From returnable glass bottles to the finished product (glass wool)

Customer comments:

"The SIGON system has allowed us to increase the overall reliability of our plant. We have also cut energy consumption and maintenance costs, and reduced the impact of our operations on the environment, in all we have achieved savings in excess of SEK 2 million per annum*, of which SEK 1.4 million come from reduced maintenance requirements.

The installation has provided us with a much safer workplace, as we no longer need to routinely change worn pipes in the bulk goods handling system.

We were very pleased with the results that we achieved with the first SIGCN enclosed conveyor which was installed in 1996. This had a positive influence on our decision in 1999 to invest in a second system for our other furnace. This too has met our expectations."

Matts Hidbolm, Service Manager, lsover Gullfiber

Company facts:

Sican Roulunds AB is a wholly owned subsidiary of AJS Roulunds Fabriker and is thereby part of the A.P. Moller Group.

The SICON conveyor system is a Swedish patented product that is used to transport bulk goods in a completely enclosed environment. thus eliminating dust and spillage. The system is ideal for installation in areas where tight turns and sharp inclines make conventional solutions impractical. The unique properties of the system mean that bulk goods can be moved in an environmentally superior manner in confined spaces, over long distances and with low energy consumption. A single conveyor can be fitted with multiple loading and discharge stations, and allows simultaneous two-way conveying with the same belt.

The SICON systems consist of a completely enclosed conveyor belt that can cope with obstacles, tight turns and sharper inclines than conventional cnnveyors.

Increased demands mean many advantages for conveyor transport

With only a few exceptions, bulk transport conveyor systems have an adverse affect on the working environment and often lead to increased maintenance costs. The problem is often compounded by factors such as the wastage that occurs when transferring material between separate transport installations and the practical implications of routing conventional conveyor systems around fixed objects on the production line floor.

Enclosed conveyor systems with superior cornering capability

Plans for a completely new kind of bulk conveyor system were initially drawn up more than fifteen years ago and Swedish-based Sicon AB built the first enclosed conveyor prototype in 1986. The first commercial system was delivered two years later.

In 1992 the Danish conveyor belt manufacturer, A/S Roulunds Fabriker in Odense, took over the ownership of the company and the name changed to Sicon Roulunds AB. The belts are still produced in Denmark by A/S Roulunds Fabriker. The onehundredth installation was delivered in 1999.

The SICON conveyor system comprises one long, continuous, enclosed conveyor belt, which runs from the loading area to the discharge point. The conveyor is manufactured from a variety of flexible materials, which enable the SICON conveyor belts to be routed around very tight corners.

As the conveyor is only open at the loading and discharge stations, problems caused by dust and wastage along its length have virtually been eliminated.

Wherever the belt does not convey product e.g. along its return path, the same enclosed teardrop shaped bag is maintained.

The two edges of the conveyor belt carry the weight of the goods being transported and have internal vulcanised steel wires that carry the full tension of the SICON belt. This unique design enables the SICON conveyor to easily cope with tight turns of up to 180 degrees.

lsover Gullfiber replaced a pneumatic system with a SICON conveyor

Swedish insulation manufacturer, Isover Gullfiber previously moved raw materials through its plant using a pneumatic conveying system. This system however suffered from pipe leaks, which released excessive amounts of dust containing harmful substances such as oxidants and soda into the atmosphere with subsequent problems.

When the company installed a SICON conveyor system at its plant in Billesholm, the SICON conveyor dramatically reduced the negative environmental impact of its operations.

The installation required only minor alterations to the existing buildings thanks to the compact design of the equipment and the fact that it can cope with obstacles, tight turns and sharp inclines.

The earlier conveyor system required a standby system in order to ensure that the plant did not grind to a halt should a fault occur or when the pneumatic system was down for maintenance. One of these systems has been retained as a stand-by even though the new SICON system has operated virtually fault-free ever since it was installed three and a half years ago.

Other advantages have been achieved includes a substantial reduction in the risk of segregation in the product. Likewise, iron contamination in the product, resulting from the internal wear of the pneumatic conveying pipelines, introduced hundreds of kilograms of iron into the final product, damaging the furnace's oven linings, has been eliminated.

The company does not have figures available, which could quantify the overall improvements in the process, however a sizeable reduction in maintenance costs has been realised since the new system was installed.

Energy savings of approximately SEK 500,000 per annum have been recorded and an overall cost reduction in excess of SEK 2 million mark per annum.

With a total installation cost of SEK 6 million, Isover Gullfiber expects to achieve savings of SEK 15 million over a ten-year period, based on their experience with the previous and new systems to date.

Lots of uses

Sicon Roulunds reference list is as impressive as it is long and includes a broad spectrum of international process industries that handle a wide variety of bulk products.

The system can be delivered in lengths ranging from a 50 meters to kilometre long installations. The spectrum of materials which can be transported, ranges from sand to chalk, cement and different kinds of ore, ingredients for foodstuffs and drink products including malt, milk powder and frozen meats.

Waste handling and other recycling systems are currently being developed and as interest and the market base expands in this area, the SICON system can offer solution to previously unsolvable problems.

It is difficult to quantify the market potential for the system, given the diversity of different applications, however it is more than likely that deliveries during the next ten years will increase dramatically.