Situation
A worn out system with an older design was in great need of an upgrade. The plant needed to get their spillage, leakage and pluggage problems under control. Belt misalignment, poorly sealed doors and head chute, and poor performing cleaners were all contributing to safety, combustible dust accumulation and respirable airborne dust risks.
Scope
- Design, fabricate and installation
- Dumper 17-18 East West Feeders:
- New containment equipment beginning with new head boxes and flow control transfer chute from the rail car dumper 17-18 east west feeders to Conveyor “A”
- New skirt wall system
- Sample House
- New head box from conveyor “A” with a new chute down to proportioning splitter gate
- New chutes to surge bin and diverter gate
- New chutes to conveyor “B” and Conveyor “C” with Adjustable JGlide loading chutes on each conveyor
- New skirt wall systems
- New access platforms, PLC programming and electrical modifications for all new equipment
Results
Project went very well, especially considering time constraints placed on all aspects of design, fabrication and installation. The Advanced Flow Transfer Chutes were designed utilizing EDEM modeling for material control. The JGlide was adjusted for center loading and material speed that closely matches the direction and speed of the receiving conveyors. The result is little or no dust and little or no spillage. The rounded corners and round components ensure no buildup of material and no pluggage has occurred since chutes were installed in the fall of 2010.
