Ajax Equipment, Bolton, UK, has supplied leading fine chemical manufacturer, Lianhetech Europe, with a purpose-designed agitated screw feeder for its Seal Sands production site near Middlesbrough. The screw feeder is fabricated from Alloy 22, an extremely corrosion-resistant high nickel alloy.

The feeder receives batches of product from a centrifuge into its horizontal cylindrical hopper section fitted with a multi-bladed agitator that sweeps the body internal diameter and along the full length to dislodge consolidated material and sweep product into an integral LynFlow™ ribbon screw feeder that extracts along the full length to regulate feed into the site’s dryer. The agitated feeder is ATEX compliant for Zone 1/21, category 2 equipment (inside and out) with N2 purge and was water fill tested as part of successful factory acceptance tests (FATs) at Ajax’s factory. The agitated screw feeder also features multiple sight glasses enabling monitoring at several points. The parent company, Lianhetech, is one of China’s foremost contract chemical manufacturers.

Imran Khaliq, engineering manager, Lianhetech Europe, explained that following initial meetings, Ajax provided a bespoke design for the screw feeder in accordance with the client’s requirements, supplying the unit within the project’s challenging completion schedule. He stressed that Ajax takes the time to understand the requirements of each specific process, rather than supplying an off-the- shelf design and this is one of the key reasons that ensure the units perform exactly according to plan.

“Ajax designs its agitated screw feeders to each customer’s process needs including the flowability of the material, required discharge rate and holding capacity,” commented Eddie McGee, managing director, Ajax Equipment. “Due to the process materials involved the construction required Alloy 22 which is noted for its excellent resistance in a wide range of chemical environments. It is significantly harder than stainless steel so working to shape and of course polishing for smooth flow conditions was quite the task which Ajax duly met.” www.ajax.co.uk

The agitated screw feeder being loaded from the Ajax works en route to Lianhetech Europe’s Seal Sands plant

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