Established for almost 30 years, King’s Lynn based OMEX Agrifluids Ltd., one of the five operating companies within the OMEX Group, have been supplying farmers worldwide, across 45 countries, with fine quality emulsion fertilisers. These unique, liquid, foliar compounds rely on a complex formulation of nitrates, potash, salt and varying quantities of trace elements, all blended with other liquid compounds to formulate the ultimate fertilisers.
Early methods of raw materials handling in the formulation process required an operative to collect pallets of 25 kg bags from a racking store by fork lift truck and position them adjacent to the filling area of a 5 tonne capacity blender. When in position, the operative gained access to the bags by climbing to a 10 ft high gantry where each bag would then be manually lifted from the fork lift platform, split and gravity fed into the blender. Two daily mixes would yield 10 tonnes of product - 7 tonnes (280 x 25 kg) of which were manually handled by the operative. Although the final mix was despatched further down-line for onward processing and packaging, it was this particular aspect of the process that prompted a review to improve safety, efficiency and quality.
Disadvantages identified for elimination or reduction through this procedure were:
• Risk of personnel injury.
• Dust inhalation.
• Extended blending time to ensure quality mix.
Based on previous experience Omex Agrifluids decided to call in bulk solids handling experts Flexicon (Europe) Ltd. to address the problem by designing and installing a conveyor system comprising a:
1. heavy duty, 1450 round, spiral conveyor mounted in a UHMW polyethylene tube.
2. ‘D’ type hopper frame with fixed bag tray and mesh screen.
3. 2.2kw geared drive assembly.
4. 45º discharge transition.
5. agitator and flexifinger
6. control panel.
Since installation the operative is able to access the 25kg bag supply at ground level with no risk of personal injury. With the bags split, material is manually fed to the hopper from a fixed bag tray via the hopper screen to filter out oversized particles and debris. During manual handling of the bags a dust extractor, designed and fitted by OMEX Agrifluids Ltd. and situated above the receiving hopper, minimises the risk of dust inhalation.
The 4.5 m long screw conveyor transfers raw material upwards through 45º from the hopper to the 5 tonne capacity blender at a steady and continuous rate. Product is then gravity fed through the discharge transition into the vortex of the mix giving a quality blend much sooner. To assist in the free flowing of the raw material an agitator is employed on the side of the hopper while a flexifinger assists product flow from the hopper outlet into the throat of the screw conveyor.
Such was the expected success of the system, a second conveyor was installed with the same specifications a little over one year later and performed equally well until changes in regulations prompted further review. Sensitive materials as ammonium nitrates were no longer available in small quantities but could only be acquired in 1tonne and 1.5tonne flexible intermediate bulk containers (FIBCs). It fell to Flexicon to design and install a bulk bag frame able to handle the discharge of materials from the FIBCs.
With the bulk bag frame in-situ, instead of retrieving, splitting and manually dumping individual bags daily into the receiving hoppers of the screw conveyors, the operative loads the bulk bag into the frame, using a fork lift truck. When in position, via an access door the operative is able to pull the bag spout through, feed it into the mouth of the chute interface and untie the spout. As there is no requirement to trickle feed or transfer regulated amounts of material to the receiving hopper the content can be fully discharged via the chute interface without the need of an iris valve or other form of flow regulator.
During discharge strategically mounted ‘Flow Flexer‘ Plates’ massage the lower side walls of the bulk bag at pre-set, timed intervals. This motion frees the product, directing the flow to the central flow column. In addition, a vibrator mounted on the side of the chute interface assists the flow into the receiving hopper. As discharge continues and the bag slowly empties, the massaging strokes increase, raising the side walls of the bag creating a ‘V’ shape, eliminating dead spots and maximising the amount of product discharged, simultaneously freeing the operative for more gainful employment during the process.
Not all raw materials used in the process are limited to bulk supply but where the opportunity to buy in bulk from their suppliers presents itself OMEX can do so and gain the advantages of:
• less product loss/spillage.
• safer and more efficient product throughput.
• economy of scale through raw material purchase.
• the disposal of a single bag per tonne.
From commissioning, the two conveyor systems and bulk bag discharger have successfully addressed the issues of safety and efficiency and continue to contribute to the reduced operation costs of the process, completely fulfilling the brief.
A Quality Fertiliser Process Promotes Growth
A quality fertiliser process promotes growth in
safety, efficiency and economy.
