Spiroflow - the road to success!

Spiroflow - the road to success! Nynas Bitumen UK, part of the Swedish AB Nynas Petroleum company, is very happy with the performance of the ‘Spiroflow’ Aero-Mechanical Conveyors and the Big Bag Dischargers that handle the dry ingredients at its Ellesmere Port, UK bitumen plant. Nynas manufactures the ‘high-tech’, speciality bitumen so important for the safe and long lasting road surfaces on which we all rely today. The Spiroflow ingredients handling system comprises: 4 Aero-Mechanical Conveyors, 2 Big Bag Dischargers and 2 sack-tip stations plus associated electric controls. The Aero-Mechanical Conveyors range in length from 7 metres to 22 metres and are operating in a variety of attitudes from vertical, inclined, to horizontal and are capable of handling 1.5 tonnes of polymer additives per hour. Unlike other oil companies, Nynas is a bitumen specialist, not producing products such as petrol and diesel, but focussing its expertise on just napthenics and bitumen. Nynas is a leading innovator in bitumen, bitumen emulsions and polymer modified binders and serves the roads and airfields construction sector, and the industrial sector, with modern solutions capable of meeting ever increasing demands. The Spiroflow equipment was installed as part of a major plant refurbishment not only to double capacity but also to cope with the significant change from straight bitumen products to a wide variety of longer life, more porous, quieter, more malleable, and cold asphalt bitumen emulsions. The original plant, particularly the pneumatic conveying system’s joints and bends, had been in operation since 1990 and was due for upgrading. The old pneumatic conveying system needed a sizeable filtration system but our alternative Aero-Mechanical Conveyors eliminated the need for this, and as a result Nynas has seen a substantial improvement and received positive feedback all round. The bulk ingredients are added by the one tonne load via the Big Bag Dischargers, whilst the minor ingredients are added by the sack full through the sack tip stations. One of the Big Bag Dischargers is mounted on a mezzanine floor above a collection hopper to enable all of the major additive to be charged in one go. This discharger has its big bags loaded by way of a hoist. The other discharger is at ground level and has its big bags loaded by fork lift truck. The electrical control panel for the system was manufactured by us and the installation and commissioning were all carried out by our own engineers. The 50 tonne charge in each of the mixing vessels is mixed by re-circulation through a high powered mixer. Once mixed, it is transferred to storage tanks ready for loading into Nynas’ impressive fleet of tankers. Tony Gresty, the Nynas technologist responsible for the bitumen plant comments, “We are pleased with the operation of the Spiroflow equipment and the fact that the Aero-mechanical Conveyor eliminates the Health and Safety issues associated with pneumatic conveying systems”. Asked why Nynas chose Spiroflow to supply the equipment, Gresty explains, “Spiroflow demonstrated that its equipment could handle all our additives. We were also supplied with layout drawings that were instrumental in us choosing this professional company”. More information about Nynas and its products can be found at www.nynas.com.

For more information on Spiroflow - the road to success! talk to Spiroflow Ltd