The Spiroflow Universal Type 2 Bulk Bag Discharger from Spiroflow Systems Inc. is operator friendly and totally enclosed for a virtually dust-free environment.
Jowat Adhesives Inc., an international adhesives company based in High Point, NC, wanted to find a totally enclosed, dust-tight bulk bag discharger for its manufacturing plant, which produces adhesives for a variety of industries.
“We wanted to avoid any dust contamination from the variety of resin flakes running through the discharger used to produce our broad line of industrial adhesives,” says Mike Kuhn, plant engineer at Jowat. “We were seeking a system that didn’t have seams or small holes like some other dischargers through which dust infiltrated and contaminated the working environment.”
To find a discharger that met these specifications, Kuhn and some of his fellow engineers attended a powder show in Charlotte, NC, in March 2008. At the Spiroflow Systems Inc. booth, Kuhn found exactly what he needed in the Spiroflow Universal Type 2 Bulk Bag Discharger. Spiroflow Systems is located in Monroe, NC, not far from the Jowat Facility in High Point.
Spiroflow custom-designed the Discharger to meet Jowat Adhesives’ exact specifications. Not only does the unit accept two sizes of bulk bags, it also incorporates a bag-emptying station. Within two months, the unit was installed at the plant in High Point and, according to Kuhn, has been operating flawlessly ever since.
“The Spiroflow Discharger is clean, operator-friendly, easy to load, compact and takes up less space than our other dischargers in the plant,” Kuhn says. “Our productivity and environmental quality have also been enhanced.”
Design, Installation and Operation
The Spiroflow Universal Type 2 Bulk Bag Discharger at Jowat Adhesives has a surge capacity hopper that was custom-designed in stainless steel to accept resin flakes in 1,000-lb Supersacks, 500-lb Mini-Sacks or 50-lb bags.Resins are gravity-fed by the Type 2 Discharger through the hopper into a vacuum conveyor at the base of the Discharger. The vacuum conveyor transfers the resins from the Discharger to a process vessel in a totally controlled, dust-free manner.
According to Mathias Lee, vice president of Sales for Spiroflow Systems, providing controllable discharge by volume of poor-flowing materials is designed to eliminate any waste or spillage for increased productivity and a cleaner work environment.
To help control dust, the Discharger’s dual containment cabinet connects to Jowat’s central dust collection system, Kuhn adds.
The Type 2 Discharger includes spring-loaded arms on the bag support frame, an integral bag dumping station, bag spout closure bars and a base massage system. The 500-lb and 1,000-lb resin flake bags are rigged onto a special lifting frame and then lifted by a lift truck onto the Discharger’s support frame located near the top of the unit. The 50-lb bags are manually dumped into the hopper through an integral bag dumping station. The station features a chain track for easy opening and closing of the door.
“This manual dumping station lets Jowat add minor additives into the process and gives them a fallback position should the supply of material in the larger bulk bags be disrupted,” notes Lee.
Spring-loaded bag support arms gradually raise and tension the bag during emptying to ensure complete discharge of the resin flakes. The arms also prevent the bag spout or liner from sagging.
According to Kuhn, this was another feature sought by Jowat. “What this does is assure material flows as the bag gets lighter by raising it so it’s easy to empty,” he says.
A bag spout closure bar controls the flow of resins and pinches the neck of the bag above the point where the outlet spout is tied. Once the spout is untied, the pinch bars are opened to allow discharge. Flow, in this case, only begins after the access door in the dust cabinet has been closed for greater dust containment.
An adjustable base massage system assures consistent flow and also prevents compaction. The resins are gravity-fed through the Discharger until they are transferred to the vacuum conveyor system en route to the Jowat process vessel.
“With the Type 2 Discharger, our environmental quality and productivity have been enhanced,” says Kuhn. “We are completely satisfied with the system.”
About Spiroflow Systems
Spiroflow is a global supplier of a range of both standard and custom powder handling equipment specializing in bulk bag dischargers and fillers, mechanical and pneumatic conveyors, a range of 50-lb bag packing and unloading equipment, and flexible storage silos. The company offers a variety of designs and design options.For more information, call (704) 291-9595, fax (704) 291-9594, e-mail info@spiroflowsystems.com or visit www.spiroflowsystems.com.
About Jowat Adhesives
An eco-friendly manufacturer, Jowat Adhesives produces environmentally safe industrial adhesives for a variety of applications in the wood, furniture, paper, packaging, construction, upholstery, automotive, textile, general assembly, mattress and foam converting industries. The industrial adhesives manufactured at the Jowat plant include dispersion, hot-melt, solvent-based, moisture-curing and a variety of other adhesives. Jowat Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Jowat Adhesives AG, a 90-year old German company with sales in more than 60 countries. Jowat Corp. was formed in the U. S. in 1979 and ships adhesives worldwide from its High Point, NC, facility.For more information, call (800) 322-GLUE (4583), fax (336) 434-9019, e-mail info@jowat.com or visit www.jowat.com.
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