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Conveyor Systems
• Conveyors are used when material must be moved in
relatively large quantities between specific locations over a
fixed path.
• Conveyors divided into two basic categories:
1. Powered conveyors
2. Non-powered conveyors.

Conveyors • In powered conveyors, the power mechanism is contained

in the fixed path, using belts, rotating rolls, or other devices
to propel loads along the path. They are commonly used in
automated material transfer systems.
• In non-powered conveyors, materials are moved either
manually or by human workers who push the loads along
the fixed path.

Introduction to Belt Conveyor Cont’d…

• Belt conveyors are the most versatile and • Belt conveyors have attained a dominant
widely used of all conveyors. They are suitable position in transporting bulk materials due
for handling a wide variety of materials. They to such inherent advantages as their
can handle a wide range of capacities over
 economy and safety
longer distance than possible with other types
of operation,
of conveyor systems.  reliability,
• They are adaptable for performing numerous  versatility, and
other functions such as weighing, blending  practically unlimited
sampling and stock piling. range of capacities.

Simple Conveyor
• Driven by Belts, Chains,
or Shafts
• Powered by Motors /
Reducers
• Chains / Sprockets /
Bearings
• Terminal Ends

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Conveyor Parts

Cont’d… Cont’d…
• In addition, they are suitable for performing • Belt conveyors are suited to the
numerous processing functions in connection carrying of all material, wet or dry,
with their normal purpose of providing a
from the lightest to the heaviest, and in
continuous flow of material between
any quantity.
operations.

• Recently, their conformity to environmental

requirements has provided a further incentive
for selection of belt conveyors over other
means of transportation.

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Belt Conveyor Components

Conveyor Belting
• The belt conveyor is composed of the
belt, the idlers, the pulleys, the drive The belt cover is made of special wear-
and impact- resisting rubber compound
equipment, the take-up and the with cord breaker strips imbedded in
supporting structure. tough rubber

Typical Cross-section of the Conveyor Belt

Cont’d…
Cont’d
1. Cotton-Fabric Ply-Constructed Belting: is
• The belts must have:- the most widely used kind of rubber covered
– flexibility, in order to wrap around the conveyor belt, in which the fiber is made up
pulleys,
of a number of layers or plies of woven cotton
– Width, enough to carry the required
quantity of the material fabrics of various weight.
– strength, enough to bear the weight of
2. Cord Belts are made up of longitudinal fibers
the load and transmit the pull in the
conveyor or steel cords imbedded in rubber provide
greater strength, more flexibility and
somewhat greater impact resistance.

Cont’d
Cont’d…

3. Heat Service Belts are available for

jobs where hot materials up to 1200C
must be handled.

Belt Idlers

Idlers must be selected to properly protect

and support the belt and load to be carried.

Fig. 7.3 Types of Idlers

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Cont’d…
Drives

• Practically all belt conveyors are driven

by an electric motor directly connected
to a speed reducer unit through a
flexible coupling. A high-speed motor,
which costs less and occupies less space,
is preferred to a slow speed motor.

Belt Conveyer Drive Arrangements

Take-ups
Cont’d…
• Allow for stretch and shrinkage of the belt
due to variation of temperature and
atmospheric pressure.

• It ensures that the

– maximum tension in the belt is sufficient to prevent
undue sag between idlers

– tension in the belt in the back of the drive pulley is

sufficient to permit such pulley to transmit the load

Types of Take-ups for Belt Conveyors

Pulleys, Shafts and Bearings Pulleys, Shafts and Bearings

• The factors involved in pulley diameter selection
• Pulleys for belt conveyors are usually welded
include the
steel, drum types, for maximum strength,
– amount of wrap,
minimum weight, and for resistance to shock
– belt tension at the pulley,
during handling and operation.
– space available,

– characteristics of the materials handled,

– belt life expectancy,

– shaft and bearing size and

– size and ratio of reducer.

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Cont’d… Typical Arrangements

• The shaft and the pulley are treated as

a single structure. The resultant force
on the bearing (shaft) is the vector sum
of belt tensions, pulley weight, and
weight of the shaft. Note that the
force on the shaft is opposite to the
direction of the resultant force R.

