Pneumatic Powder and Solid Transport Systems
Some common solids as flour, sugar, cement and many more, can be suspended and transported in air - referred to as pneumatic conveying. A pneumatic conveying system may transport solids up to approximately 50 mm in size. The powder or solid must be dry with no more than 20% moisture and not sticking.
In a pneumatic conveying system most of the energy is used for transport of the air itself. The energy efficiency of a pneumatic conveying plant is therefore relatively low, but this is often outweighed by easy handling and, in well designed systems, dust free solutions.
In general - the length of a pneumatic system should not extend 300 m for each pneumatic unit. Products can be conveyed over long distances by connecting systems in series.
There are three basic designs of pneumatic transport systems:
- dilute phase conveying at high air velocity (20 - 30 m/s)
- strand conveying at limited air velocity (15 - 20 m/s)
- dense phase conveying at low air velocity (5 - 10 m/s)
Pneumatic systems can operate with both positive and negative pressure (vacuum). The working pressure should not extend 40 kN/m2.
Negative Pressure Pneumatic Conveying System
Positive Pressure Pneumatic Conveying System
Combination Pressure Pneumatic Conveying System
Maximum temperature rise during the pneumatic compression is seldom more than 5 oC which makes pneumatic transport systems suitable to sensitive products like medicines, food and similar.
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