Sackett engineers designed a custom-arranged Loss in Weight (LIW) system with key features to support Wilbur-Ellis’ main goals.
“For speed and flexibility, we used Sackett-originated Mesh Chain Feeders with adjustable gates for each major hopper,” says Charles Formisani, vice president of sales for A.J. Sackett. “Each hopper can dose at up to 140 tons per hour (TPH). For accuracy, Sackett’s LIW uses Hardy load cells and controllers for pharmaceutical level sampling rates and dosing calculations.”
Sackett also designed one hopper with a dedicated liquid impregnation system as well as a Continuous Mixer with an impregnation system, Formisani says. And to add powders such as micronutrients and nitrogen stabilizers, the system included three powder LIW feeders that discharge directly into the Continuous Mixer.
“To run the system, we teamed with Kahler Automation to provide Wilbur-Ellis with a full Alan Bradley PLC and MCC-based system with automatic controls and agronomy interface,” Formisani says.
Key features in the resulting facility include:
The ability to blend custom materials with multiple ingredients, including micronutrients and other powders
The ability to liquid impregnate single or multiple products
A blending capacity of 8 to 12 minutes for a 25-ton blend • A covered loadout area with the ability to load five 25-ton loads per hour
3,000 tons of storage capacity across 7 different product bins
“Our growers are most impressed with the speed of the blend system,” Mayer says. “One other difference we saw was our TerraGator wasn’t sitting waiting for fertilizer coming from the plant.”[/
