Twenty Ajax Hoppers for Liberty Powder Metals
Twenty Ajax Hoppers for Liberty Powder Metals
Solids handling specialist, Ajax Equipment, has supplied powder metals supplier, Liberty Powder Metals, with fifteen storage hoppers, five blending hoppers and three mass flow screw feeders for powder handling. In addition to producing metal powders, Liberty Powder Metals is also an innovation incubator established by Liberty Steel with the support of Tees Valley Combined Authority.
The geometry of the fifteen stainless steel intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) was designed for efficient discharge and repose fill of powder, while the five larger hopper’s steep double cone shape allows the blending of metal powders. The design of both the hoppers includes supports enabling handling with a forklift, efficient storage and straightforward loading onto the screw feeders.
Ajax’s cantilevered screws use a variable pitch to help ensure mass flow from the hoppers. The feeders’ casing is mounted on ferrules allowing access to the full length of the screw for easy cleaning.
“From the initial phone call and subsequent first meeting, Ajax quickly understood what we wanted to achieve with our powder handling system and provided initial proposals to a fully working powder handling system that we have integrated into our processing equipment. When we had a specification issue on one of our transfer stations, Ajax was quickly able to calculate the new requirement and an alternative gearbox was sourced. Ajax’s hoppers and screw feeders perform very well,” said Dan Frith, Manufacturing & Engineering Manager, Liberty Powder Metals.
Commenting Eddie McGee, managing director at Ajax Equipment said, "This is one of the largest and most unusual hopper orders Ajax has received. Typically, customers require a substantial hopper that will be static for the length of its service life. These compact, portable hoppers can easily be moved between storage, filling and loading the screw feeders also supplied."
See
Metal Powder Handling For an overview of Ajax's metal powder handling capabilities.
For more information on Ajax’s screw feeders, call +44 (0)1204 386723 or visit our
Screw Feeder page.