Flexicon Africa
Bulk Material Handling Product Range
Flexicon Africa (Pty) Ltd, supplies and engineers Flexicon Corporation’s full range of bulk solid material handling equipment to South African manufacturers and processors. Equipment is available in carbon steel with industrial finishes, or in stainless steel built to food, dairy, and pharmaceutical standards, and every unit is backed by Flexicon’s Lifetime Performance Guarantee.
Below is the core Flexicon product range, with a summary of each system and how it is typically deployed across four key South African industries: Food Industries, Mining and Mineral Processing, Industrial Chemicals, and Pharmaceutical & Nutraceutical Products.
Flexible Screw Conveyors
A flexible, spiral-in-tube screw conveys bulk powders and granules along curved or angled paths, routing through walls, ceilings, and around plant obstructions with only one moving part in contact with the material.
- Food Industries: Moves flour, sugar, spices, and dry mixes from silos or bulk bags directly into mixers and packaging lines, in stainless steel finishes suited to hygienic washdown environments.
- Mining and Mineral Processing: Transfers abrasive powders such as lime, cement additives, and mineral fillers between process stages without the wear issues of rigid mechanical conveyors.
- Industrial Chemicals: Handles dusty or fine chemical powders in fully enclosed tubing, reducing operator exposure and product loss during transfer.
- Pharmaceutical & Nutraceutical Products: Conveys active ingredients and excipients in stainless steel, sanitary-finish tubes that support validated cleaning and containment protocols.
Tubular Cable Conveyors
A low-friction polymer disc, attached to a stainless steel cable, gently slides friable or fragile bulk materials through smooth tubing, minimising particle degradation.
- Food Industries: Moves delicate items such as cereal flakes, coated nuts, or freeze-dried ingredients without breaking or degrading particle size.
- Mining and Mineral Processing: Transfers friable mineral concentrates or pelletised materials where breakage during transport reduces product value.
- Industrial Chemicals: Suited to fragile granular or pelletised chemical products that must reach the next process step intact.
- Pharmaceutical & Nutraceutical Products: Conveys friable tablets, granules, or coated particles with minimal attrition, preserving dose integrity.
Pneumatic Conveying Systems
Positive-pressure or vacuum dilute-phase systems transport bulk powders over long distances, across multiple floors, or between several pick-up and discharge points, fully integrated with automated controls.
- Food Industries: Feeds sugar, starches, and powdered ingredients from bulk storage across plant to multiple production lines simultaneously.
- Mining and Mineral Processing: Moves processed mineral powders and fine concentrates from beneficiation plant to storage silos or loadout points over long runs.
- Industrial Chemicals: Transfers reactive or hazardous powders in fully enclosed, sealed systems that limit atmospheric exposure and contamination risk.
- Pharmaceutical & Nutraceutical Products: Moves high-value powders between GMP-controlled zones with minimal manual handling and cross-contamination risk.
Bulk Bag Unloaders (Dischargers)
Safely receives, positions, and discharges bulk bags (FIBCs), with options for dust-tight seal systems, bag massaging, and integration with downstream conveyors.
- Food Industries: Discharges bulk bags of grains, sugar, or dry ingredients directly into hygienic processing lines with minimal dust generation.
- Mining and Mineral Processing: Handles bulk bags of processed ore, concentrate, or reagents at beneficiation and export loadout facilities, a growing need as South Africa scales critical minerals processing.
- Industrial Chemicals: Provides sealed, dust-tight discharge for hazardous or fine chemical powders shipped in bulk bags.
- Pharmaceutical & Nutraceutical Products: Discharges active ingredients from bulk bags into contained, sanitary process equipment for high-value formulations.
Bulk Bag Fillers
Fills empty bulk bags with precise, dust-free weigh-batched loads, supporting high-throughput packaging of finished or intermediate bulk products.
- Food Industries: Bags finished or intermediate food products such as flour, sugar, or animal feed at accurate, repeatable weights for distribution.
- Mining and Mineral Processing: Bags processed mineral products and concentrates for local sale or export shipment.
