System 19

Discharging Product from Hazardous Environment

This system was to control the discharging of material from a kiln into steel drums.

The material to be packed was within an explosive atmosphere within a kiln.

The integrity of the air lock system was imperative as allowing fresh air into the kiln would cause an explosion. At each point of the discharge sequence the pressure vessel and chutes were purged with an inert gas prior to the opening of any valve. The product was ultimately being discharged at a temperature of well over 100 deg C into steel drums, each containing approximately 350 kg. The drums were on a weigh platform which gave us a signal when target weight was reached, and then printed a label to attach to the drum.

The PLC was an Allen Bradley MicroLogix 1400