Without the control package, each instrument would have been wired separately. So there is a huge amount of instrumentation that goes along with that, which requires a lot of wiring. “Then there is all the equipment that actually moves the valve’s position. “There are all kinds of position sensors on the valves to help us check where they are,” Sergi said. Without the unique computer control package, automating the pneumatic conveying lines would have been a large undertaking. We went to Vortex and said, ‘You know, we would really like to have this in our system.’ So they worked with the control package manufacturer to incorporate it into each of our valve assemblies.” “We happened to see the control package at a trade show. “We knew there was a heavy input and output load in the system,” Sergi said.
POWDERED ANTIMONY MANUAL
In addition to downtime, errors in the manual switching process caused cross-contamination or sent powder to the wrong processing line. “Someone would have to go in there, vacuum off the equipment and sweep up.” “It was not necessarily dangerous it would just require cleanup,” Sergi said. While making the connections took time, cleaning up from hose leaks took even longer. “Either the flexible hosing itself would leak or the couplings would blow apart.” “It was also a source of leakage,” Sergi explained. As operators continually disconnected and reconnected lines, the process began to show its flaws and inefficiencies. The primary disadvantage is manual line switching processes are time-consuming and prone to error. “So basically, it was just a manual process.” “Someone would take a flexible hose and make the connection between the line and the intended hopper,” Sergi said. In the past, antimony oxide was routed from a baghouse to the appropriate hopper by manually changing the pneumatic conveying line’s configuration. But the main reason is that whichever hopper or storage area is open, that is what we will fill up.” The Problem Sergi explained, “ depends on whether we are making the antimony oxide for a fire retardant or a catalyst or it may just be a different company wants further treatment done to their powder. Depending on a customer’s further processing needs, antimony oxide is directed to the designated hopper. Some hoppers are also connected to additional processing equipment. The other three destinations are set aside for off-spec material.īy using hoppers with subcompartments, antimony oxide with different characteristics can be blended according to customers’ needs. The powder can travel to any of four hoppers, each of which has four subcompartments. “It is essentially pneumatic conveying, but we are using 30 in | 760 mm ducts.”įrom each baghouse, the powder is routed via pneumatic conveying lines to one of 19 possible destinations. “We actually have a big draft fan that pulls from the furnace through basically just ductwork,” Sergi said. The powder is dispersed in an airstream to one of five baghouses. The antimony oxide’s physical properties can be altered by controlling furnace conditions as the powder reacts.Īfter the reacted antimony oxide leaves each furnace, it is immediately cooled to powder form. Basically, an oxidation reaction happens in both furnaces to form the final product.” “In the case of crude antimony oxide powder, it is a refining step. “In the ingot furnace, a metal-oxygen reaction takes place,” said Michael Sergi, project engineer at Laurel Industries. No other raw materials are added to either furnace to produce antimony oxide. A pneumatic conveying line transports the crude antimony oxide from an unloading station to a feed tank, where it is gravity fed into a separate furnace. The crude antimony oxide arrives in 2,000 lb | 905 kg bulk bags.Ī belt conveyor carries the antimony ingots to a furnace. The ingots arrive in boxes or on pallets. Ingots of pure antimony metal and powdered crude antimony oxide are shipped to the plant for antimony oxide production. The fine powder is primarily used as a fire retardant in plastics and as a catalyst in the polyester industry. Laurel Industries, a division of Occidental Chemical Corporation, produces antimony oxide at their plant in La Porte, Texas, USA. Overviewīy working with a valve manufacturer, a Texas chemical company automated their pneumatic conveying system so the operator can direct powder to several destinations - simply by sitting at a computer. As published in Powder and Bulk Engineering Magazine, 1998.Īt a single keystroke, computer-controlled diverter valves route powder through a pneumatic conveying system to multiple destinations.
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