Out of 1460 cereal storage centers in Italy, it emerges that 64% of them have over 30 years of age and that only in 40% of cases, expansion, modernization or restructuring interventions have been carried-out, the so-called industrial revamping. What do these results tell us?
The reported data, gathered in 2019 by the Institute of Services for the Agricultural Food Market (ISMEA), help guide future policies for increasing competitiveness in the cereal production chain. A process to be implemented with the right partner, such as CAMLogic which supplies certified instruments to satisfy a constantly evolving market.
And from this premise CAMLogic’s desire to expand the subject of revamping in support of companies was born. Accordingly, in this and the next articles you fill find the answers to the most common questions that contractors, installers and final users ask themselves, before carrying out a revamping.
Answering will be Eng. Fabrizio Bellini, Explosion Protection Senior Engineer, who has extensive experience in consulting, designing and evaluation of industrial plants in ATEX environments.
Revamping is the restructuring, updating or reconstruction of industrial plants, even complex ones, in order to extend their life cycle within the production process. You can decide to renovate both for technological or regulatory reasons, but obviously the combination of these two aspects will bring greater benefits, especially in the long term.
IIn particular, an industrial revamping intervention will replace the technology used on an industrial machinery while maintaining the original structure. By applying cutting-edge technological solutions, improvements will be obtained from the standpoint of efficiency and quality.
Another point to take into account is that the renovation of an existing industrial plant is substantially less expensive than the implementation of a completely new project, while still achieving an optimal overall result.
The required time frame is usually shorter as well, since it is not necessary to design the entire production line from the ground up.
Talking about ATEX revamping of machinery and plants means applying up to date and performing technologies while paying special attention to compliance with ATEX directives.
ATEX (ATmosphères EXplosives) is the conventional name that groups two European Union Directives:
In many workplaces the environment could be explosive due to flammable substances present or introduced into the air by the production process. A common condition in the petrochemical industry, in mines and wherever flammable materials or materials that might produce flammable gases are stored and handled.
Limiting the presence of hazardous substances and eliminating ignition sources are two highly efficient methods used in ATEX revamping plans. With this in mind, CAMLogic obtained in 2003 the ATEX certification for its production range, with which it proposes itself for industrial revamping activities.
But how should the explosion risk of plants be assessed? We will talk about it in the next article with Eng. Fabrizio Bellini.