Avoiding waste when filling PC granulates

Customer:	Chemion
Extracted material:	Polycarbonate (PC) granulates
Industry:	Chemical
Vacuum cleaner:	Ruwac DS 2520 L-B1 with pre-separator and big bag

Chemion has made a name for itself as a specialised service provider in the chemical logistics sector, and operates from the Krefeld-Uerdingen Chemical Park. There, Covestro produces around 250,000 tons of different kinds of Makrolon^® each year. This polycarbonate is used to manufacture CDs, DVDs, solar modules, and roof structures, among its other applications. Chemion contracts with Covestro to handle warehousing, filling and packaging, and it operates a silo logistics centre with around 80 shipping and mixing silos for the purpose.

Problem

It is impossible to prevent all granulate materials from falling on the floor when filling large quantities of PC. Since the granules are small, hard and round, they can cause employees to slip, so the granulates need to be vacuumed up immediately. The company was looking for a solution for collecting the granulate materials even before they touch the ground, so that they can be recycled. The goal was to prevent waste and improve material yield.

Solution

A collection tray was installed under the filling system, which fills 900 kg sacks. The granulate materials collect there if they fall down beside the container. A type DS 2520 L-B1 Ruwac vacuum cleaner with pre-separator suctions the granulates, which are then delivered to a customer-specific pre-separator designed by Ruwac. From there, it can be filled into a big bag via a rotary valve as needed, then returned to the appropriate silo.