August 2024

Feeding and Conveying of Ingredients to Continuous Mixers for Food Applications

Application Notes & Case Studies /

In order to produce consistent blend uniformity in short residence times, the use of high accuracy Coperion K-Tron loss-in-weigh feeders is imperative. In addition, the use of Coperion K-Tron pneumatic receivers as refill devices ensure quick and efficient refill cycles to maximize process quality. Typical applications for the continuous mixing process include but are not limited to the following: Infant Formulas, Powdered Drink Mixes and Bases, Nutritional Protein Blends, Soup Mixes, Bakery Mixes & Pet Food Mixes.

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Bulk Bag Filling System for Corn Starch

Application Notes & Case Studies /

Dual bulk bag filling system in which the customer needed a high speed, reliable, accurate, bulk bag filling system for food grade starch. This system was designed as a complete filling line consisting of pallet dispensers, bulk bag filling equipment, and powered accumulation conveyors. In addition, surge bins were provided above the filling systems for starch storage and process flow. Complete electrical control integration was included within the scope of the project.

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Liquid Reclaim System for Off-Spec Milk Jugs

Application Notes & Case Studies /

Liquid reclaim system designed to reclaim dairy products from the container. Off-spec packages from the filling lines normally designated for landfill now can be reprocessed through the reclaim system. Sanitary design with CIP features allows the dairy products to be separated from the containers for reuse. This effectively allows the recovery of products for reuse and eliminates disposal and landfill costs.

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System Flow Diagrams – Fine Sugar and Corn Syrup, Corn Starch, Corn Meal, Granular Salt, Granulated Sugar, Whole Pasta and Regrind Pasta, Oat Flour, Rice & Grits

Application Notes & Case Studies /

Coperion K-Tron example flow diagrams for various food applications including the handling of Fine Sugar and Corn Syrup, Corn Starch, Corn Meal, Granular Salt, Granulated Sugar, Whole Pasta and Regrind Pasta, Oat Flour, Rice & Grits

System Flow Diagrams – Fine Sugar and Corn Syrup, Corn Starch, Corn Meal, Granular Salt, Granulated Sugar, Whole Pasta and Regrind Pasta, Oat Flour, Rice & Grits Read More »

Portable, Height-Adjustable Flexible Screw Conveyor System for Plastic Pellets

Application Notes & Case Studies /

This customer required a solution to quickly transfer a high volume of plastic pellets from supersacks to rail cars. The system needed to be portable to fill the various inlets of the rail car and needed to be easily moved across rough, varying terrain. The system also needed to be adjustable to reach the height of the railcar but lowered in order to be brought indoors for storage when not in use. The system included an integral operator platform/base that also serves as a counter weight to the discharge head of the conveyor. This base incorporated fork pockets and large 12” pneumatic rubber swivel casters for easy movement. An 8” air cylinder controls the adjustment of the position of the discharge head. An integral operator panel with VFD controls the operation of the screw conveyor.

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Product Saver Automated ADCA (Azodicarbonamide) Bag Opening System

Application Notes & Case Studies /

A large plastics compounder needed an automated bag opener for one of their additives for making automobile parts. The product being run on the bag opener is difficult to handle manually and is very dusty causing housekeeping issues within the plant. Customer needed automation that would eliminate the operator performing the bag opening process, and a sealed system that would contain dust and emissions. In addition, NBE had to customize the design allowing the system to fit into a designated area with numerous dimensional constraints. Sealed bags are placed on an infeed conveyor belt and conveyed to the bag opening system. From this point forward the process is completely automated. Bags are opened precisely by the cutting head, product separated and screened by the rotary drum, allowing the product to be conveyed to the process and the empty bags compacted within a screw compactor. Flexible screw conveyors were utilized to convey the product from the bag opener. The screw conveyors were also designed for total product containment and overall product metering to the process. System controls were also provided with this project.

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Portable Lift and Seal Drum Discharger for Polymer Prills

Application Notes & Case Studies /

Customer receives drums of prills from a raw ingredient supplier that need to be dumped into a liquid mix tank through an 18” manway that is 42” off the ground. After a series of tests at our IC and visits to the customer facility, NBE provided a custom portable Lift & Seal system. Features of the system include fork pockets for portability, roller gate, four (4) thumpers on the drum carriage to aid the flow of material, and an upgraded hydraulic system that will enable the equipment to cycle a minimum of 17 (max of 20) drums per hour, continuously for up to a total of 160 drums per batch.

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Portable Vertical Mixer for Plastic Regrind and Plastic Pellets

Application Notes & Case Studies /

This 65.5 ft3 Whirlwind mixer is designed with casters and fork pockets to be portable. The customer has multiple processing locations that does not allow for permanent equipment. The portable design provides flexibility when loading, mixing and unloading at a specific processing station. The mixer has two discharge methods, a 3” vacuum probe connection and a 6” Gaylord drain tube with manual slide gate. The equipment does not need air and the customer provided the power cord for connection to the control panel.

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Box Filling System for Plastic Pellets

Application Notes & Case Studies /

The customer came to NBE in need of a more automated gaylord box filling line for plastic pellets. Plastic pellets were being stored in a remote larger hopper and needed to be pneumatically conveyed over to a surge hopper that would then feed a box filling line. NBE provided a surge hopper on the filling line with a pneumatic pipe connection for the convey line. Plastic pellets were then blown into this surge hopper from the remote hopper. A dust vent cartridge filter was provided for displaced air from the surge bin. A flexible screw conveyor was provided to meter the plastic pellets from the surge hopper to the box filling line. The box filling system consisted of load cells and densification. Boxes are filled to a preset weight with complete bulk/dribble functionality. When the boxes hit the target weight the auger would shut down, densification would level the product in the box, and boxes would index out from the filling station to a set of gravity accumulation conveyors. Two (2) powered infeed conveyors were provided so that boxes on pallets could be staged for filling. Indexing of the boxes was built into the NBE supplied PLC program. This complete system was engineered, manufactured, and commissioned by NBE to the customer as part of the overall project.

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Modular Bulk Bag Unloader Forklift Frame for Ceramic Powders

Application Notes & Case Studies /

The customer needed to discharge and screen ceramic powder from supersacks and fill back into supersacks or surge bins. This bulk bag discharger includes a removable upper frame with bag hanger, bag support pan, and forklift pockets. This allows to a minimum load height for operator safety and provides additional loading provisions when working with ceiling height restrictions.

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