Homepage | Industry Directory | Help Forum | Job Fair | Ask Joe! Column

In This Issue

From the Editor

Send Us Your News !

Do you have company news, a new product, new service or other information you would like to share with our subscribers.? We give full credit to contributing authors.

Deadline for the next issue is January 20th.

Please try to submit articles via e-mail. If you have photographs to be included with article send it as an attachment and please, no 3 Meg files!  Also, we do want "action-shots" for our home page!  Send it to:  news@powderandbulk.com
...or visit our news and information submission page at:
Click here to submit a press release

Doubled Belt Life

Ace Conveyor Equipment, when alerted to the high cost of regular replacement of a particular conveyor belt carrying clinker at a cement factory, Ace Engineers began to look for ways of achieving increased belt life and reduced operating costs.

The basic problem originated from the fact that the belt specification had been changed to a fire resistant type, after the whole system had suffered a fire when very hot clinker had been fed onto the conveyor for a short time, and the belt propagated the fire. One of the quirks of rubber compounding is that optimum fire resistance and heat resistance are not available from the same compound. In changing to fire resistant belt for improved safety, the cement manufacturer found that the heat from the normal operating temperatures caused the new fire resistant compound to deteriorate at twice the rate of the previous heat resistant specification.

A new idea evolved from the application of known technology in a different way. The form of the new belt is known as a 'Mobius Strip' - a truly endless surface. This construct of a surface was discovered in 1858 by a German mathematician and theoretical astronomer, Augustus Ferdinand Mobius. It has been used in drive belt applications since the time of the Industrial Revolution, but not on belt conveyors.

Having generated the new concept, the task then moved into one of making the idea work in practice. Three secondary problems had to be solved to secure successful application of the concept, after the detailed engineering design of the turning station had been completed. 

1. The belt has to be cleaned to a high standard, to prevent fine particles adhering to the belt surface and being distributed onto the carrying rollers and making the problems of fines spillage worse.
2. The alignment of the belt through the turning station is crucial, to ensure that the belt edges are not damaged, and alignment elsewhere on the conveyor is required to keep the product in the center of the belt section.
3. Since the belt turns over every revolution of the conveyor, the vulcanized joint is running 'backwards' for 50% of the time. This requires particular attention to be given to the construction of the joint.

One important consequence of applying this system is that the risk of sudden and catastrophic belt failure is minimized, for fire risk is vastly reduced and the rate of heat deterioration is significantly slowed, allowing more accurate predictions of useful belt life to be made. Planned belt changes are far less costly than sudden breakdowns. The original benefit sought from this concept was that the wear life of a belt can be doubled by using both sides to carry product.

However, when hot products are involved, such as in Clinker conveying, the increase in life can be greater. If heat aging of the rubber cover is the limiting factor determining belt life, the increased cooling time provided by the Mobi-Ace Turning Station is very valuable. The traditional belt path requires the belt to carry the product for 50% of the time, but since the turning station reverses the belt every revolution of the conveyor, the new system doubles the circuit time and thereby halves the product contact time to 25%. It is more important to realize that the belt cooling time trebles, for it is this substantial increase in cooling effect which extends the life of the rubber cover of the belt.

Tests have shown that a 10 degree C reduction in rubber temperature will halve the heat aging effect. This significant development in the field of belt conveyor technology will enable increased belt life to be realized, with wear life double that of traditional conveyor designs, and as illustrated above, by substantially more when hot products are being carried.

Further details contact:
Mr. Rob Drohan
Ace Conveyor Equipment Company Ltd.
Email:  robdrohan@ace-conveyor-equipment.co.uk
Web site:  http://www.ace-conveyor-equipment.co.uk/

Hermetically Sealed Bags

Companies who presently package their products within a traditional paper or polythene valve bag can now be offered the benefit of extra protection for more specialized goods by using a valve bag manufactured from a barrier foil laminate material.

Barrier foil valve bags are manufactured to replicate the customers current bag dimensions, and when hermetically sealed provide "total climatic protection" therefore eliminating unnecessary costs due to product damage. Barrier foils will provide protection against moisture/oxygen ingress, odor transfer, aggressive gasses, temperature and UV When hermetically sealed barrier foils provide the lowest known water vapor transmission rate of any flexible material, being 80 times more effective than 500-gauge polythene.

