Technical Papers
Download the following Technical Papers:
| Total Cost of Feeding Reveals Surprising Economies While it may be easy to obtain information on the acquisition cost of a new feeder line, it is more difficult to evaluate less obvious costs and potential savings of ongoing operation. Too often the savings an efficient feeding system can produce over time are not considered at the time of purchase and only the "up front" capital cost is reviewed. Like any process equipment, a feeding system costs something to acquire, performs a function, and costs something to support and sustain its ability to function as desired. Together, these three factors constitute the Total Cost of Feeding. Download PDF |
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SFT Vibrating Wire Weighing Technology in Process Feeding Applications |
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Feeding Accuracy: The Measurement, Monitoring and Maintenance of Weigh-Feeders Weigh-feeders have been around for more than half a century, but it hasn't been until the last twenty years or so that feeders could truly be called reliable. Early mechanical, pneumatic, and analog electronic devices were, by their nature, temperamental and required close attention to maintain even crude control of material flow. Now, though, with the sophistication of microprocessor control, digital weight measurement, and advanced mechanical design, reliably high accuracy is both the expectation and the reality. However, the capability of today's weigh-feeders to consistently meet tough process requirements does not excuse the user from his continuing duty of measuring, monitoring and maintaining feeder accuracy. With hundreds of thousands of tons of material passing through an average feeder during its operating life, no one can quarrel about the economics of feeder accuracy. Less rejected product, more consistent formulations, the minimization of overfeeding, and less unscheduled downtime—all result from a practiced understanding of feeder performance. |
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Smart Refill Technology in Higher Rate Loss-in-Weight Feeding Loss-in-weight feeders have evolved from mechanically ponderous devices to the sophisticated microprocessor controlled instruments of today. Weighing and control advancements over the years have made loss-in-weight (gravimetric) feeding the preferred method wherever the combination of high gravimetric accuracy, ingredient containment, and material handling capability are needed. |
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Blend Uniformity Index Simply operating within established ingredient tolerances may not be good enough anymore. A new, practical and application-specific measure of blend uniformity underscores the importance of feeding accuracy and suggests an effective strategy to achieve improved formulation consistency. Common to all processors is the concept of a recipe. Wherever two or more materials are combined, a recipe exists. Whether it’s called a recipe, a formulation, blend, or compound, the notion is the same: to |
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Bin Design: a Summary Report Bins may perform a simple function, but their design is crucial to keeping process material on the move. Anyone who has had to resort to sledgehammer blows to persuade materials to flow from a bin knows of the complexities and difficulties of bin design. Before the physics of material storage and flow was even marginally understood, such a heavy-handed approach mainly served to characterize the frustration in solving the apparently simple problem of making material move from a container with a hole in the bottom. Simple problems don’t always have simple solutions, though. Getting material to obey the law of gravity can be a perplexing case in point. |