Discharging Materials from the Belt Magnetic Separation

Typical Cross-sections Typical Cross-sections

Flat Belts on Flat Belt Idlers:- especially used

to transport materials, which have steep angle of
repose, and they are useful when the material is
to be discharged at intermediate points by
ploughs or deflectors.

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Cont’d… Cont’d…

Flat Belts on Continuous Plate: A Troughed Belts on 200 Idlers: the 200 trough

continuous surface supporting the carrying permits the use of the thickest belts so that the
heaviest materials and the maximum size of lumps
run of a belt is devised for light, mildly
as coal, ore, earth and gravel can be carried. It is
abrasive materials where smooth even travel
most widely used cross-section for lump materials.
is essential

Cont’d… Cont’d…

Troughed Belts on 450 Idlers of Equal and Troughed belts on Continuous plate: they
Unequal length: they accommodate a large convey many bulk materials in large
cross-section of material than those quantities than a flat belt. Covers are
operating on idlers with rolls slopping 200. provided when handling dusty materials.

Belt Conveyor Design Calculation Capacity of a Belt Conveyor

Basic Data Requirements
a.If the material to be conveyed is a unit load,
1. The material to be handled Q [tons/h]
2. Capacity peak or surge rate expressed in ton/hr
3. Path of travel Q  3 . 6 qBv
4. Feeding and discharge conditions where q = distributed load [kg/m2]
B = width of the belt [m]
5. Operating conditions v = velocity of the belt [m/s]

6. Required life of installation b. If the material to be conveyed is in bulk

load, Q [tons/h].
Preliminary Check
 Is the belt conveyor suitable for the Q  3 . 6  Av
material? where  = the density of the mat [kg/m3]
A = the cross-sectional area of the material being
 Is the angle of inclination is within safe conveyed [m2]
limits? etc. v = Velocity of the belt [m/s]

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Belt Tension Number of Fibers

The belt tensions, in addition to their After calculating the tension, T, it is
effect on power requirements they also possible to calculate the number of
influence the design and selection of all fibers in the nucleus of the belt
component parts.
T
n 
KB
where n = number of fibers
K = resistance of one fiber per
unit width (5 to 7 kg/cm) and
B = width of the belt

Loads on Drive Pulleys

Power Requirement

In order to determine the required

motor power [kW], we use the total
resistance R and calculate the power N.
Oscillating Conveyor
Rv
N =
102 

Where, v = speed of the belt in m/s.

 = efficiency of the electromotor

Oscillating Conveyors
A vibrating conveyor consists of a trough
supported by tined springs and/or
hinged links having a drive system. Thus
these conveyors are sometimes called
oscillating conveyors.
The vibrating conveyor consists of the
following elements:
a) Watertight stainless steel tray riveted to a
rigid mild steel frame
b) Swinging arms
c) drive

