Modular systems and methods for direct vacuum dispensing and loss in weight measuring of dry flowable materials

A method comprising:

• providing at least two vessels that contain dry flowable materials, each vessel comprising an outlet connected to a common vacuum manifold;
• providing a vacuum source for directing a flow of the dry flowable materials from the at least two vessels to the common vacuum manifold;
• providing ones of air intake valves in the common vacuum manifold proximate ones of the at least two vessels:
• discharging the dry flowable materials from the at least two vessels to the common vacuum manifold through an outlet connected to the at least two vessels, wherein a discharge valve is disposed on the outlet;
• determining an amount of dry flowable materials in the two vessels at least in part using ones of load cells disposed underneath the at least two vessels;
• and
• determining the amount of dry flowable materials being routed to the common vacuum manifold based at least in part on the amount of dry flowable materials measured in the at least two vessels.

A vacuum dispensing system comprising:

• at least two hybrid bulk containers for holding dry flowable materials;
• a load cell base disposed underneath each of the hybrid bulk containers, wherein the load cell base comprises at least one load cell that is configured to measure load in the hybrid bulk container reflective of a weight of the dry flowable materials contained within the hybrid bulk container;
• an outlet disposed at a bottom surface of each of the hybrid bulk containers;
• a common vacuum manifold connected to the outlets of each of the hybrid bulk containers for routing the dry flowable materials from the hybrid bulk container to the common vacuum manifold;
• a discharge valve disposed on the outlet of each of the hybrid bulk containers;
• ones of air intake valves disposed in the common vacuum manifold proximate ones of the at least two vessels:
• a controller in communication with each of the discharge valves and the load cells programmed to determine an amount of dry flowable materials contained within the hybrid bulk container and being routed to the common vacuum manifold;
• and
• a vacuum source for directing a flow of the dry flowable materials from the at least two hybrid bulk containers to the common vacuum manifold.