It doesn’t matter whether you’re working with food, pharmaceuticals or fine chemicals, safety and cleanliness are essential in any commercial environment. The key to achieving this successfully is finding ways to maintain sanitary work conditions and uphold product integrity whilst maximising operator efficiency and minimising negative environmental influences. Vacuum conveyors can prove invaluable in achieving these aims.
A vacuum conveyor can be central to a pneumatic transfer system which can promote workplace health and safety whilst almost preserving the hygiene of the environment. This is achieved in the following ways.
A Closed System
The majority of pneumatic conveyor designs create what is known as a closed system which prevents products entering the environment. This reduces contamination, something that is vital when dealing with hazardous materials, and stops the environment from contaminating your product.
This means that you can easily keep your products, employees and facility clean and remove the need for costly personal protective equipment (PPE). In general, pneumatic systems also require less maintenance whilst offering a cleaner transfer compared to mechanical or manual methods.
Improved Safety
Making use of vacuum conveyors found at the likes of http://www.aptech.uk.com/pneumatic-conveying-systems/vacuum-conveying/ can really boost employee safety and wellbeing. It reduces the amount of manual lifting required and can substantially the lower the risk of environmental contamination. This sort of system also allows for powder to be charged from a distance, meaning that there is no need for operators to get too close to reactors when they are running, further boosting both efficiency and safety. Read more about the safe handling of powders on the Health and Safety Executive at http://www.hse.gov.uk/search/search-results.htm?gsc.q=handling%20powders#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=handling%20powders&gsc.page=1.
Vessels can by charged at any time without your processes being disrupted with the help of pneumatic conveying, and there is no need to open a manway to charge powders. This saves time and means that vessels can be charged under vacuum or pressure whilst an inert atmosphere is retained. These methods can substantially improve safety when explosive, skin-sensitive, oxygen or carcinogenic powders are being conveyed.
Reduced Contamination
You may not want your product to be contaminated by environmental elements such as human contact or oxygen, or you might need to prevent the products from contaminating the environment, such as whilst handling explosive or hazardous materials. Either way, vacuum conveyors can help improve processes – and safety.