▲
Mechanical
Michel Podevyn
President and CEO
Spiroflow Systems Inc.
Monroe, N.C.
Highlights
• Flexible-screw conveyors
are often the simplest
and least-expensive
option.
• Aeromechanical
conveyors move
materials, not boxes or
products.
• Vacuum conveyors can
follow long, complex
routes.
• Pneumatic conveyors are
the most versatile but
can be the most costly.
Edited by
Stephen J. Mraz
stephen.mraz@penton.com
Selecting
best the
conveyor
What you should know before
speccing your next conveyor.
Industries such as pharmaceuticals,
plastics and rubber, and food, rou-
tinely need to move bulk materials.
How that material gets moved is
vitally important to factory effi-
ciency. So when specifying a con-
veyor system, engineers designing
plants and processes should be
familiar with the variety of options
they have.
Here are the main parameters,
benefits, and disadvantages of four
major types of conveyors.
Flexible-screw conveyors
Flexible-screw conveyors are of-
ten the simplest and least expensive
for moving a variety of materials at
up to 40 tons/hr over distances up
to 65 ft. If materials need to travel
farther, several such conveyors can
be linked together.
These conveyors consist of a stain-
less or heat-treated and tempered-
carbon steel screw that rotates within
an ultrahigh-molecular-weight-poly-
ethylene food-grade tube. For most
applications, the spiral has a round
cross section but a flat or profiled ver-
sion can also be used for fine, cohe-
sive, and easily smeared materials.
The term “flexible” refers to the fact
that these conveyors can be curved to
some extent, depending on its diam-
eter. This lets users route the conveyor
Outlet
Hopper Metal
screw
Polyethylene tube
Flexible-screw
conveyor
around obstacles. Normally, using only one continuous curve
is recommended. This type of conveyor is well suited for
powdered, granular, and flaked materials with a bulk density
up to 150 lb/ft3.
Flexible-screw conveyors are designed to operate when
full of material. Running empty leads to excessive noise
and wear. (Although flexible spiral conveyors should run
full, they can be emptied at the end of an operation or shift
by removing an end bung and running the conveyor in
reverse at a reduced speed if necessary.) It is also not rec-
ommended that these conveyors be used to move batches
or large slugs of material. Instead, they are best used to
move materials from storage or bag-tip station to a weigh
hopper or vessel. For example, they are ideal for main-
taining a constant head of material in packing-machine
hoppers by gently filling rather than dumping in batches.
Because material flow is constant, flexible spiral conveyors
deliver accurate, highly repeatable batches if controlled
by a simple timing switch. And having a head of mate-
AUGUST 21, 2008 MACHINE Design.com 83
▲
Mechanical

rial in a feed hopper helps with the elevation of material veyor (AMCs) is rope-and-disk conveyor. This is because
upon start-up of the conveyor by consistently sending the AMCs consist of several evenly spaced polyurethane disks
same amount of material into the conveyor inlet. This lets attached to a wire rope. The rope and disks travel quickly
the conveyor operate more efficiently and makes batches around a continuous loop within parallel steel tubes. Hous-
more accurate. ings enclose both ends of the conveyor, and the rope and
The main benefit of flexible-screw conveyors is their disks run from one tube to the other around a pair of
inherent simplicity. This leads to low initial cost, quick in- sprockets. One sprocket drives the rope and disks while the
stallation, and low maintenance. Food and dairy versions, other tensions the rope. The speed of the disks creates an
for example, can be safely stripped down in minutes for air stream that fluidizes and entrains material until it is cen-
cleaning. trifugally ejected at the outlet. This lets AMCs move mate-
Wear is only a problem with abrasive products. Life rials from 10 to 85 ft at up to 120 tons/hr with little power,
with other materials is almost indefinite. Tubes and screws
are easily replaced. One of the latest developments is abra-
sion resistant rubber tubes for such applications as aggre- What engineers
gates, sand, cement, and glass cullet.
should know
Aeromechanical conveyors Before selecting a conveyor, designers should be
A more descriptive name for an aeromechanical con- familiar with their specific application. Answering these
questions will help them select the right conveyor:
Aeromechanical conveyor 1. What product or material will be moved?
