successful strategies in automating pvc dry blend production · storage silos. in dry blend...
TRANSCRIPT
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THE SOLUTION
Successful Strategies in
Automating PVC Dry Blend
Production
PVC – anything but out.
PVC remains to be the raw mate-rial with excellent properties andan exceptional price-to-perform-ance ratio. Worldwide, more than20 million tons of PVC is process-ed each year, and that rate is ex-pected to keep growing.
Over a third of PVC material isprocessed into pipes and fittings;the rest is used to make hard andsoft profiles, cables and hoses.The basic ingredient for theseproducts is dry blend, prepared ina heater-cooler mixer.
Possibilities and opportunities
for automation.
Regardless of your end product,PVC has to be fed into the heater-cooler mixer along with fillers,TiO2, stabilizers, additives, modi-fiers, plasticizers and color pig-ments as a precise batch formula.
Integrating all the raw materialsinto the automated process en-sures processing in accordancewith the exact recipe. In additionto quality assurance, other bene-fits include a high degree of flexi-bility and reduced material loss.
AZO develops individual
concepts tailored exactly to
your needs.
The requirements to be met by a system for feeding a heater-cooler mixer can vary substantial-ly depending on the final productand each individual plant layout.
We plan your specific system ac-cording to the number of ingre-dients involved in the formulationand the sequence of additions,batch frequency and throughput,how often the formulation ischanged, whether premixed
compounds are used, and if therecipe calls for liquids additions.
Another important considerationis the available space where thesystem is to be installed.
The following pages containexamples that illustrate variousAZO solutions for automating dryblend production.
Assure your product quality and
streamline your process with AZO.
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Feeding PVC and filler from
storage silos.
In dry blend production, the majorbulk products are delivered bytrucks or rail cars and stored inoutdoor silos. These bulk materi-als are off-loaded into the mainte-nance-free aluminum silos usinga pneumatic conveying system.
PVC can be handled successfullywithout the need for a special dis-charge system. This can be attri-buted to the good flow character-istics of the material. However,product feeders offer the bestmethod for consistent and accu-rate feeding of the vacuumweighing systems.
For filler and particularly for TiO2,properly dimensioned vibrationbottoms are necessary. The AZOvibration bottoms offer many keyadvantages including quiet opera-tion, low energy use, and reliablematerial flow. In both cases, pre-cision dosing units are requiredfor feeding the vacuum weighingsystems.
AZO silo systems are equippedwith standard “auto-clean” binvent filters.
All storage silo accessories suchas level indicators, access hatch,PRV, ladder, safety guard rails,and discharge systems are pro-vided as required.
Mixer feeding with vacuum
weighing systems.
The vacuum weighing systemsdeveloped by AZO present signifi-cant advantages in product trans-fer to the heater-cooler mixers:• Reduced height and floor space
required because no surge hoppers are required
• Precise weighing and highthroughput rates achieved simultaneously
• Flexible and expandable withAZO’s multi-port valve and piping arrangement
Handling PVC and filler as
major ingredients.
Delivery of PVC
Silo farm for PVC
Pick up of filler from a siloOutdoor silos for filler and titanium dioxide
Advantages of AZO silos,
right to the point:
• Maintenance–free
aluminum construction
• Universal design with
standard accessories
• Available with discharge
systems for all types of
bulk materials
Advantages of AZO vacu-
um weighing system, right
to the point:
• Reduced height and floor
space required because
no surge hoppers are
required
• Precise weighing and high
throughput rates achie-
ved simultaneously
• Flexible and expandable
with AZO’s multi-port
valve and piping arrange-
ment
Product feeding of vacuum conveying system
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New mixing system for dry
blend used in the production of
window profiles.
Integrating a mixing system intoan existing building is a challeng-ing task for the system supplier.In this case, the customer re-quired maximum flexibility, total automation, and ingredient batch-ing in accordance to the exact formula.
PVC is transferred from the out-door silos to the scale by the vac-uum weighing system – directly,without using surge hoppers.
Dedicated convey lines and prod-uct feeders from each silo, alongwith AZO’s multi-port valve areused prior to the vacuum scale to obtain the highest degree ofaccuracy and flexibility.
Economical solution:
sufficient building height … limited floor
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Container discharge stations for stabilizers and Big-Bag discharge stations for modifiers
Conveyor scale for PVC and batch scale for titanium dioxideand modifiers
Heater mixer feeding
Filler and TiO2 are pneumaticallytransferred from outdoor silos in-to supply bins located in the upper level of the mixing tower.From the supply bins, vibratingdosing screws are used for pre-cise feeding to the batch scale.
