Spiroflow - the environmentally friendly choice!

Spiroflow - the environmentally friendly choice! We live in a world 4.6 billion years old with a known life span of another 5 billion years. However its current inhabitants are threatened by the exhaustion of energy reserves and pollution. That’s the bad news, but the good news is that man’s instinct for survival is pushing the sciences associated with alternative energy and waste management forward at an exciting and encouraging rate. We at Spiroflow are pleased to be playing a part in all this by way of supplying equipment and systems to the companies at the forefront of such technologies! The ‘Spiroflow’ Big Bag Discharger and Aero-Mechanical Conveyor supplied to Waste Recycling Group (WRG) is a good example. WRG is one of the leading waste management services companies in the UK. Each year they receive, recycle and dispose of more than 15 million tonnes of household, commercial and industrial waste. They also generate more renewable energy from waste than any other UK waste management company - thereby contributing significantly to the Government's efforts to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. At their Ecclesfield, Sheffield site in the UK, WRG treat between 50,000 and 60,000 tonnes of waste a year rendering it harmless to the environment and enabling its safe disposal. Because of the diversity of waste products delivered to this site and available from their other sites across the UK, the company are able to apply some imaginative chemistry using one waste to neutralise another whenever possible – thus significantly reducing the amounts of additional materials required. The ‘Spiroflow’ Big Bag Discharger and Aero-Mechanical Conveyor are used to empty a lime-like powder from single trip big bags and to convey it 8 metres vertically and 5 metres horizontally to a seriously large holding tank where it is used to neutralise the acidity of liquid waste. The solids are then separated out and sent to landfill and the harmless water is returned to the local water company. At their Ecclesfield, Sheffield site in the UK, WRG treat between 50,000 and 60,000 tonnes of waste a year rendering it harmless to the environment and enabling its safe disposal. Because of the diversity of waste products delivered to this site and available from their other sites across the UK, the company are able to apply some imaginative chemistry using one waste to neutralise another whenever possible – thus significantly reducing the amounts of additional materials required. The ‘Spiroflow’ Big Bag Discharger and Aero-Mechanical Conveyor are used to empty a lime-like powder from single trip big bags and to convey it 8 metres vertically and 5 metres horizontally to a seriously large holding tank where it is used to neutralise the acidity of liquid waste. The solids are then separated out and sent to landfill and the harmless water is returned to the local water company. The Spiroflow ‘T4’ Big Bag Discharger is designed to cut open the bottom of the single trip big bags in which the lime-like waste product is delivered to Ecclesfield. In addition to the flexible, primary seal, upon which the lower edges of the big bag sit, there is an additional seal some 200 mm above - through which the bag passes. The space between the 2 seals is connected to a sizable dust extraction system. The main purpose of this being to capture any dust generated as the bottom is automatically cut when the bag is lowered in to place and before the weight of the bag makes full contact with the primary seal. Near total evacuation of the bags is ensured by way of timed vibration at the end of the emptying cycle. Vibration is also activated by way of a level probe should the normally free-flowing contents of the big bags become problematic due to compaction or high moisture content during storage. Concern for the environment is one of the highest of priorities at this site and therefore choosing the right equipment to handle this fine powdery lime-like product was critical to the success of this application. When asked why he chose Spiroflow equipment Operations Manager Paul Southgate confirms, “I had used Spiroflow successfully over a number of years in a previous position and therefore I turned to them for assistance with this job and have been well pleased with the equipment and their after sales support”. Much of the waste liquid treated at Ecclesfield are acids and alkalis emanating from the steel industry plus the contents of a host of interceptor tanks from petrol stations, chemical works and even landfill sites in which contaminated rain water has been collected. More information about Waste Recycling Group can be found at www.wrg.co.uk. Spiroflow specialise in ‘high containment’ Big Bag filling and discharge systems. In all but for a very few applications, gone are the days where a company can ask a local fabricator or their engineering team to ‘knock up’ a simple bulk bag support frame. These can never match the safety, reliable discharge and containment offered by the specialist supplier and demanded by today’s practices and legislation.

For more information on Spiroflow - the environmentally friendly choice! talk to Spiroflow Ltd