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Pattern of motion of the trough or load
1. Reciprocating or inertia-type conveyors
As the trough moves forward during its
forward motion, it carries the material
with it
2. Vibrating or oscillating conveyors
The load is periodically thrown above the
trough (jumps) with the vertical component
of the trough acceleration greater than
the acceleration due to gravity
Frequency of Excitation
According to the range of frequency of
excitation of the trough, the vibratory
conveyor can be classified as
1. Sub-resonant
2. Resonant
3. Super-resonant system
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Oscillating Conveyors
Classification of vibratory conveyor
Vibratory conveyors may be classified on
the basis of 3 considerations:
1) The pattern of motions of the trough
or load
2) Drive mechanism
3) Frequency of excitation
Drive Mechanism
1. Direct mechanical type, use crank and
connecting rod
2. Single or double eccentric weight on a
rotating shaft
3. Electromagnetic exciter using pulsed
single-phase AC supply
Oscillating Conveyors
Oscillating conveyors move materials in a
uniform, continuous flow by the upward
and forward oscillating motion of a
continuous metal trough, mounted on
sturdy inclined reactor legs. The angle
of inclination of the conveyor arm may
vary from 25 to 30 degree.
S = A sin  t
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Cont’d
Where S = the magnitude of the movement of
the conveyor in time t.
A = maximum amplitude of the vibration
k frequencies normally range from 200 to
  2 f 
m
where k = rigidity and m = mass
Cont’d…
• This conveyor is used for handling:-
– All granular free flowing materials
– Hot, abrasive, fine, dusty, lumpy, stringy
and other materials which are difficult to
handle or where contamination or corrosion
is a problem.
• In addition to conveying, it is used for
– cooling, heating and drying
Cont’d
3. The trough supporting system's
primary function is to control and
direct the motion of the trough
4. The drive is the prime element in a
vibrating conveyor because it is the
source of the controlled vibration.
5. The reactor spring system can assume
many forms including steel coil springs,
flexible steel, rubber blocks, circular
rubber toroids, and torsion bars.
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Vibrating conveyors operating
3600 vibrations per minute with an
amplitude or stroke range from 0.08 to
3.75cm total movement.
Oscillating Conveyor with Variable Pressure on Deck
Basic Designs
Basic elements
1. A trough supporting system.
2. The source of the controlled
vibrating.
Reviewing of the elements:
1. The trough is the only portion of the
vibrating conveyor that comes in
contact with the material being
conveyed.
2. The base is primarily a means of
mounting the conveyor and is usually of
a simple design incorporating structural
steel members.
Types of Oscillating Conveyors
a. Flexmount Oscillating Conveyors are
used for light duty applications. They
have simple construction, remarkably
rugged, compact and require minimum
maintenance and attention.
b. Coilmount Oscillating Conveyor are
rugged, well reinforced and require
minimum maintenance. The coil springs
operate in the natural frequency range.
They are used for medium duty service.
The trough is supported by separate legs
that are rubber bushed at articulated
points and do not require lubrication.
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Cont’d
Torqmount Oscillating Conveyor are rugged,
dependable and easy to adjust and maintain.
They are used for heavy and extra duty
applications. Torsion bars fixed at one end and
steel backed rubber bushed at the other end,
absorb the energy of the trough movement at
the end of the stroke at all points of support
along the trough length.
Advantages of Vibratory Conveyor
• Hot and abrasive materials can be
handled.
• Cooling, drying and dewatering operation
can be done during transport
• Scalping, screening or picking can be done
• Units can be covered and made dust tight
• Simple construction and low head room
• Can be made leak proof
• Low maintenance
Limitations
There are few limitations, with today's
technologies, to the successful application of
this class of equipment. Some materials that
tend to fluidise, or adhere to the feeder
trough may be more efficiently handled by
other means. In addition, a dusting problem
may occur at the outlet of a feeder handling
some dry, powdery materials, and require
special handling.
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Selection of Oscillating Conveyors
i) Determining the trough width for the
required capacity
ii) Selecting the drive for the required
capacity
Advantages of Vibratory Conveyor
• Low spillage of fines
• Controlled feeding and material alignment
• Heavy duty drive assemblies are fitted to all
conveyors
• Optional screening section can be built in for
separation of fines and sawdust
• Optional fiberglass section for material
detection can be built into conveyor
Cont’d
• The equipment is subject to high
accelerations and high reversing stress
cycles; consequently, to achieve
acceptable fatigue life, the structures
must be designed with stress limits
much below that considered good design
practice for structures not subjected
to vibration.
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Introduction
Chain conveyors employ single or double
strands of continuous chains wrapped
around head and tail end sprockets. The
Chain Conveyors units are generally operated by motor
drives attached to the head/drive shaft.
Material can be carried directly on aprons
or pans or pushed in a trough by flights
attached to the chain(s).
The chain conveyor derives its name from
the type of attachment, that is, apron,
pan, or flight.

