The 11th annual World Batch Forum (WBF) North American Conference will be held May 16th – 19th, 2004 at the Marriott Lincolnshire Resort, Chicago, Illinois.

The WBF NA 2004 Conference will provide manufacturing management, control professionals, consultants, educators and other interested participants an update on the current state-of-the-art in manufacturing. Ample opportunity will be provided to network with national and international colleagues.

We invite your participation and encourage you to submit the abstract of a paper to be presented at the conference for consideration by the program committee. Deadline for submission of abstracts is October 31, 2003. Abstracts are limited to 200 words in length. A complete abstract guideline will be furnished to those expressing interest in participation.

Please indicate your interest to Dan Cain ( cain@wbf.org ) for an information packet, including pertinent deadlines. Please direct questions to Dennis Brandl ( DnBrandl@BRLConsulting.com ) or Dan Cain.

Some possible themes and sessions for the WBF NA 2004 Conference that you may want to consider include:

• Coordinate and Control Across Process Cells
• Batch After 10 Years; How is S88 Working After Implementation
• Interoperability of Control and Batch Systems
• Interoperability Of Business and Manufacturing Systems
• Security in Control Systems
• Project Execution Processes
• Front End Engineering
• Batch Phase Logic Detail Design

We seek presenters with new and creative ideas, reports on existing projects and implementations, research findings, or novel approaches for any aspect of batch, continuous, or discrete manufacturing. Presentations that include real-life implementations are especially encouraged.

We look forward to your response.

Source:  http://www.wbf.org/

Mississauga, Ontario -- Brabender Technologie released its new Pharmaceutical FlexWall Screw Feeder.  This unit feeds powders and granules at rates from 0.1 to 21 cu ft/hr.

Totally enclosed and totally sealed, polished 316SS contact and outside. AC motor and mechanics are enclosed and sealed in easy access 316SS housing. External surfaces are circular horizontal and conical with the Tri Clover hygienic fittings on process and external component connections.

The FlexWall "Mass Flow" geometry uses enclosed external paddle activation to fill the screw to a consistent bulk density. The control includes volumetric, loss in weight and loss in weight batching. The Mono Block, single digital filtered DigiMASS-2 scale is also sealed.

For over 40 years Brabender Technologie has supplied the chemical, plastic, food and pharmaceutical industries with volumetric and gravimetric feed systems. Their extensive range includes single screw and twin screw, belt and vibratory feeders which are available with continuous and batch controls. Brabender Technologie also manufacture and supply a range of bulk flow meters, bin activators and bulk bag dischargers.

For more information contact:
Ms. Glenda Ogley
Brabender Technologie Inc.
Telephone:  888-284-4574 toll-free or 905-670-2933

Valby, Denmark -- The privately owned Faraz Firouzkuh Cement Company (FFCC) has placed an order with F.L.Smidth A/S for machinery and equipment for a greenfield cement plant with a capacity of 3,300 tonnes cement clinker per day. The contract is worth EUR 23m, or just over DKK 170m.

The order from FFCC, a newly established Iranian- and European-owned cement business in Iran, follows in the wake of a EUR 70m, or DKK 520m, contract landed by F.L.Smidth from another Iranian company. Co-owned by Breitenburger Auslandbeteiligung GmbH, which is partly owned by Holcim, FFCC is among the first cement companies in Iran partly owned by foreign interests.

FFCC’s new cement facility will be set up near the city of Firouzkuh, 125 km east of the capital of Tehran. The machinery and equipment will be shipped during the next 15 months. The plant is scheduled to come on stream in the autumn of 2006.

The scope of the contract includes a complete pyroprocessing system consisting of preheater, kiln and cooler, a clinker conveying system and a cement mill with MAAG gearbox as well as a complete control system to be supplied by F.L.Smidth Automation, two electrostatic precipitators to be supplied by F.L.Smidth Airtech and a hammer crusher, circular storage and raw meal silos to be provided by F.L.Smidth Materials Handling. Also included in the contract is supervision of erection.

“We are happy to have won another contract in Iran despite fierce competition. It demonstrates the willingness and capability of this important market not only to upgrade and modernize existing cement plants but also to establish greenfield facilities. So we look forward to continue to serve the Iranian cement industry as we have done since the early 1930’s,” says CEO Frank Gad, F.L.Smidth.

Source:  http://www.flsindustries.com/

ROCK HILL, SC -- ISL Cone Valve Technology, a manufacturer of powder handling equipment, introduces a new cone valve upgrade solution that quickly replaces older cone valve technology in existing facilities.

