Sanitized Zone
Helping a packaging OEM upgrade their systems for hand sanitizer filling
Overview
Driven by the spread of the CoronaVirus, there has been a huge growth in the manufacture of antibacterial hand sanitizers. One manufacturer reports monthly production pre-Covid of 70,000 units growing to more than 100 million over the course of 2020.
Formulations vary widely, however, the most effective sanitizing products are based on alcohol, usually isopropyl or ethyl alcohol. Typically, the alcohol content is between 60 and 95% and blended with an aqueous dispersion of carbomers to provide the gelling effect. As the product is highly flammable, processing plants are likely to be classified as hazardous areas.
Project Brief
Our OEM customer needed Expo’s knowhow to provide a number of hazardous area compliant control systems based around their standard industrial control components for their liquid filling, labelling, and conveying systems which were to be used within a hand sanitizer production facility.
Challenges
Based on the flammability of the hand sanitizer, the packaging lines would be installed in a facility classified as Class I Div. 1- the most onerous category. The starting point for our project were a number of standard general-purpose industrial control systems suitable for use in safe areas, although their HMI’s were Class I Div. 2 certified. The end-user wanted to continue to use the HMI’s, due familiarity with their operation, so they would need uprating to Class I Div. 1
Expo's Solution & Outcome
After reviewing the design, Expo’s solution comprised the following components which would be installed by the end-user on their existing control stations to give the required level of protection:
- MiniPurge Type X system - used to purge and pressurize electronics enclosures, which allowed the customer to continue to utilize their general-purpose area electronics within the hazardous area.
- Operator Interface Adapter – this solution allowed the customer to continue to use their familiar membrane-keyed HMI as part of the purged enclosure.
- MiniPurge Interface Unit - used to isolate the power to the control enclosure in the event of a pressure loss to meet the Class I Div.1 hazardous area requirements.