Cover Story
equipment, is handled in-house, the skill and motivation of the workshop provid- ing the fl exibility to effi ciently deliver bespoke solutions wherever required. Together these capabilities make for strong and reliable partnerships in materials handling projects as the fol- lowing case studies demonstrate.
PRINCE MINERALS - A RELIABLE SOLUTION FOR ABRASIVE MATERIALS
At its site in Stoke-on-Trent, Prince Minerals Limited, a leading international processor of speciality industrial minerals, mills silica sands to produce powders. Milled silica is transported by bucket elevator from the ball mill up through the building so that it can fall under gravity through a desk sieve, and then onto an air classifi er. Cost-effective in terms of initial capital outlay and energy effi ciency, bucket eleva- tors are a sound choice for this applica- tion but Prince Minerals had encountered a number of reliability-related issues with an earlier system. In a recent upgrading project the brief to Guttridge and SGH Equipment, the project engineers responsible for installation, was to engineer a solution that would signifi cantly enhance reliability. The highly abrasive nature of milled silica makes this a relatively demand- ing application. To tackle it, Guttridge designed and manufactured a system with a number of special features calculated to deliver the low maintenance, high reli- ability solution required. These included: • Steel buckets with wear resistant metal bands to extend working life.
• Hardox wear plates on the inlet and outlet of the conveyor to minimise wear in these high throughput areas.
• A cage and cone boot pulley system to prevent material getting in between the pulley and the belt and causing damage.
• Stand off bearings with integral air purge to prevent the ingress of dust into the bearings and enhance reliability.
• Larger casings to reduce the risk of material build up and the likelihood of damage to the buckets in the event of any belt tracking problems. This solution runs smoothly with minimal attention and has eliminated the reliability issues encountered with previously installed
Guttridge has provided Cannington Enter- prises with a number of conveying systems that robustly and reliably transport their mixed waste streams, which include food complete with packaging materials. Blowers were initially considered for material transport but the feed is simply so variable that this ap- proach is impractical. In contrast, mechanical conveying comprising enclosed, troughed
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systems. Features such as these may, in some instances, add extra cost, but over the long run deliver the reliability that operators increas- ingly require. Understanding not simply
what options are available, but exactly
when they are needed, delivers sig- nifi cant value to the customer.
CANNINGTON ENTERPRISES - NEW CONVEYING APPLICATIONS
Cannington Enterprises is a family-owned business with its origins in agriculture. Suc- cessful diversifi cation into the cold storage business, several decades ago, led the company to more recently consider further expansion into the ‘green energy’ market. As a result it now operates three anaerobic di- gesters. These convert waste from a number of sources, including food waste from the cold storage business, into biogas. Today the amount of fuel produced far exceeds that re- quired for the on-site cold storage facility and in fact generates up to 1.5 MW of electric- ity, enough to power 3000 houses, which is fed back into the national grid.
Live hopper
bottom comprising triple screw discharger and transfer conveyor for feeding food waste into granulator.
Guttridge has recently invested in a modern powder tester which is now widely applied for any products that are new or have uncertain fl ow characteristics. The powder tester quantifi es the fl ow characteristics of a material, bringing a scientifi c approach to the develop- ment of solutions for tough powder handling applications. By reliably differentiating the fl ow properties of different materials, and even different grades of the same material, it supports confi dent equipment design, deliver- ing right fi rst time handling solutions, even for tricky to handle powders. ■
Solids and Bulk Handling June 2012 9
screw conveyors, has proven highly reliable, and in combination with the hoppers and screw dischargers also supplied, provides a reliable integrated solution. Indeed these
systems have been so successful that the company has ordered similar equip- ment for a second processing line. ■
For more information contact
Guttridge on +44 (0) 1775 765300, email
sales@guttridge.co.uk or visit
www.guttridge.co.uk
Powder Testing
The powder fl ow tester enables the rapid characterisation of powders and particulate materials, taking the risk out of equipment specifi cation.
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