Product Review: Continuous Batch Feeding System

For more information, see the Second Quarter issue of Seed Today.

Simatek Bulk Systems’ bucket elevators are used all over the world in the seed handling industry.

The Denmark-based company opened an office this year to bring its products to the North American market.

Jim Brown, Simatek’s sales manager for North America, says the bucket elevators include the patented Simatek Drum Feeder.

Brown says the mechanical drum feeder has many advantages compared to traditional feeding systems.

He explains the drum feeder fills each bucket independently, eliminating the need for overlapping buckets, which in turn eliminates the need for bucket guides, a common replacement part.

With no overlapping buckets, Brown says the filling degree of each bucket is higher, resulting in a 90% bucket fill without spillage and no risk of product contamination.

“You can only do this with the drum feeder,” Brown says.

Seed handling. Brown says the Simatek Drum Feeder is particularly suitable for seed handling processes including sorting, cleaning, treatment, and high-capacity dryers.

Proper handling of products is a key component of what Simatek offers, Brown says.

“Simatek’s elevators are the optimum conveyers for process lines within the seed processing industry,” Brown says. “Seeds tend to be fragile and germination can be significantly reduced if the seeds are handled improperly.”

Capacity. Brown adds that they offer one of the largest capacity continuous cup elevators as a standard model, with a capacity of 5,725 cubic feet per hour.

“It’s used for a number of different products and lately has become popular in the corn drying market,” Brown says.