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Clay Additives Case Study

Manufacturing Challenge

BYK Additives, a leading global supplier of additives, invited American Vacuum to bid on a project to upgrade the vacuum systems for a clay processing facility. The facility was in need of housekeeping vacuum systems for three different facilities on the campus.  As a result, three different systems would be required. The project goal was to increase the efficiency of the operations, improve the cleanliness of the facility, and increase workers’ safety.

Clay is used as an additive by many different industries – as diverse as metal processing and food processing. As a result, the vacuum systems for BYK’s facilities need to be flexible enough to processing different mixtures of clay while providing superior cleaning to prevent cross-contamination and meet FDA, NFPA, and OSHA requirements. Efficient dust control is required from pre-production through bagging of the clay additives – as the clay is transported and moved through mixing and processing. In addition, dust accumulates throughout the plant and needs to be cleaned for sanitation and safety. Spills occur during transfer and processing. The requirements for the project included:

Innovative custom-Designed Solution

American Vacuum’s solution combined innovative elements to handle BLK’s requirements to provide superior cleaning and dust control to prevent cross-contamination and meet FDA requirements when needed, and to handle liquid slurry waste. We designed 3 custom vacuum systems for each of the facilities on the campus. Our systems provided high quality dust control throughout the processing facility, high volume conveyor systems, and custom vacuum systems to manage dust and spills at material transfer points.

We provided turnkey installation services, from bid through equipment commissioning. Training was provided to plant staff to ensure optimal operations.

Installation of American Vacuum’s equipment met the specific equipment requirements for the project. In addition, the plant reported increased cleanliness, improvements in efficiency, and decreased maintenance manhours throughout the plant.

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American Vacuum has been manufacturing Industrial Vacuums including portable, stationary, and central vacuum cleaning systems since 1910. We have installed over 500,000 Industrial Vacuum Systems across the United States and pride ourselves on being a family owned business. Please take a look at some of the case studies below to learn a little more about how American Vacuum is an industry leader and constantly pushing the industrial vacuum industry forward.