2. What are its bulk densities?
3. What is its moisture content, average particle size, and
temperature?
4. Is the material or product likely to change in any way in the
future?
5. From what is the product being moved (for example, from
a silo, bulk bag, or bag-tip station)?
6. To what is the product being moved (such as a mixer, sifter,
mill, or reactor)?
Discharge of solids
7. If it’s going to a reactor of any type, is there any steam, gas,
or solvents given off that might enter the conveyor?
Wire rope
8. How far will the conveyor travel horizontally?
9. How far will it travel vertically?
10. What route will the conveyor take (such as inside, outside,
bends, total number of bends)?
Chute draws 11. Will the conveyor move a constant a stream of material or
in air to preweighed batches on load cells?
replace 12. At what rate is material being moved in pounds per hour
air that is or batch size over a given time?
Polyurethane discharged. 13. How long will the conveyor operate each day? How many
days per week?
discs
14. Should the conveyor deliver material in a homogenous
manner, such as adding flakes to a liquid to make a lump-
free paste?
15. If the product is a mixture, is it essential to maintain the
integrity of the mix?
16. Is the material fragile? How important is it to minimize
Conveyor is
damage during conveying?
moving 85%
17. What other equipment is needed (such as a bag-tip
solids, 15% air. station, bulk-bag discharger. or receiver hopper)?
Any air
18. Will the conveyor operate in a dusty or otherwise
displaced hazardous area (i.e., will NEMA-rated explosionproof
by solids is motors and other such equipment be required)?
vented. 19. Is the conveyor manufacturer also supplying the control
panel, level sensors, and other accessories?
20. Will the conveyor be readily accessible for maintenance?
21. How long is the conveyor expected to run between
services?
Solids are fluidized and accelerated.

84 MACHINE Design.com AUGUST 21, 2008

 ▲
Mechanical
Vacuum conveying
Filter- Filtered air
cleaning Head
assembly
Filters
Filter
receiver
Compressed
air in (60
to 80 psig)
Discharge
valve (open)
Destination of material
minimal product degradation, and
virtually no separation of mixtures.
AMCs are effectively mechanical
vacuum conveying and should not
be confused with drag-link convey-
ors which are slow-moving, heavy-
duty devices in which cast-iron disks
linked by rods or chains scrape mate-
rial along inside a tube.
Over the years, the AMC has
proven to be a cost-efficient and dust-
free way to move materials, which
eliminates the need for filtration.
AMCs can move batches and operate
at any angle (including vertical) with-
out sacrificing capacity or contami-
nant-free delivery. They can also be
supplied with access panels to make
cleaning easier.
Besides straight-line operation,
AMCs are available in several around-
the-corner configurations. In addi-
tion to free-flowing powders such
as acrylics, flour, and carbon black,
AMCs can move difficult materials
such as titanium dioxide. They also
have no problems moving granules,
flakes, or chips.
A major benefit of this type of con-
veyor is that degradation to the mate-
rial is almost negligible. This is be-
cause AMCs create a moving current
of air in which the material is carried,
similar to the effect of a vacuum or
pneumatic system. However, unlike
vacuums or pneumatics, AMCs do
not need a cyclone or filter to sepa-
Circle 183
86 MACHINE Design.com AUGUST 21, 2008
Pump intake
filter
Vacuum-breaker
valve open Pressure-
relief valve
Motor Air pump
(blower)
silencer
Material-
input point
Air pumped outside
Throttle-valve
intake filter
Flow
rate materials from the air. This saves
money and reduces maintenance and
environmental issues because the air
carrying the material is recycled.
AMCs should always be started
empty, then fed or loaded gradually.
With free-flowing materials, this can
be done with a simple slide gate. In
other cases, a controlled feed device,
such as a rotary valve or flexible screw
conveyor, should do the trick.
One disadvantage of AMCs is
that maintenance costs can range
from moderate to high. Rope tension
needs regular adjustment during all-
important start-up periods and then
checked periodically. Rope life de-
pends upon on conveyor length, num-
ber of starts and stops, loading, and
whether routine inspection and ten-
sioning is properly performed. Regu-
lar maintenance can be minimized by
selecting an AMC with rope-tension
monitoring and adjustment.
