Industrial Equipment & Design Company

Powder-handling systems engineered around the process

Company focus: Industrial Equipment & Design Company, usually shortened to IEDCO, designs powder-handling systems rather than selling one fixed machine for every duty.

The company’s published scope covers engineering, design, manufacture, installation and integration for fine chemicals, food, pharmaceuticals and powder metals.

That system-level role matters because powder transfer rarely ends at the conveyor. The pickup point, receiver, filter, discharge valve, weighing system, controls and downstream machine have to work as one process.

Core products and technologies

Vacuum conveying: IEDCOveyor systems move powders, granules, tablets, capsules and small parts from drums, hoppers, bag-dump stations or bulk-bag unloaders to a receiving vessel.

IEDCO describes both dilute- and dense-phase arrangements. The final regime, pickup geometry and discharge cycle still have to be selected from representative material data and the actual route.

Batching and dosing: The Porta-Batch combines vacuum conveying, a rotary valve, controls and an integrated scale in a mobile package for transferring measured batches from bulk containers into smaller containers.

Inline conditioning: The In-Line Vacuum Screener fits directly in a pneumatic conveying line to remove lumps or unwanted contamination with a selected screen mesh.

Mobile positioning: The Porta-Lift is a pneumatic column lift with a counterweighted mobile base, casters and outriggers. It can carry a vacuum receiver to different discharge points while keeping lift and conveyor controls in the base.

Pickup interfaces: A vacuum feed wand draws material from drums and similar containers. IEDCO also documents fabric drum covers, feed-station hoppers, flow aids and weighing options for duties that need more containment or automation.

Engineering and integration scope

IEDCO publishes custom systems for limited headroom, multiple ingredients, difficult-flowing powders, hazardous areas and nitrogen or argon blanketing.

Its broader equipment range includes bag and bulk-bag handling, IBC systems, drum filling and inversion, column and material lifts, feeders, valves, filling systems and plant controls.

Controls are part of the package rather than an afterthought. IEDCO states that its panels are built in a UL-certified panel shop and integrated with the operating sequence of the supplied equipment.

Industries and application evidence

Published IEDCO case studies describe contained pharmaceutical transfer, food-ingredient transfer from Gaylord boxes, bulk-bag batching, chemical repackaging and recovery of polysilicon powder.

Those examples demonstrate the range of problems the company has addressed. They don’t establish a universal capacity or containment level for every proposed system.

A new project should define particle size distribution, bulk density, moisture, cohesion, friability, temperature, exposure limits and combustible-dust properties before equipment is selected.

What to prepare for an IEDCO project review

• Source and destination geometry, elevation and conveying route.
• Minimum, normal and maximum transfer rate or batch mass.
• Representative material data and expected variation.
• Containment, hygiene, cleaning and cross-contamination requirements.
• Utilities, controls interfaces, hazardous-area classification and interlocks.
• Acceptance tests for transfer time, residual material, product damage, dust release and cleanability.

The useful starting point is a process duty, not a catalogue label. A material trial and an agreed acceptance plan are usually worth far more than arguing over one nominal conveying rate.