Who Are Keppel Seghers And Why Were Webster Griffin Awarded This Contract?
Keppel Seghers is an international provider of sludge treatment operations and maintenance services. They partnered with Qatar's Public Works Authority to build a sludge treatment plant that treats up to 439,000m3 of waste daily, sourced from wastewater treatment plants all over Qatar. The plant thermally dries and pelletises sludge, transforming it into refuse-derived fuel (a supplementary green energy source) or slow release granular organic fertilizer to be used as a plant boosting soil conditioner.
Webster Griffin (subcontracted by TSL Engineering PTE Singapore) won a contract to supply the plant with two automatic bag packing and palletising lines. It was our third project of its kind in the Middle East, following an installation at Saudi Arabia's Saudi Aramco Dhahran Sewage Treatment Works and one at Dubai's Jebel Ali Municipality sewage treatment works (under contractors Enpure and Al Ahmadiah Aktor).
Here's how it was done.
What Did Keppel Seghers Need To Pack And What Solution Did Webster Griffin Suggest?
To process the waste volumes Keppel Seghers processed daily, they required a system that could pack fertilizer into 10 kg plastic bags at a rate of 600 bags an hour. Webster Griffin proposed installing two fully automatic Form Fill Seal (FFS) pellet bagging machines and robot bag palletising system.
Unlike many of Webster Griffin's projects, this task required the team to operate outside the UK. To coordinate the installation on-site, Webster Griffin set up a service centre in Dubai to oversee the system's design, engineering, testing, installation, initial start-up — as well as employee training.
What Did Webster Griffin’s Solution Involve?
Webster Griffin’s FFS and palletizing system was constructed from heavy duty folded steel to make its cleaning easy and hygienic. It could be operated using a (HMI) Human Machine Interface touch screen panel.
To keep the system operating safely and without interference, there were machine guards at all access points. In addition, all its doors were interlocked with safety switches in compliance with the European Union's CE regulations. The FFS system’s volumetric doser was built to handle the organic pelleted fertiliser.
After filling it in bags, a bag shaker settled the bag's contents. A powered belt and bag flattening conveyor transported filled bags to the bag palletising robot. A pallet magazine delivered empty pallets ready for the palletiser so it can deliver neat, square filled pallets. This Okura palletising robot was controlled via a touch screen control panel which features software with 100 pre-set palletising programmes customised for different bag sizes, types of product and pallet stacking patterns. From here the bags were ready to be transported to clients.
What Benefits Did Keppel Seghers Realise After Their System Installation & Did It Help Them Hit Their Production Objectives?
Once the system was installed and tested and the necessary employees were trained to operate it, it was put to work. It immediately offered an improved bagging rate of 600 bags an hour with each bag weighing 10kg, as well as a palletising rate of up to 700 bags hourly.
Thanks to its automation and ability to operate 24/7, it freed up workers to focus on other tasks and helped the plant managers reach their production goals. The system was so successful that the international water community used it as a model for how to treat water to international standards for safe disposal and reuse.
To Find Out More About
Form Fill Seal Machines