Despite this maintenance draw-
back, properly maintained AMCs
have lasted 14 years and more despite
arduous duty.
Vacuum conveyors
Vacuum conveyors are the first
choice when material must be moved
over long distances and torturous
routes. They are usually limited to
throughputs of around 10 tons/hr at
distances up to 330 ft.
Vacuum conveyors use air to move
materials through a pipeline. They are
easy to route, have few moving parts,
are dusttight in operation, and leave
minimum residue in emptied stor-
age containers and transport tubes.
Because they suck in air, vacuum con-
veyors are often used to move toxic
and otherwise hazardous materials
because the tubes contain all materi-
als and minimize release of them to
the atmosphere.
Either an exhauster or fan at the
receiving end of the system provides
the motive force. For low-capacity
motion, air-powered Venturi systems
offer low capital costs and are not as
expensive to operate as many have
been led to believe. And reverse-jet
self-cleaning filters clean the air and
return it to the atmosphere after use.
The filters also reduce maintenance
and minimize product loss.
Vacuum systems are normally
the only choice when it’s necessary
to suck material out of bags or other
open-top containers, such as kegs
and drums. These conveyors are also
ideal for pulling materials from sev-
eral sources.
Pneumatic conveyors
Pneumatic conveyors are probably
the most versatile of all, but they are
also the most expensive. They have
virtually no limit on capacity, product
type, distance, or routing. Lean-phase
versions, in which the ratio of material
to air is low, can move mountains of
material. Lean-phase conveyors typi-
cally move 1 lb of air for every pound
of materiel. Pressure drops across
such conveyors range between 1.5 to
20 psig and air velocity is between 60
and 75 fpm with the entrained ma-
terial traveling at about 70% of that
speed due to the slip factor.
Dense-phase or plug-flow versions
can move slugs of material at lower
speeds with minimal degradation.
They move about 100 lb of material
for every pound of air, but air pres-
sure can be as high as 100 psig. Slugs
move between 10 and 30 fps.
Positive-pressure models are gen-
erally used to move materials from
one place to one or several differ-
ent destinations. They are normally
used for major tasks, such as quickly
emptying road and rail tankers into
silos or moving material from silos
to large-scale production processes.
Capacities of up to 100 tons/hr are
not unusual.
The two main disadvantages of
pneumatic conveyors are a relatively
high initial installation cost and the
amount of filtration required. The
high cost is due to the need for an
expensive blower or compressor, as
well as larger diameter (up to 6 in.),
pressure-tested pipe, supporting the
larger pipes, and filtering the large
volume of air used. As with vacuum
conveyors, self-cleaning reverse-jet
filters are a big help in reducing main-
tenance. Maintenance is needed to
ensure these systems are leak-free for
best efficiency and, above all, to avoid
associated health and environmental
issues leaks cause.
Other conveyors
There are several other types of
conveyors, including:
Rigid-screw conveyors. Beware
of the seals and bearings.
Bucket elevators. This type of
conveyor is ideal for most delicate
products, but generally not for those
that are dusty.
Flat-belt conveyors. These are
mainly used in quarries and mines.
Vibratory feeders. Good for dis-
tances of 6 ft or less.
Air slides. Well suited for moving
dense materials downhill.
In some applications, a mix of
conveyor types is appropriate. For
example, short, easy-to-clean flexi-
ble-screw conveyors are often used to
consistently feed material to a long-
distance AMC.
In selecting a conveyor, the key is
to find a supplier you have confidence
in and are comfortable with. The sup-
plier should provide a performance
guarantee for the material you will be
moving. After that, it comes down to
the usual commercial considerations
of price and delivery. Normally, in-
stalling a conveyor is part of a larger
project. But heath, safety, and envi-
ronmental benefits usually outweigh
monetary issues. Nevertheless, the
conveyor has to be the right one for
the job. md
Circle 184
AUGUST 21, 2008 MACHINE Design.com 87