More ways to reduce power usage to improve conveying efficiency
In this column, we'll continue our discussion from the November 2009 column on ways to reduce your pneumatic conveying system's power cost. This time, we'll look at how the system's feeding device, conveying line configuration, and air-material separation equipment affect the system's horsepower requirements. Information is provided on how to select, design, or operate this equipment to reduce your conveying system's power usage where possible.
Many of us assume that it's impossible to save energy with some conveying system feeding devices, such as a rotary valve or screw feeder, because we think that the device's total required horsepower is for driving its rotor or screw. We may also assume that some other devices, such as a venturi or pressure tank, require no horsepower. Yet these assumptions are far from true. In fact, many of these devices contribute horsepower losses to the conveying system that we can control to reduce energy usage.