Calcium carbonate is used extensively in building industry products, from cement to paint pigments to wallboards.
It is a fine, abrasive white powder which means calcium carbonate processing is notoriously problematic in terms of dust containment.
When one of the largest calcium carbonate processors in Romania had issues with excessive downtime because of flexible connector leakage and frequent wear failures, they looked to BFM® fitting for the solution.
The customer had a lot of dust, material loss and downtime-related problems on the sifters in the initial part of their process, after crushing and before milling. The old flexible connectors leaked constantly, and they wore out extremely fast, not even lasting one month. Product spilled out and piled up around the sisters, requiring frequent clean-up.
The maintenance team found the replacement of the worn connectors extremely time-consuming because they were all different sizes and had to be measured and cut to length. Then, to install the connectors, they were fastened via screwed hose clamps requiring considerable manual adjustment in difficult locations.
The downtime involved in this frequent replacement process and clean-up of spilled product was becoming extremely costly for the plant.
Local BFM® fitting distributor, Rocom, recommended installing BFM® fitting’s durable Seeflex 040E connector systems on each sifter inlet and outlet. They also suggested standardizing all diameters and
connection lengths to be the same for ease of maintenance and inventory control.
The result in terms of productivity uplift has been dramatic. In the 5 months since the initial installation, the plant has experienced zero downtime for connector replacement as the initial connectors are still going strong. When they do require changing, the staff are now confident each connector changeover will take less than 30 seconds, with stock always immediately on hand no matter which connector needs replacing.
There has also been no dust leakage from the connector transitions so the overall plant environment is cleaner.
There are going to be far less replacements and product clean-ups required, so downtime has been drastically reduced.
“We are so impressed with the fact that there are no more leaks and that the BFM® connectors are lasting so well.
The product stays where you want it - inside the process – and overall, the plant is now much cleaner and operates much more efficiently.”
- Maintenance Manager
Case Study provided courtesy of BFM® Distributor ROCOM (Romania)
Our most popular connector that can be used in virtually all applications. Made from clear ether-based thermoplastic polyurethane alloy.
A 100% polyester needle-felt breather bag designed for breathing applications such as venting hoppers, sifters and other contained vessels.
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