Sonic Corp specializes in the design and manufacture of in-line blending systems for blending miscible fluids on a continuous basis. Most of our equipment solutions are customized to meet the challenges of a particular application.
Over the next few months we will be publishing several Engineering Spotlight videos on our YouTube channel. These Spotlight videos will demonstrate how Sonic assists its customers with various process problems, develops a liquid homogenizing or in-line blending system solution, generates the necessary engineering data and design drawings and completes fabrication.
In-Line Blending System to Replace an Labor-Intensive Mixing Process
In our initial video spotlight on inline-blending, a customer in Texas called looking for a solution to a labor-intensive mixing process whereby workers would manually forklift totes of liquid ingredients to a large mixing vat. The tote materials were transferred by drum pump and then added by weight into the mixing vat mounted on load cells. The materials were then mixed and pumped downstream to a filling line.
This process was labor intensive and costly. There were errors associated with the manual transfers and weighing of the raw materials. In many cases, the incorrect material was transferred to the mixing vat.
Sonic’s solution was our customized TechBlend In-Line Blending system that would use 5 PD pumps to transfer raw materials directly from their totes or drums through an in-line static mixer and on to the final filling area. Sonic would design and fabricate the complete system including PD pumps, Coriolis mass flow meters, piping, instrumentation and automated PLC/HMI controls. Sonic would provide all the design drawings for customer review. See drawing below:
The Final Cost Saving Solution!
The customer entrusted Sonic Corp to design and fabricate this proposed system for them. Our Engineering Spotlight video highlights this process and provides a general overview of how Sonic takes its customers from mixing problem to solution. Sonic provided the P&ID flow diagram, the 3D model and 2D drawings so the customer could customize the system as needed. The final fabrication of the in-line blending system was to their liking and as per the design:
Conclusions
Sonic’s TechBlend In-Line Blending system eliminated the manual forklifting operation while eliminating the manual transfers and weighing errors. This process also significantly reduced labor costs as the system was controlled by automated PLC programs designed and provided by Sonic.
