Powder conveyor

Powder conveyor--In response to demand for smaller powder conveyors for compounding,K-Tron Hurricane introduced two compact, filtered vacuum conveyors, the MK-1 self-contained loader and the MK-1 central unit, for rates up to 700 and 1300 lb/hr, respectively. Prior to the MK-1,K-Tron's smallest filtered conveyor was for rates to 1800 lb/hr.

Both units employ the Hurricane DualCyclone design, which is said to separate up to 99% of particles from the incoming air stream in the first cyclone. Remaining fines are removed by the second cyclone and an internal 0.3 micron PTFE pleated cartridge filter with a 12:1 air-to-cloth ratio (other filters are said only to have to a 3 to 5:1 ratio). The airflow self-cleans the filter.

A by-product of the filter design is savings in installation, maintenance and replacement costs, according to K-Tron. Up to 67% less filter area is required than in conventional pneumatic systems, reducing costs and lowering headroom requirements by up to 40%. Units are available in stainless steel or aluminum construction. 

 Weigh belt feeder--The company also introduced the Smart Weigh Belt Feeder, which is said to be the first to offer continuous online auto tare. Automatic and continuous online taring of the belt is said to reduce maintenance, line shutdowns and manual calibration.

K-Tron says the unit is a good option for high-throughput applications (i.e., more than 70,000 lb/hr) where a gravimetric loss-in-weight unit would be more expensive. Weigh belt feeders are used in batch and continuous applications for higher feed rates of pellets and granular materials, where headroom is limited or when feeding friable materials that could be damaged by other feeding methods.

The unit uses K-Tron's Smart Force Transducer (Mar '99 PA, p 14) and SmartConnect control (Sep '99 PA, p 47) technologies. In addition, new control algorithms take advantage of the SFT for 0.5% repeatability and 0.25% deviation from setpoint over a turndown ratio of 20:1. 

Vibratory feeders--K-Tron's loss-in-weight vibratory feeders are claimed to have an accuracy equal to that of screw feeders, or 0.25% at 2 sigma. These feeders also incorporateK-Tron's SmartConnex control and SFT technologies (see above) and combine them with a vibratory drive.

Vibratory feeders are said to be among the most gentle of feeders and can be used for free-flowing pellets and granular materials, as well as abrasive materials (i.e., glass-fiber-reinforced resins and regrind).

K-Tron America
Pitman, NJ