With no minimum order quantity and very short lead times these total barrier bags are available as and when they are needed and in quantities which match the shorter manufacturing runs of more specialized product.

For further information please contact:
Ms. Pam Robinson
Protective Packaging Ltd.
Dane Road Industrial Estate
Sale, Cheshire, M33 7BH
Telephone: +44 161 976 2006
Fax: +44 161 976 3330

The Reading Room

"...discussing state-of-the-art technologies and demonstrating cost-effective approaches to manufacturing solid-dosage forms with content uniformity..." Handbook of Pharmaceutical Granulation Technology by Dilip M. Parikh (Editor) Hardcover, June 1997

"...brings together design and process analysis methods ...of batch process design. ...required in the development of successful batch processes..." Handbook of Batch Processing Design by P. N. Sharratt (editor) Hard Cover, First Edition, January 1998

Tableting Specification Manual: Previously Referred to as the IPT Standard Specifications for Tableting Tools American Pharmaceutical Association Paperback, 5th edition, February 2001

For more pre-selected books for the materials handling pro,
Visit the Reading Room at:
http://www.powderandbulk.com/pb_services/readingroom.htm

Ask Joe! Column

"You Too, Can Select a Pneumatic Conveying System"
Guest article by Tim Singer, Pneu Solutions
You can read Tim's article at:
http://www.powderandbulk.com/pb_services/askjoe.htm

Past Ask Joe! Archived Articles
http://www.powderandbulk.com/pb_services/ask_joe_archive/toc.htm

We Need Your Guest Articles!
Do you have an area of expertise in bulk materials, have you solved a difficult materials problem? You too, can be an Ask Joe! guest author!  Share your knowledge with others and promote yourself (the old publish or perish is true!) by contributing an article to the Ask Joe! Column.

For more information, please contact Joe Marinelli at:
Joe@SolidsHandlingTech.com

Five Auger Choices

Economy and versatility makes the Hapman Helix conveyor an excellent choice for moving processed powders or bulk solids into their final packaging phase.

The system consists of a Helix conveyor coupled to almost any filling machine with volume control sensors. Product can be introduced into the conveyor utilizing a wide variety of engineered hoppers and feeding systems. An ultimately simple combination which can provide efficiency and consistency into packaging production lines.

At the top of a long list of Helix feed options, engineered to increase your processing rates, are Hapman's 5 auger choices. Each has its own unique shape designed to maximize the potential product flow of differing materials through the conveyor.

Hapman is the leading manufacture of bulk material handling equipment including flexible screw, pneumatic and tubular drag conveyor systems along with manual bag dump stations with dust collection, batch weighing, bulk bag unloaders and fillers along with a variety of auxiliary equipment.

For additional information contact:
Mr. Greg Patterson
Hapman Conveyors
6002 East Kilgore Road
Kalamazoo, MI 49003 USA
Telephone:  616-343-1675 or 800-427-6260
Email:  info@hapman.com
Web site:  http://www.hapman.com/

25,000 Visitors!

A record-breaking, 25,000+ professionals visited our web site last month!

That's about 1,000 people per business day!  They are looking for equipment and services you offer!  Banner advertising is a great way to make your company stand out and reach these savvy material handling pro's.

Want a Rate Card?  It's Easy!
Visit our banner ad sign-up page at:
http://www.powderandbulk.com/pb_services/bannerads.htm

Free Listings
Does your company offers equipment or services to the bulk materials handling & processing industry and do you think your company's web site should be listed in our directory?  You can be listed - FREE! Just go to our link request 
page at:  http://www.powderandbulk.com/pb_services/link.php

Integral Part of Dust Control System

DCE, Inc - Minneapolis, MN, has introduced the new Spotair filter - a compact, high efficiency venting filter designed to reduce costs and improve productivity in material conveying applications. Using all its 80 years experience in dust control, DCE has developed this versatile, new range as a direct response to customer requests. It will provide a simple, cost-effective solution that minimizes waste and allows valuable product to be successfully reclaimed and re-used.

