Zippe’s Vibrotube batch charger has been in operation for just over a year at a 300tpd German container glass production facility, where it started in May 2014.
Time enough to make a short resume about the results. The new concept’s characteristics are a complete sealing of the doghouse in comparison to existing chargers on the market, less wear, an improved batch distribution in the melting bath and a wider range of adjustment possibilities.
The graphs show the change in temperature and energy consumption before the exchange of the machines (two standard chargers ‘tray feeder-pusher type’) and after (2 Vibrotube).1
“The results are stunning and have clearly outperformed our expectations. It was evident that we would expect improvements, but the magnitude of the energy savings due to the Vibrotube was not predictable. For us these results and the high satisfaction of the customer show that we are on the right track with the Vibrotube”, said company officials.
1 All other factors were kept constant, data reflect official operators' protocol
Table 1 (bottom) Comparison of temperature and melting rates between a standard and a Vibrotube batch charger.
