Rigid IBCs in the Metal Powder
Industry
Guest article by Carl
Andrews, General Manager, Matcon USA Inc.
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 Introduction
Storing, handling, transporting, and
processing of dry solids continues to be a challenge to most
industries, especially because of the increasing number of
"designer" materials available to process. These new "designer"
powders have an increasingly unique role as super carriers, binders,
catalysts, etc.
Each powder will come with a certain
flow characteristic, shelf-life, and toxicity. With the double-edged
sword that official regulation brings, finished components are
becoming purer, cheaper, more varied, and have greater adaptability
to the market. The trade-off to these advantages is the need to
control emissions, improve plant safety, avoid or eliminate dust,
and to improve containment and cross-contamination of the product.
The controlled containment of powders throughout the manufacturing
process not only protects the consumer, the operator, and the
environment, but also protects the corporation from law suits and
negligence issues.
The Metal Powder Industry is one of
the most intense applications where, at virtually every process
step, industry-specific material handling technology needs to be
taken into consideration. Below are some of the very particular
solids handling challenges faced by the Metal Powder processing
industry today:
The raw materials:
- The raw product is generally very
heavy, requiring any manufacturing machinery to be robust and
powerful.
- When handling toxic materials,
exposure to the operator, environment and other processes must be
eliminated.
- A fully blended product with
correct particle size distribution is crucial for the quality of
the final component.
- Segregation of blended product
during feeding to the press must be avoided.
- Controlled discharge is essential
to the performance of the downstream equipment.
- Batch traceability is often
required to prove the origin of supply and QA of the final
product.
The Metal Powder Industry is divided
into three main sub-categories:
- Metal Powder Producers
- Metal Powder Converters
- Metal Powder Custom Reprocessors
Metal Powder Producers
Producers manufacture products that
are defined as:
- discrete particles of elemental
metals
- discrete particles of alloys
 Metal
powder producers simply formulate and mix powders according to their
customer’s request, sometimes modifying product characteristics
(chemically or thermally) to enhance the performance of the blend.
They also manufacture and refine single product that they sell in
great quantity.
The trend in these companies is to
extend the value of their supply by offering an increasingly diverse
range of mixed elemental metals or alloys. These more specialized
products generally do not command great volumes, so they need more
specialized manufacturing machinery. Producing smaller pure product
batches will require the manufacturers to use smaller, more
contained manufacturing equipment. This will include the use of
containerized technology (IBCs) and in-bin-blending. There is also
the possibility of shipping the finished product directly to the
customer’s site in the container. This will completely eliminate the
need for dispensing into a shipping container, and for the client to
dispense back into ‘on site’ processing containers.
Aluminum is becoming a visible
alternative to iron parts and must be segregated completely from the
iron powder process.
Cross-Contamination & Equipment
Handling
IBC technology offers a modern say
solution to the problems that affect storage, transportation,
quality, efficiency and containment.
- Product flow is promoted, by
pushing up the cone to displace product prior to discharge.
- “Mass Flow” is initiated to
minimize the risk of particle segregation by providing an
‘annular’ gap through which the product flows.
- Robust design with no mechanical
parts eliminates breakdowns.
- Storage space can be minimized
with the use of square IBCs in place of the more common round
containers.
- For in-house blending, square
containers offer a far more efficient in-bin blending container.
Faster and better mixes can be achieved by using eccentric
end-over-end tumbling of a square IBC.
- When combined with a discharge
station the system can be used as a batch feeder, pulsing
predictable shots of material down to the process.
Metal Powder Converters
Metal powder converters take the
product as supplied by the metal powder producers and convert the
raw product into component parts. Components are pressed into shape
then sintered to give the finished characteristics as demanded by
their clients. At this stage the converters are at the mercy of the
raw product quality. Poor blended product, incorrect dispersion of
elements, or off-spec product will translate into scrap finished
components. ‘Goods in’ quality control can and does sometimes pick
up poor product by the measurement of weight or density, but
internal transportation, feed mechanisms and storage all contribute
to stratification, segregation and in some instances damage to the
product.
This part of the industry is probably
the fastest growing at the moment - better alloys, smaller particle
sizes, and industrial innovation are all pushing this section of the
industry to diversify its product offering.
Today there are on average 17 lbs of
pressed metal parts in an American built car engine, as compared to
Europe where the average is about 8 lbs. This disparity is due to
the thought that pressed parts can not take the extra stress that
smaller, higher capacity engines, which rev higher and have
conventional gearshifts, would impart onto the components. Gearboxes
with auto shift exert far less stress onto gears than their
equivalent stick shift gearboxes. By 2008 the average weight of
pressed metal parts in a European car will be in excess of 17 lbs
and the US will increase to 24 lbs. This acceleration in the amount
of total components is being brought about by better alloying and
better product quality at the press.
To ensure this quality, component
manufacturers are employing techniques in-house to improve the
quality of the raw product. They are re-blending in house within the
process IBC, then taking it direct to the press-feed point. They are
using IBCs with cone valve technology to ensure that the product
remains in a blended condition all the way down to the shoe. They
are also purchasing product from local custom formulation houses
that focus only on formulating and blending special product for
local delivery.
High Value Sintered Product
Manufacturers
These companies make cutting tools,
pharmaceutical pieces, aircraft supplies, and defense equipment.
Most of the time blending of the ingredients prior to final
processing is done in- house. In-house formulation, thermal
treatment, milling, blending, drying, classifying and sintering are
all process steps in this high value production environment.
IBCs are ideal, as they offer the
ability for material traceability and containment throughout a wide
range of process steps. Although batches are not traditionally
large, the bulk density of the product requires a rugged and durable
container. IBCs fit the bill, and are perfect for moving product to
and from the process steps.
Shipping a blended product in an IBC
becomes an attractive option when the specific product is either
toxic or expensive.
 Low
Value Sintered Product Manufacturers
These manufacturers represent 80% of
the total industry but they only represent 20% of the revenue.
They typically supply the Auto
Industry, sometime running presses marginally above cost to keep up
with volume. A saving of 2˘ per pound of their process powder is a
substantial saving, as they run batches consisting of millions of
units. These manufacturers receive blended powders and commonly do
no major formulation on site. Product is delivered in shipping boxes
(“Bulk-Paks”) or regular fiber drums. From the fiber drum the
product is traditionally fed into a crude movable hopper by
inverting the drum and manually scooping the product.
- IBCs are ideal as they pulse-feed
a small surge of material into a buffer hopper located above the
shoe. Using cone valve technology, an IBC can automatically
deliver a completely consistent head of product.
- The docking operation and
discharge from the IBC is completely automatic and safe. It
requires no manual intervention to initiate and will produce no
dust when discharging product.
Metal Powder Custom Reprocessors
Custom formulation houses have sprung
up to answer the needs of both the component manufacturers and the
metal powder producers. They have the ability to respond quickly to
the varying demands of the component manufacturers to produce a high
quality small batch of specialized product. They also fulfill the
need to re-blend or re-grind scrap material, for re-sale back to the
component manufacturers.
The metal powder producers can easily
ship their product to the customhouses in fiber drums, Gaylord’s or
similar, in single product form. Local blending and shipment to
local facilities reduces the probability of material segregation
during the packaging process at the producers and further
stratification during long haul road transport.
These custom formulation houses exist
in all industries; they are sometimes called toll processors or
customhouses.
Contact Our Author
Mr. Carl Andrews
General Manager
Matcon USA, Inc.
233 North Delsea Drive
Sewell, New Jersey 08080
Phone: 856-256-1330
Fax: 856-256-1329
Web site:
http://www.matconibc.com/
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