Nothing fishy about this discharger!
26 November 2007
The operatives at fish food manufacturer Skretting of Longridge, Lancashire think that their 'Spiroflow' Bulk Bag Discharger is “wicked
The operatives at fish food manufacturer Skretting of Longridge, Lancashire think that their 'Spiroflow' Bulk Bag Discharger is “wicked” - which, roughly translated, means that they are delighted with the way it performs! It used to take them 25 to 30 minutes to discharge each of the 11 ingredients used in the production of fish feed for industrial fish farming. Now one tonne bulk bags (FIBC’s) are discharged in around 5 minutes.
The materials handling system at Skretting was installed over 8 years ago by a specialist contractor who had included a simple bulk bag unloading arrangement which feed ingredients into a ‘Spiroflow’ Aero-Mechanical Conveyor. The Aero-Mechanical Conveyor lifts product up to a horizontal screw conveyor on the floor above. The screw conveyor has 11 outlets, each of which delivers ingredients to their appropriate storage bunkers. From here, weighed measures of the required ingredients are loaded into a mixer and, finally, the mixture is pelleted and packed ready for despatch.
It was the ‘simple bulk bag unloading arrangement’ that proved to be the bottleneck in the production process and the cause of constant frustration to the operatives. Comprising just a lidded hopper with a spigot to which the neck of the bulk bag was attached, the ‘simple bulk bag unloading arrangement’ required the presence of a fork lift truck for the duration of discharge as there was no other means to support the bag. In addition, an operative had to be on standby to aid the flow of poor flowing or compacted products.
As Production Manager Bill Edmondson comments, “There is just no comparison with the previous system. Our new ‘Spiroflow’ Discharger has enabled us to increase productivity and we can use the fork lift truck for other duties whilst the bulk bags are being emptied – not that that takes long”.
The ‘Spiroflow’ Bulk Bag Discharger supplied to Skretting is specifically designed for applications with restricted headroom. At Skretting there is a mezzanine floor area directly above the location of the bulk bag discharger, which makes it almost impossible to lift full bags into the discharger safely. Spiroflow’s model T5 discharger has two sections. The upper section, which hold the bags, is lifted off at its base and lowered to ground level. Here, by way of a lifting frame, full bags can be loaded by fork lift truck whose forks only have to be raised a little higher than the height of the bag and its extended lifting loops. Once the bag is safely in place, the top section is lifted via the fork channels at its base back on to the business section of the discharger - and locked into place. There is a dust-tight docking seal between the upper and lower sections. An access door in the discharger hopper allows the bag to be untied without emissions or spillage. Once the bag is untied, flow begins and this door is closed. Pneumatically operated bag base massagers have been fitted to the lower half of the discharger at Skretting. They are there to deal with any products that are poor flowing or which have become compacted during transit. It is these base massagers that make it essential that the 2 sections of the discharger are locked together. The model T5 discharger boasts the same spring loaded side tension arms as all other models in the range. These raise the bulk bag as it empties helping to ensure complete discharge on one hand and preventing the neck of the bag sagging into the conveyor below on the other.
Skretting is the U.K.’s and Ireland's largest aquaculture feeds producer and leads the market with innovative feeds and feeding expertise. It is part of the Nutreco group of companies who collectively operate in 22 countries, employ 12,000 people and have a global turnover of Euros 3.8 million. At their Longridge, Preston site, Skretting mainly produce varieties of feed for industrial trout farming but also some for salmon too. Between them, the 30 employees produce an annual out put of 24,000 thousand tones. That’s around 100 tones per working day – no wonder they needed a more efficient bulk bag discharger!
So why choose Spiroflow? Because they were more than satisfied with the performance and back up service offer by Spiroflow for the Aero-Mechanical Conveyor installed in 1997.
