Bulk Solids Sampling
Applications
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Applications Review
•
•
•
•
Cement
Dairy
Chemical
Plastics
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Cement Applications
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Cement – Process flow
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Process Flow Description
• 4 main ingredients:
– Calcium (limestone) – 90%
– Alumina (flyash) – 3%
– Iron – 2%
– Silica (sand) – 5%
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Process Flow Description
Raw Mill
• Ball mill
combines/mills
proper proportion of
limestone, flyash,
iron and sand
• Sent to rotary kiln
after mixing in
homogenizing silos
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Process Flow Description
Rotary Kiln
• Mixture is
heated to
2700°F temp
to create
“clinker”
through a
process known
as calcination
• Clinker is then
stored until
needed
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Process Flow Description
Finish Grinding
• Combine clinker with gypsum
– Limestone for mortar products
• Mixture delivered to roller presses then
ball mills for finish grinding
• Discharge from the finish grinding mill
is separated into finished product
– Larger particles returned to mill
• Cement is transported to silos prior to
bulk shipping (rail, truck, barge)
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Process Flow Description
Barge Load Out Area
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Process Flow Description
ISOLOK® SAK Sampler on Load out Airslide
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Why Sample in a Cement Plant?
• Quality control of finished product
– 325 mesh/45 micron (94% passing)
– Blaine – (determines total surface area in square cm per gram of
cement)
– Chemistry
• Finished product is discharged from multiple silos into one
shipment – needed to assure consistency
• Provides data for report to terminal, tech reps / sales reps
• Custody transfer
– Provides sample for archival purposes
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Challenges With Sampling in a Cement
Plant
• Direct sampling method is messy and
dangerous
– No good location for manual sample collection in load
out area
• Material particle size cannot be significantly
degraded while collecting the sample
• Minimize human variances
• Dozens of sampling points result in high labor
costs for manual collection of samples
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Why Sentry Samplers?
• Automatically takes sample of material taken at fixed time
intervals
• Simple, safe, and reliable
• Uniformity and consistency of sample
– (Elimination of human error)
• Clean (eliminates material dusting / spillage)
• VERY low labor costs
– Eliminates time consuming manual sampling process
• Compact design of ISOLOK allows for direct attachment on
moving load out air slide
• Model RX can penetrate the Airslide membrane to sample
from the center
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Dairy Applications
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Dairy Process
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Typical Sampling Points
• Drying process
– Models SAK, B1 and PR
• Bag filling stations -custody transfer
– Models SAK and B1
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Milk Drying Process
• Milk drying is a three step process:
– Multistage evaporator
– Spray dryer
– Fluid bed dryer
• In multistage evaporator initially milk is
concentrated up to about 48%
• During drying in spray dryer, the excess water
present in free form between the particles of the dry
solids get evaporated easily
• These last drops of water are removed in a fluid bed
dryer
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Milk Drying Process
• Produces powder with extremely good
solubility
– Instant powder
• Drying:
– Extends the shelf life of milk apart from
– Reducing the weight and volume
– Lowers the cost of transportation
• Final moisture in the powder ranges
between 2.5% and 4%
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Bag Filling Process
• ISOLOK® model
SAK mounted in bag
filling system
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Bag Filling Process
• Many sample systems
incorporate an indexing
system for lot archiving
• Models SAK and B1 are
often used
• SAK seals have been
supplied with springs that
are impregnated within
them
– Can be detected in metal
detectors
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Foss Moisture Analysis
• Dairy application analyzing
whey powder
• Model PR mounted in a
pneumatic convey line
• Extracted a fixed volume of
sample and introduced to
analyzer
• After measurement sample
was purged into the bottle
for additional off-line
analysis
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Why Sample in Dairy
Applications?
•
•
•
•
•
Butter fat content
Bacteria
Hormone levels (BGH)
Antibiotics
Moisture content
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Challenges With Sampling in Dairy
Applications
• Equipment must be 3-A approved (section 59-00
or 81-00)
• Sample should be taken from various types of
processes
–
–
–
–
Fluid bed dryers
Pneumatic conveying systems
Gravity chutes
Bag filling systems
• Samplers need to be compact and easy to clean
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Why Sentry Samplers?
• Model B1 and ISOLOK® SAK compact
– Easy removal and cleaning
– Reliable and consistent
• Model PR
– Installations in pneumatic convey lines
– Integrate moisture analysis
– Easy removal and cleaning
– Reliable and consistent
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Plastics Applications
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Plastics Process Flow
• Natural Gas is sent through a
cracking unit which produces a
feedstock
• Feedstock is combined with
hydrogen, catalysts into a
reactor which precipitates a
white powder known as “Fluff”
• The Fluff is then passed
through a catalyst deactivation
unit
– fluid bed vessel using nitrogen
as the fluidizing medium
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Plastics Process Flow
•
•
•
•
After deactivation, Fluff is
pneumatically transported to silos
Fluff is fed into continuous blenders
where blend additives are
introduced
Blended material is heated,
extruded through a die plate,
chopped into pellet form and cooled
Finished pellet is screened an
pneumatically conveyed to loading
silos where it is bulk shipped by rail
or truck
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Typical Sample Points
• Inlet of catalyst deactivation unit
• Outlet of catalyst deactivation unit
• Discharge of continuous blender
• Finished pellet
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Why Sample Plastics?
• Monitor product composition and quality
– Melt index tests
– Check ethylene and rubber content
– Catalyst residue (outlet of catalyst deactivation unit)
• Provide feedback for process control
• Check to ensure volatile organic compounds
(VOC) levels are within acceptable limits
• Custody transfer
– Provides sample for archival purposes
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Challenges of Sampling Plastics
• Extraction of representative sample from
pressurized line without allowing dust and gas to
escape
• Sampler must handle pressure surges well above
process pressure
• May need to have food grade wetted components if
process line produces material that will go into FDA
approved containers, bottle caps, or closures
• Minimize labor cost, material waste, safety and
cleanup concerns
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Why Sentry Samplers?
• Automatically takes fixed volume of material taken at
fixed time intervals
– Provides accurate verification for plant control
• Closed sampling
– Eliminates material spillage/waste
– Extracts sample without releasing gas/dust to atmosphere
– Built-in nitrogen purge port can connect to gas collection
system to reclaim unreacted hydrocarbons
– Keeps operator out of harms way
• Food grade 316 SS and EPDM elastomers
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers
Questions?
Sentry Equipment Corp
Sampling Solutions • Specialty Heat Exchangers