Mechanical conveyors for the food industry from Spiroflow

25 October 2012

Spiroflow is a leader in the design, manufacture, installation and commissioning of bulk materials and ingredients handling and processing systems with particular emphasis on applications in the food industry. They have factories in the UK, USA and India.

Continue reading this article

Register now for free and access every article and to register for the print edition.

Spiroflow pioneered the development of the Flexible Screw Conveyor with which their name is now synonymous. ‘One size does not fit all’ so, accordingly, over the years the company has added other types of conveyors to its portfolio, Today, Spiroflow offers 4 distinct types of Mechanical Conveyor. The latter two, both types of Tubular Drag Conveyors, were introduced this year. This enables Spiroflow to offer mechanical conveying solutions for a whole host of applications:

Flexible Screw Conveyors. Often the lowest cost means of conveying dry bulk solids and/or ingredients. Only moving part is the motor driven spiral which rotates within a sealed tube. Their simplicity also makes then both hygienic and easy to clean. They are in regular use across all areas of the food industry moving basic products such as sugar, salt, flour, starch and spices. Special profile spirals are used for more difficult products such as chocolate crumb and cheese powder which have a tendency to smear if not conveyed correctly. Conveying rates from 4 to 40,000 kilogrammes an hour are possible.

Aero Mechanical Conveyors. Capable of moving high volumes of material at any angle without loss of efficiency. Discs connected to a cable moving at high speed within an enclosed pipe entrain product into their slipstreams. This is ‘mechanical vacuum conveying’ BUT without the need for a filtration system given that no air is either added to our subtracted from the system. They are the choice for applications requiring ‘total batch transfer’ of measured amounts of material. The new DART AutoTensionner offers automatic ‘running in’, reduced maintenance and significantly longer conveying cable life.

‘Cableflow’ Tubular Cable Drag Conveyors. Designed for gentle handling they can transfer friable bulk products from single or multiple in-feed points to single or multiple discharge points with little or no damage. This are based on Spiroflow’s tried and tested Aero Mechanical Conveyors but operating at much slow speeds and with much reduced running clearances. They are the ideal choice to convey extruded or moulded foods such as breakfast cereals with no damage.

Like any company in the powder handling industry worth its salt, Spiroflow has a comprehensive Test Centre in which customers can witness trials on their product. These trials not only confirm that the required conveying rates can be achieved but also that the chosen conveyor can handle fragile products with little or no damage - for applications where that is an issue. When it is impractical for customers to visit the Spiroflow Test Centre, live video links can be set up or alternatively the tests can be videoed and sent to the customer over the web. The Test Centre now boasts a new Tubular Drag Conveyor test unit.

And just for the record, there are applications where vacuum or pneumatic conveying is the best option and Spiroflow offers them too!

To learn more about ‘Spiroflow’ Mechanical and Pneumatic Conveyors and also about their Bulk Bag Fillers and Bulk Bag Dischargers too, visit their web site at www.spiroflow.com or call them on +44 (0)1200 422525 to discuss your specific requirements.