Flexible production processes with Porta-Feed IBCs

TMS Industrial Services backs containers from SCHÄFER Container Systems for mother daughter systems

Flexible production processes with Porta-Feed IBCs
© SCHÄFER Werke GmbH. Stationary collection basin with mother container and flexible daughter station for refilling
17.01.2022
Source:  Company news

Schäfer Container Systems, manufacturers of container systems for beverages, as well as IBCs and special containers, is now supplying stainless steel intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) for dosing stations. TMS Industrial Services’ new mother-daughter system based on the Porta-Feed IBC is a scalable, mobile application for decanting various liquid media – including chemicals, pharmaceuticals and base materials for cosmetics. The Porta-Feed is ADR (UN) certified for class 2 and 3 hazardous goods and also used in the food sector. Among other things, the station is also ideally suited to end products made up of individual substances, as these can be exchanged flexibly and adjusted and dosed individually during an ongoing production process.

To fill up the 1,500-litre Porta-Feed mother container, a daughter container with a volume of up to 1,000 litres is used, which is connected to the mother IBC via a coupling system. This enables the containers on top to be changed quickly and drip-free, even during operation. Due to the volume difference between the mother and daughter containers, production interruptions are minimised and downtimes avoided when containers are changed in good time.

"At peak order times, production facilities with large tank systems often reach the limits of their capacity, but this mother-daughter system means we can increase these limits flexibly. On the other hand, orders with limited volumes can be processed cost-effectively with the mobile station, without having to set up a stationary tank facility or use very small containers. But mother-daughter systems have also proven advantageous in development and product tests because they allow any number of individual components to be processed," explains Tobias Fuchs from IBC Technical Sales at Schäfer Container Systems.

The mother-daughter system is made of stainless steel and has the following structure: the centre piece is the Schäfer Container Systems 1,500 litre stackable Porta-Feed, which TMS Industrial Services has fitted with a filling level indicator and placed in a stainless steel collection basin. The basin, which is needed to comply with the regulation in the Water Resources Act (WHG), acts as a safeguard against water contamination and as support for the filling and dosing peripherals.

“It is the quality of the Schäfer Container Systems IBCs that persuaded TMS Industrial Services to use the Porta-Feed, which has been specially optimised for mother-daughter stations with regard to external dimensions, for instance. The stainless steel design makes the system robust, enabling it to be used permanently in tough farming and agricultural environments”, says Patrick Minnaard, mother-daughter project manager at TMS Industrial Services in the Netherlands.

The concept is impressive with its low space requirement and low acquisition costs, compared to fixed-installation tank systems. The new station can be both purchased and hired from TMS Industrial Services, and can also be adapted to customer-specific needs.