Paint Chemical Powder Conveying System
Industry:
Paint
Client:
A leading Paint Manufacturing Company
Location:
Andhra Pradesh,India
Client requirement –
- Several paint chemical powders like Calcite, Titanium dioxide, Magnesium Aluminium Silicate, China clay, Silica, Dolomite, Calcined clay etc. were to be conveyed from the raw material storage yard to storage silos & thereafter to Twin Shaft Dispersers (TSDs). Further, the raw materials are to be packed & stored in bags of 25 kg and 50 kg sizes.
- Customer required automation in raw material measurement (as per their formula and needs). The goal was to also reduce labour intensity and environmental pollution with a steep increase in process productivity.
Challenges
- Material to be conveyed at a distance of 350m from the storage yard to TSDs
- Difficulty in conveying due to the wide range of raw material with bulk densities varying from 300 kg/m3to 1000 kg/m3
- Handling difficulties due to the abrasive & non-free-flowing nature of the materials with a high tendency to form deposits in the conveying lines
- With its poor flow characteristics, raw material like Titanium dioxide will tend to “rat hole” or bridge in hoppers, thus completely blocking the flow of the material.
Solution
- Considering the challenges & finished product requirements, a conveying capacity of 10 TPH was decided
- On basis of conveying capacity & distance, M/s RIECO has designed Positive Pressure Lean Phase Pneumatic Conveying System ensuring total automation in conveying, batching & dosing from the Raw material section till TSD thereby eliminating manual interference
- This system comes with necessary fluidisation arrangements that suits the application and delivers high robustness and economy in operations with a low maintenance
Parameters Considered
Design Basis
| SYSTEM DESCRIPTION | RIECO make positive pressure Lean phase pneumatic conveying system |
| Source | Bag Slitting machine (RM Storage yard) |
| Destination 1. | Charge hopper |
| Destination 2 | Silos |
| Material to be Handled | Chemical Powder of Paint Industry |
| Bulk density (Kg/m3) | 300-1000 kg/m3 |
| Particle Size (mm) | Approx. 100 Mesh |
| Moisture content (% V/V) | 2 % |
| Temp. Of Material (°C) | Ambient |
| Conveying capacity: | 8000 to 10000 kg/hr. |
| Total conveying distance | 350 m (Horizontal- 220m & vertical – 130m) |
How we made a difference
- Increased production capacity requirement of 10 TPH needed automation. Our solution delivered the requirement with zero human intervention with the help of bag slitting machines
- Non-stop production requirement during supply chain disruptions fulfilled via Storage Silos
- Pneumatic conveying system is provided for clean and dust-free operation ensuring zero contact of human on the product
- Flexibility in routing – can be transported vertically and horizontally by the addition of bends in the pipeline
- Environmental Pollution is controlled by installation of Vent filters
Process Workflow
System Description
- Stage 1- Raw Material Unloading & Conveying.In the raw material section, we have provided a bag slitting machine (BSM) for the automatic cutting of bags. Bags are fed to the machine by belt conveyors. In BSM, bags are cut & then separated from the material. Shredded bags are collected separately in the compactor unit. Raw material is further passed through a magnetic separator to attract ferrous particles. After passing through the magnet, the material is fed to a Vibro Sifter for screening of particle size less than 6 mm. Vibro Sifter is also used to remove foreign particles. The material is then collected in a small hopper & finally, acceptable particle size material is transferred to conveying line via controlled fed of rotary airlock valves.
- Stage 2- Raw material batching.In the storage section, material conveyed from the raw material storage yard is stored in silos. The USP of the finished product is to provide the right quantity of ingredients as per the predetermined formula, thus ensuring the quality of the paint. For batching, hoppers with weighing scales are located below the storage silos. Metering of the raw material from silo to weigh hopper is performed by screw conveyors. Weigh hoppers are equipped with fluidization arrangements to avoid a bridge in the hopper. After getting the desired quantity of material in the weigh hopper, the material will be then conveyed to the charge hopper via rotary airlock valves.
- Stage 3- Raw material conveying & dosing to TSD.In the charge hopper section, raw material is conveyed to charge hoppers as per requirement. The selection of charge hoppers is executed with the help of diverters in the conveying line. Conveying capacity is decided by the TSD batch cycle time. Based on capacity requirement & distance, the quantity of conveying air will be calculated & the blower shall be selected. Average conveying air velocity ranges between 25 – 30 m/s.All the above system operations are performed & controlled through a PLC Panel supplied by M/s RIECO.
Results
- 10 TPH material is efficiently batched and conveyed from Raw material yard to TSDs
- Material is conveyed through an overall distance of 350m
Advantages
- Increased productivity
- Reduced labour intensity and environmental pollution
- Supreme quality paint material delivered