IND560x Hazardous Weighing Solution

Since 1984, Handygas Corporation in York, Pennsylvania has been serving the cylinder exchange industry and has become a pioneer in the industry in North America. The fast-growing nature of this business prompted Handygas to design and build special equipment to overcome the labor intensity of cleaning, repairing, re-certifying, painting, and filling these cylinders in mass production. But for matters of accuracy and safety, they relied on the expertise of METTLER TOLEDO. Handygas was able to design a line of equipment to process and fill these cylinders in compliance with applicable legal-for-trade and safety regulations. Their new HG560E-1 electronic filling system takes advantage of the advanced features offered by METTLER TOLEDO’s IND560x weighing terminal.

For 12 years, Handygas Corporation has relied on METTLER TOLEDO to provide quality equipment for their propane filling business. With the propane cylinder exchange market driving them to move from mechanical/pneumatic systems and controls to electronic, they turned to METTLER TOLEDO to update their process. Their timing could not have been better – Handygas served as a beta test site for the IND560x, a new intrinsically safe weighing terminal certified for use in Division 1, Zone 1 and 21 classified areas. The METTLER TOLEDO team worked to design a new process, first for a single-station and eventually for a multi-station carousel propane-filling system.

The solution includes the intrinsically safe IND560x terminal connected to a custom cylinder scale featuring an FM-approved METTLER TOLEDO load cell. Installed inside the IND560x is a discrete input/output option that works in con­junction with the advanced filling logic of the IND560x and directly controls the gas filling process. The intrinsically safe classification of the IND560x permits installation in close proximity to the filling process. The customized heavy-duty cylinder scale is the right size for the process and a more economical alternative to off-the-shelf bench scales that could not have held up to the utilization rate. With the new solution in place, Handygas Corporation is set to increase business opportunities from the new propane fill­ing solution. “At Handygas, we have become known in the industry as the go-to company in North America for equipment capable of filling gas grill propane cylinders,” explained company President, Mike Smith. “Now we’re able to expand our line to include propane-filling equipment for RV’s, forklifts and floor buffers, and yet still fill gas grill cylinders at the same system. We’re excited to see where this new solution takes us in the propane filling industry!” Handygas was using and still offers solutions with mechanical dial scales which are only capable of filling 20-lb gas grill cylinders. Their new HG560E-1 electronic filling system based on METTLER TOLEDO’s IND560x weighing terminal now accommodates a much larger variety of cylinders. These new filling systems can fill 20-, 30-, and 40-lb cylinders equipped with a QCC valve. The same system can also fill 33-lb forklift and 20-lb floor buffer cylinders using the same filling valve and a revolutionary adjustable scale base to accommodate the taller cylinders.

The new IND560x brings uncompro­mised performance and productivity into Division 1, Zone 1 and 21 classified areas. Intrinsically safe design, high-speed process control and internal active/active I/O control set the benchmark for weighing in explosive areas. The IND560x is designed for both process control and manual weighing operations. Some key features are:

• Easy to operate filling and batching solution: the 560Fill application software allows prompt configuration of sequences for filling, blending, dosing and dispensing
• TraxDSP™ noise filtering system provides accurate measurements in unstable environments with noise and vibration.
• High reliability: calibration management monitors performance and alerts operators of maintenance needs
• Minimized operating costs through In­Site™ tool for off-line or ahead of time configurations