Flexible intermediate bulk containers, or FIBCs, have been around for so long now that we tend to take them for granted; entirely forgetting the impact that this incredibly flexible means of transporting powdered products had on industry as a whole once standardization was achieved. So, if you have ever wondered how FIBCs — or big bags to use another of their names — came about, the following may be of interest.
The best definition of a flexible intermediate bulk container is courtesy of the Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container Association: a bulk container with a body made from fabric which is unable to be lifted manually when filled, which is intended for the shipment of a solid material in either powder, granular or flake form, does not require further packaging and is designed to be lifted by permanently attached loops or straps.
It is generally reckoned that the first FIBCs were manufactured in the late 1950s. These first FIBCs were made from heavy-duty, PVC-coated polyester or nylon welded together to form a bag which was designed to either sit on a pallet or be lifted via permanently attached loops. In the early 1970s companies in England, Japan,
Canada and the USA started to experiment with different high-strength yet lightweight fabrics such as polypropylene; leading to the FIBCs that we know today.
It took one particular event in the mid 1970s to really highlight the importance of the FIBC and that was the Middle East oil crisis. Suddenly, the oil producing Middle East states were awash with cash which sparked a building boom of incredible proportions. The cement manufacturers in Northern Europe, Spain and Italy were shipping between 30,000 and 50,000 tonnes of cement per week in FIBCs to the Middle-East — much to the delight of the FIBC manufacturers.
In 1982, Flomat, which manufactured a range of FIBC discharge machines, merged with Bagfilla, renowned for its state-of-the-art filling systems. The new company was called Flomat Bagfilla International and to celebrate the merger a completely new filling machine was launched. The Model A, as it was designated, could handle a very respectable ten tonnes of sugar and other granular
or powdered products per hour. Today, the newer Model A30 is still in production
thanks to its competitive price, rugged design and one- man operation. The Model A30 reflects the entire range of filling systems within the Flomat Bagfilla line-up in that while it might be the most basic model, the options available allow it to be tailored to suit any FIBC filling requirement. These options include the choice between pallet truck, fork-truck and powered conveyor bag removal together with a vibrating table for product consolidation and stability while the bag is in transit.
The next model in the line-up is the S30. The big advantage with the S30 is its unique lifting cone vibration table and high speed filing ability. Fitted with hang-weighing, the load cells are located in the mechanism which holds the FIBC loops. The control system incorporates a PLC with menu-driven HMI system for easy-to-set-up, accurate filling and control of the cone vibration sequence which can be tailored for
each type of material and FIBC size. FIBC removal is by fork-lift truck with drive-off style loop hangers. The S30 can handle up to 20 FIBCs per hour of sugar and other powders.
The next model is the D30 filling machine which incorporates all the features of the S30 but with the additional benefit of total automation. The D30 is a production line filling machine with pallet and slip sheet dispensing, automatic filled FIBC removal, filled FIBC removal and filled FIBC accumulation conveyors
The A30, D30 and S30 are available in both powder-coated mild or carbon steel or in stainless steel where hygiene is a major consideration. These machines are ideal for production facilities where there is a maximum filling requirement of 30 FIBCs per hour from one filling machine.
There is one more machine in the Flomat Bagfilla International range that can fill more than 30 FIBCs per hour; a lot more.
THE CAROUSELThe Carousel Six Station filling machine is the fastest FIBC filling machine manufactured anywhere in the world. Fully automated, the Carousel will handle all types of powders and granulates from sugar and coffee through to cement, PTA and PE. The Carousel system is unique to Flomat Bagfilla International and effectively replaces the banks of individual filling machines, thereby offering significant savings in, labour, capital cost, maintenance and floor space.
