In the face of global competition and consolidation, metal producing plants with capacity limitations, low or inconsistent quality, questionable reliability and safety are vulnerable to closure unless changes can be made to address these problems.

The highly competitive environment also makes delays in new plant startup very costly, both for the owner/operator, and for the designer/builder. Given the cost of delayed startups or inability to reach design production rates, investing in up-front engineering to avoid such problems can have a significant return.

Problems of solids handling (storage, transport and processing) often are the leading causes of startup and production problems. Flow stoppages due to plugged silos, bins and chutes, and flow rate instabilities into processes can wreak havoc in a plant. Segregation problems in furnace feed systems can lead to inefficient use of fuel and even to explosions and loss of life. Segregation problems in plant s manufacturing powdered metals often adversely affect quality control.

If your plant is currently experiencing flow problems, Jenike & Johanson can help you. If you are planning for a new plant or production line, we can apply our industry-leading technology and years of experience to avoid process upsets due to mishandling of materials that are prone to arching, ratholing, or segregation .

KEY ENGINEERING SERVICES

• Design/specification of raw material, intermediate and finished product silos, bins and feeders
• Transfer chute design
• Pneumatic conveying system design
• Debottlenecking through solving flow problems, increasing flow rates and improving reliability
• Modeling of solids handling/feeding systems
• Inventory analysis techniques for compositional feed control
• Optimization of roaster and pyro-metallurgical furnace feed systems, green ball and smelter pelletization, DRI reactor efficiency.
• Benchmarking studies
• Wear tests for hopper and chute wall liners

In order to formulate an approach to solving or preventing a problem, we need to learn as much as possible about your application to ensure that handling problems do not occur with the new equipment.

TYPICAL PROJECT APPROACH

• Plant visit for troubleshooting and understanding plant and system requirements
• Flow properties testing of bulk solids
• Root cause analysis of handling/feeding/conveying problems
• Functional design of solids handling equipment
• Detailed engineering design of equipment
• Supply of custom designed equipment

For over forty years, our team of experienced engineers has been providing proven technology solutions that are cost-effective and safe. Contact Jenike & Johanson to help you solve and prevent bulk solids handling problems.