0

Powder and Bulk Engineering November 1988

23

Case history

0
73

2.
ra
5

0
0

cn

or many years, Western Paving,

Inc., an asphalt production company located in Denver, Colo., had
a serious problem. The granite dust collected by its dust collector was so abrasive
that every 25 to 35 working days it destroyed the rotary airlock that moved the
dust fhm the collector to a pneumatic air
line and back into production.
Needless to say, repair and replacement
costs were high, and downtime was frequent and lengthy. As an experiment in
September 1986, Western Pavings man-

agement replaced the airlock with a pneumatic dry-material pump. If the pump
withstood the abrasive dust for at least 4
months, they reasoned, the experiment
would be a success. Two years later the
pump is still on the job, working 6 days a
week, 12 to 16 hours a day.

-0
0

d
%

Western Pavings asphalt

production process

P,
3
Q

To make asphalt, a rotary dryingkiln heats

granite. A dust collector pulls the granite
dust, at a temperature of 190F from the

r_
7i

__II_

till

By replacing a rotary airlock

with a dry-material pump,
Western Paving minimizes
the repair and downtime
cost of moving abrasive
granite dust back into
production.

View of the discharge end of the pump shows the acceleration chamber, inspection port, and parallel rotary airlock (at right).

24

Powder and Bulk Engineering, November 1988

kiln alongwith dischargeair. The collector

recycles the 90 percent - 200 mesh dust
at the rate of 10 to 15 t/h. The pneumatic
pump, located at the bottom of the dust
collector, transports the dust to a pneumatic air line, which injects it into the discharge end of a dryer containing granite.
The dust and granite combination is then
mixed with AG I 0 road oil, producing asphalt.

The pneumatic pumps design resists the

abrasive effects of the dust: The pump
slightly compressesthe dust to form acontrolled product plug that prevents air backflow. Because the dust is mechanically
acceleratedinto the airstream without pulsation or turbulence,wear on the manifold
is reduced. In addition, the pumps design
doesnt require close tolerances to prevent
blow-back, as an airlock does. Although
abrasive dust slightly wears the pumps
screw and barrel, it doesnt affect the
pumps efficienq.

In 2 years of service, the dry-material

pump has withstood Western Pavings
hot, fine, abrasive dust -conditions
that previously destroyed rotary
airlocks every 4 to 6 weeks.

Because the pumps design reduces its susceptibility to wear and degradation, engineers from Dri-Flo (the pump manufacturer) believed it would operate for
4 or more months before needing an overhaul. Besides reducing maintenance costs
and downtime, the pump would help
managers at Western Paving schedule
overhaul and part replacement prior to
failure.

Pumps operation exceeds original

predictions
Experiment tests how pump stands
up to abrasion

The pump was installed on a parallel

pneumatic line to reduce downtime in
preparing for the trial run and to allow an
airlock to take over in case the pump failed
during the experiment. The plan was to
run the pump until abrasive degradation
caused it to fail; Western Paving kept an
airlock handy for emergency replacement.

Bob Snyder, Western Pavingsplant superintendent, had had so many maintenance

problems in the past that he doubted what
the Dri-Flo engineers said about the
pumps life expectancy. But in January
1987, after the pump had been in operation 4 months, Snyder said:

Western Paving has benefited several

ways by installing the pneumatic drymaterial pump: Payback was I20
days, and expensive parts and
downtime were eliminated.

Considering our past history with airlocks, I thought that I would have to buy a
spare Dri-Flo unit. However, this [pump]
has worked so well we didnt have to use
the parallel rotary airlock at all. So, why
should we buy another Dri-Flo pump?
The statement, made to the pumps exclusive distributor, was received with mixed
emotions.
Two years later, the pump is still running
without repair to internal moving parts
and without unplanned downtime. DriFlo technicians have inspected it twice for
wear. The examinations, which included
measuring changes in barrel and shaft tolerances, showed negligible wear. The
pump was returned to service without
repair.

. , .
.
View of the discharge end of the pump shows the conveying lines that return the dust to the process.

Western Paving has received additional

benefits by trying the pump. Payback was
less than 120 days, and expensive parts
and downtime were eliminated. The only
maintenance requirements are periodic
bearing lubrication and daily observation
of the gauge on the seal purge air line.
PBE
Dri-Flo, Inc., Denver, CO.

#353