Materials Conveyed: Vinyl Acetate
Type of Conveying System(s):Batch Dense Phase , Bulk Bag Unloading
Customer:Ardex, Ardex Americas | Aliquippa, PA
The Challenge
The Ardex Americas facility in Aliquippa, PA uses several different raw materials in their process for making building products. One of the products used is Vinyl Acetate, which they added to their material blending system manually one 50 lb. bag at a time. Purchasing the Vinyl Acetate in 50 lb. bags was not only an economical burden, but it was labor intensive and inefficient.

The Solution
In an effort to cut raw material costs by purchasing Vinyle Acetate in bulk bags, Ardex Americas in Aliquippa, PA installed a JDB Dense Flow Dense Phase Bulk Bag Unloading System.
Ardex decided to install a JDB Dense Flow Dense Phase Bulk Bag Unloading system. This allowed them to purchase the Vinyl Acetate in bulk which greatly reduced their raw material costs. Also, the dense phase conveying system delivered the material directly into their blending system, eliminating the need to add the raw material into their blending system manually.
The Dense Phase system was able to achieve the desired convey rate of 6,615 #/hr. with ease; this rate translated into emptying a bulk bag approximately every 20 minutes. Bulk bags were loaded and unloaded by operators with the aid of 2 ton pneumatic hoist and pendant controls.

Conclusion
The JDB Dense Flow Dense Phase Bulk Bag Unloading system installed at the Ardex Americas – Aliquippa, PA facility greatly reduced the plants raw material cost by allowing them to purchase in bulk. Operations costs were also lowered by eliminating the need for operators to add raw material manually. Additionally, the low material velocity and minimal moving parts within the Dense Phase conveying system coupled with rugged Dense Flow pipeline components gave Ardex a reliable material conveying system, minimizing their downtime, and reducing overall maintenance costs.
To speak with an engineer regarding your conveying challenges call us at 727-785-8500 x203, or e mail eng@jdbdenseflow.com.