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Mixing Station
Provided to SurTec
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 SurTec (Surface Technology) has during the last 15 years been developing, producing and marketing high-value products and processes for the industrial cleaning and electro plating industries.
In 2007 SurTec established their latest production facility in Xiaoshan, China, in order to cater for the Chinese market.
atea designed, built and installed the multipurpose mixing station for the production at this new SurTec facility.
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Challenge:
At the mixing station thousands of products are produced.
Each product has a particular formula; therefore the volume and combination of the ingredients inside the mixing station are constantly varying.
When the ingredients first arrive at the mixing station they have to be weighed, in order to obtain the right mixture.
It is therefore essential that the weighing system is very accurate, as the final mixture is totally dependent on this.
When the correct weight of the ingredients has been achieved the components are being agitated until they dissolve inside the mixing tanks.
The mixing station has to be resistant to the aggressive ingredients used during the production. The material of the mixing station was therefore carefully selected.
After a detailed study and evaluation of the situation atea proposed a semi-automatic OPLC mixing system.
The temperature and liquid level inside the system as well as the weight of the ingredients when they arrive at the station will be monitored and displayed on a control panel.
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Solution:
The provided mixing station consists mainly of two mixing tanks (2,000 liters each) made of PP/FRP, one mixing tank (4,000 liters) made of PP/FRP (all mixing tanks are equipped with suitable agitators) and one water storage tank (10,000 liters) made from PE.
The installed water storage tank
Due to the aggressive ingredients used at the production the material chosen for the mixing tanks is advanced composite (FRP with PP in-liner), since this is well known to be both chemical- and corrosion resistant.
The three mixing tanks installed
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The two smaller mixing tanks are also equipped with:
• Level sensors, which indicate the liquid level inside the tanks.
• pH sensors, which measure the pH inside the tanks.
• Temperature transmitters, which monitor the temperature inside the tanks. If the temperature drops too low, heating elements inside the tanks start to work and if the temperature is too high heat exchangers beside the tanks start to operate.
Other equipments were also included in the provided package e.g.:
• Product transfer pumps
• Water pump
• Local control panels
• Pipes and valves
• Tank platform
The installed tank platform
The complete piping system is made of PP, and it was installed in such a manner that it ensures easy dismantling for maintenance purposes.
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Process Description:
Basic ingredients such as dilution water, gases etc are transported to the tanks via fixed corrosion resistant pipes.
Powder ingredients are delivered to the tank manually through the powder inlet at the top of the tank.
Other liquid ingredients are delivered to the tanks through a short pipe connected to a container.
When the ingredients first arrive at the mixing tanks they are weighed by load cells, installed under the tank foot, and the weight is displayed on the local control panel.
The agitators inside the mixing tanks start to work once the second ingredient is added to the tank and it is operating until all the ingredients have been dissolved and the final product is ready.
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The load cells installed under the tank feet
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Simplified P&ID of the provided mixing station
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