News items January 2006

Semi-mobile Compact System for Secondary Fuels in the Cement Production The challenge for the developers at Schenck was to save material and costs in an effective manner when optimising the compact system. The result is a total solution which still does the entire job on a floor space of 9 x 6 m only. With New Features Virtually Wear-free Since the admission of alternative cost-saving fuels, such as household refuse and waste, which nowadays already replace up to 50 % of the primary energy, the demands on the feeding and conveying systems have become more and more exacting. Because fuel is not always optimally processed, material conglomerates with pieces of more than 100 mm might occur. Those can possibly clog the pneumatic conveyor line. As a remedy a so-called star screen is used, which removes such material accumulations from the process. Metallic parts contained in the fuels may increase wear of the plant, especially affecting the blow through rotary starfeeder. By integrating a metal separator upstream of the endangered

Think big! This saying currently takes on a new meaning. The linear-motion Vibro Screen Feeder type SLG4099XFC by Schenck is gigantic and goes beyond the scope of anything you ever saw so far. It is the largest Schenck screen ever built. Made, assembled, and tested by Schenck Australia. Supplied to Canada. A screen of that size, what is it made for? In brief: for the most severe requirements, for the most extreme envi- ronmental conditions, for the most difficult to handle, non-homogenous bulk solids with the most diverse flow properties. The screen was designed to handle up to 10,000 t/h bulk solids containing thick frozen lumps of up to 1 m in diameter. The oil/sand material contains max. 15% bitumen with strongly varying flow behaviour, depending on the contents of bitumen, geologic properties, and seasonal influences. The feed comprises easily flowing or frozen lumpy material up to a cohesive mat. Material which, from experience, is difficult to break

The smallest Solid Flow Meter available The new Baby- FlowSlide was delveloped on demand of several customers. The system is only 400 mm heigh and can be use for flow ranges from 50 to 2000 kg/h. The Baby- FlowSlide fills the gap in the existing FlowSlide range from 1 to 100 m³/h. It is ideal suitable for measuring free flowing solids. Inside the system the product is running over a curved slide. This is causing a centripetal force which is direct proportional to the mass flow. The electronic displays the actual flow rate and the absolute amount of material. ( counter ) Typical applications: Measuring and controlling of mass flow, constant feeding of extruder, mixer and dryer, batching and truck loading.

At Interphex 2006 (21-23 March 2006; New York; Booth #1040) Malvern Instruments will show the Insitec Pharma Voyager on-line/automated at-line particle size analyzer. Launched at last year’s Interphex event, this neatly packaged mobile system is proving to be an attractive option in pharmaceutical manufacturing, especially for pilot plant operation and PAT research, where mobility, cleanability and ease of operation are important. It is also a valuable tool for sites needing to monitor multiple unit operations such as mills, spray driers, atomizers and classifiers. Built for the plant environment, it can be moved easily to production at any point. Pharma Voyager has been designed specifically to meet the needs of the pharmaceutical industry. It is based on Malvern’s highly robust Insitec T laser diffraction-based particle size analyzer - a system that is proven in countless pharmaceutical applications, and whose GMP design features include the use of tri-clamping

Outsourcing complete EDI now also possible for cereals, biomass, and energy BRUSSELS (13 January, 2006) --- F4F Europe announced today that it started delivering its EDI outsourced services to the European marketplace. F4F has developed the EZFlux standard -an XML based set of document schemas- to support the community of bulk, cereals, co-products and biomass industry. "Our international team already supports close to 200 customers in the UK, and we are market leader in Australia" says Wim Loncke, CEO for F4F Europe NV. "The increased demand from mainland Europe pushed us to the next step: We developed a new global EDI standard to service the particular needs of bulk trade, and bundled it with our best in class EDI solution." Amongst a long list of customers, F4F Europe has recently signed up Cargill, Tate & Lyle, ABCTA, Agrifirm, Peterson Logistics, and Glon-Sanders. "It`s clear that our service will become a de facto standard in this industry" Mr. Loncke continues. "We are the only company to electronically support contract information,

Keller Lufttechnik Benelux C.V. is already 20 years the exclusive representative of Keller Lufttechnik Gmbh & Co KG for industrial aspiration and dedusting systems (www.kl-direkt.com). Keller Benelux acquired on July 1, 2005 the exclusive representation of the products of Maschinenfabrik Gustav Eirich Gmbh & Co KG.. As from January 2006 Keller Benelux is also the only contact for all spare-parts and service of Eirich equipment. Eirich from Hardheim (G) is already more than 100 years inventor and supplier of powder mixing systems which are used all over the world. The Eirich intensive mixer is a mixer to perform following process steps: mixing, agglomerating, kneading, granulating. This mixer can also be equipped with vacuum for drying or cooling of wet mixtures.

