When considering the use of a silo discharge system to help convey materials, it is crucial to assess the specific requirements of the materials being stored, the operational goals and the overall system compatibility.
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The strong growth of the pet food industry in recent years, which is expected to continue in the foreseeable future, has accelerated investments in the production sites of many companies that sell dog and cat food in highly competitive markets.
The Challenge
In 2022, a Missouri, pet food production site asked a global supplier of manufacturing technology and services to design and install a system that would help optimize the efficiency and safety of its material handling processes.
The Solution
A Vibra Screw Model 2-VHD bulk bag unloader with a system of massage paddles, pneumatic bellows, and vibration was specified. Since its installation, the system has achieved its performance goals and helped the site optimize the efficiency and safety of its pet food materials production operations. Previously, three people were required to manually unload each of six bulk bags a day. Now, with the Vibra Screw bulk bag unloader, only a single operator is required for the same daily volume. Although materials typically flow well into the bulk bag unloader most of the year, Mounted on a heavy-duty steel frame good for capacities up to 4,000 pounds, Vibra Screw bulk bag unloaders make handling of bulk bags and totes practical by providing an easy and safe method to lift, support and discharge materials. The secure connection between the bulk bag unloader and portable bins eliminates dust and spillage associated with other methods of bulk bag handling, and permits controlled, regulated discharge to a variety of feed devices and weight control options.
Unique features of Vibra Screw bulk bag unloaders include a bulk bag support hopper that is designed to seat and seal the bulk bag before it is opened. An operator is not required to reach beneath a suspended bulk bag to open the outlet. In addition to a two-point dust collection system, the Vibra Screw bulk bag unloaders also feature a no-spill design unlike other open frame, paddle support systems.
Also unique to the Vibra Screw bulk bag unloader is a choice off either vibrating discharge system incorporating the same design principles as state-art-of-the-art Vibra Screw Bin Activators, or Bulk Bag Massaging paddles (bar type) pneumatically operated, using two air cylinders. It provides a means to condition the bag to enhance material flow out of the bag. Air operated , air set, filter regulator, solenoid valves operated by two timers for on/off operation thereby assuring complete discharging of materials without the need for repositioning or adjusting bulk bags.
The Result
Operators at the pet food production site in Missouri are pleased with the investment made by the company in a material handling system that helps optimize efficiency and safety. It’s an investment that can contribute to their growth in expanding and competitive pet food markets for years to come.
Forth Worth upgrades feed, mix systems for hydrated lime
New feed and mix systems ensure consistent flow of hydrated lime at Fort Worth water treatment plants.In less than 150 years, Fort Worth has grown from a population of approximately 500 to nearly 1 million. To serve people in its North Central Texas metropolitan area, the city of Fort Worth has a total treatment capacity of 497 million gallons per day for drinking water and 166 million gallons per day for wastewater.
The city of Fort Worth carries the designation of Superior Public Water System by meeting the requirements of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. This designation recognizes not only the quality of Fort Worth’s drinking water, which meets U.S. EPA requirements, but the city’s exceedance of minimum standards related to treatment, pumping and storage capacity. This helps enable the area’s quality of life and protects human health and the environment.
The challenge
Maintaining such a large and high-quality water system in Fort Worth requires constant monitoring and upkeep of its physical facilities, appearance, and operation, which are regularly inspected and evaluated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
With more than 3,336 miles of pipe in the water distribution system and 3,266 miles in the collection system, plus tons of machinery to enable the systems’ around the clock operations, maintenance is a never-ending challenge. But it is a challenge that Forth Worth meets successfully and continually.
Among the requirements at Fort Worth’s Rolling Hills water treatment plant, one of three operated by the city of Fort Worth, is the feeding of a steady and regulated quantity of lime into the water supply.
