Hurricane for food and pharmaceuticals
K-Tron Hurricane P-Series vacuum receivers are designed to convey powders and fragile materials. Meeting the rigid sanitary requirements of the food and pharmaceutical industries, the models comply with the 3-A sanitary standards for pneumatic conveyors (Standard 39-00) and are constructed of 316 grade stainless steel with a bead blast, satin or mirror polished finish.
   All units feature reverse jet filters and include tri-clover quick release fittings, food grade gaskets and an automatic filter cleaning system. The PTFE membrane polyester cartridge filter utilises automatic reverse jet pulsing and the band clamp design allows quick disassembly for cleaning. Steep cone angles ensure efficient discharge.
   The series offers both dilute and dense phase vacuum conveying capabilities. Typical food and pharmaceutical applications include: fragile product handling; direct or indirect blending loading; loss-in-weight feeder refill; tablet conveying and tablet press loading; air swept sieves; batch transfer; and combination feeder/receiver units for gain-in-weight batching.
   The three models in the range include: P10 conveying up to 600 kg per hr; P30 conveying up to 1800 kg per hr; and P100 for up to 4000 kg per hr. Units can be used for simple ‘up and in’ systems or engineered for larger, centralised continuous conveying systems.
www.ktron.com

Simultaneous conveying and weighing
In addition to its proven range of weighing and pneumatic conveying systems, Chronos Richardson has introduced a new version of its compact CLEAN-FEED system for simultaneous vacuum conveying and weighing of mixer batches for specialised minor chemical additives, admixtures and pre-mix powders.
  The CLEAN-FEED vacuum scale is mounted directly above the mixer, providing improved batch-weighing accuracy, data recording and reliability. In the case of specialist plaster and mortar producers it has enhanced product quality.
   Intake stations are mounted at ground floor level close to the mixer area, each ingredient entering the vacuum conveying system directly via dust-controlled sack tip, IBC or big bag discharge station, ensuring a clean operating environment. Operational efficiencies and safety are therefore enhanced by eliminating laborious handling routines in getting raw materials to the top of a blending plant.
   The company says that new plant costs can be significantly reduced by eliminating the need for intermediate storage and reducing overall height of the mixing room. CLEAN-FEED’s modular design means that it can also be easily retrofitted into existing blending plants. System control can be by any existing or current Chronos Richardson control system.
www.chronosrichardson.com

Flexicon expand test facility
Continued growth has encouraged bulk solids handling specialist Flexicon (Europe) Ltd to upgrade their test laboratory. The new expanded facility is equipped with full scale bulk handling systems and equipment that can be readily reconfigured to suit customers’ own installations and materials for verifying both component and system performance prior to final design and fabrication.
   The pneumatic bulk handling systems test lab has blowers, vacuum pumps, filter receivers, cyclone separators, inlet/discharge adapters and valves, as well as conveyor lines in a wide range of diameters and lengths. For mechanical bulk handling systems, the facility has flexible screw conveyors in a range of diameters, lengths and screw configurations. Both labs are also equipped with bulk bag dischargers, bulk bag fillers, manual dumping stations, automated weigh batching systems and other equipment designed to interface with conveying systems. The labs will also be used to study the performance of new designs.
   Side-by-side installation of mechanical and pneumatic conveyor test equipment is designed to allow the relative merits of each system to be compared in terms of conveying over long and short distances, moving difficult materials, preventing the separation of blends and meeting other application-specific requirements.
   Customers can also utilise their own IBCs and materials to evaluate the capabilities of Flexicon bulk bag dischargers in promoting complete discharge and providing dust-free loading, untying, retying and removal of bulk bags. Similarly, the facility also allows the performance of weighing systems, bulk bag fillers, bag dump stations, drum dumpers and a range of other pneumatic and mechanical process equipment and integrated systems to be demonstrated before and after manufacture.
www.flexicon.com