vegetables, pulp and even delicate confectionery. Other advantages include low energy consumption and ease of cleaning, as described on plI.

Bulk logistics operator Alfred Talke has opened an advanced liquids packaging line at Zwijndrecht, Belgium, with automated drum and IBC filling systems supplied by Feige Filling of Germany. It is now possible to fill and pack about 100 drums hourly with toxic and/or explosive chemicals delivered to the site by road tankers. Senior executives from Feige and Talke are shown on the occasion of the official opening (see pB).

When Standard

Îsnotgood enough. WE HAVE A SOLunON.

4 EuroBulk PNEUMATIC CDNVEYING MARCHlApRIL 2014

Low-velocity dense phase conveying The following article * outlines the capabilities of the French-designed NEUPHASE system which has achieved worldwide recognition; also on this page we briefly outline other news and developments relating to pneumatic conveying systems and components.

parts and production delays due to downtime, wear being proportional to the fourth power, or greater, of the moving velocity. Fragile products, on the other hand, can be subject to bruising, breakage or degradation.

The NEUPHASE solution NEUPHASE is the low-velocity dense phase conveying system developed by NEU International Process, La Chapelle d'Armentières, northern France. It is the result of an extensive R&D programme.

pipe), the product will move extremely slowly and continuously, with waves of product moving gentiy along the top. The manner in which particles are conveyed depends on their physical characteristics and, particularly, on their dimensions. With granular products, the natural spaces between each particle are used to assist product fIow. For powdery products (where there is virtually no space between the particles), secondary air is introduced in sm ail quantities via in je ct ors to keep the product moving.

Advantages of low velocity

Proven system Today, NEUPHASE has already been successfully employed by such major international names as Unilever, Solvay, Clariant and , Cargill to convey mate rials as diverse as sand, foundry sand, soda ash, glass fibre, nylon granules and detergent ingredients such as calcite, sodium silicate and tri-polyphosphate, or processed food products (milk powder, maltodextrine, roasted coffee beans, etc).

Pneumatic conveying of fragile and abrasive materials has, until now,

presented major problems, largely resulting from the conveying velocities employed. Conventional pneumatic systems, whilst highly satisfactory for most purposes, are not really suitable for moving fragile or abrasive materials. 'Lean phase' and 'medium phase' type systems transfer products by keeping them in suspension, in air, with velocities of around 20 to 25m/s. Conventional 'dense phase' systems work at higher pressures and sIightly lower velocities, typicaIly 15 to 20m/s, but still keep the product airbome.

More recently, single 'slug phase' systems have been developed which are designed to convey a 'slug' of product from one end of the pipe to the other at theoretical velocities of around 10m/s.

Designed specifically to convey very slowly indeed, NEUPHASE moves materials at velocities between 1 m/s and 4m!s along the whole pipeline. This very slow movement, at a fraction of the speed of other systems, ensures the virtual elimination of pipe wear and, also, product degradation.

NEUPULSE module from NEU International Process.

Most pneumatic conveying systems, even slug phase systems, use relatively large quantities of air. Extensive research has clearly indicated that, by increasing the solids:air ratio and decreasing the velocity, compressed air consumption is dramatically reduced. Development has proven that solids:air ratios (in kg:kg) in excess of 150:1 are obtainablewith the NEU system. NEUPHASE can reduce air consumption and, hence, energy consumption by 25% to 50% or more.

This proven technology has been put to work for a customer located in South America, who needed to create new production lines dec)icated to milk-based infant formulae . NEU supplied a fully automated installation which extends from materials intake, to conveying, weighing, mixing through to packing into boxes. NEU International Process has just received an order from a major lndonesian food producer for several identical NEUPULSE systems.

Blended products can also be conveyed without segregation. It is also possible to shut off a fullline of mate rial and start it up again from standstill. There is, therefore, no danger of line blockages, and the need for purging or blowing clean is eliminated, except, for example, when

a product change is required. This can then be carried out automatically.

Abrasive mate rials can cause excessive pipe wear, which is costly in ter ms of maintenance, replacement

SYSTEMS NEWS Bentonite dense phase pneumatic conveying Air-Tec system, Calderara di Reno, Italy, has installed a system for pneumatic conveying of bentonite adopted by Octo Corindo, a leading company in foundry materials with head office in Jakarta, lndonesia. The solution leverages the full pipeline teehnology to handle the material from a silo up to three different destinations. Flow rates of 1.5Vh can be achieved over a distance of 1 OOm.

Engineering design was carried out by Aria Tech, the local representative for Air-Tec system's products.

