Zupreem Material Handling Project
Situation: For over 40 years Zupreem (www.zupreem.com) has understood that the single most important influence on an animal’s health is nutrition.Many of their products in the past were blended and packaged offsite by contract packing firms. This was not only costly, but put their production and timing out of their control. In 2009 they elected to bring this ingredient batching system in-house.
Scope: FormPak provided all the material handling and recipe management system. This project is due to be expanded in 2010 to include (3) additional ingredients.:
- (1)-Recipe management, retrieval, and programming system (HMI)
- (7)-Hoist & Trolley style bulk bag unloaders
- (1)-Bag break and box dump station
- (7)-Vibratory tray feeders with screening beds
- (1)-Slider bed style cleated belt conveyor
Solution: The system meters the materials volumetrically via vibratory feeders (with 100/1 turn down or percentage of batch control) onto the cleated belt conveyor according to the recipe that has been selected. Products are “mixed” proportionally by layering onto the belt, then up to a distribution/mixing head above the bagging line.
Green Power Dry Material & Convey System Project
Situation: Green Power Inc. a division of Clean Energy Projects (www.cleanenergyprojects.com) was in the process of scaling-up a new bio-diesel production plant. Their unique municipal waste to bio-diesel process offers the promise of clean bio-diesel production from a feed stock that is nearly unlimited. One of the challenges was to convey the raw material (processed municipal waste called “fluff”) that was likened to cellulous up 40’ and onto a 150’ belt conveyor to the inlet of a reactor vessel. The infeed, however, needed to accommodate the introduction of (2) additional dry materials (lime and zeolite).
Scope: FormPak provided design and construction of a dry material metering and conveying system consisting of the following equipment:
- (1)-Large vibratory feeder for the Fluff material
- (2)-Small vibrator feeders for the minor additives
- (1)-Interlocking bucket elevator
- (1)-Slider belt conveyor
- (2)-Loss-In-Weight fork loaded bulk bag unloaders
Solution: The system meters the fluff into the bucket elevator. As it passed under the two bulk bag unloaders, the minor materials are sprinkled onto the fluff via loss-in-weight batching controls. The materials are then elevated 40’ to the belt conveyor for delivery into the reactor.
