Pneumatic cylinders keep bottling plants safe

Pneumatics & Hydraulics

May 2003 Pneumatics & Hydraulics

French manufacturer of gas cylinder filling installations, Siraga, has standardised on BoschRexroth technology, available in South Africa exclusively through Tectra Automation, as its pneumatic components of choice in these safety-critical applications.

Siraga designs and assembles customised filling installations - complete with accessories - for companies that fill cylinders with liquid butane and propane. Liquid propane gas in cylinders is used the world over. After use, these have to be refilled. There is enormous difference between gas cylinders - a variety of sizes, diameters and weights have to be taken into account as much as the condition of the cylinders, which can fluctuate between virtually new and rusted or damaged. Some cylinders are empty on return, others are half-full. Gas cylinder valves and covers also differ according to the country. With export sales of nearly 80%, the specialist company is a market leader worldwide in this field.

Siraga, based in Buzan Vais, France, is a market leader that offers equipment ranging from simple filling apparatus right through to a large filling plant. Examples include France where 800 to 1000 cylinders are filled per hour, Asia where the figure is up to 1200 and South America where the figure reaches as high as 2200 cylinders per hour. Cylinder weight can vary from between 6 and 110 kg and the length from 400 mm to 1,2 m.

Despite all the variations with respect to packaging or cylinder valve type, the project design specialists at Siraga are endeavouring to simplify the work by standardisation. Siraga uses at least 40 Rexroth pneumatic cylinders per filling station to centre the gas cylinders and remove them from the conveyor line after filling. For safety reasons, there is a cylinder for every filling stand, as it is imperative that positioning problems are avoided when handling liquid gas. For opening valves on cylinders of different sizes, compensation is made through the use of pneumatic cylinders.

Due to the aggressive environmental influences and humidity involved in most of these applications, Siraga places great emphasis on special cylinder materials. Anode-oxidised cylinders are manufactured from electrically zinc-plated aluminium profiles to prevent corrosion. Having standardised on every possible component used for production, cylinders manufactured for Sigara are designed with features such as load, conveyor speed and related dynamic forces taken into account.

The company uses BoschRexroth pneumatic cylinders for filling gas cylinders as well as in the circular conveyors themselves. A total of 18 pneumatic cylinders are used together to facilitate the handling of up to 2400 cylinders a minute. Tectra Automation, the South African company, also manufactures VDMA profile and tie-rod, compact and round cylinders, from 16 diameter to 200 diameter, to international standards. The picture shows a circular conveyor system incorporating BoschRexroth pneumatic cylinders.

For more information contact Bevil Blaine, General Manager, Tectra Automation, 011 971 9400, [email protected], www.tectra.co.za

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Pneumatics & Hydraulics

Pneumatic cylinders keep bottling plants safe

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