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Robb Sanner |
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Participants Summer Internships 2003 Main Page
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My first project was re-designing a mixer lid. When first described to me, this project did not seem very complicated. However, there were more details involved than I had first thought. The new lid features a dust collector and a platform on which the operator may walk. Currently, when the operator dumps the raw materials into the mixer, they have to bend over and some of the material comes back up in their face. The new platform will allow the operator to not walk on the actual mixer lid, which is dangerous. There is a big safety risk having the operator walking on top of the lid itself, especially if the lid is open. If the operator would happen to slip, there would not be much stopping him from falling into the mixer. The new platform also does not put as much strain on the back as bending over to dump the materials. The process that I went though to design the mixer lid involved getting measurements, drawing the existing mixer, getting prints of these drawings, then finding out where it was feasible and most efficient to put the dust collector as well as the platform. When locating the collector, I had to accommodate the filter change out. This required the collector to be easily accessible by maintenance workers. The only thing that gave me problems in this project was that there are pipes on the right side of the mixer that are low and it did not appear that the collector could fit under them. However, I found that if we cut the hopper attaching the collector to the lid would not affect the performance and it would allow the collector to fit under the pipes. Another thing that I learned while doing this project is that a company works as a team, and many people’s effects go into a project. Furthermore, I talked to the operator, did my drawings, and then gave them an engineer to draw prints for me. I then went back and did more measurements for him. I also had to talk to a different engineer to get a price estimate for the new lid as well as the company that makes the collector. Ultimately, maintenance will install the lid to complete the project. The next project involved a dust collection system for a different mixer. The majority of this project was set up before this summer; however, I did some research into types and sizes of hoses. I learned that if a company wants your business they will contact you in a timely manner. I worked on this project the first week of t he summer, and the first week of August I got a call from a company I had contacted in May and they finally gave me prices. It was much too late. Another project I worked on was lifting the lid of a third mixer. There was believed to be product sticking to the inside of the mixer, but no one could lift and hold a 600-pound lid for a long period of time. The difficult part of this project was that there is only 12 inches of clearance to lift the lid. The final drawings of the system included an I-beam across the lid, which was held up by two hydraulic jacks on one side and a scissor jack on the other. Next, there will be two trolleys on the I-beam with hanger plates hanging from them. The plan is to then put a pin through the hanger plates and the lifts on the mixer lid raise the jacks and move the trolleys down the I-beam. Finally, the jacks will be raised and the trolley will move down the I-beam thereby displacing the lid. Another project I worked on was writing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). SOPs are a guide for a particular mixer, if an operator does not show up to work and another one has to cover. The last project I worked was to test the cleaning solvent Dynasolve 180. This was the most exciting part of the summer; I did three experiments. The first one tested Dynasolve 180 on Purflex (the product made in the mixer) in a closed nitrogen container. The purpose of this experiment was to see how a mixture of Dynasolve 180 and Purflex left in the mixer would affect the next batch. The second and third experiments involved testing Dynasolve 180 on a pre-polymer that is used. This experiment also was made more realistic as we scratched the containers used to better mimic the inside of the mixers. The third experiment was the same as the second one; with the exception that fresh Dynasolve 180 was used. Before this summer, I did not realize how difficult it is to get a hold of a person on vacation, or how to open a drum, or even how to “encourage” someone to draw your print in less than a week. The “little” things that I learned from my internship are the “big things” that will apply to my future in chemical engineering. |
I spent the summer of 2002
working at Adco Products in Michigan Center, Michigan. Adco makes
adhesive, sealants, and tapes for many industries, including the
automotive industry. The majority of my summer was spent working in the
mixing department, but I also had a couple of projects in the urethane
department.