Stabilizers and modifiers, re-ceived in bulk bags or containersare elevated via freight lift to thestaging area at the upper level ofthe mixing tower. As with fillerand TiO2, these materials are fedfrom each supply bin with theuse of a vibrating dosing screw to the batch scale for preciseweighing.
space.
Advantages of this heater-
cooler mixer feeding
system, right to the point:
• Simplest version because
minor and semi-bulk com-
ponents are added at the
uppermost level
• Maximum reliability be-
cause all raw materials
are available at a level ab-
ove the mixer
• Precise dosing and weigh-
ing accuracy through
vibration screws for filler,
TiO2, stabilizers, and
modifiers
• No off-spec batches be-
cause mixer filling starts
after all ingredients are
preweighed in accordance
with recipe tolerances
Example
1
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Ground level storage and
supply of additives, stabilizers
and modifiers.
A unique challenge exists whendesigning a heater-cooler mixerfeed system to fit within a build-ing that has limited height. The in-gredients are stored and suppliedat the ground level. Pneumaticconveying systems transport theadditives into batch bins abovethe scales.
PVC is transferred from the out-door silos directly to a vacuumweighing system above the heat-er-cooler mixer. Dedicated conveylines and product feeders fromeach silo, and AZO’s multi-port valve are used prior to the vac-uum scale to obtain the highestdegree of accuracy and flexibility.
If necessary, “double-batching”can be done to increase through-put, and to realize savings in ener-gy consumption. In this case, avacuum conveyor scale is positi-oned above the cooler mixer forPVC.
Limited building height:
ground level supply of ingredients.
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Weighing level
Bag dump stations located on the ground floor level The ingredients are pneumatically transferred into the supplybins above the batching scales
Conveyor scale with multi-port valve for PVC
Bulk bag unloading with pneumatic system
Filler and TiO2 are pneumaticallytransferred from outdoor silos into supply bins located in the upper level of the mixing tower.From the supply bin, vibratingdosing screws are used for precise weighing in the batch scale.
Stabilizers and modifiers are received in portable mini silos,bulk bags or bags, and picked upat the ground level for pneumati-cally conveyed into supply bins.The materials are fed from eachsupply bin with the use of a vi-brating dosing screw for preciseweighing in the batch scale.
Advantages of this heater-
cooler mixer feeding
system, right to the point:
• Ground-level product
supply, with pneumatic
transfer to elevated
supply bins
• Pneumatic conveying of
semi-bulk and minor in-
gredients to the weighing
level
• Low overall equipment
stack-up for limited build-
ing height
• To-the-gram weighing of
additives
• Loss-in-weight scaling
with high-precision
dosing units
• ”Double-batching” for
higher throughput and
energy savings
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Example
2
Heater-cooler mixer feeding and mixer surgehopper
Maximum flexibility through
formula composition using ma-
ny different ingredients – with
the AZO COMPONENTER®.
Where process requirements involve many micro and minor ingredients used for individual formulations, the AZO COMPO-NENTER® offers the ideal solutionfor heater-cooler mixer feeding:fully automatic dosing and weigh-ing with the highest degree of accuracy.
PVC and, in some cases, filler
are transferred via vacuumweighing systems from the out-door silos directly to the scales abovethe heater-cooler mixer. Dedi-cated convey lines and productfeeders from each silo, alongwith AZO’s multi-port valve areused prior to the vacuum scale toobtain the highest degree ofaccuracy and flexibility.
Design your own formulas by using many
with the AZO COMPONENTER®.
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Upper level staging area in the mixing tower for bags andbulk bags
Fully automated dosing and precise weighing of minor ingredients with the AZO COMPONENTER®
Conveyor scale with auto-clean filter
Stabilizers, modifiers, TiO2 and
other additives in bags or bulkbags are transported via freightlift to the upper level of the mixing tower and there filled into the dosing bins of the AZOCOMPONENTER®. Vibratory dosing screws meter material toindividual mobile scales accordingto formula. The feeding into themixer is based on temperature as required by the recipe.
The mobile scales dischargethrough a straight vertical chutedirectly to the mixer. This makesit possible to reduce overall build-ing height.
Plasticizers and liquid additivesare stored in tanks, plastic con-tainers, and drums at the groundfloor level and pumped directly tobatch scales via the special AZOliquid’s dosing manifold.
Advantages of this heater-
cooler mixer feeding
system, right to the point:
• Automated selection
out of many ingredients
with the AZO traveling
COMPONENTER® scale
• Precise automatic
dosing and weighing
of additives using the
AZO COMPONENTER®
• Infinite number of minor
ingredients with the feed
stations arranged in a
linear configuration
• Charging of the various
ingredients into the mixer
can be in any sequence
• Pneumatic transfer of raw
materials and additives
to the upper level of the
mixing tower
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y different ingredients –
Heater-cooler mixer feeding
Example
3
Fully automatic heater-cooler
mixer feed system used by
a leading manufacturer of
window profiles in the United
States.