The standard specification of the Carousel is impressive:
- high-speed bagging rate for powders of between 30 and 60 FIBCs per hour;
- high speed bagging rate for non-dusty granulates and pellets of up to 80 bags per hour;
- capable of handling FIBCs from 500kg to 2,000kg capacity;
- high accuracy filling of between +/- 0.1%;
- two-man operation feed system;
- pre-weigh system;
- automatic bag inflation system;
- coned vibration tables for filled bag stability;
- check weighing;
- highly accurate ‘top up’ feeder;
- automatic height adjustment;
- automatic ‘sealed’ filling operation;
- automatic bag run out via run off belt conveyors;
- venting & dust filtration system;
- full PLC system Controls, HMI & data logging; and
- fork lift truck removal from system
The Carousel is an ideal filling machine for high-output processors of dry bulk product throughout the world.
Demand increases for Nectar equipment at inland locations
Since 1972 Nectar Group has been catering for the ever evolving bulk cargo handling market around the world. Having worked in over 142 ports, Nectar is no stranger to operating in challenging locations and adopts a stringent ‘can-do’ attitude to all that it approaches. As a service-based company, Nectar Group is constantly looking for ways to improve its service portfolio by providing solutions to existing or emerging problems. In the last few years the company has invested much time into the research, development and supply of bagging solutions across a range of market sectors and a vast array of countries thus providing niche services as well as maintaining extremely high standards among its core activities.
Over the last few years Nectar Group has expanded its range of bagging and bulk handling solutions to accommodate the changes seen in the past years due to the world economy, famine and changing logistics configurations. Nectar bagging machines have always offered flexibility to the clients in terms of locations they can be used as well as various applications from 25kg bagging up to big bag operations. The Compac M140 is suitable for operations in nearly any location due to its manoeuvrability and robust design. However, to further cater for niche markets, Nectar designed and introduced to the market a smaller 10ft unit, called the Impac M60, that has half the footprint of the larger Compac M140 and has the potential to bag between 25kg to 1 Tonne bags depending on the customer’s specifications.
With the marked increase in aid cargo quantities being distributed from inland silos, Nectar has seen a sharp rise in demand for its machines at inland locations. Further to this, the
demand for the ultra-mobile ‘Impac M60’ has risen as a consequence to these changes.
This machine, which has a capacity of 60tph (tonnes per hour), is able to be trucked and positioned in location with maximum ease and efficiency.The benefits of this machine are easy to be seen. However, this is not the only adaptation of the original Compac design that has received a positive reception.
A global shift, seen in recent years, to cut costs to a minimum has led customers to demand a mobile bagging plant that is able to bag directly into one-tonne (FIBCs) bags either on the quayside or on location at point of production or at storage warehouse. The advantages of this machine cut costs by giving the user larger volumes per bag and thus cutting labour costs and improving the efficiency of the logistics chain. As with all Nectar machines, the one-tonne bagging machine, named the Compac XL120, is able to handle a large array of products that some others are simply unable to accommodate.
The mobile bagging equipment solutions of Nectar can also be used in existing fixed cargo handling installations such as silos or flat storage facilities. However, Nectar has also been following the developments in newly emerging markets where new facilities requiring fixed bagging installations are required both at ports but also at inland locations. The company has already supplied a number of bespoke bagging solutions and equipment to such installations utilizing 40 years of knowledge and expertise in handling bulk commodities.
The year 2012 marks the 40th birthday of Nectar Group. Reflecting on the last four decades, Nectar has seen a huge change in the direction of the market and indeed the demands
Starlinger bag production machinery for Chinese chemical plant
The worldwide production of AD*STAR block bottom valve bags has reached more than four billion bags per year since the introduction of AD*STAR to the market in 1995. A prestigious project in Jiangsu Province in China will further add to this impressive number: Chinese chemicals producer Shihlien Chemical Industrial (Jiangsu) Co. Ltd., a member of Taiwan Glass Group, opted for high end machinery from Starlinger for manufacturing AD*STAR block bottom valve bags for packaging its products. The production output will be 40 million AD*STAR bags per year for packaging two million tons of soda ash and ammonium chloride.
Shihlien Chemical Industrial will start operations in the first half of 2012 and focus on the production of high quality soda ash for glass manufacturing as well as ammonium chloride. In response to the green movement and the creation of sustainable environmental solutions,Taiwan Glass Group has committed significant resources to ensure that the new Shihlien Chemical production facility meets national and international standards, as well as to establish pollution prevention programmes and a strong environmental management system.
