Briquettes | Fitzpatrick Chilsonator
Custom Powders were one of the first to see the potential of this technique for contract processing. We have now compacted a wide variety of powders for our customers for more than 20 years and have built up a tremendous amount of experience and expertise in this area.
This technique produces free flowing granules without the need to add any binders or water. The basic principle is that a fine powder or mixture of powders is fed between two rotating rolls where it is pressed into moulds of the desired shape. 
It is a fully enclosed continuous system with recycle of fines and oversize.
Therefore there is hardly any product/material loss.
The end product consists of pillow shaped solids ranging from about 10x15. It is possible to produce larger briquettes by changing the profile of the compaction rolls but this will involve the purchasing of new rolls.
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Briquettes | Fitzpatrick Chilsonator
Custom Powders were one of the first companies to see the potential of this technique for contract processing. Now over 20 years we have built up considerable experience with a very wide spectrum of products and applications.
How does this technique work?
The main principal of roll compaction is that a fine powder or mixture of powers is fed between two rolls and then by high pressure is pressed into moulds of the desired shape. The compacted briquettes are then fed to a sieve where the product will be sieved according to the required specification. The end-product then is packed off to the required end-packaging and the oversize and fines are being recycled.
We own 7 compaction systems differing in size and capacity. The processing capacity varies from 50 kg/ hr to 30 T per day depending on the size of the machine, the characteristics of the starting material and if recycling is required. Typically all the equipment is in stainless steel and set up in such a manner that material from big bags as well as sacks can be processed.
Often the raw materials for compaction require pre-blending followed immediately by compaction. For that reason in most of our compaction units you will find incorporated blending systems.
If specific product characteristics require so we can also offer forced cooling with liquid nitrogen and/or control the humidity levels in the process area.
Preferably the raw materials for compaction should not be too fine because this might make transportation of the raw material to the compactor difficult and require special feeding equipment. This may have an effect on processing capacity and thus influence the potential price per ton.
Next to the processing cost per ton we charge for the changeover costs per order. These are the costs for setting up and cleaning down the required equipment. This cost component depends mainly on the size of the equipment, the complexity of the set up and of course on how easy or difficult it is to remove the material from the equipment. For that reason we also have smaller equipment and simpler set ups available for the processing of smaller quantities.
The end-product from the briquetting process consists of pillow shapes of 10 x 15mm, varying in size. Larger briquettes are also possible by adapting the profile of the compaction rolls. In addition we can offer shapes the size of broken pencils if the objective is to produce dust free materials rather than an attractive product.
Why to choose for this technique?
This technique is often chosen for the following reasons:
- For producing a uniform product with similar sizes, shapes and densities. This eliminates the occurrence of segregation.
- For producing a uniform particle size in order to live up to specific individual requirements.
- For controlling the amount of dust in the end-product in order to prevent processing issues like exposure, cross contamination and the loss of product.
- For controlling the hardness of the product so that a product for example can be pneumatically dosed without breaking down.
- For improving the dissolving characteristics. Briquettes often absorb liquids better than powders and therefore dissolve better.
Our compactors are set up in iron with all contact parts in stainless steel. They are all suitable for the processing of chemical products, plastic additives, detergent products, animal feed as well as food.
Explosion rating:
The equipment is suitable for the processing of products with a low to high explosion rating (ST1 - ST2).
Availability:
This equipment is available in Helmond (NL) as well as in Crewe (UK) Top >>