Apron Conveyors Types of Conveyor

• Apron conveyors consist of a series of jointed
Apron Conveyor
overlapping or interlocking apron pans on Style A Apron Pan
which the material is carried. They can
handle abrasive materials that cannot be
scraped along a trough, and as the loading is
readily controlled, it may be used as a feeder.
• Style A is used for horizontal and low incline 20-25
As an alternative to a rubber belt, it can deg. Short pitches are used for feeders and pans &
medium or long pitch is used for conveyor
handle materials at a temperature higher than • Suitable for bulk materials, including hot dusty,
abrasive materials
1500C that cannot be handled with rubber.

Cont’d Cont’d
• Style D are of very strong and rigid construction.
Capable of carrying large quantities of material. They
have good impact resistance under loading point
• Style E are super capacity pans for handling crushed,
Style B Apron Pan Style C Apron Pan fine, or lump materials in a very large quantities. Can
convey as steep as 45 deg.
• Style B provide force and easy discharge and
consequently, low drop of material. Suitable for wide
conveyors and can be used for inclined conveying up
to 30deg. Suited to handle lump material which should
not be broken.
• Style C are used for large capacities of fines and
lumps and inclined up to 30 deg. They are suitable for Style D Apron Pan Style E Apron Pan
use as feeding, picking, sorting and lowering
conveyors

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Design Considerations of Apron

Conveyors Cont’d…
• In general, designing of an apron • The maximum traction force is a
conveyor can be considered as
combination of the force required to
determining:
– The maximum traction force, move the material, the moving part of
– the pitch of the chain and the conveyor and the force required to
– the stress on the shafts and on the overcome the level difference.
wheels

Flight and Wide Chain Drag Conveyors

• A flight conveyor consists of one or more

endless propelling mediums, such as chain
or other linkage, to which properly spaced
scrapers or flights for moving material
along the length of a stationary trough.

Construction

Single Strand Flight Conveyor with Double Strand Flight Conveyor

roller-suspended Flights with Roller-suspended Flights
Single Strand Flight Single Strand Flight Conveyor
Conveyor with Scraper Flights with shoe-suspended Flights

Cont’d
Cont’d…
• Wide chain drag conveyors do not have
flights as the open links serve to move
the material.
• These conveyors operate at slow speeds
generally 0.1 m/s or less.
• They are used for conveying abrasive
materials like ashes, coal or sand. In
addition one typical application can be
quenching hot materials Wide Chain Drag Conveyor

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Flight Conveyor Design Consideration Cont’d

Flight conveyor power required consists
• Essential factors are:
of three factors:
 Type of material and its I. The power required to run empty
characteristics conveyor
 Capacity (maximum in tons per hour) Plus
 Maximum size of lumps and II. The power require to carry load
percentage of maximum lump in total over horizontal distance
volume Plus
 Length and incline of unit III. The power required to lift load
 Service requirements

Bucket Elevator

• The typical bucket elevator consists of an

endless chain or belt to which are attached
buckets for elevating pulverized, granular, or
Bucket Elevators lumpy materials along a vertical or a steeply
inclined path. The driving traction element is
a chain or a belt. Unit loads are conveyed
with the aid of arms or candles attached to
the traction element.

Bucket Elevator Components Types of Bucket Elevators

The principal elements of a bucket elevator
are:
1. Head shaft with pulley for belting or
sprockets for chain
2. The drive, gear reducer, and motor drives,
3. Foot shaft with pulley or sprockets
4. Elevator buckets mounted on belting or
chain
5. The elevator enclosure houses the bucket
and belting or chain assembly and generally
provides mounting and enclosure for the
rotating machinery
Platforms, ladders, and hoist beams arc
frequently mounted on elevator housings for
maintenance access.
1. Centrifugal Discharge
The materials are discharged by centrifugal action
as the buckets pass over the head wheel.
2. Perfect Discharge
The buckets are carried between two strands of
chain snubbed under the head wheels to bring them
into an inverted position above the discharge chute.
This is a slow speed machine for fragile, sticky or
slow flowing materials.

