Drum Decanting System


A Drum Decanting Unit, or DDU, is a mechanized and automated means to add drummed additives to the blending system. The mechanization of drum decanting promotes safety and resource utilization while decreasing blending variation and labor costs. The unit's automation simplifies recipe management and production planning while limiting waste generation.

In today's competitive marketplace recipes are becoming increasingly complex requiring more specialized additives to enter into the formula. These unique additives, delivered in drum containers, involve up to 20% of the recipe. With the available number of additives for various products increasing, the efficient handling of drummed additives becomes an important aspect of a blending process. To speed up production,Wei-Pack designs Drum Decanting Units (DDU) to automatically drum additives.

With the DDU, emptying even the most viscous drummed additives is possible due to the systems unique design. These are some of the unique features you can expect

Drum Weighing Platform

A typical DDU skid system employs roller conveyors to feed and discharge the drums, one drum at a time into the drum weighing platform. The platform is mounted on load cells and comes with a tilting device to slant the drum and allow for maximum removal of product. Optionally, bar code readers may be used to positively identify the additive and prevent from blending an incorrect component.

Drum Emptying

  • The decanting mechanism consists of a swivel lance assembly inserted into the drum. A remotely operated two-stage dosing valve on the outlet of the lance typical controls the drummed additive dosing. Once a set amount is reached, the lance is removed, squeegee cleaned, and ready for the next drum in sequence.

Drum Cleaning

  • A rinse tank is included with the decanting system to rinse all the drums with hot base oil using the lowest viscosity base stock of the blend. Thus the amount of residual additive in the drums can be minimized. Additionally, the rinse tank sends hot oil to flush the lance of any remaining additive. This step can occur either between each drum or at the end of the entire drum discharge procedure, whichever is preferred.

Pipe Cleaning

  • After the last additive is emptied from the drum, the lines are cleaned with the remaining hot oil in the rinse tank.

Local Operator Station

  • A local operator station, linked to the main control system, is installed at the weigh platform. It assists the operator by providing step-by-step instructions and verification as each step is completed.