These efforts are expected to reduce pollution created during the production process and limit the environmental impact of the facility’s products. This was also one of the reasons why Shihlien decided to use Starlinger equipment: the strong and tear-resistant bags contribute to the reduction of leakage and bag breakage and thus help to protect the environment.
Another main argument was that the bags do not need to have an inner liner, which saves a lot of labour and equipment costs and makes the AD*STAR bags even cheaper than paper bags with inner liner.
AD*STAR WOVEN POLYPROPYLENE BAGS: THE SAFE WAY TO PACKAGE AND HANDLE DRY BULK GOODS
The AD*STAR block bottom valve bag concept, developed and patented by Starlinger and on the market since the mid-1990s, still stands as one of the major breakthroughs of recent times in the packaging and handling of free-flowing goods. The brick- shaped woven polypropylene bags are ideally suited for the high degree of automation which is characteristic of plants for filling dry bulk goods.
Starlinger & Co. GmbH of Austria, a major global presence in the field of machinery and process technology for flexible woven packaging, supplies the complete line of machinery for their production, including full turnkey production plants. AD*STAR is patented worldwide and produced exclusively on Starlinger machinery.
COMBINING THE BEST OF THREE WORLDSThe idea behind the development of the AD*STAR bag was to combine the advantages of a paper bag — its brick shape and suitability for automatic handling — with the tightness and flexibility of a PE film bag and the strength and resistance of a woven PP bag.
The result: a one-layer block bottom valve bag made of stretched and woven polypropylene tapes, produced without one drop of glue. Instead, the coating on the fabric is plastically softened by applying hot air to bond the valve and bottom patches to the bag.
Perfect printing, made possible by the coated surface, gives the filled AD*STAR bag a sharp image. The bag can be produced in any colour and printed in several colours, also on the cover patches.
THE AD*STAR CONCEPT
The material characteristics are an obvious key to AD*STAR strength and robustness, but it is primarily the special production process that makes the difference. The Starlinger ad*starKON conversion line has been constructed to produce block bottom bags with an open mouth, normal valve or pocket valve without the use of adhesives.
The coated tubular polypropylene tape fabric is bonded together merely by applying hot air and pressure to the fabric: the hot air softens the polypropylene coating, then the valve, top and bottom patches are applied, pressed onto the folded bag bottoms, and cooled. This process makes the AD*STAR bag also a desired single-material solution fully suitable for recycling.
FOR ECOLOGY AND ECONOMYThe economical use of raw material, an extremely low breakage rate, as well as reusability and recyclability of the bags: each one of these ecological advantages also turns into an economic advantage.
As a result of the material characteristics and the special production process, the empty weight of an average AD*STAR sack holding 50kg can be as low as 75g. A comparable three- layer paper bag, in turn, weighs about 180g, and a PE-film bag 150g. The equation goes: the lighter the sack (while offering equal strength and protection), the less raw material input is required — and the higher is the profit for the sack producer. And an economical use of raw material not only helps to reduce the costs, it is also a valuable contribution to the preservation of the environment.
The impressive reduction of the breakage rate when compared with conventionally used paper sacks also has both an environmental and an economical effect: first, the risk of contaminating earth and water with the filling material is nearly zero. In addition, the savings potential is enormous when assuming that realistic breakage rates in the life cycle of paper bags (filling, conveying, palletizing, stacking, loading, transporting, unloading, ...) are about 5%.
TOO VALUABLE TO THROW AWAYEven after emptying, AD*STAR bags are a resource. Recycling is one option because
polypropylene is fully recyclable into resin, and no glue has been used in the production process. Another possibility is intrusion — a recycling process by which household-grade plastic waste is turned into quality moulded products. There is also the option of waste-to- energy incineration — recovering the very high calorific value (which is almost as high as the energy value of fuel oil) by burning the sacks. Many production plants all over the world supplement oil and coal with secondary fuels to achieve savings of up to 30% of primary fuels