Chemical Engineering September 2015 - 89

Water Management 2015 Special Advertising Section
Bulk bag unloading system contains toxic fluoride dust
ProMinent Fluid Controls uses solids handling equipment from Flexicon for drinking water
fluoridation systems in Australia
roMinent Fluid Controls Pty Ltd. of
Australia has supplied more than 60
fluoridation systems over the past 25 years
to water treatment plants that output 33-
200 million gal/d, says Neville McKee, a
ProMinent sales manager.
ProMinent designed a fully automated
P
process in which sodium fluorosilicate
(Na2SiF6) is completely contained in a
sealed transfer system at all times.
The major pieces of equipment are the
bulk bag discharger, a dust containment
system, and the flexible screw conveyor, all
supplied by Flexicon Corp. (Australia) Pty
Ltd. of Brisbane.
Bulk bags of 2,200 lb are lifted into
place on the discharger frame by an electric
hoist and trolley on a cantilevered I-beam.
Powder is discharged from the bag into
the transition hopper through a double-wall
Tele-Tube telescoping tube. The tube is secured
to the bag spout by a patented SpoutLock
clamp ring that creates a dust-tight
seal. Continuous downward pressure on the
spout helps maintain a steady flow.
A pneumatic Power Cincher flow control
valve allows gradual release of material from
the bag, and can cinch a partially empty bag.
Promoting flow are Flow-Flexer bag activators
- pneumatically driven plates that
raise and lower opposing bottom edges of
the bag to direct material to the outlet.
The dust-tight system is vented to a
Bag-Vac dust collector that collapses empty
bags prior to tie-off, avoiding dust generated
when empty bags are flattened manually.
A Flexicon conveyor transports Na2SiF6
from the floor hopper to a storage hopper
that feeds the mixing tank.
Finally, the solution is metered into the
flowing water supply by a peristaltic pump
(or a progressive cavity standby pump).
The Flexicon system is the only one that
ProMinent uses for fluoridation plants,
says McKee. " We have only ever promoted
Flexicon bulk bag unloaders with doublewall
telescoping tubes for fluoride, as we
found it to be the best available to handle a
toxic powder with minimum risk of dust, " he
says. " I think it would be a brave water supply
authority to try a different brand at the
moment, as we have promoted this since
the application arose for bigger bulk-type
fluoride installations. " www.flexicon.com
Two flexible screw conveyors feed fluoride
powder from a bulk bag discharger into
two seven-day storage hoppers
Precise dosing with multi-port fluoroplastic valves
For process reliability under stringent process requirements, GEMÜ offers multi-port valve
blocks made from fluoroplastics
EMÜ multi-port valve blocks provide
precise dosing of ultra-pure water or
chemicals, while withstanding heavy-duty
switching cycles and providing long service
life. The multi-port valve shown here is a
plastic valve block from the iComLine series
manufactured by GEMÜ, made from ultrapure
PVDF material and featuring innovative
seat diaphragm technology with PTFE. This
combination of materials allows for heavyduty
switching cycles and resists temperatures
up to 150°C.
Plastic multi-port valve blocks combine
multiple valve seats in one unit. This
means that plants can now be built much
more compactly because the pipe connections,
fittings and even various sensor
components can be integrated into a single
unit. Through customized calculations and
configurations of the regulating cones, it is
possible to implement very specific control
characteristics alongside simple open and
close functions.
Thanks to a wealth of experience acquired
over 20 years in the manufacturing
G
Compact and efficient, this GEMÜ
multi-port valve block is made
from thermoplastic and fitted with
valves from the iComLine series
ChemiCal engineering www.Chemengonline.Com September 2015
of stainless steel multi-port valve blocks,
and in handling critical media in the semiconductor
and chemical industries, GEMÜ
has now been able to successfully transfer
this expertise to the field of high-performance
thermoplastic block valves. With its
modular system, GEMÜ can provide individually
adapted solutions to meet specific
customer requirements, and supplies everything
from a single source.
GEMÜ is one of the world's leading
manufacturers of valves, measurement and
control systems. Since 1964, this globally
focused, independent family-owned enterprise
has established itself in important
industrial sectors thanks to its innovative
products and customized solutions for process
media control.
Today GEMÜ has several manufacturing
centers and a presence all over the world.
The company is committed to the pursuit of
quality and excellence in the development
and manufacture of its products.
www.gemu.com
WEFTEC, Booth 5413
89

http://www.flexicon.com http://www.gemu.com http://www.Chemengonline.Com

Chemical Engineering September 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering September 2015