Getting the most from extraction Systems

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has reported more than 500 explosions in US grain handling facilities in the last 35 years, causing 180 deaths and 675 injuries. Accumulate combustible dust was the issue in many of these cases, so robust extraction and sieving design may be essential to reduce airborne particles, for cleaner and safer environments and to reduce the risk of combustion. Here, Stephen Harding, managing director of Gough Engineering, Explains how to apply extraction process for optimal product quality, safety and efficiency.

Industrial Sieving involves the use of vibrating sieves to separate particles of different sizes through agitation. The process is relied-upon to separate and remove impurities in various industries such as chemical plants, food production and plastic manufacturing. However, while impurity removal and product quality improvements are essential, these processes can generate dust and airborne particles that may pose health and safety risks. Dust plumes can be carcinogenic and potentially explosive, which is why regulations like the ATEX zone definitions ratings are in place to prevent fire hazards.

Extraction systems, too, play a crucial role in mitigating these risks by effectively capturing and removing dust and airborne particles, safeguarding worker health, and reducing cleaning.

Incorporating extraction offers numerous benefits, including dust reduction, improved cleanliness, increased productivity and enhanced safety. Vibratory sieves are easily adapted with integrated extraction with the Gough Engineering designs capture and remove unwanted particles.

Alternatively, an extractor hood in a food processing plant can capture airborne containments and direct them through a fan and ductwork system for removal and purification. But hoods alone may lack the necessary extraction for effective dust removal and may, over time, result in higher cleaning costs.

The review of an extraction process involves several key steps such as particle size analysis understanding 

material behaviour, and optimising separation processes. Let's examine them, here.

Maintenance and throughput
Factors like product material granulometry, uniformity, mesh aperture size and extraction strength volume all impact the efficiency of extraction for using industrial sieves and separator design. it is also essential to property to maintain the sieve, so the customer can achieve its desired product sieving/separation and required throughput - for instance, a chemical manufacturer may wish to yield one ton of product per batch but is only getting 250 kilograms (kg) per hour due to fine particles pegging the mesh which could be extracted.

Companies must also consider potential spark sources and ensure safe operations using their own internal health and safety procedures and guidelines - including their definition of ATEX zones. Customers may rely upon Gough's extensive experience over the years in supplying capital equipment solutions, to appreciate a fit for purpose extraction systems.

Specific industries benefit significantly from extraction processes using Gough Engineering's solutions. For instance, PQ Corp in the chemicals industry uses a batch sieve with an integrated extraction system for quality screening of silica powder. Food manufacturers Cooke Trading and Charlie Bigham's rely on vibratory sieves with integrated extraction to achieve consistent particle sizes in their baking ingredients and minimising dust in the kitchen environment.

Gough Engineering continually enhances its own industrial vibratory sieves and other products by testing materials with various screen apertures to ensure effective particle separation. This involves applying expertise in particle distribution analysis and selecting suitable mesh sizes for optimal performance. Gough Engineering also offers on-site testing facilities and prioritise maintaining customer relationships built on delivering the right solution by use of trials hire and test equipment.

For instance, our lab conducted a screening process using a Gough Vibrecon® GVC3/1 machine with a single deck and perforated plate (6mm holes) on a mixture of ash and zinc from a galvanising firm in Cardiff. The company's aim was to remove the finer zinc particles from the ash to enhance furnace efficiency. The screening process, with a feed material quantity of 21.6 kg, took one minute and 16 seconds. The results revealed a two fraction split: 6.4 kg of oversize particles (28 percent of total weight) and 15.2 kg of undersize (fine) particles (72 percent of total weight)

Put simply, the screening process exhibited effective separation with minimal pegging or blocking in the deck holes, indicating successful particle movement. The client was highly satisfied with these findings, which led to an order for a new machine. This example showcases the Gough Vibrecon^® machine's effectiveness in separating quantities based on particle size, offering improved process efficiency and overall productivity in various industrial applications.

Extraction and vibratory sieves are indispensable in industrial processes, ensuring production quality, safety, and efficiency. Gough Engineering's expertise in designing tailored extraction systems addresses diverse industry needs, improving efficiency, product quality and safety. By deploying leveraging extraction and vibratory sieves, companies can optimise their processes, achieve consistent product quality, ensuring a clean and safer working environment.

To learn more, visit HERE.

 

The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.

1/11/13: Agricultural engineering to benefit from new research and development funding

UK agricultural engineering got a surprise boost from the UK government today when David Willetts MP and minister for Universities & Science, Department for Business Innovation and Skills told delegates at this year's Bledisloe Memorial Lecture, an annual event held by the newly formed Royal Agricultural University.

He said that while the UK was the home of the industrial revolution and had seen much modernising in a multitude of sectors, agriculture had not fared well and singled out agricultural engineering in particular that had suffered due to funding decision around research and development from the 1970s.

"What was once the world's most advanced agricultural sector has fallen far behind in terms of technology." and relies on imported lose-paid labour to survive.

