Whether your dry bulk material bag emptying application is best suited for a manual bag dump station (also known as a sack tip station) or a bulk bag unloader primarily depends on:
- required unloading rates
- operator availability
- dust control requirements
- availability of materials in different bag sizes
Bag dump stations require an operator to manually empty smaller (20-50 lb. / 10-25 kg) bags into a hopper. As the bag size and required rate of unloading increase, bag dump stations become a less viable solution; operators would not be physically able to safely handle the bags or achieve the required unloading rates. Bag dump stations can be the most economical option when feed rates of certain dry ingredients are relatively low, batch times are of a longer duration, operators are freely available, the ingredient bags are small enough to safely handle and dusting can be effectively managed via bag dump station dust control options. Additionally, smaller mobile bag dump stations can enable one unit to feed multiple vessels or processes throughout the plant and can also be moved quickly for easy cleaning between different flavor batches.
If material feed rates are higher, labor is scarce, automated feeding would be beneficial or improved dust control is required, then the additional investment in a bulk bag handling system can have a quick and impactful payback.
To learn more or to discuss your specific process requirements, contact our experts here.