Established for almost 30 years, King’s Lynn based OMEX Agrifluids Ltd., one of the five operating companies within the OMEX Group, have been supplying farmers worldwide, across 45 countries, with fine quality emulsion fertilisers. These unique, liquid, foliar compounds rely on a complex formulation of nitrates, potash, salt and varying quantities of trace elements, all blended with other liquid compounds to formulate the ultimate fertilisers.
Early methods of raw materials handling in the formulation process required an operative to collect pallets of 25 kg bags from a racking store by fork lift truck and position them adjacent to the filling area of a 5 tonne capacity blender. When in position, the operative gained access to the bags by climbing to a 10 ft high gantry where each bag would then be manually lifted from the fork lift platform, split and gravity fed into the blender. Two daily mixes would yield 10 tonnes of product - 7 tonnes (280 x 25 kg) of which were manually handled by the operative. Although the final mix was despatched further down-line for onward processing and packaging, it was this particular aspect of the process that prompted a review to improve safety, efficiency and quality.
Disadvantages identified for elimination or reduction through this procedure were:
• Risk of personnel injury.
• Dust inhalation.
• Extended blending time to ensure quality mix.
Based on previous experience Omex Agrifluids decided to call in bulk solids handling experts Flexicon (Europe) Ltd. to address the problem by designing and installing a conveyor system comprising a:
1. heavy duty, 1450 round, spiral conveyor mounted in a UHMW polyethylene tube.
2. ‘D’ type hopper frame with fixed bag tray and mesh screen.
3. 2.2kw geared drive assembly.
4. 45º discharge transition.
5. agitator and flexifinger
6. control panel.
Since installation the operative is able to access the 25kg bag supply at ground level with no risk of personal injury. With the bags split, material is manually fed to the hopper from a fixed bag tray via the hopper screen to filter out oversized particles and debris. During manual handling of the bags a dust extractor, designed and fitted by OMEX Agrifluids Ltd. and situated above the receiving hopper, minimises the risk of dust inhalation.
The 4.5 m long screw conveyor transfers raw material upwards through 45º from the hopper to the 5 tonne capacity blender at a steady and continuous rate. Product is then gravity fed through the discharge transition into the vortex of the mix giving a quality blend much sooner. To assist in the free flowing of the raw material an agitator is employed on the side of the hopper while a flexifinger assists product flow from the hopper outlet into the throat of the screw conveyor.
Such was the expected success of the system, a second conveyor was installed with the same specifications a little over one year later and performed equally well until changes in regulations prompted further review. Sensitive materials as ammonium nitrates were no longer available in small quantities but could only be acquired in 1tonne and 1.5tonne flexible intermediate bulk containers (FIBCs). It fell to Flexicon to design and install a bulk bag frame able to handle the discharge of materials from the FIBCs.
With the bulk bag frame in-situ, instead of retrieving, splitting and manually dumping individual bags daily into the receiving hoppers of the screw conveyors, the operative loads the bulk bag into the frame, using a fork lift truck. When in position, via an access door the operative is able to pull the bag spout through, feed it into the mouth of the chute interface and untie the spout. As there is no requirement to trickle feed or transfer regulated amounts of material to the receiving hopper the content can be fully discharged via the chute interface without the need of an iris valve or other form of flow regulator.
During discharge strategically mounted ‘Flow Flexer‘ Plates’ massage the lower side walls of the bulk bag at pre-set, timed intervals. This motion frees the product, directing the flow to the central flow column. In addition, a vibrator mounted on the side of the chute interface assists the flow into the receiving hopper. As discharge continues and the bag slowly empties, the massaging strokes increase, raising the side walls of the bag creating a ‘V’ shape, eliminating dead spots and maximising the amount of product discharged, simultaneously freeing the operative for more gainful employment during the process.
Not all raw materials used in the process are limited to bulk supply but where the opportunity to buy in bulk from their suppliers presents itself OMEX can do so and gain the advantages of:
• less product loss/spillage.
• safer and more efficient product throughput.
• economy of scale through raw material purchase.
• the disposal of a single bag per tonne.
From commissioning, the two conveyor systems and bulk bag discharger have successfully addressed the issues of safety and efficiency and continue to contribute to the reduced operation costs of the process, completely fulfilling the brief.
For further information, please visit:
href="https://edir.bulk-online.com/profile/1891-flexicon-europe-.htm" target="blank">https://edir.bulk-online.com/profile...on-europe-.htm
Photo:
The full discharge system showing the bulk bag frame, hopper chute and conveyor to the rear to carry raw material to the reactor.
Attachments
flexicon_omex_news_305 (GIF)
■