Spiroflow are pioneers in the design and manufacture of Flexible Screw Conveyors. They also offer Aero-Mechanical Conveyors and in recent years have become one of the UK’s leading suppliers of Bulk Bag Fillers and Dischargers too. The company operates a comprehensive test and demonstration facility and actively encourages customers to witness trials on their products. Visit their web site at www.spiroflow.com for the full details or call them on +44 (0)1200 422525 to discuss your specific requirements. Skretting can be contacted on +44 (0)1772 782128
Other Press Releases By This Company
- 14/10/2015 - Spiroflow's conveying solutions go on the road to Dubai
- 08/09/2015 - Spiroflow Will Unveil New Flexible Conveying System At Ppma - Ppma, Nec Birmingham, September 29-october 1, Stand G36
- 07/07/2015 - Spiroflow acquires food control solutions
- 12/02/2015 - New Technology Centre brings superior testing to spiroflow
- 03/10/2014 - Spiroflow's Robust Handling Equipment Built to Survive Stormy Seas
- 30/09/2014 - Spiroflow Takes New Angle with Equipment to Tackle Dust
- 30/09/2014 - Spiroflow Unveils New Bin Activator for Difficult Materials
- 30/09/2014 - Spiroflow Targets UK Ingredients Sector with New CTE Bulk Bag Filler
- 30/09/2014 - Safe Handling of Biomass Materials with Spiroflow
- 09/01/2013 - Spiroflow conveyors – fit as a Butcher’s dog!
- 03/07/2012 - Preview of Spiroflow Ltd’s participation in the PPMA 2012 Exhibition at the NEC, Birmingham, UK, September 25-27, 2012.
- 13/06/2012 - ‘Spiroflow’ Aero-Mechanical Conveyors – sweet success in Africa!
- 23/02/2012 - ‘Spiroflow’ Bulk Bag Filler – helping to make money from waste.
- 02/11/2011 - NEW Tilting Mobile Flexible Screw Conveyor from Spiroflow
- 12/07/2011 - Spiroflow Powder Handling & Processing Systems – Stand G16
- 29/03/2011 - New ‘Rise and Fall’ Bulk Bag Filler from Spiroflow
- 14/02/2011 - Sometimes life has to be a Drag!
- 18/12/2010 - Spiroflow joins the club at Liverpool biscuit factory
- 22/07/2010 - Bag to the future!
- 22/07/2010 - Spiroflow Ltd in joint venture with Horizon Systems Inc.
- 16/06/2010 - Spiroflow acquires Dynamet Inc.
- 16/03/2010 - United Utilities treats water to PAC Dosing System
- 17/02/2010 - Aero Mechanical Conveyor does sterling job for US coffee blender
- 02/02/2010 - Spiroflow dip dabs Tangerine Confectionery
- 27/01/2010 - Spiroflow helps recycle sulphur on Alaskas' north slope oil refinery
- 21/01/2010 - Aero-Mechanical Conveyors keep Tin Oxide moving
- 22/07/2009 - Aero-Mechanical Conveyor is no Red Herring in Orkney
- 14/05/2009 - Spiroflow Aero-Mechanical Conveyor spicing it up for Pataks
- 05/12/2008 - Highest accuracy ‘Spirofil’ Big Bag Filler to Date
- 11/11/2008 - ‘Spiroflow’ Bulk Handling Equipment at Dekura
- 18/08/2008 - Spiroflow and the 'Dream Machine.'
- 09/07/2008 - Spiroflow Supply Tetley Tea with Big Bag Discharging Solution
- 30/11/2007 - ‘Spiroflow’ Bulk Bag Filling Machine at PET Processors (UK) L.L.C
- 30/11/2007 - ‘Spiroflow’ Big Bag Discharger – a gem of a job!
- 26/11/2007 - Spiroflow system transforms output
- 23/11/2007 - A ‘Spiroflow’ Bulk Bag Discharger and Flexible Screw Conveyor
- 23/11/2007 - Spiroflow on the road to success
- 22/11/2007 - Spiroflow conveyor gives more grist to the mill!
- 22/11/2007 - Weigh, weigh the best - time and time again!
- 22/11/2007 - ‘Spiroflow’ conveyors – to cap it all!
- 22/11/2007 - Spiroflow’ Flexible Screw Conveyors – BALly good job!