- Industrial Chemicals: Fills bulk bags with fertilisers, pigments, or bulk chemical powders to accurate export-ready weights.
- Pharmaceutical & Nutraceutical Products: Fills bulk intermediate ingredients into bags under contained, dust-free conditions for onward processing or shipment.
Bulk Bag Conditioners
Loosens bulk material that has caked or compacted in storage or transit, using rotating or vibrating action, so bags discharge freely and completely.
- Food Industries: Restores flow to caked sugar, salt, or powdered dairy products before discharge into production.
- Mining and Mineral Processing: Conditions compacted mineral powders and reagents that have settled during long transport or storage.
- Industrial Chemicals: Loosens hygroscopic or compaction-prone chemical powders prior to processing.
- Pharmaceutical & Nutraceutical Products: Conditions sensitive powdered ingredients that may compact during storage, ensuring complete, contained discharge.
Bag Dump Stations
A dust-containment enclosure with integral filtration where operators manually empty small bags or sacks into downstream conveying or process equipment.
- Food Industries: Receives manually dumped bags of spices, additives, or minor ingredients without releasing dust into the plant environment.
- Mining and Mineral Processing: Handles manual dumping of reagents and additive powders used in flotation and beneficiation processes.
- Industrial Chemicals: Contains dust when operators empty sacks of chemical powders into process lines, protecting worker exposure limits.
- Pharmaceutical & Nutraceutical Products: Provides a contained entry point for manually charged ingredients in formulation and compounding areas.
Drum, Box and Container Tippers (Dumpers)
Mechanically lifts and inverts drums, boxes, or containers to gently discharge bulk contents into a hopper, conveyor, or process vessel, with dust-tight options.
- Food Industries: Empties drums or boxes of powdered ingredients, fruit concentrates, or additives into mixing and blending equipment.
- Mining and Mineral Processing: Discharges drummed reagents and chemical additives used in ore processing and flotation circuits.
- Industrial Chemicals: Provides dust-tight, controlled tipping of drummed chemical powders and pastes into process equipment.
- Pharmaceutical & Nutraceutical Products: Handles contained discharge of drummed active ingredients in TIP-TITE style enclosures suited to hazardous or high-value materials.
Weigh Batching and Blending Systems
Automated systems that source material from multiple points, weigh precise single or multi-ingredient batches, and blend them before feeding downstream packaging, extrusion, or process equipment.
- Food Industries: Batches and blends multi-ingredient recipes for baked goods, snacks, and beverage powders at consistent, repeatable formulations.
- Mining and Mineral Processing: Weigh-batches additives such as lime or aluminium powder into concrete block, cement, or mineral product mixes.
- Industrial Chemicals: Automates precise multi-ingredient batching of fertiliser blends, pigments, and specialty chemical formulations.
- Pharmaceutical & Nutraceutical Products: Delivers accurate, validated batch weighing and blending of active ingredients and excipients for formulation consistency.
Liquid Mixing Eductors (FlexEductor™)
A patented, static, no-moving-parts venturi system that draws dry powder directly into a liquid stream via a high-velocity nozzle, giving fast, clump-free hydration and dispersion into mixing, slurry, or reaction tanks. Optional batching tanks, hand-wand inlets, skid mounting, and sanitary stainless steel CIP-ready configurations are available.
- Food Industries: Hydrates starches, gums, hydrocolloids, and powdered ingredients into liquid or slurry bases without lumps or “fish-eyes,” in sanitary, CIP-capable configurations suited to beverage, dairy, and sauce production.
- Mining and Mineral Processing: Disperses flocculants, flotation reagents, and other process chemicals into liquid streams feeding beneficiation and tailings processes, with no moving parts to wear from abrasive slurries.
- Industrial Chemicals: Mixes polymers, pigments, clays, and other dry chemicals into liquid batches quickly and reliably, reducing mix times and preventing bridging or plugging during dosing.
- Pharmaceutical & Nutraceutical Products: Provides sanitary, CIP-ready powder-to-liquid mixing for excipients and active ingredients, with a hand-wand inlet option for controlled charging from drums or Gaylords.