Powderflight offers perfect niche solution for chemical company

When working with chemicals for turf and pest control, dust management is a top health and safety priority.

So, when PBI-Gordon Corporation (PBI-Gordon) – a national leader in the professional turf and ornamental management industry with a wide line of products that includes herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and growth regulators – required new conveying equipment for transferring bulk powders used in the creation and manufacturing of various chemical solutions in late 2017, it did substantial research to find the material transfer solution that would best fit its needs.

Through research, PBI-Gordon located UniTrak and contacted UniTrak to learn more about the Powderflight aeromechanical conveyors. Impressed with the technology which would provide the material transfer solution that PBI-Gordon was needing, PBI-Gordon purchased an M-75 Powderflight aeromechanical conveyor for its production facility in Crestline, Kansas.

The unit handles a variety of dry, free-flowing, non-abrasive chemicals for the production of herbicides in the 10-to-15-micron size range with a bulk density of 38 PCF; and a maximum capacity of approximately 9,100 pounds per hour.

The Powderflight aeromechanical conveyor moves the products intermittently from the discharge of one blender to a mill located above another of the blenders at PBI-Gordon’s manufacturing facility.

Jeff Levin, senior engineer at PBI-Gordon, says the quality of the equipment and service provided by UniTrak was exceptional.

“They did a very professional job putting it together,” he says. “You know the quality of the work is good when the crates are sound and strong and made to travel the distance from the Powderflight production facility in Canada.”

Levin was very impressed with the detailed installation instructions that UniTrak provided.

“They had a very comprehensive instruction manual. We assembled the unit on site, and it went in as easy as the Powderflight personnel had described,” he says. “The drawings that were given were accurate enough that the unit essentially fit right into the production line. It worked from day one and we simply have not had a problem with it.”

The extremely accurate drawings were important for this install, as PBI-Gordon was installing the Powderflight aeromechanical conveyor for a new manufacturing process.

“Honestly, it was probably one of the best installs that I have done, and I’ve being doing them for 30 years,” Levin says. “UniTrak was essentially unknown to us, but subsequently, I’ve purchased other pieces of UniTrak equipment (a few different types of quick augers) that arrived with the same high level of quality that I’ve come to expect. We’re never disappointed.”

With the help of UniTrak, PBI-Gordon was able to move and convey the products it needed for its new process without any issues.

“Our new ability to blend and mill has been a game changer,” Levin said, adding that controlling the dust in this process was very important. “Our biggest concerns with handling this certain material were safety hazards, and cross-contamination. This particular conveying system really fit our unique needs, and it continues to operate without any problems.”

Find out more about Powderflight aeromechanical conveyors.