Reducing power usage to improve conveying efficiency
In this column, we'll continue our discussion from the July 2009 column on ways to reduce your conveying system's power cost, including increasing the conveying line diameter and changing the pickup velocity.
Be aware that trying any of the power-saving solutions discussed here will require studying how the solution affects your system's operation. Each solution has limitations depending on your conveying system type, so the applications most likely to gain power savings from each solution are listed. In many cases the solutions will require some capital expenditure, so you'll need to compare the solution's cost against its potential power cost savings to determine if the change is justified. All calculations given here are examples only - - don't use these exact calculations for your system design because your conveyed material and your system's conveying line layout will change the calculation values.