History of the screw conveyor

Archimedes designed the first screw conveyor in the third century B.C. It
was used for removing water from ships and for irrigating farmland. The
device consisted of a hollow cylinder with a center shaft and a spiral fixed to
the inner wall of the cylinder and center shaft. As the assembly rotated,
water was conveyed and lifted from one location to another. The spiral
design is based on the theory of the inclined plane.
The screw conveyor began to evolve in the late 1800s and was used as a
means of increasing feed and grain production to serve the needs of the
rapidly growing American population. The first feed mills utilized screw
conveyors throughout the process. Even the most modern feed mills today
depend on screw conveyors for many of their material handling
requirements. The screw conveyor has evolved to modern times. It is now
used in almost every major industry. Today, thousands of processing plants
throughout the United States and the world are using screw conveyors to
convey bulk materials from A to Z (Adipic Acid to Zinc Concentrate).
Basic Theory and Design

Screw conveyors are volumetric conveying devices. With each revolution of

the screw, a fixed volume of material is discharged. The purpose of a screw
conveyor is to transfer product from one point to the next. Screw conveyors
are always control fed at the inlet by another conveyor or metering device.
Rotary valves, screw feeders, belt conveyors, grinders, or even other screw
conveyors typically are connected to the inlet of a screw conveyor. Screw
feeders are designed to volumetrically meter material from a hopper, bin or
silo at a controlled rate. Many screw feeders utilize adjustable speed drives
.to allow for varying the material flowrate
Choosing the right screw conveyor for your application requires basic
knowledge of the material being conveyed, as well as, some basic
information such as the conveyor length, degree of incline and product
.temperature