Throughput of up to 10 batchesper hour in each mixer – and consistent high quality. This wasthe requirement for the fully automated system from AZO.
PVC is transferred from the out-door silos to the scale via the vacuum weighing system.Dedicated convey lines and prod-uct feeders from each silo, alongwith AZO’s multi-port valve areused prior to the vacuum scale to obtain the highest degree ofaccuracy and flexibility.
TiO2 is supplied in bulk bags andpneumatically transferred to asupply bin above the dedicatedscale hopper.
Fully automated feeding of multiple mix
high frequency out of many ingredients –
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Staging and introduction of modifiers, stabilizers and other ad-ditives
Simultaneous weighing of additives and modifiers prior tocollection by the traveling COMPONENTER® scale
Feeding of two mixer lines with high batch frequency via the AZO COMPONENTER®
Stabilizers, modifiers and other
additives are delivered in bulkbags and pneumatically conveyedwithout contamination into re-spective in-door silos.
These ingredients are then pre-cisely weighed with simultaneousscales automatically. The individ-ual micro and minor ingredientscales discharge into a travelingscale and then feed directly intoeither of the two mixers by gravi-ty.
Liquid additives are stored atthe ground floor level in tanks,plastic containers and drums.With the use of an AZO specialmanifold valve, liquids are doseddirectly into scales hoppers.
Pigments are automaticallyweighed by a micro ingredientscale, and fed into the mixer. The choice of five different colorsmakes it possible to cover a broad spectrum of shades.
Advantages of this heater-
cooler mixer feeding system,
right to the point:
• Fully automated system
with a large number of
batches per hour
• High degree of efficiency
through feeding several
mixer lines at the same
time
• Weighing and feeding of
raw materials and additives
without contamination
• Dosing and weighing of
pigments to-the-gram
• Fast batching due to
simultaneous weighing
• The AZO COMPONENTER®
for feeding multiple mixer
lines
• Only one surge hopper for
each ingredient
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x ing lines, with
with the AZO Componenter®.
Example
4
Feeding into two heater-cooler mixers
Receiving and storing of liquid
ingredients.
Plasticizers in liquid form are delivered by truck and stored intanks. The storage tanks areequipped with point level andcontinuous inventory monitoring.
Weighing and dosing of plasticiz-ers is done automatically using aliquids scale. The preweighed liquids are automatically dosed into the mixer according to theexact recipe.
With AZO, all liquid ingredients
can be integrated into the
automatic process.
In some cases, plasticizers and liquid additives are delivered indrums or containers, and then also pumped into the liquids scales.
The loss-in-weight scaling sys-tems feed highly viscous microingredients into the mixer. Dosingaccuracy on specifically designedsystems is within one gram.
Heating and insulating of the mi-cro ingredient scales is availableto improve the handling and flowinto the mixers.
Automatic handling of
liquid components.
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Gain-in-weight scaling technique Loss-in-weight weighing technique
Liquid additives in temperature-controled drum storage cabinet
Storage of liquid additives
Horizontal or vertical tanks for plasticizers
Liquids weighing system for plasticizers and stabilizers
Liquids weighing system for highly viscous liquidsLiquids scale for plasticizers
Operator-guided pigment dos-
ing with automatic tracking.
Frequent formulation changescan sometimes require weighingthe color pigments at an operator-guided dosing station. Hand-weighed pigments are filled intoindividual batch pouches andthen automatically introduced di-rectly to the mixer. The use of barcodes serves to monitor and do-cument the weighing step andeliminates operator errors. The ti-ming belt automatically introdu-ces prepared pigment pouches tothe mixer at the correct time andsequence.
Automatic addition of
pigments.
Pigment additions can be com-pletely automated, especiallywhere frequent changes are notrequired. The pigments are sto-red in mini “use bins”. High pre-cision dosing is accomplishedwith the use of vibratory dosingscrews. Accurately weighed pig-ments are then feed directly tothe mixing process in accordance
After the mixing process iscomplete, the finished batch isdischarged into surge hoppers.Pneumatic conveying systemsgently transfer the dry blend
into storage silos or homogeniz-ing silos.
The dry blend can be transferredto filling lines for containers orbulk bags, or into silos for bulk lo-ading of trucks or rail cars.
The homogenizing silos are allo-cated to particular productions.Special equipment enables blend-ing of many batches.