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Cont’d…
3. Continuous Bucket
The buckets are mounted continuously along the chain.
At the head, the discharge from each bucket is over
the front of the preceding bucket, which forms a
chute or guide to the fixed discharge.
4. Gravity Discharge
Material is loaded as in type 1, but discharge is
through gates in a trough is in flight conveyors.
Method of Loading and Unloading of a Bucket Elevator;
a) loading through a chute; b) loading by digging from
the boot; c) positive discharge; d) central discharge
Cont’d
• In the case of sticky loads more
suitable are open buckets of the flat-
bottom configuration Bucket width b is
adopted taking into account the lump
size, from the relationship.
b  ka
Where a is the maximum lump size and k is a
factor taken at 2-2.5 for unsized
material and at 4-5 for a sized one.
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Fig. 9.10 Bucket Elevator
Design Considerations
The tendency of material to pack in the
elevator boot is one of the factors
deciding bucket choice. Free-flowing
non-packing material as, for example,
grain is handled by high front round-
bottom buckets.
Buckets; a) low-front round-bottom type; b) high-front round-bottom model; c)
flat-front or V-shaped bucket with side guides; d) open flat-bottom
configuration for sticky materials
The method of unloading is adopted
depending on the bucket speed and head
wheel diameter. The material will be
subject to the combined effect of mg =
gravitational force and m2r =
centrifugal force
The resultant R changes in the direction
and magnitude yet its line of action
invariably passes through the pole M a
point located in the vertical axis at a
distant h form the center
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Cont’d
• Considering the two similar triangles
OMG and ACG
OM r

m r
2
mg
g g g
OM   

2 2 2
v  2 n 
   
r  60 

2
gr 3600 g 895
  
4
2 2 2 2
v n n

Determination of the Pole Distance Where, n is the rpm.

Cont’d Cont’d

• In other words, the polar distance h is a The weight of a bucketful load in kg is

function of the head-wheel speed only, n given
in rpm, increasing inversely with it. G = i 
When the pole distance is equal or
greater than the head wheel radius r, Where, i = the struck volume of bucket [m3]
 = specific weight [kg/m3]
the centrifugal force is by far  = capacity factor ranging between
exceeded, resulting in a gravity 0.6 and 0.9 depending upon the
nature of the material (lower
discharge values are ascribed to coarsely broken
loads)

Cont’d

The hourly capacity of an elevator can be

calculated by the formula Chain can be selected knowing tight-
(ascending) side tension only; however,
G
Q = 3 .6 v for belt selection, tight and slack-
t (descending) side tension must be known.
Where, In either case, in calculating tensions for
Q = Capacity [tons/hr] component selection may be taken.
t = Bucket spacing commonly (2 to
3)
h, where h is the bucket
height [m]
v = the bucket speed [m/s]

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Cont’d Tight-side tension T must have an

additional factor added to compensate
for digging in the boot. In tall and
'
T 1  (W C  W B  LL ) H
continuous elevators, digging forces are
T 2  (W C  W )H of less concern than in short or spaced
B
elevators. This is due to the
Where,
compensating effect of materials design
T1= tight-side tension [kg]
'

W = weight of belt or chain with fasteners and

safety factors; therefore,
C

attachments [kg/m] '

W = weight buckets [kg/m]
B
T1  T1  T D
LL = weight of live load [kg/m] Where,
H = elevator shaft center [m] T1 = tight-side tension with digging factor
T = slack-side tension [kg]
= additional loading for digging in boot
2
TD

Cont’d SCREW CONVEYORS

The power required to drive bucket • The screw conveyor, one of the oldest and
elevators can be estimated, in most
cases, from the following equations: simplest methods used for the movement of

For spaced-bucket elevators with bulk materials. The movement of the materials
digging boot is forced through the trough by a rotating
N  0 . 0194 Hm ' kW screw, which is formed by a helical blade
For continuous-bucket elevator with loading attached to the drive shaft 8, which is coupled
leg to a drive 1 and supported by end bearings 2,6
N  0 . 0176 Hm ' kW
Where m’ = material flow rate [kg/s]
and by inner bearings 4.
H = vertical lift [m]

Cont’d Cont’d

• The trough 7 of the round-bottom shape

is topped by a cover plate 3 with an
opening 5 for loading the conveyor.

