ATEX Drum Handling System
ATEX Drum Handling System Description
This ATEX Drum Handling System included the facilities to weigh and decant explosive
material from 200 Litre stainless steel drums into a Mixing Bowl. It also included
a Mixing Bowl Transportation facility to move the mixing bowl of explosive material
from the decanting area, into the mixing area and subsequently into the filling
area. The ATEX Drum Handling System was required to operate in a hazardous environment
designated as ATEX Zone 21 T135 ºC explosive environment. All equipment and materials
used were therefore suitable and certified for use in this ATEX Area.
Drum Weighing & Decanting Facility
Drums containing 500kg of an explosive and flammable material were delivered into
the decanting area on pallets where the outer-drum was removed manually. The inner
drum was then loaded into the decanting system lift frame and lifted using the overhead
gantry shown in the photograph below.
Drum Weighing & Decanting Facility showing the drum
lift,
overhead gantry and mixing bowl
|
|
Download Large Image
|
The system is designed to lift a drum of material and once clear of its delivery
pallet, the operator presses a push button which initiates a weighing system. This
weigh system records the weight of the drum complete with contents. The drum is
then raised to its required height and traversed to be above the mixing bowl. Once
correctly positioned the operator rotates the drum through approximately 180 degrees
to discharge the explosive material The drum is left in this position for sufficient
time to permit the product to drain into the receiving mixing bowl.
Once the entire content of the drum has been discharged, the weigh push button is
pressed again and the weight of the now empty drum is recorded. The difference between
the first and second weighing can be displayed as a digital display as well as being
available as print out. This recorded weight represents the total of the material
decanted into the mixing bowl. The system can be configured such that under or over
weights can be alarmed, which would help the operator ensure that the drum is completely
empty etc. Once the drum is deemed empty it will be returned to the pallet and removed
to the drum cleaning area. This particular drum decanting system is designed to
operate in any one of three bays as can be seen in the following photograph.
This photograph shows the three mixing bowl storage
bays,
at which the drum weigh and decanting system can be operated.
|
|
|
Download Large Image
|
Mixing Bowl Transportation Facility
The mixing bowl transportation system was designed to allow the mixing bowls and
explosive contents to be moved from the decanting area into a mixing machine mounted
remotely in another building. The transportation system is based on the use of four
pneumatically powered air skates designed to raise and move the 3.5 Tonne bowls
in conjunction with an overhead guide rail system. Air for these transport units
was supplied via a catinary system mounted off the overhead guide rail. Each of
the Air Skate units had the following capacity and required an air supply as detailed
below: -
Air Skate Specification
|
Type
|
BAS3500 |
|
Capacity
|
6360 Kgs |
|
Lift height
|
15mm
|
|
Maximum Pressure
|
1.75 Bar
|
|
Air consumption
|
2.8 m³/minute at maximum load
|
Following mixing, the bowls were transported to the filling facility in a third
building. In the filling building the bowl could be transferred bowl from the filling
area to the bowl cleaning facility shown below.
This hydraulic tipper was a manually operated tipper that lifted and tipped the
mixing bowl through an angle of 45 degrees. In the tipped position, the mixing bowl
was securely supported to allow the operator access to the underside of the bowl
to dismantle and clean the discharge valve.
|