Dry Ice Feeding for COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution

Equipment for dispensing dry ice into insulated containers holding COVID-19 vaccines had to be designed and produced by this OEM in just eight weeks.

Pellets of ice move down the central “pant leg” and arrive on left and right electromagnetic vibratory feeders for discharge into insulated containers.
Pellets of ice move down the central “pant leg” and arrive on left and right electromagnetic vibratory feeders for discharge into insulated containers.

Material Transfer & Storage is a leader in the custom design and manufacture of bulk bag filling, conditioning, and discharging systems for dry powders and bulk solids. When they were called upon to design and build customized equipment that would dispense dry ice into insulated containers carrying COVID-19 vaccines, the MTS team worked faster than ever before to meet the tight deadlines and compliance requirements of this vital project. Leveraging the talents of its experienced, committed staff and trusted vendors, MTS produced the dry ice discharging systems in just eight weeks.

“Designing and building customized equipment this rapidly involves a level of knowledge and experience we are fortunate to have on our talented team,” says MTS President Scott Nyhof. “It’s also good to have suppliers like Eriez that we can trust.”

When it came to vaccine distribution, MTS needed to maintain ice pellet size consistency, meter ice evenly to protect each vaccine, and monitor ice discharged during packaging—and the process had to be automated. The integrated process MTS came up with includes a crusher, a scale system, and customized feeder and controls required to report diagnostics to the vaccine manufacturer operating the system.

An essential part of the success of the MTS dry ice unloading/feeding system is the integration of a vibratory feeder, the Eriez 65B Electromagnetic Feeder. The rush to move the vaccine to distribution centers around the globe demanded that Eriez respond swiftly and effectively.

Eriez created engineered drawings and CAD models for MTS within days. They delivered a custom-engineered solution to meet the demanding timeline for the project. It helped tremendously that MTS and Eriez have a long history of success together.

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