• A similar unloading opening 9 is provided in

the bottom of the trough. The loading and
unloading points can be located anywhere
along the trough

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Conveyor Components b. The Drive Shaft, End Shaft and

Coupling
a. The Conveyor Screw consists of spiral flying
mounted on a pipe and is made either right or The drive shaft supports the conveyor
left hand to suit the screw rotation and the
desired direction of material travel.
screw section and keeps it in alignment.
The end shaft is located at the end
opposite the drive shaft.

Couplings are used to connect

successive conveyors screw section
when more than one section is necessary
to make up the total length of conveyor.
Typical Screw Configurations: (a) Helical Spiral (b) Ribbon Spiral
(c) Cut Flights

Cont’d c. The End Seals

The plate seal is an economical, effective
sealing device, designed for exterior
mounting between the end bearing and
the trough end. Split gland seals are
designed for interior or exterior
mounting. The universal type of seal is
arranged for use with waste packing or
with cartridge type lip or felt seals.
Installing Screw Section in Trough and Fitting it onto Packing gland seals are effective means
Coupling for sealing the conveyor both internally
and externally.

Cont’d Cont’d
• Air purge shaft seals are arranged for
attaching to standard or special trough
ends. A constant air pressure is
(d) (e)
maintained to prevent material from Various End Seals
escaping from the trough along the shaft.
d. The Conveyor Complete with the Trough
and the Drive
The trough is the enclosure in which the material
is confined and guided in its movement. A shaft
mounted speed reducer makes a simple and
(a) (b) (c)
compact drive combination.
Various End Seals

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Typical Drive Arrangements
With specialised design, the unit may
operate at a slope or in the vertical
position. There could be many drive
arrangements to meet the practical
limitation like space, type of drive, etc.
Typical Applications
Screw conveyors serve a wide variety of
purpose in many industries.
1. When the materials are extremely hot,
cast screws and troughs may be used or
the screws and troughs may be made of
high temperature alloy metals.
2. If the materials are sticky or viscous,
ribbon flight screws may be the choice.
Furthermore, special coatings applied to
the screw and troughs may also aid the
flow of the material.
Cont’d
5. When the materials are to be mixed or
aerated, a conveyor screw of ribbon
flights or cut flights or one of these
combined with paddles may be used to
obtain the desired results.
6. If materials are to be heated or cooled,
while conveying, they may require
jacketed troughs arranged for circulating
heating or cooling media.
7. When contaminable materials are
handled they may require self lubricated
bearings, screw and trough construction
which will eliminate pockets, creels, etc.
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Cont’d
Fig.10.5 Typical Drive Arrangements: (a) Vertical
(b) Horizontal and Vertical (c) Steep Slop
Cont’d
3. When extremely abrasive materials are
to be conveyed they may require screws
and troughs made of abrasion resistant
metals or the screws may be provided
with hard surface flights.
4. When the materials are corrosive it may
be desirable to make the conveyor
screws and troughs of stainless steel,
Monel metal, nickel, aluminium, etc.
Design Considerations
The trough is commonly fabricated from
flat sheet from 2 to 8mm thick. The screw
pitch t = (0.5 to 1.0) D. The screw
diameter D is at least twelve times that
for loads of uniform lump size and at least
four times the maximum lump size in case
of unsized bulk materials. Conveyors
handling heavy materials operate at around
50rpm and those designed to convey light
loads, at up to 150rpm. The cross-sectional
loading of a screw conveyor is given by
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Cont’d The hourly capacity can be calculated by

 d 2

A =
4
Where, = the capacity factor which Q = 3.6 A v k tons/hr
take
where , k= is a factor introduced in designing
account of the accumulation inclined
of conveyors
load at inner bearing v = the speed of the conveyor
d = screw diameter [m/s]
Values Capacity Factor  = specific weight of the material
Material  [kg/m3]
Values of k corresponding the Inclination 
Heavy-weight abrasive loads 0.125