Positive pressure system loads rotomoulding plants Fluid Airsystems, Fiorano Modenese (MO), Italy, has developed the patented EASY LOAD system designed to load moulds for the rotational moulding industry. Key advantages are the total absence of dust pollution combined with compact equipment dimensions. Product is normally fed into the pneumatic pipeline from a bulk bag discharge station which can be located up to 100m away from the EASY LOAD module situated in close proximity to the moulding machine.

The operator enters via a touch screen on the EASY LOAD module the total weight of PE powder/granules required (for example 40kg, which means 10kg for each form in the case of

Prototype of the EASY LOAD system at the Fluid Airsystems test plant.

Method of movement With NEUPHASE, the product is moved in a wave-like form through the pipe. Typically (in a horizontal

Flexicon's vacuum receiver can handle a wide range of capacities but is particular/y suited to high-volume applications.

rotomoulding with four moulding loading forms). Typical transfer rate of the pneumatic conveying system over 30 seconds is 20kg or more.

Patented technology reduces product degradation and pipeline wear Nol-Tee Europe, Gorgonzola, Italy, reports that the latest version of its dense phase pneumatic conveying system uses air injeetors, called Air Assist T.M , that are strategically located along the pipeline into which they inject air, causing regular slugs of product to be formed.

The Air Assist capability makes the system very efficient, as it reduces the amount of compressed air needed to convey large quantities of product at a low speeds « 3m!s) , and the product is pushed along the whole line in a controlled way. The product resistance in the pipeline is reduced, allowing conveying to be restarted in the case of accidentai or emergency stop. In fact the added air can clear any plugs caused by low air volume or pressure, also eliminating the ch ore of dismantling the line to remove blockages. This keeps maintenance and system downtime costs low.

These features make the Nol-Tec system extremely flexible and secure against clogging, allowing conveying at very slow speed for the most fragile and/or abrasive products.

Air injeetors along the conveying line can also be used to gently restart fIow when material is left in the line after the conveying cycle. This is a particular advantage for a system handling an

abrasive or friable material, or material blend. For long-distance pneumatic conveying

systems a series of Air Mizers ™ can be added to the series of Air Assists to reduce compressed air consumption. Air Mizers introduce compressed air only when necessary, depending on the pressure present in the conveying line. This helps ensure reduction in pipe wear together with reduced conveying air saving energy costs by up to 30%.

COMPONENTS NEWS Sanitary filter receiver Coperion K-Tron will introduce its new Sanitary Fil ter Receiver (SFR) in early May at the Powder Show, Rosemont, IL The SFR provides automatic separation of product material from the convey air for vacuum and pressure conveying sanitary applications in batch and continuous processes. It is speeifically designed for stringent food applications requiring quick clean-out and to reduce food contaminants and/ or the cross-contamination of allergens.

Multi-port switch Also to be unveiled at the Powder Show will be the latest version of Dynamic Air's Multi-Port Switch which was introduced last year. This device automatically diverts granular materials from a single source, such as a pneumatic conveying system, to as many as 15 different bins, hoppers or silos. The full-bore design permits unrestricted material fIow to minimise mate rial degradation and pressure drop for improved performance and to reduce the energy required for conveying. The unique design uses a Geneva drive system for reliability and exact trouble-free positioning. There are no dead spots for material to collect, making the unit suitable for applications where cross­contamination is a major concern. In addition, wearing parts can be replaced quickly with ease.

Vacuum receiver with pneumatic dump valve Flexicon Europe, Whitstable, UK, has introduced a vacuum reeeiver with a pneumatically actuated dump valve for use with dilute phase pneumatic conveying systems. Fabricated from stainless steel, the unit is of cIamp-together design that facilitates fast, tool-free disassembly for fiIter cleaning and maintenance, Its modular construction allows for addition of cylinder segments for increased holding volume. The fIap-type dump valve is actuated by a pneumatic

''This is an abbreviated draft of an article written for EuroBulkSystems by Françoise Marival, commercial department, NEU International Process.

cylinder via manual contact cIosure, or programmable con troIs based on weight gain, elapsed time or other parameters selected by the lI:l)eJ.

Unlike conventional fiIter receivers that employ multiple small filter elements, the new device employs a single, large-diameter filter cartridge facilitating rapid filter changes and automatic reverse pulse jet cIeaning of the filter element to maintain conveying efficiency during operation.

Latest Mu/ti-Port Switch from Dynamic Air.

Italy

www.air-tec.it

Coperion K-Tron Switzerland

www.coperionktron.com

USNUK

www.dynamicair.com

FleDeon Europe UK

www.flexicon.co.uk

Fluid Airsystems Italy

www.fluidairsystems.it

NEU International Process

www.neu-process.com

Nol-Tee Europe

www.nol-teceurope.com