Bentonite Blending Plant

Site development for this Bentonite Blending Plant included five steel framed and/or pre-engineered steel buildings housing office, warehouse, equipment, and storage spaces. Bentonite is used as a casting material for John Deere machinery parts, as one example.

Concrete foundations were installed to support the new buildings and equipment. The blending system involved batch weight hoppers above the blender and a surge (dump) hopper below the blender. All bulk powders were to be transferred with pneumatic conveying systems. A refurbished hammer mill was installed for coal milling along with a natural gas fired dryer for drying the coal. New control systems were installed to provide full automation of blending and bulk material handling. A new 75 hp air compressor with air dryer and receiver tank was installed to supply instrument air to the entire facility.

The concept for this blending plant was developed through meetings with the Owner. Process Flow Diagrams were generated along with Piping and Instrument Diagrams. It became critical to define flow rates so that batch blending operations were on target. The plant was modeled in 3D and then orthographic plans and elevation drawings were created for mechanical, structural, and electrical construction.