Heavy-weight mildly abrasive 0.250  (degrees) 0 5 10 15 20

Light-weight mildly abrasive 0.320 k 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.75

Light-weight non abrasive 0.400

The speed of the conveyor From practical experience,

t n n = 60/ D for light non  abrasive load
v=
60 n = 45/ D for heavy non  abrasive load
where , t = pitch of the screw (lead) [m]
n = rpm of the screw n = 30/ D for heavy abrasive load

The capacity formula can be rewritten, The power requirement in kW at the drive
shaft for horizontal conveyors,
 D2 tn
Q = 3600   k QL
4 60 N h
 C0
367

 47   t  n  D
2
 k  where , N h
= power requirement for horizontal conveyor
Co = friction factor
L = conveyor length [m]

Cont’d Cont’d
And for sloping installation Axial force, P [kg]
QH QL
Ns   C0 M where ,
P  = the resisting moment
o
M
367 367
r tan    
0

N = Nh for horizontal conveyor

Where,
0

N
= power requirement for inclined conveyor
s
= N
s
for inclined conveyor
H = level difference 102 N  60 r = radius at which the force P

o
M o is applied
2 n D
r  0.7 to 0.8  
Load per meter [kg/m] N 2
 975
0
kg  = reduced friction angle,
tan  = 
Q n
q=
 = screw helix angle
3.6 ν

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Pneumatic Conveyors
The friction factor is adopted based on
experimental data. • Pneumatic conveying is a method of
transporting bulk materials in the form of
Material powder, short fiber and granules over a
pipeline as a mixture with air or due to
Flour, cereal, saw dust 1.2

Peat, Soda ash, pulverised coal, finely ground chalk 1.6

pressure of air. There are three basic system
Coal (lump anthracite and bituminous, air dry brown), rock salt 2.5 used.
Gypsum, dry clay, sand, cement, ash, lime, moulding sand 4.0
• Suction or Vacuum System utilizes a vacuum
created in the pipeline to draw the material
with the surrounding air.

Cont’d Cont’d
• These systems are particularly suited to
moving material from multiple pickup
points to a single location, the reason
being that the bulk of the system's
The system operates at 0.5-0.6atm
expense is in the terminal end where and is utilized mainly in conveying
light free flowing materials over
the receiver, rotary valves, and vacuum short distances.

source are located. Pneumatic Conveyor - Vacuum System

Cont’d
• Pressure-type System is ideally suited for
conveying from one pickup location to many
discharge locations. Generally, this type of
system is more economical when going from
one point to several. A pressure system of
this type generally conveys with a product-to-
air ratio of about 20kg of material per kg of
air, or approximately 24kg of material/m3 of
Pneumatic Conveyor -Pressure System
air (or 20 m3 of air/m3 of product).

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Combination System (Push-Pull System)
This is a system in which a suction
system is used to convey material form a
number of loading points and pressure
system is employed to deliver it to a
number of unloading points. Such
installations are utilized when conveying
over a long distance is required.
Applications and Limitations
Pneumatic conveyors have many
advantages:
• delivery of materials over a path capable
of changing its direction in any plane,
Cont’d
• processing of the material simultaneously
with its conveying,
• an almost limitless number of loading and
unloading points served by a single system,
• air and gas tightness eliminating dust
nuisance and dust hazards
• an almost totally automated conveying with
considerable reduction of losses of
material,
• improved labor conditions and minimum of
human attendance.

Pneumatic Conveyor Components

The limitations of the system are Intake Units
One of the most delicate problems in
• high power requirements (15kWh/t, 10 to pneumatic conveyors is the introduction
15 times higher than mechanically of material to the flow of air at a
conveyors),
regulated rate
• rapid wear of equipment,
• the problem of dust recovery from the a. Nozzle Injector
exhaust air
• inability to convey wet, caking and sticky
loads.

Nozzle Injector

Cont’d Cont’d
b. Rotating Valve
c. Stationary Screw Feeder
Rotating valve is used for
non-abrasive materials and
a capacity less than 15t/h
and of conveying length 100
to 200m.

