Processing, Dec 2012

8 2012 Breakthrough Products Alternative to ball decks keeps fine mesh screens clear Did you know that the perennially popular way to reduce screen mesh blinding involves putting a set of rubber balls supported by a coarser mesh under a fine mesh screen The balls vibrate against the fine mesh screens underside tending to dislodge materials from the openings This works for a screen that is coarser than 30 or 40 mesh but the high impact tends to stretch the wire In April Cleveland Vibrator Co of Cleveland Ohio introduced a better method The Turbomite Deblinding System uses a high frequency mini turbine air operated vibrator that attaches directly to the screen surface to agitate the wire mesh Running at nearly 20000 rpm the high frequency vibration emanating from the center mounted Turbomite agitates the wire mesh of the screen frame keeping materials from lodging in the screen openings In wet applications such as clay or ceramic slurries and in dry including fine powders or ill shaped materials the Turbomite reduces blinding preventing premature screen failure and increasing production It can also be applied to nonmetallic screens such as nylon or polyester Common applications include increasing production rates on materials such as ceramics or clays Turbomite Deblinding System improving screen life on dry bulk screening such as metal powders or chemicals and dislodging non uniform particulates such as abrasives or pellets from screen openings At 20000 vibrations per minute frequency the pneumatic vibrator imparts high energy to the screen without impacting or damaging it Cleveland Vibrator Co www clevelandvibrator com Write In 504 Avoiding accidents at shredder lines end Introduced at ISRI 2012 in April Erie Pa based Eriez PokerSort alleviates issues associated with the long rod like pieces typically over 24 inches in length that can damage downstream equipment in automobile and other metal scrap operations Pokers as their name implies often poke through conveyor belts causing jams and bridging conditions that can shut down an entire facility says Brian Vrablic Eriez sales engineer Even a few minutes of downtime can cost thousands of dollars in saleable product Eriez says its a world authority in advanced technology for magnetic vibratory and inspection applications and PokerSort has been awarded the 2012 Breakthrough Product award Using a special magnetic drum at the end of a shredder discharge belt Poker Sort separates pokers as they catapult of the end of the belt with a diferent trajectory than the rest of the shredded material or frag Pokers in the frag stream is an age old and extremely common problem in the recycling industry says Mike Shattuck Eriez heavy industry project manager We listened to our customers studied the situation and set out to develop a solution Eriez Manufacturing Co www eriez com Write In 505 Integrates advantages of visual and thermal images The FLIR T440 thermal imager was unveiled in April Its maker Portland Ore based FLIR Systems says this high performance infrared camera with its dramatically more vivid thermal images represents a transformative leap in the imaging capabilities that help processing plant professionals find and capture problems As is well known infrared energy is not visible to the human eye but rather is part of the electromagnetic spectrum we perceive as heat Yet everything with a temperature above absolute zero emits heat and even ice cubes emit infrared energy Thermography is the use of imaging to see or measure thermal energy emitted from an object Nearly everything gets hot before it fails making infrared cameras extremely cost efective valuable diagnostic tools in many diverse applications And as industry strives to improve manufacturing eficiencies manage energy improve product quality and enhance worker safety new applications for infrared cameras continually emerge In addition to superior infrared imaging capabilities the T440 features MSX multi spectral dynamic imaging which adds the detail of real time visible spectrum images captured by the digital camera to thermal spectrum images for extraordinary sharpness contrast and clarity previously unseen in thermal imaging the company says MSX can make a diference T Series Infrared Camera FLIR says inspecting electrical mechanical conveyance steam process heating refrigeration cooling compressed air hydraulics transportation and other type systems FLIR Systems www flir com Write In 507 December 2012 www ProcessingMagazine com Load and unload bulk bags without need for forklift One thing immediately impressive about Bethlehem Pa based Flexicon Corp s website is the sheer breadth of process and industry case use examples found therein But maybe in other ways its not so surprising The company says its a maker of bulk handling equipment systems that transport discharge fill weigh blend deliver or feed all kinds of powder and bulk solids and there is a lot of that going around The Breakthrough Product award winning BLOCK BUSTER Bulk Bag Conditioner loosens bulk solid materials that have solidified during storage and shipment enabling bulk bag unloaders to discharge the material through bag spouts A hydraulically actuated variable height turntable allows automated in frame bag rotation and conditioning of bulk bags at varying heights Two hydraulic rams with specially contoured end plates press opposing sides and corners of bulk bags The number and pressure of hydraulic ram actuations the height of the turntable and the degree of rotation are userprogrammable The conditioner is recommended for bulk bags containing hygroscopic chemicals certain spice blends heat sensitive products and other materials prone to solidifying to the point at which pneumatically actuated flow promotion accessories integral to bulk bag dischargers are ineficient or completely inefective Flexicon Corp www flexicon com Write In 506 PokerSort BLOCK BUSTER Bulk Bag Conditioner