Purpose-built for low air volume, venting operations, the DCE Spotair is ideal for use within industries such as, agrofood production, cement and minerals processing, flour milling, food processing, grain and cereal milling and pharmaceutical manufacturing. The filter is designed for straightforward direct mounting onto elevators, conveyors, hoppers, and day bins for effective point of use dust control. Alternatively, it can be used as an integral part of a larger dust control system to ensure full compliance with relevant health and safety regulations.

The DCE Spotair is capable of capturing any dust generated and returning it directly onto the process stream, while maintaining a slight negative pressure in the system. This eliminates wasteful and potentially harmful dust emissions and ensures the customer can effectively reclaim valuable material, improving production yield and efficiency.

The DCE Spotair can be fitted with a choice of filter media - DCE Dalamatic filter media or DCE Unicell spun-bonded polyester elements. Both have been proven in thousand of dust control applications across the world and ensure efficiency, continuous filter operation across a range of filter areas from 22 ft² to 108 ft².

A choice of five DCE Spotair units is available to suit air volumes from 200 ft²/m up to 560 ft²/m. Both horizontal and vertical mounting casing options can be supplied to suit customer requirements. All units incorporate a low noise 1HP fan set and are designed to operate within a wide temperature range of 14F to 140F and to a pressure of +/-8"WG Compact in size, the DCE Spotair is supplied fully assembled ensuring easy installation, even in confined industrial environments. Units are manufactured in stainless or mild steel.

For further information contact:
Ms. Gloria Gordon
DCE, Inc.
Minneapolis, MN
Telephone:  952-887-3991

Help Forum

People post their requests for help and offer their suggestions to others in our open forum.

Brian wants to detect lime flow:

We have a lime silo, that uses a some type of gravity fed feeder that moves the Lime into a 3 inch line where the lime is accelerated by a blower.

We want to detect lime flow in this accelerated line, but most detectors require a higher volume (lower speed) in order to detect.  Where might I Look?
(Click here to post a reply)

Thanks
Brian
solar@apk.net

Mr. Danilson needs a railcar unloader:

I am looking for a system that will allow one man to remove difficult products from a standard covered hopper railcar.

The equipment needs to be mounted above a railcar. It can be a backhoe or auger type equipment. It must be rugged and made for hard-to-handle products.
(Click here to post a reply)

John Danilson
Garvey International
jdanilson@garveyintl.com

These and other messages can be found in the Help Forum.
Share your expertise with others:
http://www.powderandbulk.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=general

Photos Wanted

This week's homepage photo is of the MARS, Metal Automated Removal System,  that automatically removes all types of tramp metal from bulk conveyors without stopping the belt.

Photo courtesy of Ms. Carolyn Mergens of Automated Foreign Object Removal Systems, Inc.

We would love to have your photo of a bulk materials process, packaging, conveying or handling "action shot" for our home page. If you have a favorite photograph of bulk materials handling at its best, please e-mail us a jpeg or gif of the photo with a description of what is in the photo for our home page.

Full credit and the description of the photo will be given.  Photographs are be changed every two weeks to give everyone a chance to be included.  Send your photograph and description to:
news@powderandbulk.com

Jobs

No new postings this week

The Job Fair is a free service of Powder and Bulk Dot Com.  You can post job opening for managers, engineers, sales, reps or other talented people you need. ...Or one can post their resume for companies who are looking to add talented people to their staff.

Do you have a position you need to fill, visit the Job Fair:
http://www.powderandbulk.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=jobs1

Subscribe

TO UNSUBSCRIBE:
Use the hyperlink provided at the bottom of this email

TO SPONSOR this newsletter, visit:
http://www.powderandbulk.com/pb_services/newsletter_ad.htm

TO READ past issues, visit our newsletter archive at:
http://www.powderandbulk.com/pb_services/newsletter/archive_toc.htm

Send This To
Your Friends

About Us

© 1999-2001 Powder and Bulk Dot Com
Home page:  http://www.powderandbulk.com/

Joseph Taylor, Editor
Powder and Bulk Dot Com Newsletter
3948 South Third Street, No. 121
Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250

Phone: 904-280-4656
Fax: 904-273-1399

Email:  jtaylor@powderandbulk.com

Powder and Bulk Dot Com's Newsletter is a 100% opt-in e-mail list of information for the materials handling professional.  We love your suggestions and comments.  Drop us a line at:
news@powderandbulk.com