Rotating Valve

Stationary screw feeder is widely Suction Nozzle

applied for cement and other
powdered materials.
Conveying Pipe and Changeover Valves

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Cont’d Design Considerations

The cross sectional area of the separator is 50 to 150times larger than
that of the conveying pipe. The velocity falls as low as 0.2-0.8m/s which In pneumatic conveyor calculations given
is low enough to clean the conveying air stream even if small particles.
are properties of the material, required
capacity Q tons per hour and the
configuration of the conveying pipe.

Required are:
1. Calculated (reduced) conveying length, L red [m]

Separator

Cont’d
Values of Equivalent Lengths for Elbows
L red   L hor   Lv   L eqe   L eqv
Material R0
Values of L [m] at
eqv d p
Where, = sum of lengths of horizontal sections
L hor 4 6 10 20
 L eqv = sum of lengths of vertical sections
Powdered 4-8 5-10 6-10 8-10
 L eqe = sum of lengths equivalent to elbows
Granular Homogenous - 8-10 12-16 16-20
 L v = equivalent change over valves length
Small Lumped Irregular - - 28-35 38-45
R0
= the ratio of bend radius to the inner pipe diameter Large Lumped Irregular - - 60-80 70-90
d p

The commonly used value for a two-way changeover valve

L eqv = 8m.

2. Conveying air stream velocity, = [m/s] 3. Weight concentration of the mixture, :

v air    1  BL
2
red

Where,
 = factor for the size of load particles
 1 = specific weight of the load particles[tons/m3] 

B = factor assumed as equal to (2 to 5) 10-5, the lower

values being taken for dry powder materials.

Values of Factor  for the Size of Load Particles

.

Particle Size
Material 
Powdered 1-1000(micron) 10-16
Granular Homogenous 1-10mm 17-20
Small Lumped Homogenous 10-20mm 17-22 Graph Showing the Dependence of the Weight Concentration of
Medium Lumped Homogenous 40-80mm 22-25 the Mixture  on the Reduced Conveying Length L red

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Cont’d
5. Conveying pipe inner diameter,d p [m]
Note: Graph (1): 1- for dry free flowing
materials of high specific weight (  = 4 V ol
2.5 to 3.2 t/m3), 2- for materials of a
1
d p

v air 
lower specific weight (  = 1.8 to 2.5 t/ 1

m3) but higher moisture content and

high abrasivity. Graph (2): for grain. 6. The required air pressure in the pipe,
[kg/cm2]
4. Air consumption, V ol [m3/s]
P cs 
H air

4
10
Q v air
V ol   d Where,
2
p
3 .6 air
 4  = specific weight of the air
air
(average for a given vertical section).
where Q = capacity of installation [tons/hour]

Cont’d
For pressure conveying system;
• The plus sign before in equation is
 L red v air
2
taken for upward, the minus sign for
Pi  1  P cs
d p
downward movement.

Where,
 = a factor; for pressure conveying systems,
2
 L red v air
 depends on the value of s 
d p
and for suction conveying system:
7
 = 1 . 5  10
And for suction conveying system
 L red v air
2 Graph Showing the Dependence of Factor  on
Pf  1  P cs
d
the Value of s
p

7. The required air pressure of the

compressor or air blower, [kg/cm2] 8. The required capacity of the compressor
or blower, [m3/min]
Pb  P w   Ploss

 d p v air  '
2
Where,
Pw
= working pressure , V o  V ol  ' 
= P i for pressure conveying system 4
= P  P suction conveying system
o f ,
 = 1.15 to 1.25 factor for losses in the intake
unit,
= pressure loss in the supplying air for where ,
Ploss
' = factor for losses due to leaks = 1.1.
compressors,
P loss
= 0.3 kg/cm2,
P 0 = atmospheric pressure = 1atm.

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9. The required motor power, [kW]

L bV o
N b

60  102 

Where,L b = theoretical work of the blower reduced to

1 m3 drawn in during isothermal
compression [kgm/m3].
 = total efficiency of compressors =0.55 to
0.75.

Pb
L b  23 , 030 P 0 log .
P0

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