Wood
Chip System for Forest Products Company
|
A
forest products company contacted S. Howes to design
a system which would take residual waste wood product
from a sawmill and convert it into a value-added product
to be sold as animal bedding. S. Howes engineered
a system that conveyed the product from the sawmill
to a knife cutter where the size of the product was
reduced. The woodchips were then passed into a Snappy
Shaker where they were separated and resulted in a
more uniformly-sized product. A S. Howes' conveyor
moved the woodchips to a baler where the product was
packaged for sale. The major challenges of designing
the system included the different properties, sizes
and moisture levels of the incoming residual wood
as well as the material's flowability. Tests were
preformed at S. Howes' testing facility to determine
the specifications of the system.
The system currently processes up to 4,000 pounds
of woodchips per hour and creates value out of what
otherwise would have been considered waste.
Components:
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S. Howes Adjustable speed, Horizontal U-Trough
Screw Conveyor, Model 12U28
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Eureka Knife Cutter Model KC11
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Model #7 Double Deck Snappy Shaker
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S. Howes Inclined Tubular Screw Conveyor, Model
8C15
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Flour
Pre-Mixing & Bagging System |
S. Howes, Inc. was approached by a food processor
that needed a new system to batch mix various ingredients
into a flour base and package the product for final
delivery. The customer requested that S. Howes assist
in the design of the entire system and provide all
key components of the process.
Although S. Howes, Inc. has nearly 150 years of experience
designing and manufacturing many types of processing
equipment, the design of this system was particularly
challenging due to space constraints and low ceilings
in the facility.
The project was conducted in two phases. The first
phase consisted of the construction of core components
of the system such as the mixer, surge bins and bagger.
The second phase required S. Howes to specify and
provide conveying equipment as well as support frames
and mezzanines.
S. Howes installed the system on-site. S. Howes' team
of engineers designed a custom system that allowed
the desired capacity of processing within the physical
constraints of the building. The customer is now able
to produce 15,000 lbs. of flour mix per hour.
Components:
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Bag Dump Station
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Pneumatic Conveyor - A
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Surge Hopper w/ High level Indicator
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ES-4810 Double Ribbon Blender
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Centrifugal Sifter
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Pneumatic Conveyor - B
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Surge Hopper w/ Level Indicators
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Bagging Scale
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Bag Closer
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Belt Conveyors
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PLC Control Panel for Complete System Operation
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Mezzanine & Two Support Frames
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S. Howes, Inc. was approached by a food processor
to design a system to automate the mixing and bagging
of pancake mix which had been previously labor intensive.
Operations were constrained by 11-foot high ceilings.
S. Howes, Inc. designed and constructed an enclosed,
sanitary system which included a bag-dump station
directly connected to a sanitary double ribbon mixer
where ingredients were mixed and transferred to a
split-tube conveyor and surge hopper before the product
passed through a custom-designed conveyor into a bagging
station.
The closed system was fully automated, reduced labor
costs, improved product consistency and was built
to accommodate all height constraints as well as sanitary
specifications. This system was able to mix and bag
3,600 lbs. of pancake mix per hour.
Components:
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Bag Dump Station mounted on the blender
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S-366 Double Ribbon Blender
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6' Split tube Screw Conveyor
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Surge Hopper
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4' Tubular Screw conveyor with cleanout/access
doors
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Self Unloading Bin and Conveyor System
|
An adhesive mixing company contacted S. Howes to build
a self unloading bin and conveyor system to transport
sluggish corn starch. The system also included a mezzanine
where bags of product on pallets could be loaded into
the system. An operator would load the corn starch
into the hopper and then the 12 foot conveyor transported
the material to the next phase of the process. The
system saved the company time and money by transporting
the product more efficiently.
Components:
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Self Unloading Bin with 30 Cu. Ft. Hopper
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Bag Dump station Model 19
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Conveyor Model 6C12
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Mezzanine
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Cooling
Conveyor System for Battery Manufacturer |
S. Howes was approached by a battery manufacturer
that needed to replace a flexible screw conveyor system
which was not performing to the company's standards.
The product being conveyed was a chemical powder which
needed to be cooled from 650 degrees to 100 degrees
before it could be bagged. The system designed by
S. Howes was comprised of two screw conveyors with
cooling jackets, framework to support the system and
a surge bin which discharged into an existing weighing
system. A unique feature of the system was the low
(less than 8) rpms that the system required in order
to properly convey and cool the powdery product. The
product was tested in S. Howes' testing facility to
determine the proper specifications for the system.
The system currently used 24 hours a day, 13 days
per two weeks.
Components:
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Two 6C16 tubular, jacketed screw conveyors
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Vertical Surge Bin
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Framework
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Control Panel
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