Centrifugal Sifter improves mixer output quality
By Alan S. Brown
Managing Editor, Chemical Online
Established in 1891, Dixon Chew (Batley) Ltd. of Ravensthorpe near Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, has supplied dyes and specialty chemicals to the textiles industry for more than 100 years. its products are used to process and dye a wide variety of textile fibers, including wool, nylon, cotton, and polyester.
Like many other companies that live in a global market, the Dixon Chew imports chemicals from Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia.
In this case, the imports are dry, powdered dyes. Due to the number of times they are handled and the distances they travel, problems began to emerge. The company's quality control laboratory soon spotlighted the cause: a growing occurrence of agglomerates and extraneous packing materials within some batches of dye.
Dixon Chew produces its dyes in four 1000-L Gardner U-trough ribbon mixers, which it purchased from Kemutec Group three years earlier. "Given that these mixers have performed very well, giving an even, homogeneous mix, we had no hesitation it turning to Kemutec again for assistance," explains Managing Director Richard Hall.
"They made it easy for us to decide that the KEK centrifugal sifter they recommended was the right solution," Hall continues. "We hired the machine and, once we decided to buy it, the hire charges were deducted from the price."
Kemutec installed a model K300 KEK centrifugal sifter directly below the outlet of the mixer used to process the problem products. The company especially likes its ability to easily change sieve screens and clean the unit between batches.
This is important because colorants taint nylon mesh screens over time. Color, dye, and pigment manufacturers typically hold dedicated screens for specific colors or groups of colors.
Most important of all, the unit solves the company's clumping problem. "We no longer have to rework batches of product because of agglomerates or tramp inclusions," says Hall.
KEK centrifugal sifters are compact, highly efficient, easily cleaned units that are used across in a variety of processes. Applications range from size classification, dedusting, and dewatering through policing and deagglomeration.
They are vibration-free, quiet in operation, and offer total containment of product. The positive action of the rotating beater within the cylindrical screen, which minutely flexes the screen, also eliminates pegging of the screen apertures.
For more information: Tracy Keogh, Kemutec Group Ltd., Springwood Way, Macclesfield, SK10 2ND, Cheshire, UK. Phone: +44-1625-412000. Fax: +44-1625-412001.
If you're interested in centrifugal sifters, the Chemical Online Buyer's Guide lists 18 vendors.