Preventing contamination during FIBC discharge: Low-cost flexible packaging systems for bulk solids in the food industry

Abstract

Transport receptacles such as Big Bags are often filled and discharged by means of open devices. This process may cause contamination of the bulk solids by substances or micro-organisms from ambient air. A solution is provided by flexible types of packaging materials which allow a completely contained handling of bundles. The purity of foods and an unbroken history of the raw materials that are used play a more and more important role. The purity of foods can be assured if the products are spatially separated from each other by specific air flows in open product handling. Such a procedure, however, is very costly and often not integrable in existing production facilities. A much better alternative is to handle bulk solids in a contained manner. This minimizes the investment and cleaning expenditure because the production runs in a continuously closed process. The following examples show how to achieve this solution with simple means.