With the potential to affect downstream aspects of the water treatment system, lime feeding is the kind of operation that gets noticed if it goes awry. It is important, therefore, that volumetric feeders used in the Rolling Hills plant function smoothly and dependably, without interrupting the mixing of lime and its downstream flow required for consistent pH control.
The solution
In 2020, Fort Worth’s Rolling Hillswater treatment plant installed new equipment for its lime feeding system to replace an existing feeder.
The newly-installed equipment was a Vibra Screw system that consisted of a VersiFeeder volumetric screw feeder with a mix tank, mixer and plumbing connections to replace another brand of feeder.
The skid-mounted Vibra Screw system provided the performance and dependability needed to ensure a consistent flow of hydrated lime downstream. So, in 2022, the Rolling Hills plant installed a second Vibra Screw system to replace another existing feeder. This system featured a VersiFeeder volumetric screw feeder, mix tank, mixer, and plumbing connections. Later that same year, the plant purchased a third feed and mix system from Vibra Screw.
Lime from a silo in the Rolling Hills water treatment plant is fed into the 1.5 cubic feet feed hopper of the Vibra Screw VersiFeeder. The integrated trough vibrator in the VersiFeeder system conditions the lime to a constant bulk density and assures a highly accurate flow — plus/minus 2% — into the system’s 150-gallon polyethylene mix tank. Mixing inside the tank is accomplished with a 3.3-inch impeller driven by a 1/2-horsepower motor. An AC controller supplied by Vibra Screw with a variable frequency motor assures smooth operation of the system.
These feed and mix systems provide Fort Worth the convenience of an engineered, preassembled, skid-mounted package — but the systems are also providing additional advantages at Rolling Hills. Because of the consistency of their day-in-day-out operation, the lime feed rate of the system was lowered with ease.
In fact, the plant reduced the augur size of the third VersiFeeder screw feeder from 4 inches to 3 inches in diameter because of their performance levels. The corrosion resistant paint of the units also withstands washing with muriatic acid several times per week.
“The Vibra Screw units are built well and have many excellent features,” said Plant Manager Joseph Tolson. “I would recommend the VersiFeeder units for use in lime mixing systems as well as other applications.”
Posted on April 3, 2023
Vibra Screw Expands Sanitary Weigh Belt Feeder Line
New weigh belt offers a versatile design…
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New Vibra Screw Press Release in BULK INSIDE
Vibra Screw Heavy Duty Screw Feeders are extremely versatile. One unit can precisely meter many different materials with little or no adjustment. When necessary, adjustments can be made quickly and easily. Screws and tubes can also be changed on some models for a wider range of feed rates.
All feeders are fabricated of high strength steel and contain only a few moving components. They are built to operate continuously with only a minimum of maintenance.
Unique Operation
Because maximum feed accuracy is dependent upon positive material flow from storage, we designed these Heavy-Duty Screw Feeders for use beneath bulk storage hoppers. Hoppers that pack or bridge should be equipped with a Vibra Screw Bin Activator to ensure consistent material flow to the feeder.
In operation, the feeder trough, screw and tube are subjected to continuous controlled vibration. This permits the material to move gently from the upper section of the trough to the feed screw without bridging, packing or flooding. Vibration further conditions the material to a constant bulk density and ensures that each flight or pitch of the screw is filled to its maximum in the filling area and completely emptied at the discharge end. The positive displacement of material is further ensured through the use of a rotating solid flight screw.
Rugged construction to operate 24 hours a day, Vibra Screw’s line of volumetric Heavy Duty Feeders will meter even the most difficult materials in an extremely reliable manner.
A patented controlled vibration principle ensures exceptional accuracy of ± 1%, minute-to-minute. A wide variety of products, from long fibers to micron-sized particles, and materials with bulk densities ranging from 2 to 200 lb/ft3 can be successfully handled with precision.
Available is screw sizes from 2” to 16” with feed rates from 2.3 to 9,800 ft3/hr.
