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Chemical containment
Flexicon’s sealed bulk bag discharge system contains a chemical dust
hazard at Texas A&M University Fire Training Field
Flexicon has eliminated the potential for dusting associated with
Texas A&M’s Brayton Fire Training Field trains more than
80,000 firefighters per year from over 50 countries
the previous unloading method and is much more efficient, says
Ron Peddy, TEEX’s program manager for environmental safety
and field services.
Prior to installing the new system, the powder was received in
180 kg drums, which were stored until needed. When a drum
was needed for the refilling operation, it was hand-rolled to a
4,350 kg hopper that fed the refilling line. A drum tipper was
used to empty the drum into a 270 kg capacity hopper, from
which the powder was augured up into the large hopper. From
the hopper, hoses were used to refill the canisters as they
moved along a roller conveyor. Powder was transferred to the
hoppers in the open air and the refilling process was performed
outside, under an awning, to prevent dust inhalation, says Peddy.
In the new configuration, the whole operation has been
consolidated indoors in a single building. Chemical powder is
received in 1,000 kg bulk bags, which are stored in the building.
A bulk bag unloading frame is located
above a floor hopper, at the head
of the U-shaped roller
conveyor. The powder is
transferred from the
bag to the hopper and
into the canisters
without being
exposed to the
The Texas A&M University System is famous for its agricultural environment.
and engineering programs, but less well known is the fact that Both the bulk-bag
one of its agencies has the country’s largest training facility for unloading frame
firefighters. The 48,560 m
2
Brayton Fire Training Field, operated and the floor
by the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), includes full- hopper were
scale buildings, a chemical complex, a petroleum refinery unit, a supplied by
loading terminal, a ship, and an aircraft fuselage that are used for Flexicon. The Model
realistic firefighting drills. BFC bulk-bag
Each year, TEEX trains more than 80,000 firefighters and unloader
emergency response personnel from over 50 countries. In the incorporates a
course of their training, the students have to fight a variety of cantilevered I-beam,
fires, using various types of equipment, such as hand lines electric hoist and
(hoses) and hand-held fire extinguishers that contain sodium- trolley. Bags are
bicarbonate-based (NaHCO3) chemical powder. brought to the
Brayton Fire Training Field (BFTF) is currently in the midst of a unloading frame by a
£15 million infrastructure upgrade, and one of the first projects forklift and lifted by the
to be completed was the installation of an improved refilling hoist, which has a spreader
operation for portable fire extinguishers. NaHCO3 is a fine
powder of 5–20 microns, similar to talcum. It is easily airborne
ABOVE: Sodium-bicarbonate powder is transferred from a
when handled or transferred from one container to another,
Flexicon bulk bag unloader, into a hopper and through a hose to
refill canisters on the conveyor line. Tele-Tube™ telescoping
creating a potential dust hazard.
tube, between bag outlet and hopper, elongates the partially
The key feature of the redesigned operation was the
empty bag to prevent dead spots and flow restrictions. Flow-
installation of a sealed system for unloading bulk bags of the
Flexer™ bag activators (yellow plates) raise and lower bottom
chemical powder and filling the canisters. The new system from edges of the bag to promote total evacuation.
6 Solids & Bulk Handling • August 2007 www.solidsandbulk.co.uk
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