Transferring Tacky But Heatable Material

It seems to be a very simple problem: First get Temperature VS Viscosity from LAB.

1) Option: Heat wax to the temperature where you get the lowest viscosity and then transfer (It is thermoplasatic in nature - so it will retain its rheological properties)

2) Option: you van make use of gravity (Place your 55 gallon drum way up and your 2 gallon can way down

3) Option: Use metering equipment and they are available at many parts of the country - You can heat and transefr precise amount of material. This whole thing can be automated very easily

Thanks for your feed back. It is much appreciated. The idea here is that, we don't want to heat more than we need - for the material has degradation issues when doing this. We noticed this after 5 days or so with entire 55 gallon barrel heated at 160 deg. F with a heater blanket around it. It takes just over 24 hours for entire barrel to liquify.

I can tell you that the viscosity is about like hersheys chocolate syrup. Manbe even thicker, it is long and stringy to deal with, even at 160 deg. F. Any hotter than that you run into the material being over heated and degradation happening sooner. Plus, we don't want localized heat, such as an induction heater for the material may start to burn with direct contact with the heater. This stuff is like trying to scoop taffy when it is cool. With a warm blade though, you can plow right through it. It slides nicely off a warm blade. I was looking for something to scoop clumps out at a time.

I am very interested your details about Option 3. I am not sure what you are suggesting for this option. I think maybe you're talking about something that acts as a heated reservoir (connecting to a valve on the bung hole on the drum), preserving 2 gallons of 140 deg. F wax at a time. This reservoir chamber would naturally refill after about 4 hours of heating (which is about how fast we consume it). After 4 hours we would simply open the ball valve and drain another 2 gallons. Please let me know and again, Thanks.

Option 4: consider using inductive heating on the drum before pouring the contents. Commercially-available equipment isn't expensive.

A core sampling device may help you. It consists of a thin walled tube with a piston inside. The piston rises up as the core device is inserted into the drum. I would make a fitting to thread into the drum opening, with a seal to wipe the device off as it is removed. Once removed, the piston is pushed down to expel the wax. Hopefully the wax in the drum will flow into the hole the device made. If the drum is on it's side with the hole down, flow will keep the sample area full until the drum is almost empty. The flow should be slow enough to put a plug back in before spilling, hopefully.

the problem with this stuff is it has low thermal conductivity, so heating the 55 gallon drum to start the job takes 2 days. Can you take one drum, melt it, and then pour it into a number of 2 gallon square metal cans about 4" thick x 12" x 12", So 27 of them would hold the entire drum full. Then all you need to do is heat them one at a time in a hot water bath at 160 to use them. To avoid making these, can you buy commercial square 2 gallon cans??, or even use the common 1 gallon ones needs 55 of them. That way you would have handles and pouring spouts ready made. Once each month you make them up and use them. A water bath is easy to make. Can the supplier supply the product in 1 gallon cans ready to roll?

I know it is cheaper in bulk, maybe that is why it is cheaper in bulk. if it costs you $1 extra per gallon, what is the tradeoff in aggravation avoided.

How about approaching your supplier?

All or most of his customers should have similar requirements. He might suggest/direct you few of his customers successfully handling such a requirement...

I will look into this. Thanks for your suggestion.

Hi Deeker

If something can be heated to make it more liquid you should be able to freeze it and make it hard as rock. It will be necessary to fill it into a suitable container, maybe a flat large plastic container and use it as a mold.

Once you have heated the sticky stuff, tip it from the drum into said container and put it into an industrial freezer. Ask your nearest meat works they'll possibly do it for a slab of beer. Take it out and saw (band saw?) it to the weight or size you need. Hope it stays hard long enough but don't we all . Good luck, Ky.

I'm freezing some to see if this is possible. Thanks for your suggestion. CHEERS!!!

Use some detergent for lubricating the saw blade. If contamination of the product is an issue wipe it off with water after cutting. Good luck, Ky.

Hello Deeker,

Have you tried using a 'non stick' Teflon pan or jug to do the job?

Perhaps a Vacuum hose system may work?

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Keep in touch, as this sound interesting.

place a suitable metal scooping container in front of a $20 1500W adjustable ceramic space heater for a couple minutes and then use the heated container to scoop out just what you need...

I have used these low cost locally available heaters to heat a variety of tools and .. yes even 5 gallon buckets of glue in a cold winter manufacturing setting.

easy . cheap. safe. fast. effective.

---place the two gallon container in front of the same cheap heater to warm the contents and promote settling as you scoop it in.

I would look for a metal pitcher with a good amount of thermal mass and a good handle.

sharpen the leading edge a bit to make things easier if you can find a pitcher that is thicker than sheet metal.

maybe a thick pot straight from the kitchen?

if you can't stomach something so low tech.. then just call it the "cordless and rechargeable" scooping system.

..might be worth a try

I may try this but this stuff is messy tacky. So the the tools are going to have to be stowed somewhere they can't get contaminated. If a fly land on the messy tool (heated or at room temp), that fly is going no where. This is an option we thought about and may try. Thanks for you suggestion.

This might help:

http://www.globalspec.com/FeaturedProducts/Detail/Seepex/New_ConcentricAuger_Pump_for_Sludge_Cake/16523/0

Very good answer !

All that the OP needs to do is monitor the wax temperature at the pump's output, since it has a cylindrical/conical bore and the friction+compression creates a fair amount of heat (well known in plastic injection), if it goes over 160 F then he would need to slow down RPMs accordingly.

And he'll get the product ready to be poured into 2Gal. containers.

Yahlasit

A good potential solution, but I don't think it meets the low-cost requirements stated in the question.

Looks pricey! But I will look into it for future use. To give you an idea of viscosity at room temp... I can plunge my finger into the room temp barrel in about 1 minutes time. Heat it for too long and ruin the whole barrel. Thanks for your suggestion!

Wow I guess you can get just about anything in a drum at one of those wholesale clubs today...

As for preheating the tools/scoop, a water filled crock pot might help. Regulate the temperature with a separate thermostat. Or you might try placing the drum on it's side with a gate valve on the drum cover. Heat it and melt just enough to to get the volume you need to flow. Use a valve like you find at a beekeeping supply place, designed for viscous fluids. Or look at this wax processing tank for some ideas.

http://www.betterbee.com/products.asp?dept=1260

Thanks, only problem with that is getting it off the scoop. This stuff cools fast, since it's hair removal wax and all. We have the industrial sized water jacketed tanks but We can't keep it hot for too long. I will look into the valves. Thanks for your suggestion.

Another thought, could you freeze the drum and break it into manageable pieces?

I'm freezing a sample right now to see how managable it is. Haven't tried that approach yet. Thanks for your suggestions. I will post how it worked out.

Will your wax melt by microwave heating?

If yes, the frozen/broken pieces could be reheated by microwave in the end containers...

Cheapest solution - take the legs of an electric skillet that has a suitable handle and temperature control. You now have an oversized, electrically heated scoop. Total cost = free if you poke around enough garage sales or garbage cans to find one with a broken leg.

Nice. I like it. I will try it. Thanks for your idea!