An energy-saving pneumatic conveyor system

Pneumatic systems & components

1st Quarter 2012 Pneumatic systems & components

ELB Engineering Services is one of the leading suppliers of pneumatic conveying systems in the country, offering a range of technologies in the field of materials handling. Through a partnership with the German company Claudius Peters, ELB has access to the latest Fluidcon pneumatic conveying technology.

Claudius Peters has its own testing facility in Germany and since 2000 has tested and perfected its conveying technology, which is essentially positive pressure conveying and airslide technology.

Handling fine materials ranging from fly ash to fishmeal to cement, Fluidcon technology uses an aeroslide system where check valves control the air flow to combine the advantages of conventional pneumatic conveying with a greatly reduced energy consumption. The bulk solids are fluidised with minimal internal friction, resulting in a much slower wear rate and reduced pulsation. The conveyors can operate on inclines up to 30°.

The Fluidcon system can be used to convey all fine bulk solids which can be fluidised with low air velocities. It consists of a conveyor pipe with a permeable membrane over the horizontal length through which air is blown (no compressor needed). This partially or completely fluidises the fine material in the pipe (the aeroslide principle). This air stream is used to fluidise but not to transport the material. Another stream of transport air travels perpendicular to the fluidisation air (the conveyor pipe principle) and passes in an axial direction.

The aeroslide principle turns bulk solids into a fluid state with minimal internal friction and ensures that the solids are fluidised away from the bottom of the pipe and into the gas flow. This creates optimum conveying conditions and allows the transportation of solids with very low axial driving gas velocities in the feed point and acceleration section of the pipe. Therefore it is possible to convey materials with minimal differential pressure at an uphill incline of up to 30o.

Advantages are lower investment costs, lower gas and solids velocities, lower conveying pressures, reduced wear, a lower power requirement, lower installation height and simplified material feeding.

According to ELB, the significant difference to the traditional pneumatic conveying technology is its potential for a 75% saving in energy as well as conveying velocities up to five times lower than traditional systems. “This decrease in conveying velocity dramatically reduces component and pipe wear rates. The system operates at pressures less than two bar,” says Dr Stephen Meijers, Chief Executive of ELB Engineering Services.

In their first installation in South Africa, ELB recently commissioned a conveying system at PPC’s Dwaalboom cement plant using the Fluidcon technology. A key consideration for using Fluidcon was the reduced power consumption of 35% for the conveyors compared to other conveying systems. The design of the Fluidcon system also reduced wear rates and almost halved maintenance costs compared to similar technologies. In addition the lower conveying velocities of between 2 and 10 m/s resulted in gentler materials handling.

For more information contact Stephen Meijers, ELB Engineering Services, +27 (0)11 772 1400, [email protected], www.elb.co.za

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Pneumatic systems & components

An energy-saving pneumatic conveyor system

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