Mr Willetts said, "We shouldn't be dependent on low-paid labour in agriculture" and that he wanted to see a significant investment made in agricultural engineering. He quoted successful examples of where engineering was making a difference such as satellites coupled with smart software that plan tractor routings in fields to minimise the impact on soils; where wind control systems are helping to reduce and accurately apply fertilisers and using 'big data' was helping to develop more efficient farming techniques. He specifically quoted the Rosland Institute and reported its achievement of doubling poultry meat production from the same amount of feed over the past 25 years.

He said his government was keen to encourage agriculture and that it had to rise to the challenge.

For example, in crop science there was a commitment to increasing wheat yields from 11 tonnes per ha to 20 tonnes per ha by 2020. He said 'challenges' were being met with the use of smart computer apps and quoted a African and Latin American developments where coffee growers could monitor weather conditions to ensure the timing of pesticide applications were optimal and to harvest at the optimum time to maximise prices received from supermarkets.

When addressing GM technology he told the audience that the UK government was frustrated that the Commission is still not bringing forward regulations to govern the introduction and use of GM plants and said there existed a real danger that Europe would fall behind the rest of the world in this important area of technological development. Governments should not be not opposed to good science and agriculture and good science and good food production coming together, he added. "I wouldn't have to explain to a scientific audience the advantages of genetic manipulation."

In question time the Minister was congratulated on expressing support for agricultural engineering and in response suggested that the new 'network of institutions' could include a centre of excellence for agricultural engineering and encouraged supporters to approach the government for funding under one of its new schemes.

Giving the first Bledisloe Memorial Lecture under university status, Mr Willetts was thanked by the RAU's Principal Chris Gaskill for his great support for the change from college to university status, Mr Willetts noted that excellent small institutions, which because they had under 400 students couldn't become universities, would now be recognised for the work they do both domestically and abroad.

Learning from history, David Willetts recounted what he considered as the three major errors that led to a decoupling of pure research from applied research and development, which in turn has negatively impacted the aquaculture sector: the Rothchild Review of 1971, which resulted in pure research being kept but applied research being allowed to be eroded away; successive cuts and reductions in public sector research institutes and the closure of schools of agriculture and the loss of networks of institutions. 

While these developments could not be reversed it was clear that they could be addressed with funding packages that should benefit agriculture from joining together ring-fenced Research Council scientific funding and funding for business and private partners so that one single budget can take a single idea from the lab right through to commercial application. "That's how wer're trying to re-build the links between pure research and applied research."

Secondly, we need a revised network of institutions and third we need patient, long-term funding for agriculture research. 

He identified several 'new arrangements' for funding from the allocation of UK£170 million of new funds to catalyst funding where business would not expected to pick up the whole amount of their research and development, but possibly just one-third through to 'Innovation vouchers' that might give a small SME £5000-£10,000 of assistance "to step through the door way" and buy the research it needed to meet a particular need from an expert in research.

The Viscount Bledisloe Memorial Lecture, an annual event held by the newly formed Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester in Gloucestershire, UK, (established as a college in 1845) was given this year by the UK's Right Honourable David Willetts MP, Minister for Universities & Science, Department for Business Innovation and Skills. Professor Chris Gaskell, Principal of the RAU, listens to a thought-provoking lecture on how agriculture should be supported in future.

 

Westeel

Westeel is one of the foremost manufacturers of steel storage products, offering a wide range of on-farm and commercial storage solutions for today’s agricultural industry, as well as custom storage solutions to meet the needs of the petroleum and industrial sectors. Click on image to visit company website.

11/09/2013: Industry grain use set to rebound; livestock farmers oppose registration laws; FDA analysis of arsenic in rice

According to the International Grains Council, the amount of grains used to make industrial products, mainly ethanol and starch, will register the largest annual increase in four years during 2013-14. 

This expected rise is a result of record global maize production and a decline in grain prices The IGC forecasts world industrial use of grains in 2013-14 at 320.2 million tonnes, up 6 percent or 17.2 million tonnes from last year's estimated 303 million tonnes.

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A livestock association in Oyo State, Nigeria has called for the review of animal farm, hatchery and feed mill registration laws to protect the livestock sub-sector of agriculture.

The association, which comprises of the Poultry Association of Nigeria, Catfish Farmers Association of Nigeria, Pig Farmers Association of Nigeria and Animal Scientists Association of Nigeria made the call for the review.

A statement jointly signed by the above associations and many others, expressed concerns that current registration laws did not take the plight of farmers into consideration.

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As part of ongoing efforts to monitor food safety, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has posted the results of its arsenic tests in approximately 1,300 samples of rice and rice products. 

While levels varied significantly depending on the product tested, scientists determined that the amount of detectable arsenic was too low in the rice and rice product samples to cause any immediate or short-term adverse health effects.

These results are part of the FDA's ongoing efforts to manage the possible arsenic-related risks associated with rice products in the US marketplace.

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Rice up close (Photo credit: Rowan Peter)