The system was designed to automatically open and separate various types of sugar from 1 – 50 pound bags. A Rigid screw conveyor would convey the sugars into a bulk bag filler to fill supersacks by weight. The system included a dust collection system with various dust pick-up locations for a dust tight design.
The manufacture of baked snack foods generally requires various ingredients to be transferred to mixing and extrusion processes. Depending on the percentage of each ingredient in the blend, materials are usually categorized as majors, minors and micros. In many cases, the transfer and weighing of these majors, minors, and micros can be a manual and tedious process. When increased production demand and lack of overall process efficiency caused a manufacturer of baked snack foods to switch from a manual to a more automated process, they approached the Coperion K-Tron Process Group for help.
Major Ingredient Transfer and Weighing for Snack Food Processing Read More »
The customer needed an efficient way to discharge granulated sugar from bulk bags. Features for the bulk bag discharger were chosen based on overhead height restrictions and product characteristics. NBE’s low-profile frame design and low-profile bag hanger were needed to provide the necessary clearances. On occasion, the customer needed to break up larger chunks of sugar that were evident in some of the bags received from suppliers. NBE added a pinch valve to prevent these chunks from lodging in the spout and a crumbler to break down the hard chunks for proper conveyance with the take away flexible screw conveyor. The flexible screw conveyor provided a means of transport for the sugar to the customer’s existing process. A dust collector was provided for an integral system and complete controls were to run the system. Other aspects of this project included Class II, Div. 2, Group G controls, washdown capabilities, and food-grade construction.
Stainless Steel Bulk Bag Discharger and Flexible Screw Conveyor for Granulated Sugar Read More »
Watch as our Kason Vibroscreen, equipped with a Kleen Screen Anti-Blinding Device, scalps and de-dusts sugar. The 12 mesh top screen and a 50 mesh bottom screen contain a set of our Kleen Screen Rings which move continuously and, because they are hollow, promote product flow over the entire screen surface, maximizing screening efficiency.
An important customer is constructing a new facility to keep up with increased demand of their specialty salt products. The goal is to increase the plant’s production capacity through increased automation, efficiency, and technology improvements. One of the key items in their process is a new bulk packaging line that will provide them with flexibility to handle a wide range of product grades as well as providing flexibility to handle a variety of bag sizes. The system needs to be easily adaptable through recipe driven automation and must be designed to operate in a production environment that is both fast paced and demanding in terms of the environment. The system features an empty pallet dispenser, slip sheet dispenser, powered roller conveyors, gravity drop metal detector, and a cantilevered filler with a wide range of ergonomic and automation features. The system features epoxy painted construction along with bellows to protect exposed cylinder rods in the demanding environment. A heat sealer at the end of the line is used to seal off the finished, lined, bags.
Dry Bulk Filling System for Specialty Salt and Flour Blends Read More »
KWS replaced the existing screw feeder with a 6-inch diameter variable pitch screw feeder. The variable pitch design provides a controlled feed of dextrose to the slurry. The flights of the screw were continuously welded on both sides of the center pipe for extra strength and durability. The inclined screw feeder utilized a split tubular housing to contain the free-flowing dextrose and provide the most efficient design. A purgeable shaft seal was used on the tail end to prevent leakage of dextrose. KWS selected an integral-motor Dodge Quantis drive due to space constraints and to provide lower energy consumption.
The screw feeder design included a KWS torque arm trough end to permit the drive unit to “float” on the drive shaft, eliminating any overhung load and stress on the rigidly welded screw. A pillow block roller bearing is located on the drive end to support the screw and function as a thrust bearing.
Metering Dextrose from Super-Sacks with Screw Conveyor Read More »
KWS engineered and manufactured a 304 stainless steel screw feeder free of pits and crevices. All internal bolted connections were eliminated, and internal surfaces and welds were cleaned, ground flush, and polished to a 150-grit finish bolstering the sanitary design requirements.
The screw feeder design included a KWS torque arm trough end to permit the drive unit to “float” on the drive shaft, eliminating any overhung load and stress on the rigidly welded screw. A pillow block roller bearing is located on the drive end to support the screw and function as a thrust bearing.
Food-Grade Screw Feeder for Metering Oat Flour Read More »
Customer that manufactures bakery mixes needed a high-speed batching system for their mixers. Most of their ingredients for their batches are supplied in 50 lb. bags. They wanted to streamline the bag opening process for their blends and be able to store batches in bulk bags so that these would be available to discharge into the mixers when needed. This would avoid having the bag opening process being the bottleneck to their production of bakery mixes. National Bulk Equipment supplied a high-speed sanitary bag opening system operating at a rate of 12 bags/minute to meet the production needs of the customer. Bags were conveyed to the bag opening system by a series of conveyors and a bag elevator. The bag opening system automatically opened and separated out the ingredients from the bags. A series of screens were integrated within the bag opening process to achieve product quality. A bulk bag filling system was provided underneath the discharge of the bag opener. Ingredients discharged into a bulk bag and the empty bags were sent to a compaction unit. These fully batched bulk bags could now be stored and used as needed in their process.
Customer required (2) Bulk Bag Dischargers to unload sugar and whole wheat at their Brazilian processing plant. The unloading rate requirement for the dischargers was a very low frequency rate of approx. (1) bag per hour and the materials were fairly free flowing. For this reason, the NBE Untie Box with Iris Valve and Discharge Transition was selected as the most economical solution. The equipment needed to meet ATEX Zone 22 classification within a 1.5 meter (60”) range of the bag spouting dust escape zone. The height of the upper frame permits the hoist to be located outside of the Zone 22 area which allows for the use of a general-purpose hoist.
Bulk Bag Discharger for Granular Sugar & Whole Wheat Flour Read More »
KWS fabricated a 50-cubic foot surge hopper to act as a buffer between the mixer and bagging fill hopper. The stainless-steel surge hopper featured a fully TIG welded interior without pits or crevices and a bolted cover for ease of access during cleaning. The cover included a hinged inspection port with mesh safety screen for visual in-process inspections. The sidewall of the hopper is fitted with a heavy-duty vibrator mounting pad to aid in the flow of the bakery mix to the bagging system.
Hopper with Inclined Screw Feeder for Metering Bakery Mix Read More »