Processed powders: milk powder and sugar
Preparation of milky drink
Agribusiness group in the Island of Reunion, this company is a leader in most markets in which it operates: fresh dairy products, UHT milk, soft drinks, ice creams and traditional cheeses.
Optimize the automatic unloading of milk powders contained in bags and sugar contained in bulk bags (Big bag discharging - Stripping box - Easyflow EF0).
Due to 2 different unloading systems, Palamatic Process intervened on two separate installations: one to handle sugar (Bulk bag unloader) and one to handle milk powder (Automatic bag opener Minislit).
Sugar working station:
The client wished a re-design of the existing bulk bag unloader for the deconditioning of sugar delivered in bulk bags.
To facilitate the flow of the bulk materials, massage cylinders have been positioned on either side of the bulk bag to exert pressure which helps the sugar to flow down.
Load cells have also been installed on the structure for a better control of the unloading process and the buffer hopper has a connection to the dust collector integrated in the automatic bag opener Minislit®.
The powder is then conveyed through a trough screw fitted with a cover with hinges to a vibrating screener separator which aims to eliminate all foreign bodies potentially present.
Once the material is free from any foreign bodies, it goes through a drop through rotary airlock valve in a gravity manner and is then conveyed to the vacuum conveying system.
Milk powder working station:
Milk powder is packed in bags that are stored on a pallet to a total weight of one ton.
The ambition of the customer was to increase the ergonomics of the work station while increasing the emptying rates of the bags so as to reach 6 bags per minute.
Palamatic Process has designed a hydraulic lifting table that fits the pallets of milk powder bags in order to respect the site's constraints. The operator, thanks to a vacuum bag lifter, lifts them and deposits them on the polyurethane belt conveyor of the automatic bag opener Minislit®.
Its presence is detected by the probe that drives the cutting system. The blade cuts the bag and the lower part of the bag is gripped by the reversing discs. Thanks to this reversing system, the bag is completely turned over for a complete emptying of its contents and allows it to be evacuated to the bag compactor. When the sensor is disabled, the blade goes back to its initial position.
The milk powder falls into a vibrating screener separator GSC 900 with a 4 mm mesh that is connected to the automatic bag opener Minislit® by a flexible sleeve connector. Then, the powder falls into a drop through rotary airlock valve to be transferred to the pneumatic conveying station.