Developed over the past twenty years, cone valve technology combines the bin activator principle with dosing and a fail-safe shut off valve. The valve is positioned at the bottom of a rigid Intermediate Bulk Container (IBC) and is actuated to promote product flow. These designs were complex and expensive. They can be difficult to clean and maintain due to the presence of the working mechanisms within the product. Typically, such systems can have upwards of 100 components, most of them immersed in the product, creating possible product contamination.

ISL's  new cone valve technology uses a self regulating lifting tube that is external to the process, eliminating any possibility of contamination. The upgrade unit is designed to fit other cone valves.

The dust tight seal on the discharge station isolates the operator and environment from process contamination and is maintained during the IBC loading or unloading. This dust tight seal remains, even during rough transit of the IBC and guarantees total containment. Compared to older technology, ISL's Cone Valve Upgrade is very easy to clean and requires very little maintenance. Since the unit consists of only six parts, maintenance personnel can strip and clean the whole assembly in a fraction of the time versus older technology.

About ISL Cone Valve

ISL Cone Valve is an international manufacturer of powder handling equipment with offices in North America, Europe and Asia. The company, founded by Ivan Semenenko, manufactures a variety of Cone Valve equipment and accompanying products such as discharge frames, hopper stations and flow aids.

For more information contact
ISL Cone Valve North America
Telephone:  803.324.7715
Web site:  http://www.conevalve.com/

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

Mr. O'Guin needs help with coal belt trippers:

I have two 750 ton per hour Robbins belt trippers that are 1949 vintage, It is now time to replace them. Do you have any suggestions as to what may be the new and better way to get coal from a 42" wide belt 900 ft long serving 10 coal fired units, flat belt ,have two belts side by side and the trippers are a constant problem.  Any ideas?
(Click here to post a reply)

Thanks,
Philip W O'Guin
pdoguin@earthlink.net
Fuel handling coordinator
Tenn Valley Authority

Tanshm needs help pneumatic conveying:

Currently what sorts of technologies are using to detect the blockage in a pipeline during pneumatic conveying?

Could we just measure the pressure from a serial of points, say P1,P2,P3,P4,P5, then draw a conclusion that the blockage occurs between P3 and P4 since the pressure P1=P2=P3, while P4=P5 (P3 not equal to P4)?
(Click here to post a reply)

Thanks for your time,
Tanshm
tanshm@sina.com

Click here to share your expertise with others in our Help Forum.

For Sale - Best Offer:  Nisshin Turbo Classifier

Model TC-60- II, for classification of fine atomized aluminum powder and other powders allowing fine cuts below 10 micron.

The Turbo Classifier comes with complete system - dust collector, cyclone, screw feeder, air/gas flow controllers. It has a capacity 1,000 kg per hour and was built in 1992. 

Do you have new, used or refurbished equipment for sale?
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© 1999-2003 Powder and Bulk Dot Com
Home page:  http://www.powderandbulk.com/

Joseph Taylor, Editor
Powder and Bulk Dot Com Newsletter
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Phone: 904-280-4656
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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.  Do you have company news, a new product, new service or other information you would like to share with our subscribers?  Please submit articles via e-mail, only to: news@powderandbulk.com

The World Batch Forum is getting ready for their upcoming meeting in May, I'm sure they would love to hear about your contributions to the industry!

Ask Joe! Column:  We need an interesting, guest article for this month's Ask Joe Column.  Email me if you would like to contribute, publish-or-perish!

Our goal is to provide information to improve your business by using the resources available on the Internet.

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Dust Explosions in the
Process Industries
by Rolf K. Eckhoff
Paperback, 643 pages, January 1997

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Perry's Chemical Engineers' Platinum Edition
by Robert Perry, et al
Hardcover, 3000 pages, Bk&cdr

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Statics and Kinematics of
Granular Materials
by R.M. Nedderman
Hardcover, December 1992

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Find more books for the materials handling professional online, visit our Reading Room.

Frequently Asked Questions on Feeder Performance
Guest article by John Winski
Director of Sales, K-Tron Americas

Past Ask Joe! Archived Articles

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This week's homepage photo is of the Thayer Scale weigh belt feeder - insertion weigh belt module. This unique feeder has been designed to easily fit into an existing belt or vibratory conveyor line.

Photo courtesy of Thayer Scale

Send us your photos:  We would love to have your photo of a bulk materials process, packaging, conveying or handling "action shot" for our home page.  Send your photograph and description to: news@powderandbulk.com