As with all Vibra Screw equipment, the Heavy-Duty Screw Feeder is unconditionally guaranteed to perform in the service for which it is sold. With a staff of experienced and talented engineers, technicians and crafts people, Vibra Screw manufacturers high quality equipment to store, discharge, meter, convey, size and blend solid materials. The company’s comprehensive product range includes Bin Dischargers, Bulk Bag Unloaders and Fillers, Volumetric and Gravimetric continuous and batch feeders, Vibration Conveyors, Vibrating Screeners, Blenders, Process Controls and Turnkey systems.
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Every Vibra Screw product gets a serial number tag before shipping. Most importantly each piece of equipment gets another tag printed on the original equipment proposal sent to our customer. This tag is our PERFORMANCE GUARANTEE that covers the life of the equipment. No other industry source stands behind its products with the confidence and assurance of Vibra Screw, because no other company engineers and manufactures to our uncompromising standards.
What’s getting ready to ship.
Vibra Screw custom Loss-In-Weight Batching system consisting of a Bulk Bag Unloader and two batch feeders. The customer manufactures EV batteries and needed a way to accurately batch one of their main battery ingredients. Material comes in bulk bags, is transferred from the bags to the weigh feeders via pneumatic conveying system, and than into the LIW gravimetric batch feeders where the material is fed into “V” blenders with minor ingredients.
During a recent conversation with one of our Massachusetts customers who was looking to add several new Vibra Screw feeders to their production line, they also inquired about parts for an old Vibra Screw bin.
They sent photos of the bin and it turned out it was one of several Live Bins that were manufactured in Vibra Screws original Clifton, NJ building in 1958. The bins have been used for 63 years and we were able to provide necessary replacement parts (special vibration isolators). These bins are still using the old style gyrator (single shaft motor driving eccentric weights) without replacing parts. Built to Last, nice return on their investment.
This equipment is getting ready to ship after final testing and inspection. The customer is a custom seed coater and blender, and this is their third order from Vibra Screw in two years having purchased 8 large continuous Loss-In-Wight Feeders and two continuous blenders. This new order comprised of 3 Loss-In-Weight Feeders and two different size Vibra Blenders.
OMYA lnc., Florence, Vermont Major manufacturer of calcium carbonate used mainly in the plactics, paint, and paper industries as a filler, extender and coating.
The Verpol plant of OMYA Inc. is the, most modern plant of its kind in the world. It processes
both crushed and finely ground calcium carbonate through its completely computerized operation.
Bulk densities of the materials range from 25 to 70 Ibs. per cu. ft. To meet process and excess
storage requirements, the company has 27 bins ranging from 8 ft. to 26 ft. in diameter, of both concrete and steel construction. The bins are filled either pneumatically or by belt conveyor. Some of the bins are discharged through rotary valves to belt feeders or pan feeders, and some to bagging machines filling 50 lb. bags. Discharge rate varies from 4 tons per hour up to 40, depending on the stage of the process. However, calcium carbonate, especially the finely ground product, can be difficult to discharge from storage because it tends to bridge and clog.
27 Vibra Screw Bin Activators of 3 different diameters (4 ft., 6 ft., and -12 ft.), carbon steel construction, most of which have an epoxy coated interior.
To assure reliable flow of material in its computerized operation, where such reliability is critical, the company decided to install Vibra Screw Bin Activators under all its storage bins. This was possible because the Bin Activators work equally well on both concrete and steel bins. Flexibly mounted to the bottom of the bin, the Bin Activator, but not the bin, is subjected to controlled vibration. An integral baffle located just above the discharge outlet directs vibrations high up into the bin, keeping the material free flowing. An important factor in the handling of calcium carbonate, this action rids the material of entrained air, conditioning it to a uniform bulk density, which helps speed conveying and bagging operations.
OMYA Inc. relies on its Bin Activators to help it produce an uninterrupted flow of high quality product In the words of a company official, “It would be difficult to operate the plant without our Bin Activators.”
