Six years after a Flexicon
bulk bag discharger and
screw conveyor operation
first went live at The Plastics
Group’s production facility in
Woonsocket, Rhode Island
the company has invested in
a second Flexicon system that
feeds additives to a new twinscrew
compounding line in
the manufacture of
thermoplastics.

One of the constraints was
plant headroom – 5m max.

With careful planning, the
original single screw
compounder was replaced by
a twin, 70mm diameter screw
compounder, the use of a
Flexicon bulk bag discharger
and conveyor enabling
everything to be fitted on one
level of the 5600m2 building.

Additives arrive in bags
weighing 450 to 1130kg, but
some are shipped at 1360kg.

Therefore Flexicon ensured
the BFC Bulk Bag Discharger
frames had a safety load
rating of 1800kg. Each bag is
attached to a four-cornered
low-profile lifting cradle with
Z-Clip bag-strap holders and
raised into position by an
electric trolley hoist mounted
on a cantilevered I-beam.