How to Install and Use the Fiber Feeder (In 5 Steps)
BY Clarence Richard
Given the number of mix designs that call for cellulose (and other) fibers and other additions these days, producers may find themselves in need of a fiber feeder for a single project or for multiple projects coming up over a couple of seasons. Whether you need to rent a feeder or install one more “permanently,” the steps for setting it up will be similar. Let’s look at how to best install a block fiber feeder for the continuous mix plant and the batch plant.
For fibers that are delivered in 44-pound blocks, use a feeder that conveys the blocks at a consistent rate to a weigh meter. As an example, the Ez-Flo Gen II feeder system, which Clarence Richard Services rents and sells, comes with 50 feet of 4-inch hose that couples to the mixer and with 200 feet of control cable that connects the feeder to the remote control. The remote control will be placed in the plant’s control room. The hopper and blower are mounted on a skid with a footprint of approximately 18 feet by 6 feet when lined up for production.
The remote control will be placed in the plant’s control room or, the control panel can be placed outdoors near the operation.
Step 1
Step one is to remove the skid from the lowboy and place it within a few feet of the mixing drum for ease of use.
A 4-inch pipe is usually inserted into the drum, running below the dust auger or dust blow pipe. Sometimes, you can build a box around the AC-fiber discharge junction to ensure fiber doesn’t become entrained in the exhaust air stream. The connection show here illustrates what it takes to connect the 4-inch hose and pipe to each other. The insert is taped to the pipe and the hose then slips over the insert. The hose clamp keeps the hose connected to the pipe. This is a low pressure application; therefore, the tape will do a good job.
Step 2
Step two is to shim the underside of the skids to stabilize and adjust for any required leveling.
Notice the tarp covers the hopper to keep rain out of this process. Wet fiber is nearly impossible to work with. It’s difficult to break open the tightly bound fibers or to open them from one another.
Step 3
Step three is to set up the remote control panel, which may be located in the plant’s control house for the operator’s convenience.
Notice the tarp covers the hopper to keep rain out of this process. Wet fiber is nearly impossible to work with. It’s difficult to break open the tightly bound fibers or to open them from one another.
Step 4
Step four is to connect the control cable from the feeder to the remote control.
The ground personnel will place the bales of fiber on the conveyor, placing them end-to-end. You want to fill the conveyor with the bales; the conveyor will feed them into the hopper.
Step 5
Step five, at the skid, is to pull the conveyor out from the hopper and fold out the table-conveyor support.
The ground personnel will place the bales of fiber on the conveyor, placing them end-to-end. You want to fill the conveyor with the bales; the conveyor will feed them into the hopper.
Ready to Go!
When ready to operate, the ground personnel will begin placing the bales of cellulose (or other) fiber on the conveyor. Place them end-to-end. Fill the conveyor with the bales, which the conveyor will send to its hopper’s augers.
The augers break up each bale into cottage cheese-sized chunks of fiber and feed it to the variable speed scale feed auger.
Fiber then passes through the scale into the air stream on the suction side of the blower.
The blower conveys the material and opens the fiber chunks, separating the fibers from each other for maximum AC absorption. The fibers “meet up” with the liquid AC in the drum, usually at the point where the AC is being sprayed.
The scale reports to the remote control. When the plant rate changes, the fiber rate will also change—this proportioning is controlled by the set point.
Clarence Richard is the proprietor of Clarence Richard Services (CRS), Minnetonka, Minnesota. For more information, contact him at (800) 372-7731 or Clarence@clarencerichard.com.