FEATURE WAREHOUSING, HANDLING & STORAGE CONVEYOR CREATES DIVERSION
A bespoke conveyor designed and manufactured by Middleton Engineering has been installed within a separate line for mixed post-consumer RPin the world’s first rHDPE recycling plant
the in-feed conveyor for a granulator. It incorporates a 600mm wide cross- stabilised 3-ply rubber belt with a rising section angled at 25 degrees to carry material currently at a rate of 1.5 tonnes per hour. Sprung castor wheels maintain belt tracking while 50mm high cleats across the belt together with valances to either side at 275mm high prevents material from slipping back to ensure a consistent feed rate.
Cleats across the belt together with valances to either side prevents material from slipping back to ensure a consistent feed rate
R
ecycling machinery specialist Middleton Engineering has installed a second bespoke conveyor to enhance processing requirements at Biffa Polymers, the world’s first food grade high density polyethylene (rHDPE) recycling plant based at Redcar in Cleveland. Designed and manufactured at
Middleton’s facility in Somerset, the conveyor forms part of a separate recycling line for mixed post-consumer rigid polypropylene (PP). This produces
high quality mixed plastic flakes for onward distribution and forms part of the continued expansion of production capacity at Biffa Polymers. Last year the plant announced a
£6.5 million investment to double output for its HDPE recycling capacity to some 20,000 tonnes from early 2017. With an overall length of 9.3 meters the conveyor is designed to meet precise process requirements from Biffa and transfers material from a shredder up to
VERTICAL ELEVATOR ENSURES SAFE TRANSIT OF WHISKY
A premium alcoholic drinks manufacturer appointed Conveyor Systems (CSL) to provide a solution to transit case loads of flat packed Whisky cartons from a lower floor storage area up to the bottling hall before entering a carton erector and robot packer. The main challenge was limited access between
floors due to the upper floor close pitch concrete beams and a crowded bottling hall. A Qimarox Prorunner Mk1 vertical elevator was chosen due to
its small footprint. Using a high quality reinforced belt instead of chain, it is very quiet, can operate at higher speeds and offers low maintenance. A motorised roller conveyor platform allows for
the automated infeed on the lower floor and outfeed transfer on the upper. To feed into the elevators 24v zero line pressure (ZLP) accumulation roller conveyors singulate cases onto the elevator platform conveyor from a non-contact queue; the lower floor infeed conveyors are hand loaded from pallets at an ergonomically suitable height and feed through mesh fence safety guarding onto the lift platforms. Once the elevator platform reaches the upper
floor discharge position the case is driven onto another section of 24v non-contact roller conveyor which feeds single cases to an operator who loads the flat cartons into a newly acquired carton erector.
Conveyor Systems
www.conveyorsystemsltd.co.uk 18 FEBRUARY 2017 | FACTORY EQUIPMENT T: 01283 552255
IMPROVING WASTE STREAM PURITY AND QUALITY To further improve waste stream purity and quality a magnetic head drum separates ferrous contamination at the head of the belt or discharge end of the conveyor. This provides secondary metal protection with continuous separation, trapping metal debris as the drum rotates while clean product is discharged. A stainless steel chute diverts unwanted
material into a collection bin below. Lock off emergency stop switches, safety pull gantries on the rising section and SCADA controls to fully integrate the conveyor with the other machine processes complete the installation.
ROBUST AND RELIABLE EQUIPMENT “Running the Poly Prop processing line 24/7 as with all our production processes requires robust and reliable equipment,” comments Alan Edwards, project and improvement engineer for Biffa Polymers. “Selecting Middleton Engineering for this new conveyor was the obvious choice. The company takes the time to understand our requirements, is quick to resolve issues and support has been excellent.” Middleton Engineering which has been
supplying balers and recycling equipment to Biffa for over 15 years installed its first conveyor to Biffa Polymers in 2015 following modifications to the granulator on the recycled HDPE bottle recycling line. “Repeat business is always a strong signal that clients are happy with the quality and durability of the machinery we design,” says engineering director Mark Smith. “Biffa’s Redcar facility is a plant we know well and it is good to know that Middleton conveyors are playing a small part in diverting plastics from landfill to be recycled time and time again.”
Middleton Engineering T: 01458 860 264
www.middletonengineering.co.uk
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