Engineering Services Project Biffa Seaham
Weekend Outage Project at Biffa Seaham Polymer MRF
Hoverdale UK Limited was approached by Biffa Seaham, a Polymers Materials Recycling Facility in the North East, to improve the function of under-performing equipment and provide a stable production platform.
The Polymers MRF site is one of the company’s flagship facilities, using cutting-edge technology to recover and recycle plastic polymers.
Using these groundbreaking technologies presents issues as the process is unproven and requires development and optimisation.
Hoverdale was tasked with improving several areas within the site to facilitate better equipment availability and more tonnage output.
The Issues
The areas identified and addressed by the Hoverdale team were.
- Screening shafts had become worn and ineffective
- Several conveyor belts and skirting required changing to reduce spillage
- Several slider beds needed fabrication repairs
- The Polymer float tank needed a system to help agitate and move the material through the process.
Scope of Works
The Aim
To reduce unplanned stoppages and allow for the adoption of better (PPM) Planned Preventive Maintenance schedules.
The New Equipment Solutions
To achieve the aim in the 5-day shut down, the Hoverdale team installed the following new equipment and materials:
- A Floating Tank was fitted with a bespoke stainless steel variable-speed agitator, helping optimise the flow and movement of material through the process.
- Five new conveyor belts were supplied, fitted, and hot vulcanised up to 1600mm wide. These were mainly cleated belts prepared first with cleats and hot vulcanised to the base belt, achieving much better longevity than cold bonding.
- As the old belts were removed, the Hoverdale team repaired the slider beds before fitting the new belts.
- Once the belts were installed, new low-friction skirting was fitted to help reduce spillage through the conveyor sides.
- 12 new screening shafts were manufactured, supplied, and fitted.
The results
- Stable production and increased equipment availability
- Increased tonnage output
- No spillage over the side of the conveyors
- Polymer material in the float tank agitated and moved at the correct speed – avoiding blockages and stagnation
- Reduction in unplanned stoppages.
- More efficient processing of material over the screening decks increases sorting accuracy and performance.
In addition to the project over the same period at the request of the customer
An extra conveyor belt replacement was added in and completed.
3 head drum re-lagging with 10mm diamond rubber
Why Choose Hoverdale?
Industry-leading expertise
Hoverdale are the founders of the bi-metallic plate industry in the UK. We were the first company in the UK to install the Hood & Spoon conveyor system, the benchmark in reliability for the 21st Century.
Reduced maintenance costs
Our products and services routinely reduce maintenance costs by 80% by providing a longer life and minimising downtime.
No-cure no-pay trial
Want to see if our recommendations work? Why not let us install a trial for you so that you can judge the results for yourself. We expect you to be delighted with the results.
The benchmark for quality in the industry
Made in the UK, our products are used in 5 continents and our expertise spans the globe. Book a site visit now, the savings will more than pay for your time or your money back!