Certificate of the MPA IBMB TU Braunschweig for the Measuring Instrument Haver BSA (Video-Analysis) "The "Materialprüfungsanstalt für das Bauwesen, Institut für Baustoffe, Massivbau und Brandschutz (MPA IBMB TU Braunschweig)", certify with the Certificate No. Z-6041/6875, that the measuring instrument HAVER BSA, Ident-No. 25, of the manufacturer Haver & Boecker, Wire Weaving Division, 59302 Oelde, Germany, meets the requirements of ISO 3310-1: 2000, (chap. 5.2, test method 3) and ASTM E 11-01 (test methods according to annex A 1.4 and A 1.5) for test sieves with frame diameters up to 300 mm." Braunschweig, 2005-09-15 The international leading analysis standards ISO 3310-1 and ASTM E 11-01 rule the quality features of screens and make high demands on the measuring device employed. The HAVER video-analysis-system fulfills the demands proved by the certificate of the MPA IBMB TU Braunschweig, bestowed for the first time in this branch.

Interphex 2006; March 21-23, 2006; New York; Booth # P2355 At Interphex 2006 (March 21-23, 2006; New York), Freeman Technology will introduce a Permeability Module for the company’s FT4 Powder Rheometer. The permeability of a powder is a measure of the ease with which air can pass through it under specified conditions. It has considerable significance in relation to powder processing, especially the influence that it exerts on a powder’s ability to entrain and release air. These characteristics can greatly affect flow behaviour and process efficiency. The FT4 Powder Rheometer is a fully automated universal powder tester for the comprehensive characterization of powder flowability. The new Permeability Module uses a pressure transducer to measure pressure drop across the height of a powder bed in the system’s test vessel whilst the air velocity through the powder is controlled. Importantly, conditioning of the sample before evaluation ensures a homogeneous, stress-free and reproducible packing condition. Permeability

Filling and discharging of the FIBCs is realised through isolators When planning the facility, HECHT were supposed to develop an innovative flexible containment system which met the demands of the production of intermediates and APIs providing a DEL (Design Exposure Limit) of small 250 Nanograms/m3 TWA. The containment system needed to be flexible in size, easy to be discharged (even for the most difficult flow behavior of the products to be manufactured). It was supposed to be a disposable containment system in order to eliminate time-consuming and costly cleaning validation of the packaging units. FIBCs (Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container) are applicable in a containment system for High Potent Substances. Filling and discharging of the FIBCs is realised through isolators.

Hosokawa mixing sensor As specialist in powder processing technology Hosokawa Micron B.V. has developed a new powder mixing sensor. With this sensor the mixing of powders can be followed on-line. Operators are now able to see when the mixing process is complete and so the optimum mixing time for every batch can be obtained. In many cases this will result in a reduction of the mixing time. The other main advantage is the ability to let the sensor contribute to the quality control of your product. The sensor measures the reflection of light and from this signal a mixing index is calculated. For the same end product the end-level of the mixing index is the same. The sensor is not developed for quality assurance, but to give the operator insight into the quality control of the product. This quality information is available right at the end of the mixing process. The sensor can be applied in all powder mixing industries including food and pharma. The sensor can also be delivered as an ATEX-version.

Inspection & Maintenance of dust control equipment. Many companies have difficulties is controlling and maintaining dustcontrolequipment. Inspection and maintenance keep your installation going. FIKTECH offers these services, executed by experienced people. During inspection all components are checked. Small repairs will be made immediately. After the inspection you will receive a detailed report wiith the findings and advice. During or after the inspection you can order extra repair or spareparts.

ASD the Vis/NIR standard for field spectroscopy The superior Vis/NIR technique of Analytical Spectral Devices, the rugged construction and low weight are key for the unique field instrument the FieldSpecPro3. Wireless and Ethernet communication, the LabVIEW interface and new functionality of the ASD R3 software extended the applicability . The FibreCheckerTM en “System diagnostics” functions improved the user friendliness. ASD is offering a wide set of accessories to shorten the implementation time. The spectrophotometers of ASD are applied in many industries: pharmacy, chemistry, food, paper, agriculture and remote sensing. At-line and on-line availability of quality attributes or product classification are made feasible by the ASD Vis/NIR technology.

Safe separation of iron particle contaminants in potentially explosive environments S+S Separation and Sorting Technology GmbH of Schönberg, Bavaria is the first company in the world to produce a magnet system which is certified to ATEX Zone 20 standards. The ROTOBOX AUTO-CLEAN inline magnet system is installed mainly in pipeline systems to remove fine and very fine iron particle contaminants efficiently and automatically from bulk materials inclined to bridging and caking. The explosion-proof ROTOBOX AUTO-CLEAN manufactured by S+S uses the strongest magnets available (>13 500 gauss). Magnetic contaminants are removed safely and efficiently from the product by rotating bar magnets which hold them firmly in place. As soon as the pre-programmed work interval has elapsed all magnet cores move automatically into the cleaning position. Only when they are safely within the cleaning chamber do the contaminants lose contact with the magnets and fall out of the magnet separator via the reject outlet. Finally, the magnetic cores are returned to the