Background
The customer makes products and chemicals for advanced materials. The manufacturing process involves several steps, one of which is transferring Taconic acid into a reactor. The customer previously hoisted a supersack of product 6 metres (20 feet) above ground level to the reactor inlet and an operator stood near and underneath to open the bag and meter product to fill the reactors. This was a time-consuming, dusty, and dangerous operation in respect to safety and ergonomics for the operator as well as people below.
Solution
Customer's request is for a basic up-and-in system to take the powders/granules from a bulk bag and convey up to a Piab vacuum conveyor with a diverter valve below that distributes the materials into the reactors. Pick-up via a Piab feed adapter from a bulk bag unloader. The new system incorporates a floor level bulk bag unloader, diverter valves, and a Piab vacuum conveyor piFLOW®p and feed adapter to transfer the product from ground level to the reactors without putting the operators' health and safety at risk.
Result
The customer made their decision to choose Piab based on positive experiences previously and other qualitative criteria. Piab's dust-tight design reduced product loss to atmosphere providing for a cleaner, safer work environment and less product waste. The feed adapter allowed the customer to draw product directly from the bulk bag unloader thus reducing labour, contributing to a safer work environment along with happy operators. Piab's pneumatic driven vacuum conveyor with minimal moving parts and maintenance provides less downtime as well high reliability. They put a lot of emphasis on improving safety by automating the process (adding Piab conveyor).
