PROCESS EQUIPMENT UPDATE
frequent scenario is higher temperatures than desired on top, and too low temperatures at the bottom. For this application, shear forces should be extremely low, and all homogenisation must be done under pressure of up to 2 bar. The Flecks Mixer easily performs all of this via just four movements per hour.
GREATER CONTROL For the company behind the Flecks Mixer, the biggest emphasis over the past year year was the development of a PLC control system by networking the Siemens Simatic S7-300 system. Although the mixing system may seem very simple,
it can actually be operated in an extremely smart and fl exible way to adapt to various products. This is done via the following freely programmable parameters: speed of up/down movements (depending on viscosity, which may change during the process); frequency of disc movements (to adapt to various particle sizes of suspended matters); height of movement (to either keep the disc under the liquid surface – to avoid oxygenation, or to lift it a little above the surface for suspending dry matters into the liquid, or lift it completely to the top/or keep it at the bottom for a rest). As a result the system can be easily implemented in almost all industries into existing or new tanks – and it can communicate with existing process automation systems.
WHAT’S NEXT? Despite this recent innovation, there is still a lot to be done with the Flecks Mixer. Its inventor is now focused on discovering which specifi c problems in various industrial processes could be solved with the system. Only the experts in the diff erent industries can truly evaluate the opportunities to improve their production with it. But the above report about craft beer production may provide some hints as to how others can benefi t – as well as create a thirst for a nice IPA. ■
For more information ✔ at
www.engineerlive.com/process
Vincent Fleck is a biotechnologist and head of Flecks Brauhaus Technik Austria.
www.flecks.at
SAFETY FIRST
The Flecks Mixer is currently being used at fi ve craft breweries
Electric actuators for industrial valve automation Safe, robust, precise. For decades, AUMA actuators have excelled by their outstanding reliability throughout many market segments. Their capability for overall host system integration is of crucial importance for safe and economical opera- tion in process technology.
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www.auma.com For more information ✔ at
www.engineerlive.com/process
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