Vortex Multi-Port Diverter Assists with Pasta Production
In 2017, a pasta company consulted Vortex to consider improvements to their flour transfer
The Process
Various grades of flour are pneumatically conveyed and diverted from a main supply line into eight silos. Each of the eight silos feed separate production lines, with each line producing a different type of pasta.
The client used a manual hose switching station to route materials from the main supply line into each silo individually. The manual hose switching station presented many disadvantages, including:
Labor-intensive –
Because it was a manual switching process, an operator had to physically decouple, reposition and recouple the flexible hose. Further complicating this process, the operator had to climb and shuffle across a narrow catwalk each time the hose was repositioned.
Safety – A ratcheting tool was used to move the hose through a horizontal plane. Because the tool is used as a hand-operated winch, tension between moving parts can cause the mechanisms to fail – which is an operator safety concern.
Profitability – As the flexible hose was moved between destinations, residual flour would spill out and collect on the production floor. This resulted in lost profits from material waste and also created a safety hazard, as flour particles in the plant atmosphere can fuel a dust explosion. Material accumulation on floors can also cause slips and falls. If a flexible hose is attached to an incorrect destination, the cost to empty the wrong silo can be hundreds of thousands of dollars. Those sunk costs will increase, depending on if the material is reprocessed or disposed of as waste.
The Solution
To address these issues, the agent recommended the Vortex Multi-Port Diverter as the ideal solution for this application. Though the Multi-Port Diverter offered many benefits over a manual hose switching station, it posed its own set of challenges:
Engineering accuracy – Because many other pieces of pre-existing equipment needed to be considered in this retrofitting design, the success of a Multi-Port Diverter relied heavily on precise measurements and adhering to tight tolerances. Adding further difficulty, the diverters had to be designed with proper angles and tubing bends to ensure conveying efficiency.
On-site assembly & installation – In this application, the Multi-Port Diverter’s mounting structure had to be designed and assembled around pipe runs, structural areas, walkways and other pre-existing obstacles. Because the system was so large in size, it could not be factory assembled. Vortex engineers had to determine the best way to build in sections, so that the full system could be simply bolted together on-site.
Results
This Vortex Multi-Port Diverter was installed in late 2017. The client remains impressed by its conveying efficiencies and performance. By replacing the manual hose switching process with an automated, PLC-controlled system, the client has saved significant time and labor costs, eliminated safety hazards, improved profitability, and successfully addressed other previous concerns.
