Flexicon helps maintain a clean and safe working environment

A bulk bag discharger with integral pneumatic conveying system has been developed by Flexicon to enable bulk material such as powders, flakes and granules to be stockpiled in storage silos placed alongside production process lines and where direct access for large-volume bulk delivery by rail or bulk truck is impractical.

The totally sealed system from the Herne Bay, Kent-based firm prevents potential release of material into the working environment and helps to maintain cleaner and safer operation.

A cantilever I-beam with electric hoist and trolley automatically lifts and positions each bulk bag directly over a collection hopper.

A Spout-Lock clamp ring provides the high-integrity seal between the clean side of the bag spout and the clean side of the equipment to eliminate escape of materials and any associated dust particles.

The transfer station also features a Flexicon Tele Tube telescoping tube that maintains constant downward pressure on the clamp ring and bag spout, elongating the bag as it empties.

Flow-Flexer bag activators further aid material flow by raising and lowering opposite the bottom sides of the bag in timed intervals to ensure the complete discharge of the materials into a surge hopper.

This surge hopper is equipped with a high capacity rotary airlock valve to feed material into the pneumatic conveying line leading from a positive displacement blower at high rates. The advantage of Flexicon’s pneumatic conveying system is that it creates a positive pressure in the line to facilitate easier transfer to the bulk storage silos, the firm says.

A further refinement is the additional Bag-Vac dust collector, which creates a negative pressure to collapse empty bags prior to retying and disconnection, eliminating potential for dust to be emitted during manual flattening of empty bags.

The company also manufactures bulk bag dischargers as stand-alone units or systems integrated with mechanical or pneumatic conveying systems, weigh batching controls, bulk bag conditioners providing highly efficient bulk handling systems.