Kaolin Producer Ramps up, Streamlines Production with Bulk Bag Filling SystemsKaolin Producer Ramps up, Streamlines Production with Bulk Bag Filling Systems
October 23, 2014

A producer of kaolin was looking for a competitive edge in their extremely competitive market. Kaolin, commonly known as china clay, is one of the most abundant minerals on earth. It is characterized by its fine particle size, plate like particle shape, and chemical inertness. Kaolin is mined from ground deposits and enhanced for a wide variety of applications. It is used in the ceramics, paper, paint, plastics, rubber, sealant, adhesive, and chemical industries. The company’s final kaolin products are filled in bulk bags and shipped in shipping containers to customers all over the world.
The company had an in-house designed dual bulk bag filling system that required two operators and produced 7.2 filled bulk bags per hour. The process was slow to the point that operators would walk away and come back minutes later. The filling rate limited the company’s production and operator productivity.
Kaolin is a highly aerated material that is notoriously difficult to handle and the company didn’t have an acceptable way to de-aerate the product. They tried through pallet densification and tamping the bags (lifting and dropping the filled bags). They even tried filling the bags, moving them to a warehousing area, letting them densify on their own over time, and then bringing the bags back to the filling system to top them off with additional material. None of these methods were successful.
Additionally, some filled bulk bags fell over and split open - clearly causing a safety hazard. Operators had to clean up the spill and throw away the contaminated product, as well as the ripped bulk bag. The air within the kaolin made it impossible to produce upright, evenly filled, safe, and stable bulk bags.
The company’s project engineering manager saw an opportunity for improvement. If they could reliably densify the kaolin and fill bags faster, they would improve operator safety and productivity, increase production, minimize the quantity of bulk bags used, fill shipping containers more effectively, and waste less product.
They turned to Control and Metering, a Spiroflow company, with their requirements:
• Fill bulk bags at 14,400 lb/hr using 2400-lb bulk bags - a fill rate of 12 bags per hour.
• Densify the highly aerated kaolin clay within each bulk bag so that the bags are upright, evenly filled, safe, and stable
• Take up as little room as possible for container shipping to international customers
• Automate the filling process to maximize operator safety and productivity
• Minimize the required number of operators
• Use a single PLC control panel to operate dual bulk bag fillers
• Have the control panel communicate to their plant wide DCS via an Ethernet connection
• Operate reliably
Engineers evaluated the company’s needs and recommended a filling system based on their high-speed, densifying CTE bulk bag filler. The CTE (Cone Table Elite) filler utilizes cone table densification, a patented technology that provides maximum product densification. This ensures that even the most difficult-to-fill products can safely be packaged in stable, uniformly filled bulk bags. The CTE bulk bag filler also delivers high-speed filling where - depending on the application - rates of 35+ bags per hour can be achieved.
The recommended bulk bag filling system included:
* Dual CTE bulk bag fillers
* An operator platform between the fillers
* A slip sheet dispenser beneath the operator platform
* An Automatic Bag Removal (ABR) shuttle between the two CTE fillers
* Two powered roller conveyors
* Two gravity roller conveyors with sensors
* A control panel with functions for automatic/manual operation, set parameters, set carriage levels, slip sheet dispensing, and shuttle operation, plus Ethernet communications to their DCS
The new process steps:
1. The operator installs an empty bulk bag onto CTE Filler A and B and starts the automated process from the control panel.
2. Each bulk bag is filled and densified.
3. The slip sheet dispenser places a slip sheet onto the ABR shuttle.
4. The ABR shuttle moves the slip sheet beneath the filled and densified bulk bag for CTE Filler A and B.
5. The filled bulk bag automatically advances to the powered roller conveyor and then to the gravity roller conveyor.
6. The filled bulk bag is removed by forklift.
The bulk bag filling system worked so well that the company has since added a second dual system. The second system, located in the same area, is a duplicate of the first but has a slightly different layout based on available space. It utilizes hang weighing for even greater weighing accuracy and increased efficiency. The new filling system also has an updated heavy duty cone table mounting system for maximum product deaeration and densification.
The CTE bulk bag filling systems delivered on each customer requirement:
Faster Bag Filling
• Each dual CTE bagging system can fill and densify twelve 2400-lb bulk bags/hour - a 40% increase in speed
• They also now fill shorter 1900-lb bulk bags.
Increased Productivity
• A single operator (instead of two) runs each dual filling system.
• Filled bulk bags are upright and stable so they no longer fall over. Operator productivity has increased since they no longer spend time cleaning up these spills.
• With the new (second) bag filling system installed beside the first, a single forklift operator can remove the filled bags from both systems, maximizing productivity.
• Both CTE filling systems run three shifts 24 hours per day for six days each week.
Cost Effective
• By reducing the number of operators required, the company saves about $40,000/shift/year/system, which equates to $240,000/year.
• Material waste is reduced as bags no longer fall over and break open.
• Bulk bag waste is minimized as bags no longer fall over and break open.
• The stable and consistently filled bags enable more efficient packing into shipping containers, taking up less space and reducing shipping costs.
Reduced Waste
• Filled bulk bags no longer fall over and break open.
• The amount of unsalable contaminated kaolin is reduced significantly.
• The number of split bulk bags that must be thrown away is significantly reduced.
Cleaner
• Filled bulk bags no longer fall over and break open resulting in a cleaner environment.
Safer
• The operator doesn’t have to reach into the CTE bulk bag filler to install the bag spout.
• Removing filled bulk bags is safer because the bags are upright and stable.
• Warehousing the bulk bags is safer because the bags no longer fall over.
• Upon delivery removing filled bulk bags from the container is also safer.
For more information, contact Spiroflow Systems Inc. (Monroe, NC) at 704-246-0900 or visit www.spiroflowsystems.com.
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