Archive: Mar 2022

Improving Material Flow of Stored Materials in a Warehouse or Production Facility

Some powders and bulk solids can be more difficult to manage after storage or time at rest. The material tends to clump, agglomerate, or cake on the sides of the storage bin or vessel. The problems can be aggravated by plant conditions, and create problems during the production and packaging of the final product.

AirSweep can address some of the common material flow problems in a warehouse or production facility.

Compression

Powders can cake or clump when they are stored or packaged. Compressive forces release the air trapped between particles, and cause the material to settle and become more compact.

This was the problem faced by a regional asphalt manufacturer. “Over the weekend, when the plant was unstaffed, the materials would settle completely. When workers returned on Monday, they had to climb seven meters down into the dark silo, and clear thick layers of compacted material just to get the factory running again,” said Rolando Cavazos, Sales Manager of AirSweep distributor BMH Equipos.

After four years of hammering and trying ineffective flow aids like vibrators, the asphalt manufacturer installed the AirSweep system. The powerful air pulses broke the materials’ cohesive bonds, for instant and reliable flow.

Bridging and Ratholing

Many ingredients used in the food industry have a high oil content. Bridging and ratholing can occur when these are transferred from storage into hoppers and other vessels.

A chocolate manufacturer handles hundreds of pounds of cocoa every day. The fine powder would clog the vessels, and bin activators and fluidizers were ineffective. Every four days, it would pause production so workers could manually scrape off the powder. Aside from causing delays, this led to big spills that coated everyone in chocolate. “It turned you into a giant cocoa puff,” said the coatings manager.

Once the AirSweep system was installed, the plant went from downtime every 3 or 4 days to “no breakdowns, replacements, or any problems whatsoever.” They were even able to add two production shifts per month.

Stagnation

Stagnant material can spoil, decay, or compromise a product formula. This is common in a core flow or channel flow pattern, where powders at the side drop-down at a slower rate than the powder in the center.

AirSweep can help achieve mass flow, so all materials exit the vessel in a first-in/first-out flow pattern. We conducted a material flow test with fish powder, a material that has a tendency to clump and cake in humid environments. To demonstrate AirSweep’s effectiveness, water was even added to the fish powder to show on-demand material flow.

Plugging in the Outlet

When material blocks a vessel outlet, production can slow down or even stop completely. A mineral processing plant had issues with transferring material into supersacks. Despite the steep slopes of vessels, the fine powders and pebbles would still plug the vessel. It took an hour to fill each sack, and workers had to hit the bins with sledgehammers.

The AirSweep system eliminated all plugging of the outlets and cut the filling time of supersacks from one hour to two minutes. An additional forklift driver was even hired to keep up with the increase in production.

AirSweep is used in production and warehouse facilities around the world to improve material flow of even the most problematic materials. Contact us to get a customized proposal for your material and process.

3 Myths Customers Have About Installing AirSweep

AirSweep is designed to make installation as painless as possible. Who said that change always had to be hard?

Myth # 1: It requires special tools or a trained crew

When food manufacturing company Bunge installed AirSweep in their new bulk bag filling station, all they had to do was thread the nozzles into the couplings and connect it to their existing compressed air and electrical system. “Any electrician can wire it up. Everything was pretty straightforward and I would absolutely recommend it.”

Myth # 2: Installation will cause downtime

Even a more complex installation process will save you thousands of hours of downtime. One cement company had tried hammers and electric vibrators, but still spent every Monday clearing compacted material from their silos. “AirSweep solved a four-year-old problem in less than two weeks!”

Myth # 3: It’s a hassle to get a quote

All our customers are very happy with how quickly we respond to queries and work to solve the problem. “From the very beginning, the Control Concepts team has been very responsive. Every quote is accurate, and I never have to ask ‘where is my stuff?’” said the CEO of an aviation services company.

Have any questions about installation? Contact us and we’ll be happy to explain how it works, and address any special concerns you or your customers may have about materials and processes.