Case Study: Crusher Takes Its Lumps, Minimizes Elbow Grease

CCP, Inc. in West Paterson, N.J. makes over 1,000 product formulations under private labels for the cosmetics industry, using materials such as persulfates, alkali silicates, phosphates, sodium chloride, and magnesium chloride.

The producer processes powder sizes from 20 to 200 mesh, and bulk densities “vary greatly,” according to operations vice president Walter Shepherd. “We produce some talc powders that run just a couple of pounds (per cubic foot),” he said. Previously, for production, raw materials were received in bulk bags or drums, which were then dispensed from bag discharging stations by auger feeders to load ribbon blenders. Material in drums were manually dumped into the blenders, where they were blended, milled and reblended.

“Some processes get quite complicated.” Shepherd said. “The material is brought in, checked, blended, and ground to the prescribed size. It’s then post-blended, rechecked, reground, sprayed with ingredients such as conditioners or surfactants, analyzed and packaged.

Deagglomerating was inefficient.

Many raw materials are prone to caking or agglomerating prior to arrival at CCP, and need to be deagglomerated before processing. To do so in the past, the agglomerates were prescreened or manually removed. “The results were good but it was labor intensive,” said Shepherd. “And there was some waste because material wouldn’t always break up or go through the screens.” After the lumps were discarded, more material was added to make up for them. Production was halted during the processes.

CCP decided to install a deagglomerating crusher to streamline the process and sought a crusher that could break up large agglomerates in one pass with minimal particle attrition or heat rise. In the course of their search, CCP received recommendations from three sources for a Franklin Miller deagglomerating crusher, Shepherd said. “Based on these recommendations, we went with Franklin Miller.”

CCP chose to install a Franklin Miller Delumper 1075-L deagglomerating crusher, a common choice for food, pharmaceutical, and chemical applications. The unit handles several agglomerate shapes and sizes, including chunks, slabs, sheets, and flakes. Typical materials processed are resins, waxes, salts, foods, fertilizers, filter cakes, and tough or soft chemicals.

At CCP, the crusher exceeded expectations by successfully breaking up the agglomerates to a specified particle size in one pass with minimal particle attrition and a gentle process that didn’t generate significant material heat rise. Shepherd said production is more efficient because the crusher gives a “dramatic saving over the manual deagglomerating method. The crusher decreased downtime and production delays, and it increased annual output. In batches where agglomerates were a problem, throughput has increased by 75 percent.”

The crusher has also relieved some concerns when receiving raw materials because the producer doesn’t have to worry as much about agglomerates. In addition, Shepherd said the crusher operates well and requires little maintenance.