Advantages of the AZO
system, right to the point:
• Integration of all compo-
nents, including liquids, in-
to the automated process
• Reliable handling of vi-
scous and highly viscous
liquids
• Staging of pigments via
operator guidance
• Flexibility with receiving
and filling
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Automated weighing station for five pigments
Mixer receiver for the homogeneous batch
Filling of semi bulk bags and containersfor international storage
Color pigment feeding using a timing beltOperator-guided weighing of pigments intopouches
Handling of the prepared
dry blend.
Feeding color pigments
into the mixer.
Gentle handling without
segregation enables consistent
product quality to very high
standards.
Pneumatic collective feed sys-tems are highly suitable for transferring dry blend from the silos to the extruders with a greatdegree of reliability and flexibility.Electronic monitoring systems allow accurate tracking and incre-ased up-time.
Dust-free feeding is ensured byample-sized filters suited to thespecific dry blend handled.Filter and receivers are equippedwith auto-clean feature.
Reliable feeding of extruder linesIndoor silos for dry blend
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Automated systems for
extruder feeding.
Dry blend storage
Storage of dry blend in homogenizing silos
The AZO control system
provides optimum production
reliability and process insight.
The mixer feed system and actualmixing process are controlled andmonitored in accordance with theexact recipe from the process automation control center. Fromhere, recipes can be selectedfrom the menu screen and auto-matically scheduled for produc-tion.
Fully automatic production
process.
The total production process isautomatically controlled on thebasis of effective batch priorityand efficient resource utilization(scale, silo). In addition, specialsoftware is available to allocate allprocess resources and optimizethe overall system throughput.
For each batch order, a weighingdocument is prepared which con-tains all the information requiredfor future reference and to enablecomplete documentation of theproduction process as a whole.
Reliability and flexibility.
At any time, the actual status ofingredient feeding can be viewedfrom the computer monitor. Anydeviation from a set point value isimmediately displayed as an alarmfor corrective action. Subsequentfeeding into the extrusion lines isalso continuously monitored.
This achieves utmost reliability ofingredient supply to the process.The documentation of formulacomposition and batch comple-tion allows tracking of the dryblend production process, andfurther helps demonstrate thequality of the end product.
Advantages of the AZO sys-
tems for process control and
visualization, right to the po-
int:
• The sequence of the mixing
operation is optimized to
meet the exact recipe re-
quirement
• The temperature develop-
ment in the mixer is di-
splayed on the computer
system graphics
• Mixer filling starts only after
all ingredients have been
weighed within the set tol-
erances
• Batch documentation pro-
vides information on ingre-
dient usage and for ingre-
dient tracking
• Convenient maintenance
and service programs
ensure optimum system
performance and „up-time“
• Absolute service and sup-
port for your operations
with dedicated service per-
sonnel and on-line modem
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Reliability and process vision
with AZO control systems
technology
Process visualization, with language conversion capability
In the process control center, the mixing status is monitored and the recipe management isperformed
The temperature profile in the mixer is graphically illustrated
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AZO – your partner with
confidence, capability and
experience.
We at AZO know the ropes.Again and again over the de-cades, we have come up withnew ideas and trend-setting technologies.
Vacuum weighing systems andCOMPONENTER® technologieshard to imagine being without –bear the trademark “Invented byAZO”.
As world leaders of complete integrated systems, we offer dryblend producers a comprehensi-ve range of machines and systemcomponents.
Profit through flexibility, efficiencyand economy. Turn to AZO.
Cyclone screeners
For removing agglomerates afterthe cooling-mixing process.
Automatic feeding systems
For reliable dry blend supply toextruders. Large dimensioned filters with auto-clean feature toensure trouble-free operation.
Filter systems
Such as ventilation filters for silos andfilters for hoppers with mechanicaldedusting or compressed-air cleaningare offered by AZO. All filters con-form to the stringent technical regula-tions and industry standards in thematerials handling field. Ample filterarea is selected based in the specificmaterials to handle. Filter media andperformance is based on your parti-cular process application.
AZO GmbH + Co.D-74706 OsterburkenPhone +49 (0) 62 91 92 0Fax +49 (0) 62 91 89 28E-mail: [email protected]
2501
007
1 E
AZO. Right to the point.
Rotary feeders
For feeding bulk material intopneumatic vacuum or pressureconveying systems, we offer anextensive range of drop-throughand blow-through rotary valves ofdifferent materials and in severalversions.
Two-way pipe diverters
Serve to distribute and convergeproduct streams within pneu-matic conveying systems.
Mechanical level indicators
As reliable high or low levels forsilos and surge bins.