How flow aids can help conveyor operation
The device performs work when compressed air or another inert gas in the tank is suddenly released by the valve and directed through an engineered nozzle, which is strategically positioned in the chute, tower, duct, cyclone or another location. Often installed in a series and precisely sequenced for maximum effect, an air cannon network can be timed to best suit individual process conditions or material characteristics. Air blasts help to break down material accumulations and clear blocked pathways, allowing solids to resume their normal flow.
In order to customize an air cannon installation to the service environment, specific air blast characteristics can be achieved by manipulating the operating pressure, tank volume, valve design and nozzle shape.
In the past, when material accumulation problems became an issue, processors had to either limp along until the next scheduled shutdown or endure expensive downtime to install an air cannon network. That arguably cost businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars per day in lost production.
Many designers proactively include mountings in new designs so that a future retrofit can be done without hot work permits or extended downtime. A new technology was even developed for installing air cannons in high-temperature applications without a processing shutdown, allowing specially trained technicians to mount units on furnaces, preheaters, clinker coolers and in other high-temperature locations while production continues uninterrupted.
Other flow aids
Engineered vibration supplies energy precisely where it’s needed to reduce friction and break up a bulk material to keep it moving. Photo: Martin Engineering
An age-old solution for breaking loose blockages and removing accumulations from chutes and storage vessels is to pound the outside of walls with a hammer or another heavy object.
But the more walls are pounded, the worse the situation becomes. The bumps and ridges left in a wall from hammer strikes will form ledges that provide a place for additional material accumulations to start.
A better solution is to use engineered vibration, which supplies energy precisely where needed to reduce friction and break up a bulk material to keep it moving to the discharge opening – without damaging the chute or vessel. The technology is often found on conveyor-loading and discharge chutes, but it can be applied to other process and storage vessels such as silos, bins, hoppers, bunkers, screens, feeders, cyclones and heat exchangers.
Another innovative solution is available to prevent carryback from sticking to the rear slope of a discharge chute. A live-bottom dribble chute uses material disruption to reduce friction and cause tacky sludge and fines to slide down a chute wall and back into the main discharge flow.
Takeaways
By addressing these issues, operators can experience a reduction in maintenance hours, equipment replacement and downtime, lowering the overall cost of operation.
Flow aids deliver force through a chute or vessel and into the bulk material. Over time, components will wear – or even break – under normal conditions.
Most of the flow aids discussed can be rebuilt to extend their useful life. Because clearances and fits are critical to proper operation, it’s recommended that flow aid devices be rebuilt and repaired by the manufacturer, or that the manufacturer specifically train plant maintenance personnel to properly refurbish equipment.
Information for this article courtesy of Martin Engineering.
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