Pneumatic Conveying at 1.5 Bar Maximal Pressure to a Height of 65 m

Related Vendors

Today, the former employee at the Saale mill is not only a co-owner of the Hauser-Mattner company next door to the mill, which specializes in compressed air and milling systems, works in a number of regions of Germany and abroad and employs 24 service staff and additional office personnel; he also continues to look after his former employer’s technical equipment as an external service provider and “Milling Systems Operations Manager”.

Together with Aerzener Maschinenfabrik, they looked for a solution to the new challenge. As luck would have it, the experts at Aerzener had just developed the new Delta Hybrid series of rotary lobe compressors. And so, at the beginning of 2009, an additional compressor from this series designed for constant speed was installed in an adjacent room immediately next to the blower station, where its effective soundproof hood ensures it operates particularly quietly.

Conveying Day After Day and No Problems

The new and fully oil-free compression Delta Hybrid unit has now been working at a constant maximum pressure of 1.2 bar — patently less than the possible maximum of 1.5 bar — without a single problem since startup some 18 months ago: day after day and all around the clock. “Since startup, we’ve been transporting quantities of flour produced from one mill with the feed air produced at 25 tons per hour from the delivery point up to a height of 65 meters into the new flour silo without any difficulty. This new plant has given us the optimum solution to our conveyor problem without imposing any restrictions,” explains milling expert, Holger Mattner.

Once the Delta Hybrid unit had been started up and had completed a brief trial phase, the Aerzener GM35S blower that had previously served this production line was taken off line and is still available in case of emergencies. It can be re-activated immediately if required by re-fitting the short pipe that has now been removed. The compressed air which is produced oil-free is used as feed air without the need for further preparation.

Additional Information

The Delta Hybrid Series

Pneumatic Conveyor Performance Range and Benefits at a Glance

Delta Hybrid units find application wherever air and neutral gases need to be conveyed within a pressure range of up to 1.5 bar, e.g. in sewage plants, the chemical industry, power station systems or for transporting and discharging powdered goods. The rotary lobe compressors were successfully tested three years ago under the harshest of conditions in large-scale field trials in a wide variety of industries in cooperation with Aerzener customers who were looking to replace equipment. They were then developed as a commercially viable product. All the units used in the field trials were thoroughly and continuously monitored via the Aerzener remote monitoring service, RAT. The units are available in the following performance ranges:

Flow rates: 10 to 98 m³/min (600 to 5900 m³/hr)

Areas of application: for air overpressure and negative pressure

Pressure range: 0 to 1.5 bar

Suction range: up to –0.7 bar

The new Delta Hybrid series provides the following outstanding benefits:

Significant improvement in energy efficiency as a result of energy savings of up to 15% compared to conventional units

Low service and maintenance costs; high reliability and durability

Sturdy bearing design (service life of 60,000 OH even when charged up to 1 bar)

Low compressed air outlet temperatures due to outstanding thermal balance

Compact design, belt drive, belt tensioning by means of motor base, side-by-side alignment, operated from the front, oil gauge and top-up during operations, low noise level, optional AS300 AERtronic control, suitable for outdoor installation

Very high flow control range (25–100%); easy to operate and maintain

Pneumatic Conveying: Future Plans

Due to the company’s first-rate experience with its first Delta Hybrid unit, the decision has now been taken at the Saale mill in Alsleben to acquire a second Delta Hybrid unit with a slightly smaller capacity for generating completely oil-free feed air. This unit will take over the task in future that an Aerzener GM25S blower has fulfilled up until now. It is also designed for a maximum pressure of 1.5 bar. In future, flour from the second milling plant will be conveyed with the feed air generated at a capacity of some 13 tons per hour — also spanning a height difference of 65 m — into the new silo. The second Delta Hybrid unit will also be equipped with a highly effective soundproof hood and be installed directly adjacent to the existing Delta Hybrid unit.

There are currently no issues relating to the pneumatic conveying from the third milling plant, because at the moment the goods here need to be conveyed pneumatically into a silo of “only” 45 meters in height.

* The author works as a freelance industry journalist. Contact Aerzener Maschinenfabrik: Tel. +49 (0) 51 54 / 8 10

(ID:28859220)